As someone who appreciates the culinary arts, you may have yearned for a perfect environment to refine your cooking skills. So, it’s not surprising that when you have the time and money available to renovate your home, one of the first things you probably think about is remodeling your kitchen to get the one you’ve always wanted.
A good place to start is by going to some local home improvement stores, thumbing through remodeling magazines, and visiting Gilmans Kitchen and Bath website. Then, once you have a much clearer vision of the type of kitchen that will match the style of your house, hire an experienced kitchen designer to help you rethink the sink-stove-refrigerator triangle. They can also help you decide what type of custom stainless range hoods, cabinets, appliances, and fixtures to buy and assist with figuring out what kind of flooring, sink, tiles, and baseboards to install.
Unfortunately, when it comes to kitchen remodeling, it’s easy to become entranced with the look-and-feel of the kitchen and focus entirely on the quality of the wood used for the cabinets, the length and breadth of the island, the contrasting colors of the walls, the best pattern to tile the floor, or the high-tech functionality of the latest appliances. However, if you aim to do a thorough job, then three areas that you must not neglect are plumbing, electricity, and environmental health.
Let’s take a closer look at why it’s essential to replace older plumbing, upgrade an outdated electrical system, and install an eco-friendlier floor.
How to Replace Older Plumbing
Since the walls will probably be opened up during a renovation, you should take advantage of this opportunity to replace older plumbing. If it hasn’t already started to break or leak, it’s likely to happen in the future. Some things to consider are replacing shutoff valves, running a gas line if you previously used an electric stove, adding a shutoff box for your refrigerator, installing a clean-out, and replacing the galvanized plumbing under the sink.
How to Upgrade an Electrical System
There are many kinds of electrical jobs that you might discover you need if your kitchen is outdated. It’s best to work with an electrician even on small electrical projects. For one thing, you will avoid making dangerous mistakes, and, for another, they may be able to offer you better suggestions on how to upgrade the electrical system.
If you’re living in an older home, your wiring may not even conform to code. In that case, it’s important to replace all your wiring and possibly even upgrade your circuit breaker box up to 200 amps. The main thing, apart from the range hood and refrigerator, is that all your appliances should have their own dedicated circuit.
You may want to add overhead lighting and recessed fixtures and under-cabinet lighting. You may also want to check out the wiring for the dishwasher, for the garbage disposal, and for the range hood. And when it comes to receptacles, check out what you need for the range, the refrigerator, the microwave, and the countertops.
Another thing you may want to think about is using dimmer switches for all your lighting needs.
How to Install an Eco-Friendly Floor
When it comes to designing a modern kitchen, one wonderful trend is to focus on using green building materials. Besides giving your kitchen an ultra-modern look-and-feel, an eco-friendly floor will create a healthier room and preserve the environment. For instance, a green floor will not emit toxic volatile organic compounds, which are well-known for irritating the lungs.
You have a number of choices when it comes to flooring materials. For example, two popular materials are cork or bamboo. Cork creates a warm look, but if your kitchen gets a lot of natural light, the sunlight could turn the cork yellow. Meanwhile, bamboo may be a grass, but it has the apparent properties of wood and comes in either vertical or horizontal patterns. Be sure to only use bamboo that doesn’t contain formaldehyde. These two materials, of course, are not your only choices, so you may have to do some research to make a final decision.
In conclusion, renovating your kitchen isn’t just about making it look good. Also consider apex hood cleaning Tacoma and ways to improve plumbing, electricity, and flooring materials.
