Pardon Our Dust Remodel: Modest Kitchen Is Top Drawer


Home Blog Send Email: kathyprice@aol.com *Pardon Our Dust* Submit a Project for "Pardon Our Dust" "Pardon Our Dust" Archives	MODEST KITCHEN REMODEL IS TOP DRAWER Photo Album Project: Kitchen remodel (3-part series) Run dates: May 12, 19, 26, 2002 Location: North Hollywood Method: Owner as contractor Duration: 29 days Cost: $15,700 Bernie Van De Yacht sounded a little alarmed as he emerged from his dust-strewn kitchen. "A problem arose already," he said. It was the first day of the first remodel of his first house, and he had meticulously planned every phase. A chunk of ceiling had unexpectedly come loose. This was not part of the plan, not part of the budget and not part of the tight two-week time frame. But it was too late to turn back. In January, on Day 1 of what became a four-week, $15,700 kitchen remodel, Bernie and his wife, Val--after three years of dreaming, designing, plotting and preparing--anticipated the project would take two weeks and cost $13,900 to complete. Their goal: Gut the 1927 home's bland kitchen, with its tired 1960s and '70s look, and transform it into what Bernie called an "American farmhouse '50s thing." But as the couple, both 38, were to discover during the next month, remodeling a vintage home usually entails facing and fixing a series of unforeseen problems. "No matter how organized you are," Bernie said, "things will go wrong." After discussing the damage with their carpenter-cabinetmaker, Chris Trauger, the Van De Yachts learned they could either drywall the ceiling or cover it with old-fashioned tongue-and-groove wood. Despite the setback, Bernie and Val were exhilarated that Day 1 had arrived at last. Outside their North Hollywood English Tudor home, a carpenter's red work truck brimmed with the broken-down cabinets and counters, which that morning had constituted the kitchen. The couple had been anticipating demolition day since 1999, when they bought the 1,100-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage that satisfied their No. 1 requirement for a house--character. The kitchen's humdrum brown cabinets, linoleum floor and harvest gold appliances, which looked like something from a '60s or '70s remodel, were out of step with the home's charms--a steeply pitched roof, open-beam ceilings, wood floors, French windows, brick fireplace and arched front door. It's the kind of pristine, story book-style house that causes passersby to stop and ask for a tour. In their first two years of homeownership, the couple took care of what Bernie calls "the basics." They took out the ineffective wall heater and put in central heat. "This house was so cold, I cried," Val said. They stripped the white paint off the beams, refinished the floors, replaced a few windows and gave on Old World paint job to the distinctive orange peel-textured plaster. For a personal touch, they painted into a wall nook a gold star reminiscent of the gilding in the church where they were married in 1996. But after a year the Van De Yachts were sick of the dreary brown kitchen. Aware that a kitchen remodel still was a way off, they brightened the room with a coat of white paint and a refurbished vintage stove. To organize their various home improvement plans and projects, Bernie, who works as an actor, put together a thick notebook with section dividers for each room. Each section contained before photos of the room from various angles, plus clippings from magazines showing details or overall themes representing the couple's ideal plan for the room. The section devoted to the kitchen was dominated by a picture of an old-fashioned room with a rough wood floor, white cabinets with glass doors, a multi-paned window and a wide, farm-style sink with a front apron. Details tacked on the same page show a cabinet door with a stamped metal insert and a wall of distressed brick. Besides better aesthetics, Bernie and Val wanted a better-functioning kitchen. While the space would remain small (10 by 10 feet), it could be used more wisely. The sink area was tight, with the microwave occupying the counter to the left of the sink, and a dish drainer taking over the counter to the right. The blender and toaster sat on the microwave, and all were plugged into the only outlet on that side of the kitchen, awkwardly positioned just below the sink. "It was awful," recalled Val, the cook of the household. A stickler for cleanliness, she wanted to get a dishwasher and get rid of the dish drainer. With careful planning, the microwave could be relocated to a shelf in a cabinet. As the ideas and financing for the kitchen remodel came together last year, Bernie and Val, who would act as their own general contractor and hire out individual tasks, used the time-honored method for finding remodeling professionals: They asked around. Their floor refinisher, Raymond Sjolseth, suggested Chris Trauger of Champion Cabinets in Simi Valley. Sjolseth had not met Trauger but had seen his high-quality work on other jobs. Trauger wasn't looking for more work at the time. A finish carpenter for more than 20 years, he is typically scheduled months in advance. The Van De Yachts' job was smaller than Trauger usually takes on, he told them, but the job appealed to him, and he signed on. Trauger agreed to demolish and haul away most of the old cabinets, leaving some bases in place to be fitted with new doors and drawers. He would build new cabinets around the sink and around the refrigerator on the opposite wall, install ridged bead board on the ends, and build a knickknack shelf above the stove. Trauger gave Val and Bernie the names of the other subcontractors they ultimately hired for the electrical, plumbing, counter-top and masonry work. To keep track of the money, Val created a simple Excel spreadsheet. Part owner of a women's gym, she has budgeting know-how from her previous job in development at Disney. If the Van De Yachts had hired a general contractor to coordinate and oversee the job, it would have cost 20% to 40% more. As neophyte contractors, they had a lot of pertinent questions. In retrospect, Val said she would have researched the remodeling process much more thoroughly before the job started. But none of that was known on demolition day, and the couple were filled with anticipation, along with some anxiety. How would the new refrigerator (boxed up in the garage with the rest of the materials) fit through the narrow doorway? Would the gray counter top go with the rest of the kitchen? Would a '50s kitchen look out of place in a '20s home? Ultimately, optimism took over. Just hours after part of the ceiling peeled away with the old cabinets during demolition, Val was