[00:00:00] Eric Goranson: It's around the house who kept all that information? It's rare. So that's the other piece that I wanna recommend is create a folder for all your receipts and stuff for when you do these kind of projects. So down the road, you know what brand of faucet that is, you know what model lumber it is. You could actually look in the brochure of it and see what the replacement parts are with the installation instructions.

[00:00:30] Eric Goranson: I always keep those things around someplace, whether it's in a remodel box that's in your attic or your basement. Just make sure you've got those pieces together so you can track down parts down the road. It's gonna save you a headache. That way you know exactly what you got on your hands and you can work with it.

[00:00:45] Eric Goranson: When it comes to remodeling and renovating your home, there is a lot to know the we got you covered. This is around the house. This segment is brought to you by root. Quencher and route quencher.com. If you have [00:01:00] trees, you're trying to water and they're not healthy, you need to get water right to the roots and you know how you do it.

[00:01:05] Eric Goranson: Route Quencher. Check out route quencher.com, save some money and have healthier trees. Welcome to the Round the House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. Well, today I wanted to talk about in this hour, cost effective kitchen remodel tips.

[00:01:25] Eric Goranson: And things that you can do to make that kitchen a little bit better without doing that major gut. Of that kitchen. And this is where there's a lot of things that you can do that aren't as expensive, especially with what things cost right now for a, you know, for a, for a kitchen remodel. And, you know, my background, I've got, uh, 29 years of my history as a kitchen and bath designer.

[00:01:49] Eric Goranson: Uh, I was a, still am a certified kitchen designer since 1999 through the National Kitchen of Bath Association. So this is really one of my things that I've done years and years and thousands of thousands of [00:02:00] kitchens over the decades, and it's just something that is always dear to my heart and something that you can do correctly if you take the time and plan it out.

[00:02:10] Eric Goranson: So here's a couple tips that I wanted to start out with here before you start any of these, you know, if it's a significant project, It will probably save you money to hire a designer to help walk through that because a kitchen designer helping you, if you're changing design, you're changing cabinetry, you're doing any of that stuff, it's gonna save you money in the long run.

[00:02:34] Eric Goranson: And I know you're like, wow, it's gonna cost me extra money. Yeah, but you're only gonna do things once. You're not gonna put up a tile backsplash and go, that's not what I was thinking. Now I gotta rip it out and start over. So this can really save you some time and some planning and using their expertise.

[00:02:49] Eric Goranson: To help, especially if these are things you haven't done before. And so throwing a few hundred bucks for a few hours at a kitchen of bath designer could be something that could save you a [00:03:00] lot of money and help the process get much more streamlined. And then I want you to also consider what upgrades you need that could add that value to your home.

[00:03:09] Eric Goranson: Or health and comfort. Those are kind of the big things, right? You know, value means that you're making it look better. You're adding increased value. People don't walk in if you're gonna put it up for sale and go, wow, that thing needs a badly, needs a kitchen remodel. And then health could be making sure that you have a vent hood that vents outside.

[00:03:27] Eric Goranson: And comfort is just having a place that's organized where you can see, which could be health and safety as well, you know, with new lighting and things like that. So those are kind of first. Before you start kind of things, let's talk first about some of the biggest mistakes that I see with kitchens, because with a kitchen it gets interesting.

[00:03:46] Eric Goranson: Some of the biggest mistakes that I've seen recently especially is hiring a contractor to come in and they just duplicate your old design and put in [00:04:00] cabinets in the exact same spot. You know, kitchens, especially if you're over 20 years old, more so even over 30 years old, is we have changed how we shop and the things that we put in our cabinets.

[00:04:14] Eric Goranson: You think about it, prior to the 1920s for instance, we had a lot of open shelves because you didn't need all these things. You, there were not all these store bought products. You know, the serial companies were just coming out with stuff. You just didn't have that many prepackaged things. And today the world is filled with that.

[00:04:34] Eric Goranson: But you think about it too, even if it's 1960s, we didn't have the Williams Sonoma, the Amazons, all these different things for all the different things that you were cooking in all the different tools that you can use now. And so the countertop appliances, all those things, you know, in the, in the seventies and really eighties, we had microwaves.

