[00:00:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: It's around the house. So especially if you are hiring a contractor, I want to see if you were signed up with a contractor to do a kit tray model. I want to know how much they're planning for each knob. I wanna see that design done. I want to see H and everything budgeted out. I want to go to down that list from the contract that you're signing with your contractor and go.

[00:00:30] Eric Goranson, CKD: Here's your appliances. This is what they anticipate them costing. This is the cabins, these are the countertops. These are the quotes that are associated with that. How many pieces of hardware do we need? Knobs and handles. Trim, moldings, ventilation. What's the electrician? What's the plumber? Yes. You'll probably have to run new electrical circuits when it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know the, we've got you covered.

[00:00:55] Eric Goranson, CKD: This is around. Us Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we [00:01:00] help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, I've got a great subject I wanted to talk about today. The top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in a Kitchen Remodel in 2023. For any of you out there that are thinking about read to in That Kitchen, these are the top 10 mistakes you don't want to do now.

[00:01:20] Eric Goranson, CKD: A little insight information before we get into this. Uh, if you wanna get ahold of us, you can head over to around the House online dot. Or Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Just look around the House Show or myself, Eric G. You can find over there as well as, uh, little Inside Baseball here, uh, you will see up on social media.

[00:01:40] Eric Goranson, CKD: Another channel for me coming up, which will be from my around the House Northwest TV show. And we will be taking, uh, video submissions for that where you, if you have a home improvement question, you'll be able to submit that via your phone with a little selfie video, and then I will come on the show and we'll be answering some of those [00:02:00] questions for you each week.

[00:02:01] Eric Goranson, CKD: So stay tuned for that. Well, let's dive into this list because, uh, little background on me, 30 years of kitchen and bath design. I've been a certified kitchen designer since 1999, so it's one of those things that I've done this a bunch of times, so these are the top 10 mistakes not to do. All right, here we go.

[00:02:21] Eric Goranson, CKD: Number one on my list, not installing a vent hood that vents to the exterior of the home. Now this is something. Caught up this last couple weeks in the Let's Ban a gas range program that we saw out there, and I talked about it in that, but in every home in the United States, you should have a vet hood that vents outside completely outside these recirculating hoods.

[00:02:48] Eric Goranson, CKD: Nope, they're junk. And quite frankly, if it was up to me, I'd say we shouldn't be selling them here in the United States because they don't work. They do nothing to help your indoor air quality. At best, they put [00:03:00] this little paper, thin charcoal filter that really doesn't do anything. And they're not meant to get out, especially if you've got a gas appliance.

[00:03:09] Eric Goranson, CKD: But even if you've got the latest induction range when you're cooking, you're letting off VOCs, you're letting off particulate matter, and as air studies have shown inside your house, now this is key. If you're in their cooking, without that vent hood working and going, That gives you the indoor air quality of outside in the worst third world country in the.

[00:03:36] Eric Goranson, CKD: So if you want to have indoor air quality, like the metro area of a developing country outside, don't use that hood or don't put one in. Now many places in the United States, that is the only way to do it. If you do a remodel, you are required even to have that vet hood go outside. But there are still states in the United States where they have, um, kind of looked the other [00:04:00] way and said, as long as you have a window or a recirculating.

[00:04:04] Eric Goranson, CKD: Which is just really bad for you and your health. So if you've got asthma allergies, these are things that are not making it better. They're making it worse. So just something to keep in mind with this. The other thing is I wanna make sure that you have the right sized hood, because if you've got just a regular range, then you know, a, a decent sized hood will work.

[00:04:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: But what happens is, is people will buy this nice electric range or gas, Something with a large cooking area on it, and it can still be in that 30 inch range or cooktop size, but maybe it's got that big, you know, burner for for walks or something like that on it. And then you put a microwave over the top.

[00:04:48] Eric Goranson, CKD: And I'll tell you this. Microwave vent hoods, the only time I've ever used those is if the homeowner demanded we use it and you know we're not gonna do the project. And I made 'em [00:05:00] sign a waiver or two. It was the very tight condo where that was the only option you had. But microwave vent hoods over the top.