turning it into a positive. "I never liked that ceiling," she said. Part 2 As the sun set on the second day of Val and Bernie Van De Yacht's kitchen remodel, Bernie was philosophical about a day marked with delays, frustrations and bad news. "Well," he said, "every day can't be perfect." The previous day the cabinetmaker had arrived 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, then ripped out and hauled off most of the kitchen's old cabinets and counters. But when part of the ceiling peeled away with the cabinets, Val and Bernie faced their first unexpected and non-budgeted problem--redoing the ceiling. After three years of dreaming and months of planning, Val and Bernie, both 38, were creating a '50s farmhouse kitchen in their 1927 North Hollywood Tudor home. With a budget of $13,900 and a time frame of two weeks, they planned on new cabinets, some with stamped metal sheeting in the doors, a nostalgic farm-style sink, granite-like Silestone counters, distressed brick behind the stove, a retro-style Northstar refrigerator and a rustic pine floor. Day 2 called for electrician James Witczak to install the wiring for new outlets--always needed in older homes--and for the plumber to add rough fittings and pipes for the sink, garbage disposal and dishwasher. Before the job started, the couple enjoyed the jokes of the easy-going electrician, who is also a magician and member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood. The jokes faded, however, as Witczak struggled to cut new outlets into the sturdy wall construction. "Lath and plaster is a [phrase] I won't soon forget," Bernie said, "since I heard it cursed about 50 times today." Work had started later than planned on Day 2, and that concerned Bernie, who wanted to keep the job on track. Knowing that subcontractors juggle several jobs at a time, Bernie perfected a phone-calling strategy to get them there on time: First, he called with a "soft warning," then a "firm warning" and finally a "solid warning." "Organization is the key," Bernie had said initially. As he learned that a vintage home remodel can take unforeseen turns, however, he changed his time frame from two weeks to one month. The budget would also increase, to $15,730. Day 2 brought news that a close relative had been diagnosed with cancer. With the remodel in full swing, Val was crying one minute and ordering antique accessories off EBay the next. But they pressed on. A bright spot in Bernie's day was polishing a round aluminum cover for a chute, part of the original house, that channels trash from an opening in the countertop to a box on the outside of the house. "Oh, the small pleasures," he said. Day 3 found Val and Bernie at the hospital with their relative while the electrician finished up at the house. With the kitchen out of commission, the couple ordered takeout for dinner. This delighted Val, who shuffled through a stack of menus for Indian, Thai and Italian cuisine. "It's like a vacation." For breakfasts and lunches, they kept a supply of energy bars and other nonperishables in the dining room, along with paper plates and plastic forks, and kept drinks and dairy products in a garage refrigerator. They offered their tradesmen cold drinks each time they arrived. Before long, the remodel took on a rhythm. The carpenter would install some cabinets on Day 4, a Friday, and a plasterer would patch holes on Saturday. On Monday, the cabinetmaker would be back to do more work. The sense of progress sat well with Bernie. "Bada bing, bada boom," he said. After the cabinets were in, the couple decided they didn't like the brass hinges that cabinetmaker Chris Trauger had chosen, so Trauger changed them for nickel hinges Val ordered from the Internet. That evening, Val and Bernie tore the old paint-covered wallpaper off the damaged ceiling and weighed their choices for repairs: having it plastered or covered with tongue-and-groove wood. As part of their nightly routine, they also thoroughly cleaned the kitchen in preparation for the next day's workers. By Day 4, Bernie and Val eased up their intense supervision of the job, mainly because they were so busy--Val with the gym she co-owns, Curves for Women in Newhall, Bernie with his acting and writing career, and both with visits to the hospital. "You have to trust that you can leave your workers alone and hope they know what they're doing," Bernie said. On Saturday, the places disturbed by the electrical and plumbing work were patched by plasterer Terry Carver, whom the couple had met during daily jaunts to Starbucks. When Carver said the bill was only $80, Bernie upped that to $100. Sunday was a down day, and, as it turns out, so was Monday. On many weekends during the remodel, the couple visited their favorite shopping grounds for '50s collectibles, a swap meet in Santa Monica. Trauger installed the rest of the cabinets on Tuesday, Day 8 of the remodel. He also quoted the Van De Yachts a price of $610 for the tongue-and-groove ceiling and though it wasn't in the original budget, the couple said yes. Billy Smith, a stone and tile installer, came by with the white tile for the backsplash. When Bernie discovered the tile was the wrong size, Smith cleared it up with a phone call. The big event for Tuesday was delivery of the counter tops, which are made of Silestone, an engineered product of ground granite. Val and Bernie chose gray with shiny bits of quartz throughout. "Slight problem," Bernie said, when the counter arrived. It had an inch-long gouge in it. While Bernie "didn't want to come off as snooty oh-there's-a-little-scratch-take-it-away type of people," he said he figured that for the price he paid, $1,350, "it just wasn't acceptable." The counter fabricator agreed to return the next day with an unblemished piece. When the counter came back on Day 9, it didn't matter to Bernie whether the gouged section was repaired or replaced. "It looks great," he said. "Who knows what they did to it? Who cares?" No one seemed to know how it occurred, but about this time a hinge broke off the newly polished aluminum cover for the trash chute. This bothered Bernie, who figured it was damaged when the counter was being installed. "Things get broken in life, right?" Bernie said, who tried to find out what happened. "But when someone won't admit it...." Bernie called Trauger, who had hired the counter installer. "Don't worry about it," Trauger said. "I'll take care of it." Later, Bernie laughed when Trauger said he saw the "angry side of Bernie." "Apparently they think we're really nice," Bernie said. "We're not that nice. We're really picky." Floor refinisher Raymond Sjolseth characterized the couple as "meticulous" and easy to work