[00:04:57] Eric Goranson: Those were on a cart in the kitchen cuz we didn't have a place to [00:05:00] put them back then. And now they're built in part of an o oven or you, you know, on a worst case scenario, they're part of a arrange hood. That doesn't work. But that's really what it is. So really trying to, trying to think about and plan.

[00:05:12] Eric Goranson: For the next 20 years versus planning how someone maybe planted or a builder didn't plan it. And that's one of the things that I really learned doing multi-family stuff in, you know, high-rises. I was doing these million dollar condos in Bellevue, Washington 15 years ago. It was a high rise Lincoln Square.

[00:05:35] Eric Goranson: I had designed those units out beautifully. They were. Beautiful corner cabinets, everything else. And then we got into the budget part and we voided corners where we didn't put anything in the corners. The corners were inaccessible, so we just had fillers. There wasn't even a blind corner cabinet. And so they really cheapened it out.

[00:05:55] Eric Goranson: And so if you think about it with a cabinet, uh, a door and [00:06:00] drawer front situation where you've got maybe let's, let's call it two full height doors where you open it up, there's no drawers in this cabinet at all. That's half the price typically as a four drawer cabinet that would be the same size next to it.

[00:06:14] Eric Goranson: Those drawers are an expensive option, so really plenty ahead. Using that latest and greatest of kitchen design and the accessories is really a key to adding value to the inside of that, and comfort as well, so you can get more storage out of it. You can put so much more in something that's got adjustable, you know, rollout shelves in it than just a half depth shelf or a shelf.

[00:06:36] Eric Goranson: You could store a lot more stuff in there. So really thinking about it. And then one of the biggest mistakes that I see out there, my number one mistake, and this is, this is the house flipper special, right? Where they have 20 year old cabinets, and I don't care if they're made outta solid wood and the plywood, whatever, it doesn't matter if you're looking at it.

[00:06:56] Eric Goranson: And that's what it is, putting those brand [00:07:00] new cab countertops on old cabinets. It's tough because if you're putting quartz over the top of it, if you can find a company to come remove it. That's one thing. Second of all, there's about a 50 50 chance it's gonna come out in one piece. So if you said, Hey, I'm gonna put new countertops on my kitchen.

[00:07:15] Eric Goranson: I'm gonna put these quartz countertops in, and next year I'm gonna redo my kitchen. Just know that you're gonna be throwing that money away from the countertops and you're gonna be paying to haul that heavy stuff off. So that's really where the issue is that you need to keep, kind of keep in mind for is that's gonna get really expensive really quick that that five to 10 grand that you just spent on countertops is throw away money.

[00:07:35] Eric Goranson: You're not gonna probably reuse it. It's tough to see that stuff get come out because how they do countertops like that, as they tempered off the old cabinets, make sure everything's in there, and then they turn around and make it based on that template. And as soon as you put new cabinets in, that's a different template and you've got issues.

[00:07:54] Eric Goranson: So then make sure that you've got that kind of planned out beforehand. That's one of the big problems. I can't [00:08:00] tell you how many times I have seen stuff like that where we had to throw away very expensive countertops because somebody got in a hurry where a house flipper did it. And it was brutal. Hate seeing that stuff get thrown away.

[00:08:15] Eric Goranson: It's a waste of money and it's a waste of your money as a homeowner. So let's talk a little more about some of the top value projects that you can do to your kitchen to really get things upgraded. And this is, uh, kind of detailed that I want to get into cuz it's important. So one of the biggest ones and the easiest is new appliances.

[00:08:36] Eric Goranson: Now putting a refrigerator in. Making sure that that's gonna fit in the opening, and that's something if you've got an old kitchen that you need to be paying attention to, because you know there's the French door style. You know that where you have the two doors that open up on top and the freezer's down below.

[00:08:55] Eric Goranson: Those are really cool. However, if those are on the end, run [00:09:00] up against a wall, you might need another six or seven inches to get those doors open. So if you open the doors up and get them at 90 degrees, you have to have it at least that in many cases to get the crispers open, and then you won't then, then you can access the drawers.

[00:09:16] Eric Goranson: So that's, that's one headache that you've gotta watch out for. The second is when you have a cooktop and double oven situation or a single oven, making sure that you can fit that in the existing opening. And making sure that's gonna fit into those existing cabinets. And so that's a big one right there.

