Remodeling a Kitchen Charlotte NC

7 Steps For Starting Your Kitchen Renovation- Demolition Time!

Before any remodeling project can begin, there is always going to be some demolition required. Depending on how far you are taking your kitchen renovation project, that could mean simply removing the countertops or stripping the room down to the bare studs. For many homeowners, the demolition can easily get out of hand when hammers and prybars are flying around. While it may be a good way to get our your aggresssion, it could result in more problems than you had before. Taking your time and actually disassembling the room versus demolishing it, is the smart way to go

Before any remodeling project can begin, there is always going to be some demolition required.   Depending on how far you are taking your kitchen renovation project, that could mean simply removing the countertops or stripping the room down to the bare studs.   For many homeowners, the demolition can easily get out of hand when hammers and prybars are flying around.   While it may be a good way to get our your aggresssion, it could result in more problems than you had before.   Taking your time and actually disassembling the room versus demolishing it, is the smart way to go.   Here are 7 steps to remodeling your kitchen.

1.  Think Safety.  If you are going to around any electrical outlets or plumbing, it is important to make sure that  both are turned off.  As we all know, accidentally hitting an electrical wire can prove painful, if not lethal.  While hitting a water line may not be lethal, it can sure cause a lot of headaches and a big mess.

2.  Protect The Items You Are Keeping.  For example, if your floors are in good shape, and you plan to keep them, it is important to cover them.  The last think you want to do, is damage something during demo or construction and increase your overall remodeling budget.

3.  Remove all Fixtures.  If you are planning to keep any of the lighting fixtures, knobs, faucets, etc.. it is important to remove them and put them in a safe place.  That way, when you are wildly swinging that hammer, you damage any of the fixtures you were planning on keeping.

4.  Save the Trim.  In most cases, you can usually save and re-use the mouldings and trim that you will find in the room.  By removing them now, you will prevent any accidental chips or dings when removing the countertops and cabinets.  Once you have the trim removed, start working on the countertops.   Depending on the type of countertop material, it may be as simple as using a utility knife to cut the caulk or paint between the countertop and the backsplash and cabinets.  For laminate or other artificial materials, you may also have to remove any screws that are holding the countertop to the cabinets.

5.  Removing the Countertops.  It is usually a good idea to have some extra hands to remove the countertops, but if you are trying to do it yourself, and it is a material like laminate, you can usually chop it into manageable pieces that you can haul out on your own.
 
6.  Base Cabinets.  Start by removing the drawers and any movable parts on your kitchen cabinets.  Once you have that off, it is time to climb into the cabinets and remove any of the screws that are anchoring the cabinets to the walls.  After the base cabinets are free from the walls, it is now time to separate them from each other.   Most base cabinets will be secure with screws as well, so by removing those screws you will be able to separate and remove all of the base cabinets.

7.  Taking Down the Wall Cabinets. When it comes to removing the wall cabinets it is a good idea to have an extra set of hands or a brace to support the cabinets.   Unlike the base cabinets, this time start by removing any of the screws that connect the cabinets to each other.  Once those are removed, you can start pulling out the screws that are holding each cabinet to the wall.  By starting the wall cabinets with the screws that are connecting them to each other, you can safely remove each cabinet individually.

Once the kitchen cabinets are removed, it is either time to strip the dryall or plaster off, or start patching so that you install your new cabinets.   By taking your time and not going with the sledge hammer approach to demolition, you can minimize the unneccessary damage and ensure that your project comes in under budget.

Source: RTAcabinetstore.com by Gary Nealon

www.LKNcabinets.com offers FREE kitchen cabinet quotes for the greater Charlotte, NC area

Fast Affordable Cabinets Lake Norman

Choosing A Good Quality Kitchen Cabinet

If you are planning for a kitchen renovation or shopping for a new kitchen, it is important to choose correctly what should go with your new kitchen. If you will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen, isn’t it just right to make it a functional space with all the possible comforts it can offer? Additionally, it should be durable to last for a long time and withstand against possible heavy use.

You will find that most kitchen cabinets are made of different kinds of materials, depending on the price tag. These are often made of particleboard, plywood, medium density fiberboard (MDF). Rarely can you find kitchen cabinets that are made completely out of solid wood.

Particleboard is the most commonly used cabinet material. The components of a particleboard consist of wood shavings, sawdust and other wood by-products. Pressure is used to glue these materials together. Particleboard exhibits outstanding screw-holding capacity.

Medium density fiberboard, or MDF, is a high-quality core material. This is made of finer components than particleboard. Unlike particleboard, MDF can be shaped because it has smoother and cleaner surface which can be painted.