[00:05:08] Eric Goranson, CKD: This is a little side mark of the vent hood Discussion, microwave vent hoods do a horrible. Venting outside as well as they don't capture the stuff. So if you're boiling something and it's on the back burner, you've got the vent on high on that microwave, since there's no hood there to capture it. You know, on a regular vent hood, the the steam comes up and there's the sides of the hood that are like an umbrella that captures that and gives it a second for the ve hood to pull it in.

[00:05:37] Eric Goranson, CKD: Well, micro hoods flush on the bottom. So that doesn't get you where you need to be on that. And so that causes another problem where it just expels out beyond the range of the hood, and now it's inside the room. So that is a key right there. And that'll be just about the only way that you can really make yourself too, that you don't have to worry about setting up that fire extinguisher.

[00:05:57] Eric Goranson, CKD: If you're cooking something or frying something inside. [00:06:00] Fire extinguisher, set up that smoke alarm so you don't get the fire extinguisher inside. Let me say that correctly this morning. So that's one of the things to take a look at. Now, number two here, which we're gonna talk about right now, which is a big one on my list, hiring an unlicensed and unbonded contractor.

[00:06:16] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now this is a key, especially in 2023. So here's the things. It's very tempting sometimes to hire the family friend, the handyman, one of those persons, you know, somebody off of, uh, Craigslist, Facebook marketplace or next door. Now you know my rules. If you, if you're a constant listener to the show, make sure and you've heard.

[00:06:39] Eric Goranson, CKD: Say this before, so bear with me if you've heard this a million times for me, but one of the biggest things is, is your personal liability. If you have five people working over your house and somebody puts a nail through their hand, or they run the saw wrong or they fall off the roof, guess what? If that's an unlicensed, bonded, unbonded insured [00:07:00] contractor and they're just working under the table on you, you are now personally responsible for the injuries.

[00:07:07] Eric Goranson, CKD: Of those people on the job site. So you are their personal employer, so that means if someone gets hurt or killed, you are personally responsible. And so that's a big one right there. And any of these guys out there that are doing this under the table work like that, guess what? They're not offering a warranty.

[00:07:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: I doubt they're pulling permits because in most areas for you to go down and pull a permit that's needed for a project, if you're a contractor, they're gonna make sure that your license bond. So make sure that you are using those people. And here's my little tip on this, and we'll talk about this in in future episodes, but when you're hiring somebody, first off, before they come over and give you an estimate, jump on the web or the, or the phone and do a little quick research.

[00:07:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: Take your 20 minutes, see if they're licensed, monitored insured from your local licensing agency. And when in doubt, give that agency a call. [00:08:00] Many places they will help. to make sure they're licensed. And it's different in every co, every state here in the United States and in other countries. It's different as well for our international listeners.

[00:08:10] Eric Goranson, CKD: That's one of those things that in my state, it's a state licensing. You get into the East Coast and the Northeast, many of those are regional, where it could be a township, it could be a city, and every license is different between each city. That's much more complex to track down, but make sure they're licensed, bonded, insured, and.

[00:08:31] Eric Goranson, CKD: Here's the secret sauce on this. If you decide to hire them the day that you're going to be signing the contract and maybe writing that deposit check, make sure, call up the insurance company and make sure that that insurance is good of that day. Because what can happen, I've seen this happen. You could go hire somebody and uh, you know, you did your research on the day they came over and gave the estimate, but maybe it lapsed.

[00:08:55] Eric Goranson, CKD: Maybe that stuff happened where something, maybe they got [00:09:00] revoked. I know people that had their licenses revoked out there. So if you do that and you sign the contract that day and they're not covered, guess what? You're probably not covered. So it's really important too, the. That you're signing that to follow up and make sure that that license and insurance and stuff is in effect, because that way down the road, if, if you're in the middle of a project and that happens, you're still gonna have some coverage and I'm not an attorney.

[00:09:23] Eric Goranson, CKD: You sign up for real estate expert and it's covered on the day that you signed and something happens down the road. That, uh, during the project and maybe they get revoked or something like that, you still have some coverage and you're still protected. Don't go anywhere around the house. Be right back after these very important messages.

[00:09:39] Eric Goranson, CKD: Why

[00:09:49] Eric Goranson, CKD: be loud, be so hot?