[00:09:33] Eric Goranson: And that's where you gotta start looking at what appliances you're gonna do. And when we come back, we'll talk about matching those things up just as soon as around the,

[00:09:50] Eric Goranson: so,[00:10:00]

[00:10:15] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show Up. You're tuning us on the radio. We appreciate you. We are a part of the Talk Media Network. And so thanks to all our radio listeners out there. And if you're on the podcast, don't forget, we do have a premium subscription available out there where you get the podcast early and then we will coming up here, uh, in July, have some exclusive content that you won't be able to hear anywhere else.

[00:10:38] Eric Goranson: And you can do that, just head over to around the house online.com and you can find that. Over there if you just head over to the podcast. All right guys. Well, we've been talking about cost effective remodel tips to, uh, be able to upgrade that kitchen without spending a ton of money on it. And of course, in the last segment we're talking about some of the things you should do before you start and the top [00:11:00] mistakes that are made.

[00:11:01] Eric Goranson: But I was talking about new appliances and how that refrigerator fits in there really. I'm giving you different advice now that maybe I gave you five years ago. I want you to be brand specific. Now, I've changed my take over this over the last probably 18 months. If you're out there looking at appliances, I would much rather you see, you buy a LG all across the board, or a KitchenAid or wool whirlpool across the board.

[00:11:31] Eric Goranson: Name your brand right. Because now we're starting to see appliances, depending on how smart you get, communicate and work with all the same apps. So for instance, in my house, I have some lg, I have an LG fridge, I have an LG washer and dryer. I have the LG Styler, I have the lg, um, cordless Robot vac. They all run off of that app.

[00:11:55] Eric Goranson: And my lgtv. So you don't wanna have six apps and six appliances, [00:12:00] right? So you wanna be able to have them all work together and that's where that stuff really helps. So think about how that can work and how they can play well together. And uh, now that steel, you can match the styling up, which is good cuz uh, you know, each brand has their own styling, so the handles match.

[00:12:16] Eric Goranson: Um, I would strongly suggest going with the three different brands in a kitchen. It's not really needed anymore. And I think it's smart to start matching 'em up so those things can communicate together as we go deeper into smart homes. Them being of the same brand is going to be more important, not less, because, uh, you'll start having things using those sensors off there, and that's going to be very important.

[00:12:41] Eric Goranson: So new appliances is key. And then another tip that is a good one that you can do is just going over and installing new hardware. You know, it's very easy if you've got cabinet knobs that need to be updated, right? [00:13:00] So when you look at that with the knobs, it's kind of easy. You're just changing out hardware, get the right screw length and do that.

[00:13:06] Eric Goranson: Uh, I work a lot with Baldwin Hardware and so that's a good high quality hardware and I think it's a really good way to go. So check out baldwin.com. They have some great stuff there, but really swapping those out. Now, if you're going to be ca painting cabinets, This is also the time to do it. If you've got, you know, those old maple cabinets or oak or where the finishes coming off, you can go through and take a weekend or two and refinish those cabinets.

[00:13:34] Eric Goranson: Now, refinishing cabinets, let's talk about this for a little bit. This is not a Saturday project. By any means, and the steps of doing this is one, you're gonna start out by emptying everything outta the cabinets, get it all cleaned out, and then you're gonna take a grease and wax remover and wipe down all, all of the cabinets multiple times.

[00:13:57] Eric Goranson: I want that wiped down and get [00:14:00] all the oils in grease. Cause you think about it, that kitchen has had hands and greasy foods cooked in it for maybe 10, 20, 30, 40 years. So your prep is going to be that. Then after that, I want you to, uh, tape off the areas you're not gonna be painting. And then what I wanna do is start sanding that way, that can protect that, and you're gonna sand and scuff all of the finishes.

[00:14:23] Eric Goranson: Now, anywhere you're painting, you need to have that scuffed. Now's the time to do any patches. So if you've got door handles and you wanna go to knobs, now's the time to fill that. And you're gonna get it all cleaned up. And then I want you, after you get it all filled, ready to go, I want you to hit it once more with a grease and wax remover and take all the oils off.

[00:14:43] Eric Goranson: This kitchen needs to be like, I'm ready for surgery, clean for this to go well, and then I wanna make sure that you've got the right ventilation, follow all the directions on the finish that you're using. But really the next step would be to come in and spray all of [00:15:00] the cabinets with a sprayer. Now you're gonna go in and hit it with a primer first to make sure that's an adhesion primer.