for because "they know exactly what they want, which is rare." In a domino effect, the delay caused by the counter set the tile setter back, and he agreed to start his work on Thursday, Day 10. Over the following three days, he and a helper installed the brick on the walls behind the stove--where the couple wanted an old, rustic look--and the white tile on the backsplash. Val and Bernie fretted about the grout. Was it too dark? Smith assured them it would lighten as it dried. On Day 14, the couple's plumber returned to install the sink, Chicago faucets, garbage disposal and super-quiet Asko dishwasher. Johnny Van Diepen, owner of Pipe Dreams Plumbing Co., not only solved a problem when the sink and faucets didn't quite match up, but later fixed a faulty stove knob that caused the burner to sputter out when turned low. "Now I can simmer," Val said. With everything falling into place, roughly midway between the destruction of the old, bland room and the completion of the cozy farmhouse kitchen, Bernie's self-confidence faltered. "The doubt is starting to creep in," he said. "It's really hard to visualize the end product when it's in this stage." The biggest unknown was whether the paint--a creamy white for the cabinets and ceiling, and pale pink for the walls--would tie it all together. "You do your best to pick out the right elements and then just hope that when they're installed they work well together," Bernie said. "I'm probably just worrying over nothing. Right?" Part 3 A little more than halfway through Val and Bernie Van De Yacht's remodel, the realization of the cozy '50s farmhouse kitchen the couple had planned for months seemed very far off. Still to come were the ceiling, the floor and the paint. Work on the North Hollywood English Tudor seemed to move quickly during the action-packed demolition and construction phases but then took on a slow-motion quality during the drawn-out finishing stage. This is often the time in a remodel when homeowners get tired of having the contractor around, and the contractor gets tired of being there. With Val and Bernie acting as the contractor, they were not upset at anyone in particular (in fact they were happy with all their subcontractors, all of whom are licensed) but with the situation itself. Val was tense and "sick of having people in my house, especially in the morning." Bernie had started with a clear idea of the look he was after but now wasn't sure if the assorted materials, products, textures and colors he and Val selected would all blend together. Plus, the nightly takeout meals, which Val loved two weeks ago, now seemed "gross." She and Bernie hauled their new microwave out of its box in the garage with the hope of preparing dinner at home. Originally the Van De Yachts figured the make-over would cost $13,900 and take two weeks to complete. The time frame ultimately doubled, and the final cost rose to $15,700. From demolition day to this point, the old cabinets and counters had been hauled away and custom-built cabinets put in their place. One bank of existing cabinets was fitted with new front frames and doors. The electrical and plumbing fixtures were upgraded, a granite-type counter was glued down, and a new sink, faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher were installed. On Day 18 of the remodel, carpenter Chris Trauger installed a tongue-and-groove wood ceiling, a $610 expense that arose when part of the ceiling unexpectedly came down during demolition of the old cabinets. While Val and Bernie had briefly consider just having the ceiling replastered and painted, this solution to the problem was more beautiful than they had expected. "Look at the ceiling," Bernie said. "It's unbelievable." Renee Albert, a friend, came over on Day 21 to dab sand mixed with paint onto the brick behind the stove to give it the distressed look the couple wanted. For inspiration, they had visited a brick wall at Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards that Bernie said had the appearance he wanted. On the same day, Bernie started painting the kitchen and life grew more complicated. Not only was he painting from morning to late afternoon for four days straight, but in the evenings he was rehearsing a new play he wrote, "There's Something About Meryl," with his theater group. "I'm exhausted," he said. He had sought painting advice from Raymond Sjolseth, who had refinished Val and Bernie's floors when they first bought the house, and who would be installing the kitchen's pine floor when the painting was done. Although a small kitchen, at 10 square feet, it required a lot of painting, including a creamy white for the cabinets doors and wood ceiling (Val had first bleached dark spots and filled the nail holes with putty), and a pale pink for the walls. It took a coat of primer and two finish coats to produce the color they wanted. A flawless paint job was crucial for Val, who has a sensitive eye for dents, scratches and blemishes. Bernie, on the other hand, considers himself an "overall person." "If I look in a room and it feels good, I know it's right," he said. When the painting was finally done, Bernie said: "I'll be happy if I never pick up another paintbrush again." In retrospect, he would hire someone to do it. The last major task for the remodel was installing the wood floor, which was done by Sjolseth and his stepfather, Dan Hemmingway, owner of Square Deal Floor Co. The team started at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, Day 26 of the remodel, and finished at 7 p.m. To give the finger-joint pine floor a rustic look, the strips were variously cut into 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-inch widths. Then, the top edges were beveled so that it had a hand-grooved look when installed. Over the next three days, the floor was sealed and stained with a natural teak color and given two coats of non-yellowing polyurethane. "The floor changes everything," Bernie said. "We can't stop looking at it." While some homeowners--harried by the rigors of living with a noisy, dusty and sometimes fume-filled construction site for weeks or months--begin to harbor ill feelings toward their contractors and subcontractors, for Val and Bernie it was just the opposite. While the floor was going in, they became friends with Sjolseth, 27, who lives less than a block away. He brought over his CDs to share his favorite music with the couple, and they invited him to their annual Academy Award-watching party. Installing the refrigerator, which the couple had worried would not fit through the doorway, was anti-climatic after someone suggested bringing it in with the refrigerator door wide open. The Van De Yachts chose