[00:09:55] Eric Goranson, CKD: So many people.[00:10:00]

[00:10:11] Eric Goranson, CKD: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. I'm Eric G and we are talking today about our top 10 mistakes to avoid in a Kit remodel in 2023. Now, little bit of housekeeping here if you. To subscribe to the podcast and you're catching us on the radio.

[00:10:31] Eric Goranson, CKD: You can catch us on any podcast player out there cuz we also have our midweek special that comes in the middle of the week as well. If you wanna figure out how to do that, head over to around the house online.com and you can find us over there on the website and you can also contact us over there as well in the contact us page.

[00:10:47] Eric Goranson, CKD: And that is where kind of the base of the podcast is available from. As. As, uh, the probably 30 different podcast players you can catch. Probably your favorite one you can find around [00:11:00] the house show. Well, we're talking about the tap 10 Mistakes to Avoid in the Kitchen Remodel in 2023. And we just talked about installing that van Hood and hiring an unlicensed and bonded contractor at two big mistakes.

[00:11:10] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, number three on my list is not buying the same brand of appliances for the whole project. Now this used to be something different, uh, five years ago, I would say It's not a big. But now you're starting to get appliances that speak to each other in the smart appliance categories. Now, what happens is, is some of these brands now are making it where they're all wifi connected and they talk to each other.

[00:11:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: For instance, there's appliance brands now, and it's not a commercial, so I'm not gonna be giving brand names here, but there's an appliance brand. Then when you turn on the cooktop, it turns the hood on for. Or there's actually a range that happened here recently in the last couple years where they did an over the year update and that overthe year update, which put a [00:12:00] new system inside it, gave them an option of having an air fryer when they didn't have it before.

[00:12:06] Eric Goranson, CKD: So the pieces inside the oven were there, but they had a program and it added on the LCD screen, another touch button for an air fryer. So these things are starting to happen, but what happens is, is a lot of these appliances now are designed to work together where the refrigerator, the dishwasher, the range, the hood.

[00:12:23] Eric Goranson, CKD: You're starting to see these things all communicate and have that interoperability between. So what can happen is if you have two or three brands in there, you don't have the luxury of having those work together. And on top of that, here's the cool thing. Style-wise, each series of appliance really has the same look and that matters.

[00:12:49] Eric Goranson, CKD: Having the same handle on the dishwasher to the range, to the oven, to the microwave, to the refrigerator. Those are little details that look good [00:13:00] and so I would really look hard and try to see if you can find a brand that will do everything you need it to be. Cuz by putting these all in the same thing, one, you've got only one place to call for service.

[00:13:13] Eric Goranson, CKD: Two, you've got another important one there where they all talk together and uh, you have it set up so they all work together and that's an important one. Now, here is probably one of my biggest pet peeves is number four. And this is an important one, just trying to copy your old kitchen layout. And I don't care if you go, oh, I love it.

[00:13:36] Eric Goranson, CKD: It's perfect. It's always worked for. Don't cre create that same old plan. Here's why you think about it. The average kitchen being replaced these days is probably 30 to 35 years old. Think of what has changed in your kitchen in 30 to 35 years. 30, 35 years ago. Microwaves are pretty, pretty. [00:14:00] They were not thought of ventilation, was not thought of.

[00:14:04] Eric Goranson, CKD: You didn't have all the kitchen accessories. We didn't have all the countertop gadgets back then. We had a mixer, we had some, maybe a food processor, and that was it. And we didn't have all the things that you get out of like a, you know, sirta or, or a, um, any one of these luxury kitchen stores you see across the.

[00:14:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: You know, William Sonoma, you don't have all of these designer things that you can go on your kitchen. So we really have to redesign that kitchen. And quite frankly, we didn't design 30 years ago kitchens to be functional. We designed them to be cost efficient and to store things. And kitchen design has gone a long way.

[00:14:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: Great example, 30 years ago, the National Kitchen of Bath Association promoted a kitchen triangle. That is how you design that kitchen around this triangle shape, which is your sink, your refrigerator in [00:15:00] your cooktop. And they went with that for decades. Now they've kind of walked away from that recently, and it's something that I've walked away with from probably 20 years ago, cuz I just said, Hey, I don't like the way this works.

