Kitchen remodel advice (2 Viewers)

This kitchen remodel is going to be the death of me. Anybody have a granite/quartz sink? Do you like it (pros/cons)?
My wife wants a black sink and this is seems like the best option. Wife is against stainless steel but I could probably convince her to go SS if less maintenance or if granite sinks will show stains or water deposits if not cleaned and dried daily. Also thinking of upgrading our garbage disposal, currently have 1/2 HP, is 1 HP overkill? My thought is more power is better also warranty is much better 2 year vs 20 years or something like that.

We have decided to go full remodel, taking out everything down to the subfloor and starting over. Vinyl flooring, semi-custom cabinets, quartz counter tops, recessed lighting, pendent lighting over island. etc.

Decisions made so far:
Wilsonart kolams quartz
Waypoint Cabinets - Boulder gray main cabinets with navy blue island
ProCore Plus vinyl plank flooring - dove tail oak

color image.png
 
We went with black granite countertops in the new house, and I love the look -- except up close, when you're doing clean-up. Granite (and some quartz) have occasional flecks/impurities, which you're forever trying to pick up or clean off. And IMO, that and the general lack of visibility in a black sink would be most annoying to deal with.

Also, granite and quartz are *hard*. Things -- glass things -- are going to break in that sink. Stainless sinks have some give to them; things tend to bounce before they break. And they look fine mounted under-counter.

Also hope that whichever sink material you choose, you're going with one large, deep sink, rather than a divided sink. Smaller sinks are incredibly frustrating in a real working kitchen.

One subject I haven't seen mentioned -- your cooktop. I hope you're going with induction, whether it's in a range or as a separate cooktop. Nothing else makes sense in this day and age -- they do *everything* better, faster, and more efficiently, and there are no drawbacks (unless you are emotionally attached to $100K worth of pure copper pans, or you're planning on slamming cast iron pans down on them full force). Highly recommended.
 
Yep, one large sink, we have a divided sink right now 60/40, pain in the ass because garbage disposal is on the smaller side.

We are not upgrading the stove, using our existing stove and refrigerator. I wanted a new stove but my wife wanted to keep the old one, it isn't that old don't remember exactly when we bought it but the original one was replaced. The refrigerator is only a year old, bought it when our fridge started leaking 1 month into the pandemic. Replacing the refrigerator actually is what started this whole thing, after upgrading my wife was like you know we should ...
 
We installed a Blanco granite sink 4 years ago. Same year my parents installed a new SS sink.

Our is still like new with no stains or scratches. Their SS is already scratched to sh*t. (I didn't notice til they pointed it out. I guess it's like any household blemish. You only notice once it's pointed out lol).

They regret not going the same route as we did. Disclaimer: my dad has been known to be "hard" on anything he touches. So I'm not 100% certain this amount of SS scratching is normal.

I have a few friends who went SS undermount within the last year. So still very new. And it looks awesome. And not sure granite would have looked good with the rest of their color palette/kitchen. But if you're worried about scratches, I think you'd have to baby the SS sink and be careful if I'mgoing by my parents' experience. I on the other hand throw pots, pans, knives in the granite sink without thinking twice.

We were worried about wear and staining, but after 4 years we are very pleased. I'm not sure if lighter colors would have stained or faded, we went with anthracite black.

Larry has good points. I once dropped one of those large double glass latté mugs in the sink and it broke. So maybe granite has less give. But then again, I broke 2 of those same glass mugs on the countertops falling from only about 3" off their hooks. And it's just 1 glass broken in sink in 4 years.

Try mocking it up with SS and different color granite options.

Hopefully others with SS can comment if it's normal after 4 yrs that my parents' is scratched to sh*t. Maybe other's more gentle experience has been different lol.
 
We have a Blanco silgranite sink in the kitchen for about 10 yrs and it was the best decision, I have no regrets.
One large rectangle in biscuit and It does not scratch or stain and it handles boiling water or hot pots ... if by chance it does get a little dirty just use a little soft scrub and it is new again.
 
This kitchen remodel is going to be the death of me. Anybody have a granite/quartz sink? Do you like it (pros/cons)?

We had a Blanco sink in our previous house, black, made from their "Silgranite" material. It was truly excellent, easy to clean. Didn't cost an arm and a leg, pretty sure we picked it up from the local Home Depot.
 
Also thinking of upgrading our garbage disposal, currently have 1/2 HP, is 1 HP overkill?
This is such an underrated upgrade. I’ve had a 1 HP disposal for about 5 years and i haven’t had to unclog it once. Can’t say that about the 1/2 HP disposal. After MF’ing that thing on the regular, I replaced it with a 1 HP. It’s amazing. I could probably feed it tree branches and not have any problems.
 
This is such an underrated upgrade. I’ve had a 1 HP disposal for about 5 years and i haven’t had to unclog it once. Can’t say that about the 1/2 HP disposal. After MF’ing that thing on the regular, I replaced it with a 1 HP. It’s amazing. I could probably feed it tree branches and not have any problems.
I also upgraded to a 1HP and I'm so glad I did. It chews through damn near anything.

