What Kitchen?
Let me recap.
Back in February of 2021, our kitchen flooded when the dishwasher exploded. It ruined the floors and base cabinets. Insurance sent us a check and we said what the hell, let’s put in a new kitchen. It will be a low budget affair and we’ll done by Thanksgiving.
The kitchen is now substantially complete, just lacking some trim and paint. It cost 3 times what we set out to spend and took nearly a year to complete. But though all of this, we kept the kitchen in-service: the sink, stove, and refrigerator.
So, lets break it down by the components, starting with the cabinets.
The original plan was to go with Hampton Bay semi-custom cabinets from Home Depot. These are low cost but a substantial notch in quality above those in stock at the store. They’re frameless and come fully assembled. They’re made in China but presumably finished out here in the US. Because they are assembled, they take up a lot of room. My plan was to wait till I actually needed them…
One by one, delivery of the Hampton Bay cabinets slipped into 2022. I scrambled to find an alternative in the same price range and settled on framed RTA’s (ready to assemble) from a company called Forevermark. They arrived in boxes wrapped on one large pallet. The doors and frames are MDF, the boxes made from plywood. These originate from Thailand and Vietnam. Almost a third of the cost was the freight.
My issue with framed RTA cabinets is that there ends up being an unusable gap of about 3 inches between the cabinets where the frames butt up. Also, I installed a few 18-inch and 12-inch cabinets: anything less than 24-inch just isn't enough to store anything.
Here’s what I wish I had done: built out my own cabinet boxes out of sanded plywood and either bought the doors or made them myself. I wouldn’t have had to agonize over the cost, delivery or wasted spaces. I did build out the pantry cabinet myself. I could have done a better job on that, but it doesn’t diminish my confidence that I could built out the rest.
Counters: we went with a black Ubatuba granite from Brazil. Granite is found all over the US including Texas but most of it still imported. It was cut and installed by the supplier. It looks good and we’re happy with it. It looked easy enough to cut and polish on YouTube, but the installers did it in record time and acted like they had done it before.
The sink: I bought a deep stainless steel 60-40 split undermount sink made by Ruvati. It looks a bit industrial, but I like the size of it. I’m not sure, but I think I would have liked it to have just been one big tub. It come with a chopping board and drying rack that, honestly, just gets in the way. I ordered it from Amazon; made in China.
The back splash. I installed glass and ceramic interlocking mosaic tile I found at Home Depot using a peel-and-stick mastic tape. From a distance, it looks pretty good. It was hard to lineup up and keep the individual tiles straight. The tiles came in sheets that I flipped around and offset to keep the pattern random, but it looks wavy in spots and many of the tiles are crooked.?After it was installed and grouted in, I realized I could have used a straight edge between the tiles to keep them line up. I didn’t see anyone on YouTube doing that. These are also made in China.
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Electrical outlets: I installed Legrand power strips hidden under the cabinets. It takes some getting used to: finding an outlet that you can’t see takes some practice. I believe these are assembled somewhere in Connecticut or possible Mexico from parts likely made in China.
The floor. There are not that many things that can bring me to my knees, but the floor demoralized me to the full extent of any resounding defeat. My first attempt was with a luxury vinyl tile (LVT) from a company called Primo Florz. I didn’t order enough and when I went to buy the difference it was nowhere to be found.
I cut the tiles down so it would match and flow with the existing laundry room floor. What did get installed looked pretty good. It actually had the look and feel of real ceramic tile. This product once was made in China.
I replaced this and finished the kitchen floor, some 240 square feet, with a LVT made by Maddington in Vietnam. Though it was only a half a millimeter thinner that the Primo Florz, it’s less dense and far less forgiving over the imperfection of the floor underneath. It looks like tile, but it has the definite feel of Vinyl.
Here’s what I whish I had done: the Vinyl was a good choice. It’s more expensive than ceramic tile, but its durable and easy to install, despite getting the glue on everything. The bumps and valleys in the concrete floor were due to do the remnants of the old Linoleum that won’t give and the irregularity of the added-on sections of slab.
Should have either: a. Leveled the entire floor with concrete, or b. laid down sheets of tile underlayment, or c. installed a 5 or 7mm thick LVT that would have been more forgiving.
Most LVT is 2 -3mm thick. The thicker Vinyl usually comes interlocking plank that doesn't leave room for a grout line.
A common theme here is that the vast majority of residential quality construction materials found at DIY stores like Home Depot and online are made elsewhere, and this contributes to the nearly $1 Trillion trade deficit with the rest of the world. The deficit with China, the US’ largest trading partner, is about than a third of that.
For every $1.75 of exports, the US buys $3 of foreign made goods, leading the way as the largest importer of goods in world. China is second but its exports still exceed its import by roughly a $ trillion.?
The ongoing tension over Taiwan, if escalated, could have a larger impact on the world economy than Russia’s attack on Ukraine. However, the interdependence of our economies should be insurance of détente and is likely preventing WWIII anytime soon. We remain frenemies, like unhappy couples trapped in a marriage of convenience.
Now that the kitchen is almost done, détente in the Van Til household is definitely improving.?
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2 年I had a jog that lasted longer and cost more, It was the inspectors fault. I wish all the best.