[00:15:12] Eric Goranson, CKD: I get it. But it's much more complex than just a simple kitchen triangle. Now you design using workstations, so, so your prep area is different than your cleanup area. So in the old kitchen triangle between your. Your refrigerator and your cooktop. You could have it designed perfectly in the kitchen triangle, but you have a dishwasher between your sink and your refrigerator.

[00:15:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: Well, that area between the sink and the refrigerator is usually your most popular prep space. But if you have the dishwasher right there, guess what You're now prepping in your cleanup area. That's very inefficient because traditionally when you're cooking that, you know dirty. Bowl, pot, whatever, can sit there on the counter over the top of the [00:16:00] dishwasher.

[00:16:00] Eric Goranson, CKD: That's where that stuff tends to linger. So now, especially with larger kitchens, we're doing these zones. So you'll have a prep zone, a cooking zone, a baking zone. You'll have that cleanup zone, and these zones become much more efficient. So sometimes you might need a second sink. Sometimes you might put another little beverage refrigerator.

[00:16:21] Eric Goranson, CKD: Sometimes you just wanna put the refrigerator in a location. All the kids when you're in the middle of. Or your family's in the middle of the cooking, you want people to stay outta the kitchen, so you want that maybe refrigerator at the edge of the perimeter. So if somebody comes over to get water or ice, they're not walking through the entire kitchen to get in your way while you're in the middle of cooking, as well as does that dishwasher open up.

[00:16:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: Impede where you're putting the dishes away or does it get in the way of the oven cooktop, range, any of those other things. So these are all the things you should be doing. So I strongly recommend. That is a [00:17:00] homeowner. You hire a designer to come do this, whether it's through your remodeling company. If you're gonna do this as a DIY project, a kitchen designer, certified kitchen, a bath designer specifically will save you money on that remodel because they are going to help you make decisions that make sense.

[00:17:18] Eric Goranson, CKD: And if you have to order three or four or five cabinet. And reorder them again because you did something wrong. They don't work. You didn't put the right fillers in that you didn't get things correct. Guess what? That would've paid for the designer. And I can promise you, you would've had a better looking project when it's all done and you're gonna have more places to store things.

[00:17:40] Eric Goranson, CKD: You know, drawers these days are much more efficient, and in most older homes, they didn't put a lot of drawers in because they were expensive. And nowadays drawers are such a big piece of that project, so you wanna make sure as well as having a place for trash, that trash can under the sink doesn't work anymore.

[00:17:57] Eric Goranson, CKD: You know why? Because people have gone to deeper sinks, [00:18:00] larger garbage disposals, so that can ends up being this little tiny can under the sink and it just doesn't work. So having that place for the trash, having a place for the dogs, even having that place for each and everything in that kitchen makes sense as well.

[00:18:15] Eric Goranson, CKD: Does that window really have to be there or. That sink doesn't always have to be in front of the window, even though let alone centered, but that's for you and your designer to figure out. We have so much more on this list of the top 10 mistakes to avoid when kitchen remodeling just after these important messages, don't go anywhere.[00:19:00]

[00:19:10] Eric Goranson, CKD: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is. We help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about the top 10 mistakes to avoid a catch remodel in 2023. If you wanna argue some of these, feel free to send me a message over it around the house online.com or on any one of our different social media channels.

[00:19:30] Eric Goranson, CKD: So to recap, kind of where we've gone so far in the last couple segments, not install an event hood hiring an unlicensed and bonded contractor. Number three was not buying that same brand of appliances for the whole project. Number four, just trying to copy your old layout. That gets us to number five, starting that project before materials arrive, and this is a huge one.

[00:19:53] Eric Goranson, CKD: We're 2020. I tell you what, those shipping problems that we've had over the last couple [00:20:00] years, they are still continuing. I am trying to get stuff in for my television show, and, uh, guess what? Things are taking much longer than even I anticipated. So here's the key. Before you do demo in your kitchen, if you want to use it, make sure that all the material.

[00:20:22] Eric Goranson, CKD: Are there on site and have been inspected because here's what happens. I'll tell you, I have sold thousands of kitchens over the years that have been installed. Some of the crazy things that have happened twice. I have had that truck of cabinets that has gone cross-country to get here twice. I have had cabins, cabinets get damage.