Fun fact - @Perthmike doesn't know what a garbage disposal is.
 
Remodeled our kitchen a couple years ago, and went stainless steel. After searching endlessly through brands, found one with great reviews on Amazon called Zuhne Moderna.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P05KPC8/
It’s 16 gauge (VERY thick) and has great insulation dampening on the outside. It’s super deep (10”) and while it’s squared off, the corners aren’t too sharp. Beware some of the “zero radius” sinks, the inside corners are so sharp that getting into the corners to clean is awful.
What I love is the included grate at the bottom, since nothing really touches the base of the sink, it doesn’t scratch all to hell. Every so often, throw the grate into the dishwasher on the top rack and clean the steel with Bar Keeper’s Friend and it shines like crazy.
When the granite installer took the sink to his shop (to cut the hole) he commented that he had never seen a sink so thick and well dampened. He was sold too.
Also, the price is amazing.
 
i'm about to dive headfirst into our kitchen remodel, plan on confirming the contractor tomorrow. how's yours going @p5woody, any progress to show yet?
 
Looking for advice on a kitchen remodel.

We have 27 year old kitchen with medium oak wood cabinets. They were builder grade when the house was built and have not been touched. They are in good shape structurally and show minor wear. We will be getting all new floors, countertops, backsplash, sink, etc.

Question 1 - Cabinet refinishing/refacing good or bad? wood veneer vs painting? any experience? Thinking of using a company like Kitchen savers or Revelare kitchens. This is assuming we don't change the layout of our cabinets. If we go with new cabinets, we would change the layout of the kitchen.

Question 2 - Thoughts on under cabinet lighting, never had it. Is it worth it, do people use it?

Question 3 - Wife isn't sure about pendent lights hanging down over the island, good idea or not?

More info, any advice is welcome:

Current layout - dimensions are approximate
View attachment 658975

New layout if we get new cabinets, island is approximate placement. Probably will go a little wider between counter and island - 42 inches?.
Island will have 12 inch overhang for breakfast bar, stools represented on plan (those are not lights).

View attachment 658976
I went through a kitchen renovation before I sold my condo last year. I too had builders grade cabinets in good condition. My realtor handled the renovation (he was incredible) and had a guy come in and paint the cabinets for somewhere around $1200. It was obviously much much cheaper than installing new cabinets and they looked fantastic. Best bang for the buck in the whole renovation project.
 
i'm about to dive headfirst into our kitchen remodel, plan on confirming the contractor tomorrow. how's yours going @p5woody, any progress to show yet?
Cabinets are on order, scheduled to ship on 6/24 and should arrive at my house approximately July 1st. I have the contractor scheduled for July 12th with the Quartz countertop contractor coming for a measurement around July 16th. Install would probably be a week later so hopefully everything will be completed no later then July 30th. This will allow me to attend Degen in Dallas August 4th-8th. I am hopeful, but not sure what my odds are that this all works out.

I have everything else sitting in my living room - Sink, Faucet, garbage disposal, dish washer, flooring, range hood, and lights. I still need to buy the backsplash and paint. We picked the backsplash, just need to place the order.
 
For anybody interested, here is a list of materials with links. Obviously can't review any of these products since they haven't been installed yet.

Counter top - Wilsonart kolams quartz - Wilsonart link
Cabinets - Waypoint - Boulder gray main cabinets with navy blue island - waypoint website
Flooring - ProCore Plus vinyl plank flooring - dove tail oak - procore link
Sink - Mr. Direct Black - Amazon link
Faucet - APPASO Black pull down - Amazon link
Garbage Disposal - Waste King 1HP - Amazon link
Light for dinning room - Overstock 5 light chandelier
Light for Island - Overstock 3-light
Range Hood - basic undermount range hood black - Lowes Broan range hood
Backsplash - Gray subway tile - Home Depot tile
Handles - Ravinte black curved pulled handles - Ravinte handles
Dishwasher - LG Black dishwasher - Best Buy LG Dishwasher
Paint - ???

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i like the idea of a darker color for the island cabinets, also considering heading that way.

but coordinating colors is the hardest part for me (and my wife). we know we want white (or very light gray) painted cabinets, 12x24" tiles for the floor, a quartz countertop, and a subway tile backsplash. but picking those 4 or 5 things that all look good together? good god, it's worse than pokerchipdesigntool.com.
 
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go with the gray cabinets, you'll see dust and water marks on darker cabs. Unless you have OCD and enjoy cleaning I mean. Use a gray or black grout on backsplash to avoid cleaning issues.

Are you sensing a theme here...

I hate cleaning and my wife will not let us get a maid/housekeeper/domestic help.
 
