The Kitchen Remodeling Process
- jonny shiver
- August 15, 2018
- 2:20 am
- No Comments
Everyone wants the latest and greatest kitchen to appear on one of HGTV’s home remodeling shows. And if we were to believe these shows were an accurate representation of how a NJ kitchen remodel will play out, we’d expect to have the kitchen of our dreams magically appear in a couple days, right?
Unfortunately, that’s just not reality. The truth is that kitchen remodeling is a very big deal. It’s likely one of the biggest investments you’ll make in your home – other than purchasing it. There’s countless decisions to make, potential problems you might stumble upon, and a whole lot of dust and debris standing between you and the kitchen you’ve always wanted.
Now that we’ve scared you into never wanting to remodel your kitchen in the first place, let’s build your confidence back up to rip those ugly old cabinets out and get the kitchen you deserve.
First Things First: Setting a Budget For Your Kitchen Remodel
If you’re looking for something a bit more extravagant, however, expect to pay no less than $20,000 for a small kitchen. And if you’re changing the layout or removing walls, that could easily double or triple. It all comes down to what you want and how comfortable you are with making the investment. Your Return on Investment when you sell your home will help recoup some of your money, but it’s highly unlikely that you’ll get all of it back. Typically, a small NJ kitchen remodel will net you about 65% return, while a more luxury oriented kitchen may only see a 45% return, due to the high cost of the renovation.
You can make the most of your budget by dividing the remodel up into items you’re willing to splurge on, and items you can live with being more frugal on. Depending on the quality of your old cabinets and appliances, you could potentially resell those for a little extra money to put towards your renovation.
No matter how much you plan and budget, though, there’s bound to be something unexpected pop up in the middle of the renovation. Be safe and budget yourself an extra 10% or so just for these surprises. You’ll thank yourself later for having a little extra breathing room when the budget starts running out.
Getting Your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel Started
Pick a Kitchen Design Style
As you’ll soon find out, there are a ton of different design styles to choose from, from Traditional to ultra-modern to French farmhouse and everything in between. However, don’t feel tied to a particular style. It’s possible to seamlessly blend different styles together. Called a “transitional” kitchen, you can take complementary design elements and mix them to form one cohesive show-stopping design.
But no matter which style speaks to you the most, always keep an open mind when you meet with your designer. It’s likely that he or she will have some great ideas to make the most of your space. And you can bounce ideas off each other to create a space that’s truly inspiring.
Choosing a Kitchen Remodeling Contractor
A complete NJ kitchen remodel isn’t typically the type of project you’d want to DIY. There are so many variables and things that could go wrong that unless you’re only doing visual modifications like painting the cabinets or changing the doors, you really should let a professional contractor handle this one.
Picking a contractor shouldn’t be taken lightly. Start off by researching remodelers in your area on sites like Houzz, HomeAdvisor, and Google. It’s also a good idea to ask your friends and family for recommendations.
The vast majority of contractors offer a free in-home consultation to make sure it’s a project they’re capable of doing. It’s a great way to get a feel for how you connect with the designer and project manager. You should never be held to any sort of commitment when you ask for a consultation, so if you’re asked for a deposit before you’ve even had a chance to meet the contractors, run the other way!
It’s important that you feel comfortable with your contractor, and that your contractor feels confident in achieving your goals. Here at Amiano & Son Construction, we take extra care to ensure you’re confident in us, and that we’re confident we can complete your project on time and on budget.
We’ve been remodeling kitchens in New Jersey since 1968 and we’ve found that it’s best to be honest about our abilities and never promise we can do a project that we don’t feel can be executed within the timeline and budget you need. But don’t just take our word for it, we have dozens of great reviews from our 100% Satisfied Customers and many of them have come back time and time again for new projects.
But whether you choose Amiano & Son Construction for your project or someone else, we hope that your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel creates the kitchen of your dreams and your family gets to enjoy it for years to come.
Preliminary Designs
Once you’ve chosen a NJ kitchen remodeling contractor you’ll be spending quite a bit of time with the designer to ensure you’re both on the same page design-wise. This is a good time to share your Houzz Ideabook with the designer so you can collaborate together to put together a design that you’ll truly love.
Once your designer has a grasp on what it is you’re wanting and a good idea of your budget, he or she can begin the process of ensuring that your wishes and your budget match and begin curating the design of your dreams.
At Amiano & Son Construction, our designers will show you an accurate 3D rendering of your future home to give you the best grasp on how your home will look after the remodel. There’s no better way to experience the design before we start demolishing your current kitchen. It’s also a great opportunity to make design changes before construction starts as excessive change orders are the number one reason projects go over budget.
Going to Contract on Your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel
At the contract signing meeting, you’ll also be expected to make a project deposit to protect both the contractor and yourself. This ensures commitment by both parties to fulfill their ends of the agreement. The size of this deposit can vary and is something you will negotiate when you discuss payment terms.
If you’re fortunate enough to have the cash on-hand to fund your entire project, making your deposit and milestone payments will be a breeze. However, if you’re like most homeowners and don’t have the cash in readily available liquid form, you’ll need to get your hands on it somehow. Whether that’s through a personal loan or traditional financing is up to you, but you’ll want to ensure your ducks are lined up before you go to contract.
Kitchen Remodel Construction Process
If you have pets or children that will be in the home while construction is going on, you’ll want to ensure they are kept at a safe distance away from the project area. A good NJ kitchen remodeler will always keep the work area tidy and clean the area at the end of each day, but there will still be dangerous tools that could easily hurt kids or pets.
At Amiano & Son Construction we’ll also give you access to a personalized online portal with tons of information about your project timeline, what’s going on at any given time, photos throughout the construction phase and loads more information to keep you up to date on the entire process. This online portal gives you direct access to everything going on day in and day out. You’ll also be assigned a personal Project Manager who will ensure everything goes smoothly and will have frequent direct contact with you to ensure you’re always in the loop and that the project is going to your satisfaction.
But what may surprise you the most about the NJ Kitchen Remodel process is just how fast the whole thing goes. Most of the demolition can be completed in just a few days meaning your house will have already undergone a complete transformation before that first week ends. Depending on how extravagant your NJ kitchen remodel is the reconstruction phase could begin within the first couple weeks.
The overall timeline for your kitchen remodel will depend entirely on how much your home will change during the renovation, what type of unforeseen problems arise during the remodel, and whether you implement change orders during the process.
How to Keep Your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel on Budget
To avoid these unnecessary fees, you can ensure that you’re certain of your NJ kitchen remodel design in the beginning when you first start working with your designer and see the 3D rendering. We always recommend to really focus on the design and compare it to the ideabook you created in the beginning. This will help refresh your memory about things you first fell in love with.
If you’re certain you want to go ahead with a change order, though, work with your designer to make the change as efficiently as possible.
Your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel is Complete
As your South Jersey Kitchen Remodel is coming to an end, your contractor should complete a final inspection to ensure your NJ kitchen remodel was done perfectly and that there were no details missed. This is a great time to point out any little nuance you’ve discovered so that it can be corrected. It’s also a great time to provide feedback to help your contractor address anything you weren’t satisfied with and reinforce the things you loved.
At Amiano & Son Construction, we like to use this as an opportunity to celebrate your new home design with you and to give our heartfelt thanks for trusting your home to us.
