My kitchen sink drain was leaking inside the wall and we decided to replace the whole kitchen which previously had water damage from a leaking shower drain from the second floor. You can see the damaged wall with paint flaked off near the stove. They had to cut the drywall on the ceiling to fix the shower drain and hence you see a fake vent on the ceiling.
I knew I can't afford a Kitchen contractor which likely costs $25k to $40k for a new 10x10 kitchen so I didn't bother to get a quote and waste their time. Yes, I am cheap and I rather put the extra cash into my kids' college funds.
My neighbor was using a handyman for their floor and bathroom renovation and the quality seems good enough for me so I decided to hire him to replace my kitchen update my bathrooms. For the kitchen, he is charging me $6500 for total labor (Originally $6200 but I asked for quartz backsplash and quartz bay window which the stonecutters charged the handyman more). Cabinets/sink/quartz/hardware cost another $4800. Tiles, paint and everything else cost around another $700. He pays for the stonecutters.
Cabinet boxes are made of Plywood. The drawers and doors are made of solid wood but some of the woods are joined from more than 1 pieces. I am not sure what the is name of this type of wood. We are almost done. They just need to add door knobs and trims. Here are the likes and dislikes:
Dislikes:
1) Since we are buying premade cabinets, we were not able to fit everything well so there are gaps are covered by fillers. I am not sure why they don't have enough cabinets with various widths to avoid gaps.
2) He didn't sand the ceiling on the previous paint before painting. I didn't have a chance to ask him to sand since I thought it is done normally for better adhesion. Although it is the same color.
Likes:
1) He replaced the cracked drain pipe. He replaced two areas with new drywalls, patched, sanded, primed and painted everything before installing the cabinets even though most of the walls will be hidden.
2) The tile installation is very good. The gaps are consistent and the tile is flush with the wooden floor with no transition molding required.
3) His stonecutters which he hired and paid did a fabulous job. I can't see the joints from 2 to 3 feet away. I can hardly feel the joints when I run my fingers over. They put the same quartz on the bay window and backsplash.
Conclusion: I get a new kitchen for $12k. Obviously, it is not going to be as nice as a $30k kitchen but I saved $18k. My neighbor recently remodeled their kitchen for $30k and even though their cabinet installation quality is a little bit nicer my countertop and backsplash is much better installed with much smaller gaps. I am quite happy with the renovation.
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