[00:15:08] Eric Goranson: So that sticks. Then go around after that stride, make sure that you're good and that you've also removed all the doors and drawer fronts and that kind of stuff. So you can do this. You can't do this with the cabinets on there. So hardware's off. You're gonna do the boxes and the doors and drawer fronts.

[00:15:22] Eric Goranson: It is a big project. You'll spend a weekend prepping. Maybe a long Friday and a long Saturday, and then you're gonna be doing a lot of painting. So if you've got a couple people, you might be able to get it done in a really long three day weekend, but it is a big project for a medium-sized kitchen. And then you're gonna get that primer on sand.

[00:15:43] Eric Goranson: Anything that needs to be sanded. Make sure everything's clean. Make sure that you don't have any adhesion issues with fish eyes from silicones and that kind of stuff, or any of the grease that's out there where it's got a fish eye. Make sure you got that all dialed in. And then you're gonna put a really good high quality cabinet paint.

[00:15:59] Eric Goranson: Do [00:16:00] not put wall paint on there. Find a good cabinet paint. You can get those at the home center. You can go down to your favorite paint store and say, Hey, I want to have a good paint now. Make sure you have extra this paint because this paint is never going to be as durable. Is what you see at the home centers and the new cabinets in there because it's not a baked on finish, but it will look good and then you can go through and get that dialed in.

[00:16:22] Eric Goranson: That's really kind of the key of making sure that you've got that finishes and get it sprayed on. Now, some of the finishes you can get, like, uh, we'll say you can roll it on, but you will see a little bit of a texture, so that's okay. And if you're going over an open grain like Hickory or oak, Don't try to hide that grain pattern.

[00:16:43] Eric Goranson: Let it be. Let it be what's there. So that way you're good because I tell you what, no matter how hard you try, it is really tough to fill in all the open grain from an open grain wood. So my best advice to you is to embrace that. And make sure that you've got that [00:17:00] dialed in, and then follow the directions on letting it dry.

[00:17:03] Eric Goranson: And you're gonna wanna put probably two to three coats on, depending on the finish and how much you're putting on there. And then once that dry, you can put the hardware on. The last thing you're gonna do is move back into that kitchen. And so the more you can remove with that, the better off you are. If you're gonna be putting new countertops on, I want to take those cabinets and remove the countertops and the backsplash and all that stuff first.

[00:17:26] Eric Goranson: That way you can do it. So you'll have that so it's painted. Then you can come in and put the new countertop on. And then the last thing there after the countertop is on is putting the backsplash on. So that's going to be your way of doing this. And then, uh, you know, make sure you've got the proper ventilation.

[00:17:43] Eric Goranson: It's all gonna be water based anyway, but you need to have it so you've got good ventilation. So window, little fan in the window going outside. Having that vent outside is key there as well. And then just making sure that you're clean. Getting the oils outta that kitchen is the hardest part of this whole project, as well as [00:18:00] all the sanding and prep, that's the part that takes, you know, As much as a weekend just getting ready.

[00:18:06] Eric Goranson: The painting goes pretty quick, but you also have all the doors and drawer fronts that are landing that are sitting out there. So you'll have to do one side, let it dry, flip it over to the other side, and then paint everything equally so every piece has finish. All the way around. We'll be talking more kitchen remodeling and kitchen makeover tips.

[00:18:23] Eric Goranson: Just as soon as around the house returns don't go.[00:19:00]

[00:19:09] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to the Around The House Show we've been talking about. Cost effective kitchen remodel tips today. Things that you can do around the house to really get that house cleaned up and get it dialed in. That way you've got something that's looking good without doing the whole gut and do kitchen remodel.

[00:19:23] Eric Goranson: So what can you do that's a little more dialed in? So the key is this is just, uh, lots of little projects that are to make. That big dent to make it look a little bit better or function a little bit better, or of course make it healthier. So we're just talking about doing, uh, you know, repainting cabinets and going that route.

[00:19:41] Eric Goranson: Where I think you have a problem though, is I don't like, I'm not a big cabinet re facer because I think by the time that you pay for refacing to be done, I wish you would've put new cabinets in. So cabinet refacing is not one of my favorite things out there. And there's so many companies that come out and they go, Hey, we're gonna give you a kitchen in a day [00:20:00] or two, or whatever.