[00:20:47] Eric Goranson, CKD: Not just damage destroyed. One of them was a, uh, semi-truck heading from, uh, the way here, flipped over in the ice on its side, totaled it. Everything was crunched. [00:21:00] I had the same thing happen probably seven or eight years ago, where a cabinet in a container, that whole container flipped over on an accident.

[00:21:09] Eric Goranson, CKD: And guess what cabinets were destroyed. Had to be completely rem. Now, if you would've started that with a six to eight week lead time, you could have been waiting another six to eight weeks without a kitchen. Making sure that your slabs for your stone or quartz or, or laminate or whatever you're using for your countertop is in, is key.

[00:21:32] Eric Goranson, CKD: Making sure your appliances are there, making sure you're sink and faucets there. These are all important things because your, let's say your sink gets back order. Well, your installer typically will not template that countertop without the sink being there, so now you've stalled out. So make sure all your materials are on site.

[00:21:53] Eric Goranson, CKD: Before you get going and that way it's in the garage. You're good. Inspect 'em, make sure they're the right [00:22:00] color, make sure the right pieces are there. Take inventory, cover 'em back up and make sure you're good. Have those things ready to go. Cuz I tell you what, that is the fastest way to get burned. And I can't tell you how many times as a kitchen designer I have had this and it's husband, sorry guys.

[00:22:17] Eric Goranson, CKD: You've screwed this up more than. I tell you what, I can't tell you how many times I've been there. Husband walks in and goes, Hey, wife's outta town. Just tore the kitchen out and uh, I need to get some cabinets. I'm like, dude, you're six weeks to eight weeks or 10 weeks these days, and they get white. You mean I can't get 'em tomorrow?

[00:22:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: I mean, you can go to a key or one of those knockdown places, but not the highest quality for most people, and that's what you're stuck with. So little planning goes a long way. Now, here's a big one here that will really kill a project or stop it to a grinding halt. And this is a little more detailed, so we're gonna dive into this one, not having [00:23:00] an itemized budget.

[00:23:03] Eric Goranson, CKD: A kitchen remodel will nickel and dime you to death. There are little things that add up hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars, thousands of dollars. So especially if you are hiring a contractor. I want to see if you were signed up for the contractor to do a kit tray model. I wanna know how much they're planning for each kn.

[00:23:29] Eric Goranson, CKD: I wanna see that design done. I want to see H and everything budgeted out. I want to go to down that list from the contract that you're signing with your contractor and go, okay, here's your appliances. This is what they anticipate them costing. This is the cabinets, these, the countertops. These are the quotes that are associated with that.

[00:23:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: How many pieces of hardware do we need? Knobs and handles, trim moldings. Ventilation. What's the electrician? What's the plumber? Yes, [00:24:00] you will probably have to run new electrical circuits. I wanna see that thing itemized out. So you have a budget. Now, if that contractor knows what they're doing, there shouldn't be too many hidden co hidden pieces.

[00:24:12] Eric Goranson, CKD: The problem though is, is I used to say, well, if you have a good contractor, have a five to 10% extra budget. Might not be needed. The problem is over the last 18 to 24 months is, is that costs change, prices change, and all of a sudden you can be hit with a fuel surcharge. You can be hit with all these different things, or this one's still not available for six more months and you have to find something else.

[00:24:38] Eric Goranson, CKD: I still recommend now. Having that extra budget have an extra 10% on the budget for those emergencies. And it's not even the contractor's fault before, I would say, yeah, the contractor, they're paid to know that there's, you know, could be some electrical issues here. Sometimes they're hidden so that sometimes there's no way for them to know.

[00:24:59] Eric Goranson, CKD: It's that same [00:25:00] thing as when they, oh, that load, that wall's not load bearing and they tear it open and it is load bearing and you go, Hey man. Uh, The the expert here, you have the people in to do this. Yeah. That's on you, not on me. And so I don't like the hidden surprises, but these days the hidden surprises are not on that contractor.