a '50s-style 18-cubic-foot, frost-free Northstar with the lines of a '55 Chevy that ate up $3,000 of the budget. "It looks like a car came through the kitchen," Bernie said. By Day 29, Bernie declared the kitchen "done, done, done," then added: "Well, sort of." Putting away dishes and pans, the couple fretted that there wouldn't be enough space. But when they were down to the last box, they had space to spare. Even their knickknacks worked well in the remodeled room. An old iron painted by Val's grandmother became a doorstop. Bernie's mother's teapot rests on the shelf above the stove. A tulip on the refrigerator pays homage to their Dutch ancestry. As a final touch, Val and Bernie asked the carpenter to cut a cat-shaped opening in the door of the utility cabinet to allow their two indoor cats access to the litter box. The couple voted it their favorite thing in the kitchen. The kitchen done, the couple sat on a braided run in the middle of the room, sipped wine and basked in their creation. "Everything turned out much better than we expected," Bernie said. "There's not one thing we don't like." # # # Source Book: Carpentry subcontractor: Chris Trauger, Champion Cabinets, Simi Valley, (805) 526-5349. Masonry subcontractor: Billy Smith, (818) 718-6468. Tile vendor: California Tile Distributors, North Hollywood, (818) 846-5938. Plumbing subcontractor: John Van Diepen, Pipe Dreams Plumbing Company, (805) 526-2768. Electrical subcontractor: Electrician-Magician, James Witczak, (818) 347-0995. Flooring subcontractor: Dan Hemmingway, Raymond Sjolseth, Square Deal Floor Company, Moorpark, (805) 523-2844. Appliance vendor: Dan Deffenbaugh, Serv-well Appliances, Glendale, (818) 242-8881. Appliance vendor: Stevenson's Restaurant Supply, Ventura, (805) 650-6190, www.stevensons.com. Where the money went: Cabinets/carpentry: $3,315 Countertop: $1,350 Plumbing: $961 Electrical: $645 Painting: $300 Tile/brick installation: $1,053 Tile/brick purchase: $309 Floor: $1,730 Sink/dishwasher: $1,700 Refrigerator: $2,992 Plastering: $220 Ceiling: $610 Cabinet hardware: $382 Painting supplies: $163 TOTAL: $15,730 SPECIAL: EXCELLENT QUESTIONS FROM READER: Q: Hello, my name is David. I saw your article as I was having lunch and since I am in the business of construction and remodels found some points raised "Red Flags" from the point of a professional observer. Myself and my partner. Thank you for hearing me out, as I make these points: The cabinets are being removed from the job site in advance of the replacements being on site ready for install? ( Not a good practice, in our professional opinions, as with the following comments) During the removal, ceiling was damaged and the homeowner is billed for the repair ? ( This is the responsibility of the Cabinetmaker since it was caused by his efforts.) Mr. Witczak struggled to cut new outlets ? ( Was he Not prepared to do this job with proper tools ? ) Now this next item is a Major Sore Spot for us : Their nightly routine was to thoroughly Clean the kitchen for the next days workers !!! ( True professionals clean the work area Daily, especially when the area is inside the home of a Customer ) Next is the Plasterer that was found at a Starbucks... That's almost OK, I drink coffee too. The cabinetmaker offered a bid to repair the damage he was responsible for? I did not see any mention of a single Contractor being Licensed, or any mention of these people being members of the Better Business Bureau . ( This is a Sign of Trouble, from the Start) In all your experience, We tend to believe You Know these things !! Not that you had anything to do with the choices made by these homeowners, just that many people have zero knowledge on how to deal with remodels and look to sources such as yourself for guidance. Thank You for All Your Hard Work !!! David & Jilly A: Hi David: Thanks for your letter. Great sense of humor. The valid points you brought out show the weaknesses in my story. I did not do a good job of explaining these things, obviously. Here are a few more details: 1) The new cabinets were not on site when the old cabinets were demolished because of the extensive plumbing and electrical retrofitting that needed to take place before the new cabinets went in. Of course, in larger kitchens it will occur that no plumbing or electrical work is to be done behind some of the new cabinets, but not in this small kitchen. Having the cabinets on site before the rough plumbing and electrical were completed would have been a burden, given the tight quarters both inside and outside. 2) The ceiling wasn't really damaged by the cabinet maker, but by circumstances. Imagine a wallpaper-covered ceiling that has been painted over several times, as well as the molding above the cabinets. Over the years, the paint becomes of a piece. So when the cabinets and moldings were removed, the paint came with it, along with some of the wallpaper. It was a mess needing to be fixed, even though it didn't occur to the homeowners when they were figuring out their initial budget. I'm sure you've seen compromised elements in an existing house that the homeowners wanted to retain for budget reasons but which you knew should be replaced. If a general contractor had overseen this job, I'm sure he or she would have told the homeowners that the painted-over wallpaper ceiling should be replaced. 3) Even though the electrician had proper tools, working on lath and plaster is a hassle compared to the drywall most pros are used to. I don't fault him for his struggle. 4) As for the homeowners cleaning the site every night, this is where I really dropped the ball in explaining the situation. The workers did clean the site every day, but the homeowners said they just felt better going in there and giving it a more thorough cleaning. Plus, when there is no general contractor involved, who is going to be responsible for the daily cleaning? A general will sometimes employ a worker whose sole job is to clean jobsites at the end of the day. When homeowners assume the general contractor position themselves, they can either hire a similar worker, or clean the place themselves. And don't forget, as Bernie said himself, "We're really picky." 5) As for your last point about licensed subcontractors, I really messed up on this one. All the subcontractors are licensed, and I have copies of their business cards with their license numbers right there. I guess this didn't seem remarkable to me. Instead I was on the lookout for any unlicensed subcontractors that the Van De Yachts might have hired and, finding none, I forgot all about it. I should have mentioned that. Again, thanks for your excellent observations. Much appreciated. —Kathy

