PORTFOLIO

The house and what the owners wanted

A water leak in late summer 2018 soaked the kitchen floor. We pulled up the vinyl and the thin board under it, set up dust walls, and ran a dehumidifier to dry the wood floor base before anything else happened.

The owners wanted the kitchen back with better storage. No matching stone was available for the countertop.

What was built

Cabinets and counters

The kitchen has new oak base cabinets with sliding shelves and organizer inserts, and new oak upper cabinets. The original quartz countertop and backsplash were taken off, stored, and set back on the new cabinets.

A new microwave hood sits over the range. The pantry has a new door.

Floors and trim

The kitchen floor is Marmoleum, a linoleum. Where the leak reached into the dining room, we patched the oak flooring. Then the oak floors in the dining and living rooms were sanded and refinished.

New stained baseboards run through the rooms, and the kitchen window has a new frame lining, sill and trim.

What made it interesting

Under the kitchen, the leak had reached the framing. We added new floor framing (joists) alongside the damaged ones, treated the remaining rot spots with a copper wood preservative, and put in new floor insulation and a new wood floor base.

Our underfloor inspection found more. The dining room floor sagged, and two concrete piers under the entry landing and stairs had settled so far that their posts no longer touched them. Water had washed out the soil under the foundation at the front door and below the French doors to the deck.

We supported and straightened the dining room floor, supported the entry landing and stairs, and filled the gaps under the foundation with concrete.

Cost context

Kitchen remodels typically run $60,000 to $150,000 in our area today. Reusing the countertop kept this one lower. See our cost guide.