[00:25:20] Eric Goranson, CKD: They're many times on the suppliers or even the trades, because all of a sudden these costs are going up so much more. So that's a really important one, making sure that you have got that itemized out. And it's okay if you spent six months planning your kitchen. And that contractor went through and you've got it all planned out, and now it's time to sign that contract.

[00:25:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: They're probably gonna need to update that quote to make sure those numbers are great. Now, lumber prices have gone down, but shipping prices have gone up. And labor prices have gone up, so that's where you need to see where things at. And so I just want you to be really careful out there so you don't get three quarters of the way [00:26:00] through the project and go, I had no idea that I was gonna have $10,000 of miscellaneous pieces from light fixtures to.

[00:26:09] Eric Goranson, CKD: Electricians and plumbers that nobody accounted for, and it's going to be even harder if you're doing it as a DIY project. So that's where bringing a designer in that can help you make sure that you've got those things accounted for. Because you, as a homeowner going, I, I've done two or three kitchens, they're gonna be the ones going, Hey, uh, you need two more electrical circuits probably for this because, uh, well building code's gonna help you with that.

[00:26:32] Eric Goranson, CKD: So these are things to really pay attention. And I want you to finish that project. All right, the next one here on the list. This is a big one, not hiring a structural engineer. If you're moving a wall, and this probably will drag into the next se into the next segment here cuz it's an important one. I don't care how good that contractor is, I still want to see a structural engineer sign off [00:27:00] on a big wall when it's being removed outta the.

[00:27:04] Eric Goranson, CKD: I can't tell you how many contractor projects that I've seen where the contractor goes, I've been doing this for 30 years, there's no load on it. And the structural engineer comes in to sign off the plans. He goes, Hey guys. Uh, yeah, there is load on this. It's not a lot of load, but there is load. And I've noticed, especially in old houses, if there's not a pre-engineered trust system up there, almost always.

[00:27:33] Eric Goranson, CKD: There's some load on that wall on that interior, and it gets even more complicated when you're trying to remove like a chimney, some of these older homes that are over a hundred years old. That center chimney in the house was a structural piece that you need to really keep in mind. That could be holding up the center of the house, not only the floor and the ceiling and the roof line.

[00:27:58] Eric Goranson, CKD: And so these are things you all have to [00:28:00] take into account when you're taking things out or making doorways larger. There are some things to take into mind with that and let's talk about in the next segment because there's some things that I've run into that really changes it cuz maybe you've got that finished basement below, you're gonna move a wall upstairs and you think, oh, basement remodels done.

[00:28:19] Eric Goranson, CKD: We've got the media center down there, everything's good. I can't tell you how many times I've had to tear up. That basement. We'll talk about that just as soon is around the house. Returns don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

[00:29:07] Eric Goranson, CKD: Welcome back to The Round the House Show. We've been talking about the top 10 mistakes to avoid when making a that kit remodel here in 2023. Well, we were talking about here some of the details of making. You hire that structural engineer if you're moving on a wall. And I just wanted to finish up on this one here cuz it's really important.

[00:29:27] Eric Goranson, CKD: I have had it where you move a wall upstairs. And they say you need better footings in the basement. So then you have to go downstairs. You have to remove the flooring, take the drywall out, put in bigger posts, bigger footings. And I've torn up some really nice places because of that wall being moved upstairs and you had to have bigger posts to carry that additional load going down to the basement, especially in older homes.

[00:29:53] Eric Goranson, CKD: So these are things I really want you to make sure that you're doing correctly and bringing that structural engineer in. So you can count for that [00:30:00] stuff and you can plan ahead. You're better off doing that stuff early if you're gonna finish that basement first. I always recommend if you're doing a kitchen remodel upstairs, do that finished basement after you get the kitchen remodel.

[00:30:12] Eric Goranson, CKD: Done not before, cuz there's a really good chance you're tearing stuff up in there, especially if you're doing plumbing upgrades and electrical and and stuff. So you just wanna make sure you got that dialed in. All right, next one here. Number eight, not planning for future appliances. Things are. And when I see people remove and replace cabinets and they say, oh, I've got this size refrigerator, I'm going to put the same cabinets around it as what I had.