Pardon Our Dust

MODEST KITCHEN REMODEL IS TOP DRAWER

Project: Kitchen remodel (3-part series)
Run dates: May 12, 19, 26, 2002
Location: North Hollywood
Method: Owner as contractor
Duration: 29 days
Cost: $15,700

Bernie Van De Yacht sounded a little alarmed as he emerged from his dust-strewn kitchen. "A problem arose already," he said.

It was the first day of the first remodel of his first house, and he had meticulously planned every phase.

A chunk of ceiling had unexpectedly come loose. This was not part of the plan, not part of the budget and not part of the tight two-week time frame. But it was too late to turn back. In January, on Day 1 of what became a four-week, $15,700 kitchen remodel, Bernie and his wife, Val--after three years of dreaming, designing, plotting and preparing--anticipated the project would take two weeks and cost $13,900 to complete.
Their goal: Gut the 1927 home's bland kitchen, with its tired 1960s and '70s look, and transform it into what Bernie called an "American farmhouse '50s thing."

But as the couple, both 38, were to discover during the next month, remodeling a vintage home usually entails facing and fixing a series of unforeseen problems.

"No matter how organized you are," Bernie said, "things will go wrong."

After discussing the damage with their carpenter-cabinetmaker, Chris Trauger, the Van De Yachts learned they could either drywall the ceiling or cover it with old-fashioned tongue-and-groove wood.

Despite the setback, Bernie and Val were exhilarated that Day 1 had arrived at last. Outside their North Hollywood English Tudor home, a carpenter's red work truck brimmed with the broken-down cabinets and counters, which that morning had constituted the kitchen.

The couple had been anticipating demolition day since 1999, when they bought the 1,100-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage that satisfied their No. 1 requirement for a house--character.

The kitchen's humdrum brown cabinets, linoleum floor and harvest gold appliances, which looked like something from a '60s or '70s remodel, were out of step with the home's charms--a steeply pitched roof, open-beam ceilings, wood floors, French windows, brick fireplace and arched front door. It's the kind of pristine, story book-style house that causes passersby to stop and ask for a tour.

In their first two years of homeownership, the couple took care of what Bernie calls "the basics." They took out the ineffective wall heater and put in central heat. "This house was so cold, I cried," Val said.

They stripped the white paint off the beams, refinished the floors, replaced a few windows and gave on Old World paint job to the distinctive orange peel-textured plaster. For a personal touch, they painted into a wall nook a gold star reminiscent of the gilding in the church where they were married in 1996.
But after a year the Van De Yachts were sick of the dreary brown kitchen. Aware that a kitchen remodel still was a way off, they brightened the room with a coat of white paint and a refurbished vintage stove.

To organize their various home improvement plans and projects, Bernie, who works as an actor, put together a thick notebook with section dividers for each room. Each section contained before photos of the room from various angles, plus clippings from magazines showing details or overall themes representing the couple's ideal plan for the room.

The section devoted to the kitchen was dominated by a picture of an old-fashioned room with a rough wood floor, white cabinets with glass doors, a multi-paned window and a wide, farm-style sink with a front apron. Details tacked on the same page show a cabinet door with a stamped metal insert and a wall of distressed brick.

Besides better aesthetics, Bernie and Val wanted a better-functioning kitchen. While the space would remain small (10 by 10 feet), it could be used more wisely. The sink area was tight, with the microwave occupying the counter to the left of the sink, and a dish drainer taking over the counter to the right.

The blender and toaster sat on the microwave, and all were plugged into the only outlet on that side of the kitchen, awkwardly positioned just below the sink.
"It was awful," recalled Val, the cook of the household. A stickler for cleanliness, she wanted to get a dishwasher and get rid of the dish drainer. With careful planning, the microwave could be relocated to a shelf in a cabinet.

As the ideas and financing for the kitchen remodel came together last year, Bernie and Val, who would act as their own general contractor and hire out individual tasks, used the time-honored method for finding remodeling professionals: They asked around.

Their floor refinisher, Raymond Sjolseth, suggested Chris Trauger of Champion Cabinets in Simi Valley. Sjolseth had not met Trauger but had seen his high-quality work on other jobs.

Trauger wasn't looking for more work at the time. A finish carpenter for more than 20 years, he is typically scheduled months in advance.
The Van De Yachts' job was smaller than Trauger usually takes on, he told them, but the job appealed to him, and he signed on.

Trauger agreed to demolish and haul away most of the old cabinets, leaving some bases in place to be fitted with new doors and drawers. He would build new cabinets around the sink and around the refrigerator on the opposite wall, install ridged bead board on the ends, and build a knickknack shelf above the stove.
Trauger gave Val and Bernie the names of the other subcontractors they ultimately hired for the electrical, plumbing, counter-top and masonry work.

To keep track of the money, Val created a simple Excel spreadsheet. Part owner of a women's gym, she has budgeting know-how from her previous job in development at Disney.

If the Van De Yachts had hired a general contractor to coordinate and oversee the job, it would have cost 20% to 40% more. As neophyte contractors, they had a lot of pertinent questions. In retrospect, Val said she would have researched the remodeling process much more thoroughly before the job started.

But none of that was known on demolition day, and the couple were filled with anticipation, along with some anxiety. How would the new refrigerator (boxed up in the garage with the rest of the materials) fit through the narrow doorway? Would the gray counter top go with the rest of the kitchen? Would a '50s kitchen look out of place in a '20s home?

Ultimately, optimism took over. Just hours after part of the ceiling peeled away with the old cabinets during demolition, Val was turning it into a positive.
"I never liked that ceiling," she said.

Part 2

As the sun set on the second day of Val and Bernie Van De Yacht's kitchen remodel, Bernie was philosophical about a day marked with delays, frustrations and bad news. "Well," he said, "every day can't be perfect."