[00:20:01] Eric Goranson: Now spend the money and do the kitchen. Right? That way you're golden. It will make things so much easier and it's gotta have a better thing. So really dive in and spend the money. I'm not a big refacing thing where you're putting in new cabinet doors. And new fronts and that kind of stuff on it, and then putting the veneers over it.

[00:20:20] Eric Goranson: Cuz once you've refaced it, you really can't do much more with it. Many times you can't sit there and paint over the refacing because the paint's gonna release the peel and stick paper that's on the cabinet and at that point, after you've refaced it, it's pretty much time for the dumpster. It's been done.

[00:20:36] Eric Goranson: All it's can be done. And so it really kind of paints you into a corner. So the only time I think refacing makes sense, if you bought a flipped house and they put brand new countertops in and a new backsplash that you like, refacing then might be your best option. Well, one of the things you can do to upgrade this kitchen really is to go in and do new flooring.

[00:20:58] Eric Goranson: And maybe you're gonna be doing new [00:21:00] vinyl, maybe you're gonna refinish the hardwood floors, maybe you're gonna put down new, you know, click lock. Composites, like one of the vinyl planks, luxury vinyl planks and those kind of things. Now, here's the thing, any of the floating floors you don't want to have under anything.

[00:21:17] Eric Goranson: That's a cabinet. So since you've got the cabinets already installed, that's easy. You know that's a good thing to do. But keep in mind, you want that to go under the refrigerator and you want it to go under the dishwasher and underneath the range as well. If it is a slide in or built in range, The difference between a slide and the built-in range.

[00:21:37] Eric Goranson: A slide in range has the, uh, the or free standing range. A slide in range has the controls over the front. There's no back splash on it. A free standing range has the knobs many times that are up on the back, and it's got that back control panel. And of course the, uh, slide in range is much more of a luxury look than the freestanding range.

[00:21:56] Eric Goranson: It's kinda the builder basic range. Uh, and that's the [00:22:00] differences between those. When you're looking at your standard 30 inch. Range that you see at the home center or your favorite appliance store. Now when you're doing this, you really wanna pay attention to what your height is. I have had houses that I've bought or lived in that I was going to dive into and do some projects that I've had.

[00:22:19] Eric Goranson: You know, maybe they're built in the seventies, sixties, fifties, forties, thirties, keep going, that have have 3, 4, 5 layers of flooring, and you're gonna get to a point at some point. You need to stop and pull it out. Like I had a house in the Seattle area when I was living up there that had four distinct layers.

[00:22:36] Eric Goranson: It had two layers of, uh, vinyl. It had one layer of tile, and then somebody's brilliant idea was to lay down and do tile over the top of that again. And for me to do flooring in that, I had. To pull that up because the dishwasher was stuck underneath the countertop. I couldn't get it cuz they tiled it in.

[00:22:57] Eric Goranson: So at that point you have to go through and [00:23:00] really rip out all those floors and start over and get it back to the beginning part. Now here's one thing I want you to take a look at. When you're dealing with old vinyl or even some of the old linoleum esque floors, you know, linoleum is a product made, is a, is a linseed oil based product.

[00:23:18] Eric Goranson: So there's rarely asbestos in that. But what you would see is in a linoleum that was a sheet vinyl, you would see the black tar glue beneath it, there was asbestos containing materials. Many times when you pull up that old floor in the kitchen and you see a black tar, have that tested and stop. And then if you've got old fifties and sixties, even early seventies, Vinyl flooring that can be in there as well.

[00:23:50] Eric Goranson: Now you can find asbestos in products even today, but you saw the highest concentrations of it in flooring [00:24:00] from the fifties all the way up into the eighties. They did not outlaw that in the states. They just tried to, uh, warn people about it, but it's what made the floor more durable. So that was the key with that.

[00:24:14] Eric Goranson: So always test that before you get involved with it. Test that flooring, test the glues so you know what you're doing so you don't get fined or get a health hazard by trying to remove it. And that's the stuff, you know, the, the glue is not so much the problem when you're pulling it up because that's kind of tar based.

[00:24:31] Eric Goranson: So it's not like it's a sandpaper going around, but as soon as you start scraping it, sanding it, and doing that kind of stuff, if it's over the top of a, of a hardwood floor, that's where you run into the problems. So you need to take into that account how that's gonna be removed so you have a healthy environment around your house.