[00:30:39] Eric Goranson, CKD: Make sure that you are planning. For things to fit that are standard sizes. You know, a standard refrigerator opening is six feet high, 36 inches wide. Do I want to have another inch of room in there and a little bit higher even for space? Yeah, I do. I wanna make sure [00:31:00] that I can fit everything in there and even more important.

[00:31:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: When you have a wall up against that refrigerator, many times those French door refrigerators need to have six, maybe eight inches to account for the handle when that door opens, because that door on a French door refrigerator to get a CRISPR out needs to open most of the time beyond 90 degrees. So you need to have six or eight inches usually over there if you have a return wall, and that refrigerator's up against that return wall.

[00:31:29] Eric Goranson, CKD: So plan ahead for those appliances that you're gonna have something standard that's gonna fit back in there. And if one day you plan on putting in a a, a a, maybe a, a wine cooler or a, a secondary fridge or a steam oven, just plan for it. Run the power back there, get it roughed in, make sure you can do that one day, and then you're gonna be much better off to plan ahead for using that.

[00:31:54] Eric Goranson, CKD: In the future. So make sure you've got the right power there. You've got the right, you know, maybe you've got, uh, don't [00:32:00] have water in that fridge and someday you might put water in that fridge. Run a water line. There should always be a water line behind that fridge. If you're doing it, whether you need it or not, it'll be useful for the next homeowner.

[00:32:11] Eric Goranson, CKD: Same thing goes, uh, there are some people out there and God love y'all, but there are some people out there that love wasting water and they actually don't want a dishwasher in their. One little trick that I've done with every single person that's done that I have always snuck in a 24 inch cabinet right next to the sink.

[00:32:31] Eric Goranson, CKD: So when you, the next homeowner want to come in there and go, why isn't there a dishwasher? I left you a 24 inch cabinet that can be removed. So you can put a dishwasher in there. You should always plan for that, whether you're not do it or not, just be nice. Be ready if you wanna do that. And it saves a ton of water over hand Washing, hand washing dishes is the biggest waste of water you can do over a dishwasher.

[00:32:55] Eric Goranson, CKD: And um, that's one of the things. Another little tip, chew. Make sure you're not pre [00:33:00] rinsing those dishes before they go in, because that dishwasher detergent needs that enzyme. So if you're pre-wash, your dishes are not going to be as clean as you put them in there. Just scrape 'em off. If you have a decent detergent and a decent dishwasher, it's gonna get cleaner if you leave some food on there because that activates the enzymes.

[00:33:20] Eric Goranson, CKD: Number nine, not redesigning your lighting. One of the things. There are pet peeve of mine in a kitchen is a poor lighting design. Maybe you've got four of those six inch, you know, recess cans, or maybe you had that big seventies fluorescent fixture in the middle, or maybe it was in there one time and there's a recess in it.

[00:33:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: These are all common things that happened. I tell you what, lighting these days is a key to looking good, so what I recommend. Is redesigning that lighting plan when you get in there. And please, let's leave those six inch recessed [00:34:00] lights. Those can lights back in the eighties and nineties and two thousands where they belong.

[00:34:05] Eric Goranson, CKD: Use a smaller light fixture in there. I can go. I did two inch lights in mine. You can go down to a one inch light. And they look so much better. Talk about changing the look of your kitchen. Those smaller lights don't give you those big round hotspots. When you look in the room, even those one inch lights, you can't even see the lights coming out of 'em depending on the fixture.

[00:34:29] Eric Goranson, CKD: You just see the lit space, but don't see these hotspots in the ceiling that distract you. So let's put those six inch ones away, throw those out in the dumpster. Let those things go away. Go with the newer. L e D lights. You can have the color changing ones in there. She can get 'em dialed in correctly, but go to that smaller light fixture and put more of them in that way.

[00:34:52] Eric Goranson, CKD: You've got your room lighting. You've got some task lighting, so it's maybe over the refrigerator, over the range. You wanna make sure if you've got that proper [00:35:00] size, large range hood, maybe you put one in either corner of that range hood so you have lighting next to it. And then of course you wanna do under cabinet lighting.

[00:35:07] Eric Goranson, CKD: So you have that task lighting to eliminate the shadow cuz if your lights are correct in there, when you're standing there at this, at the uh, counter. You're gonna have a little shadow in front of you cuz you've got the light behind you and you've got the wall or opening or cabinetry in front of you.