Plywood is a composite material made of layers of wood plies. Its composition and the manner each ply is positioned provide this material equal strength in all directions. Plywood usually provides a good cabinet material, especially when it is covered by wood veneer. A cabinet made of plywood covered in wood veneer is referred to as solid-wood cabinet. Therefore, a solid wood mahogany cabinet that you may find in your favorite kitchen store may not at all be solid mahogany but is probably made of plywood covered in wood veneer. Bear in mind that it may only be plywood but it may still be a high quality product. It is often a common misconception that sheet goods like particleboard, medium density fiberboard and plywood possess lesser quality when used as a building material for kitchen cabinets compared with solid wood. On the contrary, sheet goods are even better than lumber in many ways. Solid wood is more expensive than sheet goods. Solid wood is poorly suited to most kitchen cabinet parts. It absorbs moisture. It is often unstable, as it shrinks and swells in response to humidity changes. It can warp and crack when used for sides, bottom, top and back of cabinets. Experts believe that even the best cabinets are made with plywood. However, cabinets made of particleboard or medium density fiberboard can sometimes exceed the quality of plywood made cabinets – depending on the manufacturer. Particleboards are usually used for cabinet interiors to reduce cost since these are cheaper compared with plywood. Cabinets made from these engineered wood products like particleboard, medium density fiberboard and plywood are considered solid wood once covered with veneer, or even paint.

Finally, wood finishing also provides an important factor in determining the quality of a kitchen cabinet. Factory finishes that are found in stock cabinets are more consistent, smoother and last longer compared with cabinets finished in custom shops. This is because large kitchen cabinet manufacturers utilize an automated finishing process. Automation results in a more consistent finish which small cabinetmakers find very expensive to maintain.

Discount Cabinets the Inside Scoop Charlotte, NC

Discount Kitchen Cabinets- A Lower Price Doesn’t Mean That You Have to Sacrifice Quality

As the price of wood continues to increase, so does the cost of products such as kitchen cabinets. “Cheap” cabinets no longer applies to the description of discount cabinets or rta cabinets. Find out how you can still get a great looking kitchen at a discount price and your neighbors will never be able to tell the difference!

 As the price of wood continues to increase, so does the cost of products such as kitchen cabinets. “Cheap” cabinets no longer applies to the description of discount cabinets or rta cabinets. Find out how you can still get a great looking kitchen at a discount price and your neighbors will never be able to tell the difference!

With the demand for cheaper building materials and the rapid housing boom a couple of years back, many kitchen cabinet manufacturers started looking overseas for a way to make a cheaper kitchen cabinet. In order to conform to the KCMA standards (Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association), they required the kitchen cabinet manufacturing plants overseas to increase the quality of the materials they used and increase the durability of the kitchen cabinets.

Discount kitchen cabinets or  RTA Kitchen Cabinets up until this time had been made of fiberboard or particleboard, with staples or dowels holding the cabinets together. Many of the cheap kitchen cabinets at that time had a veneer surface that would warp or buckle when it came in contact with too much water. Because of these inferior features, they didn’t compare to the cabinets that were being manufactured in the U.S.

With the improvements to meet the standards of the KCMA, discount kitchen cabinets are now being built with solid plywood sides, solid wood face frames and doors. and cam locks to hold the cabinet together. Cheap Cabinets is no longer the right description for rta kitchen cabinets. With the improvements in design and function, Cheap Cabinets is no longer the right description for rta kitchen cabinets. With the improvements in design and function, discount cabinets started being imported by more and more companies to provide an alternative to the name brand manufacturers in the US that were asking, in some cases, 2-3 times as much for their kitchen cabinets as discount kitchen cabinet importers were. Even the big box stores started carrying their own lines of rta kitchen cabinets or discount cabinets, in both knockdown and pre-assembled form.

There are some drawbacks to buying discount kitchen cabinets… most manufacturers only carry 5-6 different styles or finishes, which limits your choices. In order to get discount cabinets at their cheapest price, you have to buy them rta or ready-to-assemble, which requires additional time and labor to assemble them.

The good news is that with the cam lock assembly, most discount cabinet lines only require a screwdriver to assemble them. So before buying your new kitchen cabinets at retail price, may sure you stop to take a look at discount kitchen cabinets or rta cabinets. Thanks for improvements, it is now possible to get cheap kitchen cabinets at a discount price.

Source: RTAcabinetstore.com by Gary Nealon

www.LKNcabinets.com offers FREE kitchen cabinet quotes for the greater Charlotte, NC area