[00:24:49] Eric Goranson: So think about that. I would get that stripped down. Get your floor back to the level. And if it's just over, like an old vinyl, you can put, you can leave that, [00:25:00] encapsulate it and put a uh, floating floor over the top of that, and then you're good. So something to think about when it comes to flooring. You know, another update that I like is painting the walls and replacing that backsplash.

[00:25:13] Eric Goranson: That can be a key. The other thing, I like to do that, and let's talk about that for a minute, because again, painting the walls is all about the prep. In a kitchen that hasn't been cleaned in a long time, I really want you to take, uh, a warm sponge and some like dawn dishwasher detergent and some warm water.

[00:25:34] Eric Goranson: And I want you to scrub the walls down in the first part of prep, and the closer you get to the ranges, the more I want you to do it. If you've got a white tar cloth tile to dry it, make sure that you got all of that oil and grease. You'll be shocked how much oil and grease is in an old house on those walls and surfaces, so make sure you get that all away.

[00:25:54] Eric Goranson: And then in those situations where many times in the sixties, seventies, eighties, and even nineties, they used a higher glasss [00:26:00] finish. I honestly think it's a good time to put a primer on there to make sure that you've got good adhesion, an adhesion primer, and then go ahead and paint. It's also gonna help kind of like seal and lock that up so that paint sticks on there.

[00:26:13] Eric Goranson: It's gonna give you a more durable finish and you'll use a little bit less paint as well. So that's a good thing when you're doing that. Now, one of the biggest radical changes you can do without changing out cabinets and countertops and appliances and all that stuff is putting in and upgrading new lighting.

[00:26:31] Eric Goranson: If you have right now that. Incandescent standard light bulbs in your kitchen or fluorescence. Right now, you are leaving so much on the table as far as an enjoyable, beautiful space, and you can replace those can lights with newer L e D ones if you've got you any of those. A lighting upgrade can change the look of that kitchen without doing any of the other updates.[00:27:00]

[00:27:00] Eric Goranson: So look for lights also to get the right color temperature of these lights. So I like in a kitchen a little more of a yellower light. My 2,800 to three grand is right where I love in a kitchen. Now, some people say they wanted a little, little more refrigerator white, little more office light because they like to see it.

[00:27:21] Eric Goranson: I like to see the warm tones in the food, so that's my key. I don't like it to look too sterile of an environment, but having some of that warmer, softer light is nice. And make sure that all of the lights that you're getting in there from your new under cabinet lights to your new can lights are all of the same color temperature.

[00:27:39] Eric Goranson: So make sure that you have the right color of light coming out and the right lights. And if you're adding can lights do not. If I can give you one suggestion there guys, make sure you're not using the big six inch can lights take it down to 4 3 2 inches. Smaller lights are better in the kitchen because they're not so distracting.

[00:27:59] Eric Goranson: You don't have [00:28:00] those hotspots in the kitchen. If you want a nice luxury look, make sure and use a smaller diameter can light and put maybe a few more in and that light will disappear. Instead of having all these bright white, big six inch pucks from the ceiling that are looking down, it gives you a much more enjoyable environment.

[00:28:19] Eric Goranson: All right. We'll come back and wrap this topic up just as soon as around the house. Returns. Don't go anywhere.[00:29:00]

[00:29:01] Eric Goranson: Welcome back to The Round The House Show. This is where we help you get the most outta your home through information and education. Thanks for joining us today. We've been talking about. The most cost effective kitchen remodel tips allow 'em to tear out that entire kitchen. What can you do to gain a little more life out of it?

[00:29:18] Eric Goranson: So you can maybe save it up, do some work later on it, or that big remodel. Well, a few little details with us here and around the house. Um, make sure you can catch us over and around the house online.com. That's the website there as well as you can catch, uh, the podcast there as well. If you're on the radio listening, if you wanna go back, we have.

[00:29:38] Eric Goranson: In the back catalog about a thousand episodes. So there's a lot there. Some of it is part of the premium membership in the last couple of hundred. You can always get on any podcast player. And for more information about the premium membership, you can just go over to around the house online.com. We've been talking about, uh, cost-effective kitchen remodel tips and kind of getting the, to the end of [00:30:00] this segment here.