[00:35:22] Eric Goranson, CKD: So you wanna make sure you've got that under cabinet lighting to help you see. And keep in mind, lighting is really interesting. If you've got somebody that's 25 years old in the house and you have. Somebody that's 50, somebody that's 50, needs about twice as much light to function as that 25 year old.

[00:35:42] Eric Goranson, CKD: And the older you get, the more light you get. So make sure you've got that adjustability so you can grow with that kitchen. So redesign that light, make sure you got that dialed in. And now here is my last one here, and this is a, a very big pet peeve, not using fireproof materials [00:36:00] around your range or cook.

[00:36:02] Eric Goranson, CKD: Now, I can't tell you how many times I have seen people out there building those crazy wood projects that are noodle boards that they put over the top of their range or cooktop. That is how people get killed. Those should not be used in a kitchen. Anytime you put something wood over a cooking surfaces, you are asking to burn your house down.

[00:36:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: So those, if you've got 'em, get rid of 'em. Uh, you know, if they're made outta metal, that's one thing, but then you're not cutting on. So you don't want to have those in your kitchen. But many times I see people, oh, I'm gonna do a, uh, a vinyl looking backsplash, or I'm gonna use a vinyl luxury vinyl plank to give myself a.

[00:36:46] Eric Goranson, CKD: A wood look is a backsplash or some kind of plastic. No. Everything around that range needs to be fireproof all the way up to that hood. So that backsplash, if it's up against a wall, I wanna see nine inches [00:37:00] between that edge of the cooking surfaces and a wall. If you, you need to have nine inches there if it's.

[00:37:06] Eric Goranson, CKD: Closer than nine because it's an old house or something like that. Then you need to bring that ceramic tile or metal or whatever that backsplash is, or glass or porcelain, whatever that is, that needs to wrap around and cover any of those surfaces. This is exactly why I don't like to see a cooktop right up next to.

[00:37:27] Eric Goranson, CKD: Like a wood range cabinet, I mean a wood oven cabinet. So that way I wanna see nine inches around it, whether it's the wall, whether it's another cabinet, whether it's even the refrigerator. I wanna see that we have nine inches of space between that, and that's for safety as well as when you're designing that kitchen.

[00:37:43] Eric Goranson, CKD: Do not put that an range at the end of a run. Where it's at the very end and maybe you have a little panel there. I wanna see a nine inch landing zone on the side of that so somebody doesn't walk past that cooktop range. Catch a catch. [00:38:00] Something, maybe it's that, uh, that, uh, stovetop, uh, pot handle or whatever that can get caught on somebody's clothes and, uh, come off there and now somebody's getting burned or hurt.

[00:38:10] Eric Goranson, CKD: We don't wanna see that happen. Well, if you've got any of other suggestions of things that should be on that top 10, make sure and comment. You can send me a message over to round the House online, make sure, uh, you do that or on social media if you've got something, and then make sure you join us over on Around The House Nation on Facebook.

[00:38:27] Eric Goranson, CKD: That is our close group over there that is designed. We've got about a thousand people over there, but that is designed. For you guys to be able to use, to put up your questions, your projects, your funny things, and to be able to get a group thought on what's going on. And, uh, we've had a lot of funny memes up there, but I'd really like to see if we can kind of push that into using it more as a resource for everybody that's working on things.

[00:38:49] Eric Goranson, CKD: Uh, because we have designed that to be a kind space. So nobody has given anybody any harassing over there, uh, that way. It's just a, a place for everybody to. And of course to be able to find [00:39:00] those answers that they're looking for. All right, hour number two, coming up, we're gonna have the top 10 mistakes to avoid in a bathroom remodel in 2023.

[00:39:09] Eric Goranson, CKD: And these are some different ones, uh, and especially we're gonna have some controversial subjects as well in this one that, uh, you don't wanna miss. And, uh, some of them are pretty controversial, so it's gonna be an interesting discussion. As always, I'm Eric Chief and you've been listening to Around the House.

[00:39:25] Eric Goranson, CKD: Thanks for tuning in.