The previous day the cabinetmaker had arrived 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, then ripped out and hauled off most of the kitchen's old cabinets and counters. But when part of the ceiling peeled away with the cabinets, Val and Bernie faced their first unexpected and non-budgeted problem--redoing the ceiling.

After three years of dreaming and months of planning, Val and Bernie, both 38, were creating a '50s farmhouse kitchen in their 1927 North Hollywood Tudor home. With a budget of $13,900 and a time frame of two weeks, they planned on new cabinets, some with stamped metal sheeting in the doors, a nostalgic farm-style sink, granite-like Silestone counters, distressed brick behind the stove, a retro-style Northstar refrigerator and a rustic pine floor. Day 2 called for electrician James Witczak to install the wiring for new outlets--always needed in older homes--and for the plumber to add rough fittings and pipes for the sink, garbage disposal and dishwasher.

Before the job started, the couple enjoyed the jokes of the easy-going electrician, who is also a magician and member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood. The jokes faded, however, as Witczak struggled to cut new outlets into the sturdy wall construction.

"Lath and plaster is a [phrase] I won't soon forget," Bernie said, "since I heard it cursed about 50 times today."

Work had started later than planned on Day 2, and that concerned Bernie, who wanted to keep the job on track. Knowing that subcontractors juggle several jobs at a time, Bernie perfected a phone-calling strategy to get them there on time: First, he called with a "soft warning," then a "firm warning" and finally a "solid warning."

"Organization is the key," Bernie had said initially. As he learned that a vintage home remodel can take unforeseen turns, however, he changed his time frame from two weeks to one month. The budget would also increase, to $15,730.

Day 2 brought news that a close relative had been diagnosed with cancer. With the remodel in full swing, Val was crying one minute and ordering antique accessories off EBay the next. But they pressed on.

A bright spot in Bernie's day was polishing a round aluminum cover for a chute, part of the original house, that channels trash from an opening in the countertop to a box on the outside of the house. "Oh, the small pleasures," he said.

Day 3 found Val and Bernie at the hospital with their relative while the electrician finished up at the house. With the kitchen out of commission, the couple ordered takeout for dinner. This delighted Val, who shuffled through a stack of menus for Indian, Thai and Italian cuisine. "It's like a vacation."

For breakfasts and lunches, they kept a supply of energy bars and other nonperishables in the dining room, along with paper plates and plastic forks, and kept drinks and dairy products in a garage refrigerator. They offered their tradesmen cold drinks each time they arrived.

Before long, the remodel took on a rhythm. The carpenter would install some cabinets on Day 4, a Friday, and a plasterer would patch holes on Saturday.
On Monday, the cabinetmaker would be back to do more work. The sense of progress sat well with Bernie. "Bada bing, bada boom," he said.

After the cabinets were in, the couple decided they didn't like the brass hinges that cabinetmaker Chris Trauger had chosen, so Trauger changed them for nickel hinges Val ordered from the Internet.

That evening, Val and Bernie tore the old paint-covered wallpaper off the damaged ceiling and weighed their choices for repairs: having it plastered or covered with tongue-and-groove wood. As part of their nightly routine, they also thoroughly cleaned the kitchen in preparation for the next day's workers.

By Day 4, Bernie and Val eased up their intense supervision of the job, mainly because they were so busy--Val with the gym she co-owns, Curves for Women in Newhall, Bernie with his acting and writing career, and both with visits to the hospital. "You have to trust that you can leave your workers alone and hope they know what they're doing," Bernie said.

On Saturday, the places disturbed by the electrical and plumbing work were patched by plasterer Terry Carver, whom the couple had met during daily jaunts to Starbucks. When Carver said the bill was only $80, Bernie upped that to $100.

Sunday was a down day, and, as it turns out, so was Monday. On many weekends during the remodel, the couple visited their favorite shopping grounds for '50s collectibles, a swap meet in Santa Monica.

Trauger installed the rest of the cabinets on Tuesday, Day 8 of the remodel. He also quoted the Van De Yachts a price of $610 for the tongue-and-groove ceiling and though it wasn't in the original budget, the couple said yes.

Billy Smith, a stone and tile installer, came by with the white tile for the backsplash. When Bernie discovered the tile was the wrong size, Smith cleared it up with a phone call.

The big event for Tuesday was delivery of the counter tops, which are made of Silestone, an engineered product of ground granite. Val and Bernie chose gray with shiny bits of quartz throughout.

"Slight problem," Bernie said, when the counter arrived. It had an inch-long gouge in it. While Bernie "didn't want to come off as snooty oh-there's-a-little-scratch-take-it-away type of people," he said he figured that for the price he paid, $1,350, "it just wasn't acceptable."

The counter fabricator agreed to return the next day with an unblemished piece. When the counter came back on Day 9, it didn't matter to Bernie whether the gouged section was repaired or replaced. "It looks great," he said. "Who knows what they did to it? Who cares?"

No one seemed to know how it occurred, but about this time a hinge broke off the newly polished aluminum cover for the trash chute. This bothered Bernie, who figured it was damaged when the counter was being installed.

"Things get broken in life, right?" Bernie said, who tried to find out what happened. "But when someone won't admit it...."

Bernie called Trauger, who had hired the counter installer. "Don't worry about it," Trauger said. "I'll take care of it."
Later, Bernie laughed when Trauger said he saw the "angry side of Bernie."

"Apparently they think we're really nice," Bernie said. "We're not that nice. We're really picky."

Floor refinisher Raymond Sjolseth characterized the couple as "meticulous" and easy to work for because "they know exactly what they want, which is rare."
In a domino effect, the delay caused by the counter set the tile setter back, and he agreed to start his work on Thursday, Day 10.