[00:30:01] Eric Goranson: But really some of the things that you can do is under cabinet lighting. And sometimes that's not as hard as what you might think. Sometimes you can fish wires down under, into the base cabinets that you can plug in units. Uh, I have done that before. And with today's l e d Smart Home Tape Technology, it really makes it easy.

[00:30:26] Eric Goranson: So you'll have to run power of course, but it's low voltage. And if you've got, uh, maybe an extra outlet under the sink that's not switched, you can put it in there and run it with your smartphone and uh, all of a sudden you've got some great under cabinet lighting. And the cool thing is, is they don't use any electricity really.

[00:30:43] Eric Goranson: It's so negligible. You can keep those things on all the time and not cost yourself money, cuz they use such low amount of wattage compared to the old like halogen puck lights. You know those round puck lights they used 20 years ago? Oh my gosh. I made one big mistake. Cause I forgot to tell my [00:31:00] client when we did these, that they shouldn't store their butter in the cabinet above that because they stored it in a cabinet.

[00:31:07] Eric Goranson: Well, we put the new cabinets in, put the pug lights in. This was probably 20 years ago. Those things were so hot it got hot up into that cabinet. So much so it melted the butter in her butter dish. So that's how inefficient those things they were because they created so much extra heat. The LEDs out there don't really do that, but that's, you know, one of the pluses with the new technology out there.

[00:31:32] Eric Goranson: And if there's a way to run a wire down between the backsplash and the base cabinets where you cut a hole maybe in the back of the cabinet up above cabinet, in the base cabinet down below, you can sometimes fish that in between there and get it up there. So you have power to those upper cabinets.

[00:31:46] Eric Goranson: Sometimes you can run into a plug down there, but you will see that, um, that's the only bad part about having them when you've already got an existing backsplash and not part of a little bit bigger remodel. Now, if you're already doing a backsplash and countertop, then of course run your [00:32:00] wires. Uh, it'll make life so much easier.

[00:32:02] Eric Goranson: Now, another great one is too, is replacing if you've got a laminate countertop, replacing that laminate countertop and putting in a new sink, new faucet in a garbage disposal. You know, there are so many ways to do that. You can go through with a laminate countertop, pull it out, put in new particle board, and you can put a new Lamin over the top of it with a square or a wood or a separate edge.

[00:32:24] Eric Goranson: You can also get 'em where they're pre-rolled or preformed, and that's really going down to your home center, grabbing off the ones that are pre-made there or something that's made to order. And that is another good one. Cut the hole for your sink and, uh, holes for the faucet. And, uh, that can be a nice big upgrade when you wanna play with that, that can really get it dialed in for you.

[00:32:45] Eric Goranson: So something to consider when you're working on a project like that. So that can be really key to really giving it. And the, and the new laminates these days are great. They've got these high def laminates that look so good. And you can really get things kind of dialed in. [00:33:00] So that's a key right there of, of making a really beautiful project.

[00:33:03] Eric Goranson: That laminate is a cost effective way to go and you're not gonna feel bad about it four years later, throwing it in the dumpster. We're trying to reuse it in your garage or something because, uh, Well, you didn't spend that much on it in the first place. It's not like putting granite on a kitchen that's gonna last five years before you're done with it.

[00:33:19] Eric Goranson: So it's another good way to go when it comes to getting those things dialed in. So food for thought out there of having a really nice kitchen countertop that looks good, but is cost effective. Now, another great tip I have for you when you're kind of trying to do some of these upgrades and the kitchen remodel tips, maybe you're gonna remove wallpaper or put new wallpaper up cuz wallpaper is in.

[00:33:42] Eric Goranson: But one thing I wanna remind you is, is that if you're stuck at searching at your home centers for stuff, get outside the box a little bit. If you're looking at home center faucets, those are kind of the entry level faucets out there. And maybe you're not getting the best value out of it. [00:34:00] So take a look at your local plumbing supply store.

[00:34:03] Eric Goranson: You know, the places that your plumbers go to take a look there, do some searching there for that. Um, when it comes to faucets and. Things like that. I'm very concerned about buying stuff online, unless it's from one of the, uh, you know, legitimate places like bill.com is great because I think they're owned by Ferguson.

