We’re 99% sure we’ve settled on our contractor for the attic remodel. It was a tough decision, but his prices were right in the middle and he was recommended by someone we trust. We went over any discrepancies that may or may not have been included in his estimate, so we feel confident that we’re comparing apples to apples. He’s also more local than the other contractor we were considering.
He has given us preliminary estimates for plumbing and HVAC based on the plans, which was a little cheaper than other estimates we’ve received, so we’re having them come out on Monday to firm up the estimate and make sure it’s not too far off. I really hope they’re not far off the mark.
After talking it over, we’ve also decided not to do the mudroom at this point. Although I would love to do it and get it over with, it would save a bunch of money right now. Also, as the contractor pointed out, it ties in more with the future kitchen remodel.
I was half-hoping to replace our kitchen cabinets during all this, since this wall in the kitchen is coming down in order to widen the attic staircase, but instead I think we can rearrange the existing layout to make it work better, and it’ll be close to what I planned to do anyway I just won’t have beautiful new cabinets right now.
This will give us a trial run for a new layout without spending a lot of money on cabinets. I’d hate to remodel the kitchen and find out that the layout works on paper but not in practice.
To get one step closer to the kitchen of my dreams, however, I’m still going to get rid of that horrid butterfly sink. The sink has to be moved anyway because of the wall removal that alone is going to put a definite crimp in this project.
We may be able to hook up a temporary sink in its original and rightful place under the kitchen window, but that creates a domino effect and will displace the dishwasher. I’m hard-pressed to give up the dishwasher, especially since we’d have to make do with a small sink for a while (Pete thinks we have a small sink in the basement stashed away).
This is where the PO’s ingenuity may actually pay off: when he remodeled the bathroom, he had the plumber hook up a spigot in the hallway linen closet, just steps away from the kitchen, presumably to fill up buckets for cleaning and such. (One of the plumbing contractors we had here thought that was hysterical!)
So maybe we can keep the dishwasher, forgo the tiny sink, use the spigot to fill pots, etc. and then use the bathtub or basement laundry tub for other cleanup.
Unfortunately, that wall is likely to remain open for a while because the plumbing pipes for the upstairs bathroom will be routed through it. Looks like we’re going to experience the inconvenience of a kitchen remodel without the big payoff at the end.
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Nice post. A mudroom would be great and I’ve tried a lot of different mud rooms added into my future plans for our place, but it really comes down to getting in a second bathroom as our main priority. So, my future plan that I hope to post soon on my blog has a bench and a built in coat closet when you walk in the front door. Thats about as close to a mud room as I can get.