Over the following three days, he and a helper installed the brick on the walls behind the stove--where the couple wanted an old, rustic look--and the white tile on the backsplash. Val and Bernie fretted about the grout. Was it too dark? Smith assured them it would lighten as it dried.

On Day 14, the couple's plumber returned to install the sink, Chicago faucets, garbage disposal and super-quiet Asko dishwasher. Johnny Van Diepen, owner of Pipe Dreams Plumbing Co., not only solved a problem when the sink and faucets didn't quite match up, but later fixed a faulty stove knob that caused the burner to sputter out when turned low. "Now I can simmer," Val said.

With everything falling into place, roughly midway between the destruction of the old, bland room and the completion of the cozy farmhouse kitchen, Bernie's self-confidence faltered.

"The doubt is starting to creep in," he said. "It's really hard to visualize the end product when it's in this stage."

The biggest unknown was whether the paint--a creamy white for the cabinets and ceiling, and pale pink for the walls--would tie it all together.

"You do your best to pick out the right elements and then just hope that when they're installed they work well together," Bernie said. "I'm probably just worrying over nothing. Right?"

Part 3

A little more than halfway through Val and Bernie Van De Yacht's remodel, the realization of the cozy '50s farmhouse kitchen the couple had planned for months seemed very far off. Still to come were the ceiling, the floor and the paint.

Work on the North Hollywood English Tudor seemed to move quickly during the action-packed demolition and construction phases but then took on a slow-motion quality during the drawn-out finishing stage. This is often the time in a remodel when homeowners get tired of having the contractor around, and the contractor gets tired of being there.

With Val and Bernie acting as the contractor, they were not upset at anyone in particular (in fact they were happy with all their subcontractors, all of whom are licensed) but with the situation itself.

Val was tense and "sick of having people in my house, especially in the morning."

Bernie had started with a clear idea of the look he was after but now wasn't sure if the assorted materials, products, textures and colors he and Val selected would all blend together.

Plus, the nightly takeout meals, which Val loved two weeks ago, now seemed "gross." She and Bernie hauled their new microwave out of its box in the garage with the hope of preparing dinner at home.

Originally the Van De Yachts figured the make-over would cost $13,900 and take two weeks to complete. The time frame ultimately doubled, and the final cost rose to $15,700.

From demolition day to this point, the old cabinets and counters had been hauled away and custom-built cabinets put in their place. One bank of existing cabinets was fitted with new front frames and doors. The electrical and plumbing fixtures were upgraded, a granite-type counter was glued down, and a new sink, faucet, garbage disposal and dishwasher were installed.

On Day 18 of the remodel, carpenter Chris Trauger installed a tongue-and-groove wood ceiling, a $610 expense that arose when part of the ceiling unexpectedly came down during demolition of the old cabinets. While Val and Bernie had briefly consider just having the ceiling replastered and painted, this solution to the problem was more beautiful than they had expected. "Look at the ceiling," Bernie said. "It's unbelievable."

Renee Albert, a friend, came over on Day 21 to dab sand mixed with paint onto the brick behind the stove to give it the distressed look the couple wanted. For inspiration, they had visited a brick wall at Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards that Bernie said had the appearance he wanted. On the same day, Bernie started painting the kitchen and life grew more complicated. Not only was he painting from morning to late afternoon for four days straight, but in the evenings he was rehearsing a new play he wrote, "There's Something About Meryl," with his theater group. "I'm exhausted," he said.

He had sought painting advice from Raymond Sjolseth, who had refinished Val and Bernie's floors when they first bought the house, and who would be installing the kitchen's pine floor when the painting was done.

Although a small kitchen, at 10 square feet, it required a lot of painting, including a creamy white for the cabinets doors and wood ceiling (Val had first bleached dark spots and filled the nail holes with putty), and a pale pink for the walls. It took a coat of primer and two finish coats to produce the color they wanted.
A flawless paint job was crucial for Val, who has a sensitive eye for dents, scratches and blemishes. Bernie, on the other hand, considers himself an "overall person."

"If I look in a room and it feels good, I know it's right," he said.

When the painting was finally done, Bernie said: "I'll be happy if I never pick up another paintbrush again." In retrospect, he would hire someone to do it.
The last major task for the remodel was installing the wood floor, which was done by Sjolseth and his stepfather, Dan Hemmingway, owner of Square Deal Floor Co. The team started at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, Day 26 of the remodel, and finished at 7 p.m.

To give the finger-joint pine floor a rustic look, the strips were variously cut into 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-inch widths. Then, the top edges were beveled so that it had a hand-grooved look when installed. Over the next three days, the floor was sealed and stained with a natural teak color and given two coats of non-yellowing polyurethane. "The floor changes everything," Bernie said. "We can't stop looking at it."

While some homeowners--harried by the rigors of living with a noisy, dusty and sometimes fume-filled construction site for weeks or months--begin to harbor ill feelings toward their contractors and subcontractors, for Val and Bernie it was just the opposite. While the floor was going in, they became friends with Sjolseth, 27, who lives less than a block away. He brought over his CDs to share his favorite music with the couple, and they invited him to their annual Academy Award-watching party.

Installing the refrigerator, which the couple had worried would not fit through the doorway, was anti-climatic after someone suggested bringing it in with the refrigerator door wide open. The Van De Yachts chose a '50s-style 18-cubic-foot, frost-free Northstar with the lines of a '55 Chevy that ate up $3,000 of the budget. "It looks like a car came through the kitchen," Bernie said.

By Day 29, Bernie declared the kitchen "done, done, done," then added: "Well, sort of." Putting away dishes and pans, the couple fretted that there wouldn't be enough space. But when they were down to the last box, they had space to spare.