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i like the idea of a darker color for the island cabinets, also considering heading that way.

but coordinating colors is the hardest part for me (and my wife). we know we want white (or very light gray) painted cabinets, 12x24" tiles for the floor, a quartz countertop, and a subway tile backsplash. but picking those 4 or 5 things that all look good together? good god, it's worse than pokerchipdesigntool.com.
I agree this is much worse then designing chips. My wife is a tough customer, she has some strange dislikes, so my options were very limited. Will see how this all comes together. We currently have 90's medium oak wood cabinets, so all wood colors were out. She doesn't like white or bright colors in a kitchen. This is how we ended up with gray, but it had to be dark enough not to be confused with white in bright sunlight. I did talk her into the navy blue island, that was a stretch for her. Don't even get me started on the counter top, we looked at 100s of options before landing on this one.
 
Have to do this, otherwise it's a waste of space. I'm planning this for my eventual reno.

Yep.... I was just asking because it's a "checklist item" for appraisals. Full height cabinets with crown moulding are a "value add" item. The older "short" style uppers with no crown get you docked a little bit on your appraisal.

Just wanted to make sure P5 is aware. :tup:

FWIW... under-cabinet lighting is also a value-add.
 
Before
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Total Teardown
37EDC3A8-C93D-48A4-83F9-7DD497E5C005_1_105_c.jpeg

After
238B9C50-F24C-4E9E-8A24-3580BFC183C7_1_105_c.jpeg



A few comments.
I think the painted cabinets look great and are much less dark than the finished wood original.
I love the under-cabinet lights.
The stainless island is very scratched and used looking after two years. This is a plus not a minus IMO. It remains my favorite part of the kitchen.
We have small pendants over the main sink but lots of can lights everywhere else. Not sure I would like pendants over the main work area.
We spent a fortune but enjoy it every single day.
 
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Yep.... I was just asking because it's a "checklist item" for appraisals. Full height cabinets with crown moulding are a "value add" item. The older "short" style uppers with no crown get you docked a little bit on your appraisal.

Just wanted to make sure P5 is aware. :tup:

FWIW... under-cabinet lighting is also a value-add.
Yes, cabinets go to the ceiling with crown molding. Wasn't planning on undercabinet lighting, might have to see how much it would cost to add.
 
Yes, cabinets go to the ceiling with crown molding. Wasn't planning on undercabinet lighting, might have to see how much it would cost to add.

It’s cheap, so long as you have an outlet nearby you can tap off of, and don’t mind cutting into some drywall. But since you’re upgrading the backsplash it won’t really matter since the drywall will all be covered over anyway with your new tile.

I did mine for under $250 using Ikea lights (granted, I didn't have a lot to install)...

1622895711429.png
 
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BeforeView attachment 712390
Total Teardown
View attachment 712391
After
View attachment 712393


A few comments.
I think the painted cabinets look great and are much less dark than the finished wood original.
I love the under-cabinet lights.
The stainless island is very scratched and used looking after two years. This is a plus not a minus IMO. It remains my favorite part of the kitchen.
We have small pendants over the main sink but lots of can lights everywhere else. Not sure I would like pendants over the main work area.
We spent a fortune but enjoy it every single day.

Wow, your "before" was already pretty nice. With my shitty 90s builder's grade cabinets and formica counters, I can't fathom the level of upgrade I'm going to experience.

Are your cabinets gray? I really like the look but think I will need more contrast since the floors, counter, and backsplash will already probably be varying shades of gray.
 
Wow, your "before" was already pretty nice. With my shitty 90s builder's grade cabinets and formica counters, I can't fathom the level of upgrade I'm going to experience.

Are your cabinets gray? I really like the look but think I will need more contrast since the floors, counter, and backsplash will already probably be varying shades of gray.
Yes, gray cabinets.

The before wasn't bad at all, just a bit dated and dark. As you might guess, I wasn't exactly the driving force behind the decision to remodel. However, I do really love the new kitchen.

Another thing to consider is an instant hot water dispenser. Ours gets used every single day.
 
Yes, gray cabinets.

The before wasn't bad at all, just a bit dated and dark. As you might guess, I wasn't exactly the driving force behind the decision to remodel. However, I do really love the new kitchen.

Another thing to consider is an instant hot water dispenser. Ours gets used every single day.

That's a good call. I had an apartment for a couple years after college that had one and it was really convenient. I guess I have never really missed having one - our tap water gets pretty damn hot here anyway - but it would definitely get a lot of use if we had one.
 
It’s cheap, so long as you have an outlet nearby you can tap off of, and don’t mind cutting into some drywall. But since you’re upgrading the backsplash it won’t really matter since the drywall will all be covered over anyway with your new tile.

I did mine for under $250 using Ikea lights (granted, I didn't have a lot to install)...

View attachment 712700
Before the upper cabinets go in is the best time to get the electrical done. Knowing what cabinets are going where, then installing the junction boxes and wiring prior to cabinets makes it go A LOT easier.
 

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