Full Kitchen Remodel

Starting Over Inside a Room That Was Built Well

A full remodel is the job where everything in the kitchen is on the table at once: the layout, the cabinets, the counters, the lighting, the hood, the wiring behind the walls and the plumbing under the sink. In Bellevue we do most of this work in homes from the late 1970s through the early 1990s, especially in Somerset, Bridle Trails and Woodridge, and those houses make a full remodel both easier and harder than people expect.

Easier, because the rooms are generous and the framing is usually sound. Harder, because four decades of small changes pile up behind the drywall, and the original plan was drawn for a kitchen that sat apart from the rest of the house.

What the Job Includes

• Design and layout. A measured drawing of the room as it stands, then two or three layouts that fix the traffic, with aisle widths marked. A working aisle wants 42 inches, and 48 when two people cook at once.
• Demolition and protection. Floors outside the kitchen covered, dust walls up, and the heating return sealed so the rest of the house does not fill with debris.
• Rough in. New circuits, relocated boxes, supply and drain changes, and the duct run for the hood, all before insulation and drywall close up.
• Inspection. Rough electrical, plumbing and mechanical work inspected by the City of Bellevue before anything is covered.
• Cabinets. Set, leveled and fastened. Counters are only as flat as the boxes beneath them, so this stage gets checked twice.
• Template and counters. Measured once the cabinets are fixed in place, then fabricated and installed. This is usually the longest wait in the schedule.
• Finish. Backsplash, lighting, appliances, hardware, final inspection and a punch list walk with you.

Choices That Matter More in These Houses

Cabinet construction

Many original cabinets from this period were face framed oak with particleboard sides. They were fine for their day, but particleboard swells around a leaking dishwasher and does not hold screws well once it has been reworked. For new cabinets we steer people toward plywood boxes, full extension drawers in the base cabinets and soft close hinges. Framed or frameless is mostly a question of look and storage: frameless gives a little more usable interior width, framed suits a traditional door. Inset doors are handsome and cost more, because every gap has to stay even as the wood moves with our damp seasons.

Ventilation

Downdraft vents were a popular feature of island cooktops when these houses were new. They struggle, because steam and smoke rise and the vent tries to pull them sideways. In a house that stays closed through a long wet season, moisture and cooking smells linger in the family room. We plan a ducted hood that vents outside, with a capture area at least as wide as the cooktop, and we trace the duct route before cabinets are ordered. Larger hoods can bring a make-up air requirement, which should be a design decision and not a surprise at inspection.

Electrical capacity

If you are moving to induction or adding a wall oven, the first thing to check is the panel. Some homes have room; others need a service change that belongs in the budget from the first conversation. A remodeled kitchen also needs its dedicated appliance circuits, GFCI protection on countertop receptacles and the AFCI protection current code generally expects, and an older panel may not take all of that without work.

Energy code

New lighting, new exterior openings and some mechanical changes are reviewed against the Washington State Energy Code. For a kitchen this mostly shapes fixture choices, lighting controls and insulation where walls are opened. We account for it at the plan stage so the drawings go through cleanly.

When a Full Remodel Is Not the Right Call

If your layout already works and your cabinet boxes are plywood and square, you may not need this job. New counters, a proper hood, better lighting and refaced doors can get you most of the way for a fraction of the cost. We will tell you that at the walkthrough rather than quote you the bigger project.

The same goes for plumbing. Moving the sink a few feet can mean opening the floor, rerouting a drain and adding a vent. If the sink already sits somewhere sensible, leaving it there frees up money for things you will notice every day.

Living Through It

Set up a temporary kitchen in the laundry room or a finished basement: the refrigerator, a microwave, a coffee maker and a folding table. Expect several weeks without a working sink when the layout changes, and longer when a wall comes out. We give you a written schedule with the inspection points marked, and we update it whenever a cabinet or slab date moves.

Call (425) 916-4989 to book a walkthrough of your kitchen.