[00:34:24] Eric Goranson: Ferguson is the, uh, largest plumbing wholesaler in the country. So there's a lot of different things that you can get out there. But, uh, you know, there's a lot of also knockoff materials out there as well. I mean, to this day, today, I could sit here and go down to my home center and buy a American standard or Kohler faucet off the shelf.

[00:34:46] Eric Goranson: I could drop that in dhl, send it over to China via, via Alibaba, and in six weeks, 10 weeks, I could have four pallets of that showing [00:35:00] up. And I've got a new eBay business. An American standard wouldn't have made that. They would've taken it, copied it as best they could, including the packaging. Do it. So these are things you gotta be really careful with out there when you're buying from unknown sources.

[00:35:16] Eric Goranson: So it's always best. I mean, it still happens today. I can't tell you how many of my plumbing store friends have people that come in that need a little part for a faucet. And it wasn't the real brand, it was something that was a knockoff. So it's not any different that you see in people knocking off coach purses or uh, you know, Louis Vuitton and those kind of things.

[00:35:36] Eric Goranson: Those do exist. And be very careful. You know, those are things that I really like to see. You go out and buy the real thing, and there are different grades of things out there too. You know, if you see some brands of faucets, they put a cheaper brand in the home center than what's in the plumbing store.

[00:35:57] Eric Goranson: What do you mean by cheaper? Maybe if you walk down to your plumbing store, [00:36:00] the wholesaler, you open that take that faucet apart and it's all brass inside. The one from the home center is all plastic. But it might even have the same model number. So these are things to take a look at. Sometimes the toilets that are in the home centers are a lower grade.

[00:36:17] Eric Goranson: There might be a couple more flaws. They could have a little more warp to 'em cuz they're made out of, you know, vitreous China Many times those are graded. So, because there's always a push in the home centers for lower prices, and what do the manufacturers do? They'll do a special run with more plastic and less metal, and, uh, they'll, they'll put a nice little lead free thing on it, but guess what?

[00:36:40] Eric Goranson: That just means that they've got more plastic in it as well. So really take a look. Know your sources. Get your brands and you know, when he comes to faucets, you get what you pay for. I am not a fan of going into, you know, like Costco and buying faucets and things like that because many times those are one-off things that [00:37:00] are hard to find parts for 'em.

[00:37:02] Eric Goranson: My parents, 15 years ago had bought a, uh, a faucet name brand faucet from uh, Costco, and every year like clockwork, my mom was on the phone giving customer service a call. And they were sending out replacement parts, but my dad every year would've to sit there and put new replacement parts in the faucet every year.

[00:37:24] Eric Goranson: Nobody wants to do that. So make sure that you know what you're getting and buy the name brand stuff, and unless you're trying to on a severe budget. Stay away from the home center in-house brands. Those are the, the, the house flipper special pieces that just, you know, buy something a little higher quality.

[00:37:47] Eric Goranson: It makes a difference, you know? And then if you get something that's got a lifetime warranty, that's a name brand, you know, they're gonna be around. That's some of the problems that I see with some of the in-house store brands. The knockoff [00:38:00] brands, as I call 'em. They'll make something that looks like a Delta faucet.

[00:38:04] Eric Goranson: But it's, you know, another brand, whatever that in-house store brand is, and guess what? They make a different one every three or four years. So trying to find the right repair parts can be tough. And who keeps their paperwork on that to know what the model number is? Who kept all that information? It's rare.

[00:38:23] Eric Goranson: So that's the other piece that I wanna recommend is create a folder for all your receipts and stuff for when you do these kind of projects. So down the road, you know what brand of faucet that is, you know what model number it is. You could actually look in the brochure of it and see what the replacement parts are with the installation instructions.

[00:38:41] Eric Goranson: I always keep those things around someplace, whether it's in a remodel box that's in your attic or your basement. Just make sure you've got those pieces together so you can track down parts down the road. It's gonna save you a headache. That way you know exactly what you got on your hands and you can work with it.

[00:38:56] Eric Goranson: So those are some of my kitchen remodeling tips for [00:39:00] doing that. Uh, you know, no demolition renovation like you see on some of the TV shows out there. Sometimes you can do a lot of things to make things a lot better without having to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars of what it can cost to have somebody come in and remodel your kitchen.

[00:39:15] Eric Goranson: Stick around for hour Number two, we're gonna do the same for bathrooms just as soon as around the house returns.