Again, I turn to the internet for decisionmaking

[dukeofurl]

Howdy all, I'm duke. Long time no see. Anyhow, I've been kicking around the idea of building my own house for a while now and depending on what my accountant has to say in the matter in a month or two, it looks like I can finally hack together my part of the american dream.

I've been in the same house since I was born and I've grown accustomed to the galley kitchen. It just dosen't have the depth or the openness that I've always wanted.

In any event, I've kinda got a rough idea of what I'd like - at least 300-350 square feet of real estate, I'm thinking around 17x20 so I can have an island (and a wrought iron rack for my pots and pans right above it!) and the issue of appliances came up recently.

I've always wanted to just call Wolf and cram a 6 or 10 burner range from the catalog in there and slide in a 72 CF True triple door fridge just for the sake of hedonism, but my contractor advised me that the fire code and spacing just won't allow for it.

He reccomended Viking and Sub Zero and after a day online looking around, and my father has managed to build a restaurant kitchen from scratch on a smaller budget.

$8,000 for a stove, $6,000 for a refrigerator, this adds up pretty quickly. Has anyone ever undertaken a project of this nature, and is there any reccomendations as to where to look brand wise and where the tradeoffs and tradeups are?

Edited October 29, 2007 by dukeofurl (log)

[budrichard]

About 10 years ago I embarked on your type of decision making process. You will get lots of opinions and that what they will be, opinions. You will get very little in the way of facts and you will get some very uniformed and potentially dangerous information. I will try to relate facts.

Your contracter is correct, commercial appliances are not allowed by NFPA Residential Fire Codes. Since you want to keep to a budget and costs reasonable, constructing your kitchen to commercial codes is out of the question.

I installed a Viking range. There are cheaper and there are more expensive options but the Viking has been bulletproof and it does not sit idle as a showpiece.

The rest was Kitchenaid, fridge, dishwasher and all counter top Pro-Line appliances. Kitchenaid works good and they stand behind what they manufacture.

I installed Boos 4" thick, end grain countertops. Don't need any cutting boards but you do have to sand and re-oil every once in a while, no problem. you can purchase veneer butcherblock and that's what it is, veneer. Since the function of countertops is food preperation, granite and the like seems strange to me.

Sink was Franke Manor House, BIG, sturdy, takes a licking from the Falk copper pots I use with no dings. Franke faucet works great and there are a number of types to chose from. Oh yes, the under counter 60 bottle wine cooler is Kitchenaid also.

Sub Zero has the worst frequency of repair record which is why i don't have Sub Zero. For a fridge, what i wish I had done is installed two Kitchenaid bottom freezer models side by side with the doors opening out. Looks like a huge custom for a lot less money and provides a LOT of storage. We use another in the basement. I made indeed do this at some time in the future.

Pergo flooring is the best. Since Pergo started the laminate market, many have entered and installers don't do Pergo anymore because Pergo is so easy and sold in the Big Box stores. Installers can't get the markup using Pergo and so choose a brand that costs more and will tell you why it is better than Pergo. Don't let that put you off, i purchased Pergo at Home Depot and had my contracter install it. Absolutely no wear patterns.

You MUST have a hood ducted to the outside, for a vapor and heat removal. Viking in my case and bulletproof again. Fans are nosiy and our kitchen is like the deck of an aircraft carrier with both fans spooled up but it works.

In my opinion, kitchen designers are a waste of time and money. There are others that disagree. Make you own decisions, it's not rocket science but this is coming from a Nuclear Engineer, just so you know the source. I also have a background in Fire Protection as a Fire Chief and Fire Marshall.

Good luck!-Dick

Edited October 29, 2007 by budrichard (log)

[CaliPoutine]

We're almost finished with our kitchen remodel. The kitchen was gutted and we started from scratch. I did hire a KD and I regret that. Shortly after hiring him and deciding on cabinets/layout, I found GardenWeb. The kitchen and appliance forum over there have been invaluable. Its amazing to me the length people over there go to help strangers. I just had a woman photoshop a backsplash tile I was thinking about into a pic of my kitchen.

I've seen pages and pages of help with kitchen layouts. Our Kitchen is a lot smaller )12x 20) so I didnt have much options with appliances, etc.

Good luck!!