Even their knickknacks worked well in the remodeled room. An old iron painted by Val's grandmother became a doorstop. Bernie's mother's teapot rests on the shelf above the stove. A tulip on the refrigerator pays homage to their Dutch ancestry.

As a final touch, Val and Bernie asked the carpenter to cut a cat-shaped opening in the door of the utility cabinet to allow their two indoor cats access to the litter box. The couple voted it their favorite thing in the kitchen.

The kitchen done, the couple sat on a braided run in the middle of the room, sipped wine and basked in their creation.

"Everything turned out much better than we expected," Bernie said. "There's not one thing we don't like."

# # #

Source Book:

Carpentry subcontractor: Chris Trauger, Champion Cabinets, Simi Valley, (805) 526-5349.
Masonry subcontractor: Billy Smith, (818) 718-6468.
Tile vendor: California Tile Distributors, North Hollywood, (818) 846-5938.
Plumbing subcontractor: John Van Diepen, Pipe Dreams Plumbing Company, (805) 526-2768.
Electrical subcontractor: Electrician-Magician, James Witczak, (818) 347-0995.
Flooring subcontractor: Dan Hemmingway, Raymond Sjolseth, Square Deal Floor Company, Moorpark, (805) 523-2844.
Appliance vendor: Dan Deffenbaugh, Serv-well Appliances, Glendale, (818) 242-8881.
Appliance vendor: Stevenson's Restaurant Supply, Ventura, (805) 650-6190, www.stevensons.com.

Where the money went:

Cabinets/carpentry: $3,315
Countertop: $1,350
Plumbing: $961
Electrical: $645
Painting: $300
Tile/brick installation: $1,053
Tile/brick purchase: $309
Floor: $1,730
Sink/dishwasher: $1,700
Refrigerator: $2,992
Plastering: $220
Ceiling: $610
Cabinet hardware: $382
Painting supplies: $163
TOTAL: $15,730

SPECIAL: EXCELLENT QUESTIONS FROM READER:

Q: Hello, my name is David. I saw your article as I was having lunch and since I am in the business of construction and remodels found some points raised "Red Flags" from the point of a professional observer. Myself and my partner.
Thank you for hearing me out, as I make these points:
The cabinets are being removed from the job site in advance of the replacements being on site ready for install?
( Not a good practice, in our professional opinions, as with the following comments)
During the removal, ceiling was damaged and the homeowner is
billed for the repair ?
( This is the responsibility of the Cabinetmaker since it was caused by his efforts.)
Mr. Witczak struggled to cut new outlets ?
( Was he Not prepared to do this job with proper tools ? )
Now this next item is a Major Sore Spot for us :
Their nightly routine was to thoroughly Clean the kitchen for the next days workers !!!
( True professionals clean the work area Daily, especially when the area is inside the home of a Customer )
Next is the Plasterer that was found at a Starbucks... That's almost OK, I drink coffee too.
The cabinetmaker offered a bid to repair the damage he was responsible for?
I did not see any mention of a single Contractor being Licensed, or any mention of these people being members of the Better Business
Bureau . ( This is a Sign of Trouble, from the Start)
In all your experience, We tend to believe You Know these
things !! Not that you had anything to do with the choices made by these homeowners, just that many people have zero knowledge on how to deal with remodels and look to sources such as yourself for guidance.
Thank You for All Your Hard Work !!!
David & Jilly

A: Hi David:

Thanks for your letter. Great sense of humor. The valid points you brought out show the weaknesses in my story. I did not do a good job of explaining these things, obviously. Here are a few more details:

1) The new cabinets were not on site when the old cabinets were demolished because of the extensive plumbing and electrical retrofitting that needed to take place before the new cabinets went in. Of course, in larger kitchens it will occur that no plumbing or electrical work is to be done behind some of the new cabinets, but not in this small kitchen. Having the cabinets on site before the rough plumbing and electrical were completed would have been a burden, given the tight quarters both inside and outside.

2) The ceiling wasn't really damaged by the cabinet maker, but by circumstances. Imagine a wallpaper-covered ceiling that has been painted over several times, as well as the molding above the cabinets. Over the years, the paint becomes of a piece. So when the cabinets and moldings were removed, the paint came with it, along with some of the wallpaper. It was a mess needing to be fixed, even though it didn't occur to the homeowners when they were figuring out their initial budget. I'm sure you've seen compromised elements in an existing house that the homeowners wanted to retain for budget reasons but which you knew should be replaced. If a general contractor had overseen this job, I'm sure he or she would have told the homeowners that the painted-over wallpaper ceiling should be replaced.

3) Even though the electrician had proper tools, working on lath and plaster is a hassle compared to the drywall most pros are used to. I don't fault him for his struggle.

4) As for the homeowners cleaning the site every night, this is where I really dropped the ball in explaining the situation. The workers did clean the site every day, but the homeowners said they just felt better going in there and giving it a more thorough cleaning. Plus, when there is no general contractor involved, who is going to be responsible for the daily cleaning? A general will sometimes employ a worker whose sole job is to clean jobsites at the end of the day. When homeowners assume the general contractor position themselves, they can either hire a similar worker, or clean the place themselves. And don't forget, as Bernie said himself, "We're really picky."

5) As for your last point about licensed subcontractors, I really messed up on this one. All the subcontractors are licensed, and I have copies of their business cards with their license numbers right there. I guess this didn't seem remarkable to me. Instead I was on the lookout for any unlicensed subcontractors that the Van De Yachts might have hired and, finding none, I forgot all about it. I should have mentioned that.

Again, thanks for your excellent observations. Much appreciated.

—Kathy