A Valuable Idea For Every Kitchen Reno

16 years ago

. . . and one I came up with the hard way! None of us can be in our kitchen every moment of every day during a reno. I work from home and I still had painters painting the wrong walls and subs wandering around guessing about where things were going. They'd ask our GC to see his copy of the plans and he'd have to search through the construction things to find them and then sift thru the various pages looking for the right view. Out of sheer desperation I hit on this idea:

I made a very good, clear 8x10" copy of every view of our new kitchen plans. With one color of highliter marker, I shaded in (on every view) the areas where the backsplash tiles would go. With another color, I shaded in where every outlet was marked to go, etc. To make it even clearer, I wrote in directional things such as "door to living room", "backyard", "side yard", "front of house", etc., as I'd noticed that they were continually turning the GC's plans trying to orient themselves. I avoided using north, south, etc., as none of these guys were from our village, so N,S,E & W were not indicators that I trusted would keep us all on the same page. I also made sure not to obscure any numbers or measurements on the plans. Finally, I slipped each sheet into a clear, plastic cover sleeve and taped each one at eye level on a wall that was close by, well lit and not being demolished or painted.

The subs, as well as our GC, loved this and they consulted these sheets throughout the entire reno. I loved it, too, as I wasn't paying subs to paint or stucco the wrong walls anymore or waste valuable time trying to figure out where something went . . . or didn't go!

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Comments (8)

cspinto
16 years ago
Excellent idea! I would add to that, when you give your contractors copies of the appliance specs, highlight your particular model number on every page it appears, as well as any "important, don't miss this" notes.
claybabe
16 years ago
Great idea!

Another thing that helped my electrician in particular was a list of items to do. It was just easier for him to divide up his guys and keep working with the list, even though he really knew what all had to be done.
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janwad
16 years ago
I will definitely do this on my next job.

I wrote things on walls until they were painted, then I resorted to sticky notes all over. "PUT OUTLET HERE" "STOVE HERE". They did get looked at until they'd fall off, but your idea is much better.

We all want to be taken care of, but really the best way to get what you want is to do it yourself - even communication and education.
mnhockeymom
16 years ago
Lynne - I did something similar - I compiled a 3-ring binder with a section for each part of the project (cabinets, appliances, lighting, counters, etc etc). I then photocopied each section of the project on the construction plans, colored them in where color was relevant, and wrote cross-reference information on these plans - also did this w/ cabinet elevations, lighting plan, as well as spec sheets for everything such as sinks, faucets, appliances, etc etc. Each paper was then put into a plastic sleeve and I included a write on, rub off marker in the book. We kept it in an obvious place throughout the project (sometimes on a window sash, on the counter once in, etc) and it became our "bible". If I was away from the site, the guys always had the info they needed and rarely needed to call me. If we came up against an issue, we could open the book, draw w/ the marker any changes we might make and everyone could get their 2 cents in before we moved forward. Now that the project is done, it's a wonderful resource for me to have when I get asked something by a visitor!
jayne s
16 years ago
Not exactly related but I'd recommend taking some digital pictures of stuff that will be in the walls before they are closed up. If you write distances with markers on your wood or studs, it will be possible to figure out where the water lines and A/C conduits are so that you don't puncture them later.

The sheetrocker guys came in and sheetrocked over lots of stuff (A/C vents, electrical boxes, etc.) . In many cases, my photos helped us find things safely without making extra holes in the sheetrock.

jayne
longislandinnj
16 years ago
I've seen this done for traveling too! Directions, itineraries, reservation no#s are always easy to find &once you use a back move it ot the back of the envelope.
lynninnewmexico
Original Author
16 years ago
All great ideas! mnhockeymom & lonislandinnj, my family calls me the Binder Queen, so I'm surprised that I didn't think to put the plans in a binder, too! I have a travel binder, a "To Do" binder for every day, a Christmas binder, I have a Kitchen Reno binder for me to use, etc. Too funny!
bettycbowen
16 years ago
These are all great ideas! I'm working on a notebook of all my drawings and specs.
I also carry a notebook of information, closeup maps, coupons, hotel confirmations, etc. when we travel, but we call it "The Book of Knowledge".