<p>I seem to obsess about my kitchen designs much more than my competitors (who are 99% male). I need to use every nook and cranny efficiently - always have a lazy susan turntable cabinet in the corner to use the space efficiently. Always have a trash/recycle pullout right next to the sink. Always have as many drawers as possible - I hate fixed shelves down low. Who wants to get on their hands and knees to get to the pots and pans on the bottom shelf? If I have to save money by using a shelf cabinet, I tear out the shelves and put in the nice pull out trays to pull out the pots/pans. Always have to put a tall pantry in the kitchen, wherever it fits!</p>
<p>Probably another reason I don’t seem to make the profits they do :)</p>
<p>For this project I worked through a design with the kitchen guy at Lowes, who always helps me. He slammed something out for the small space - we had no choice but to put the dishwasher in an island in the middle of the kitchen, across from the sink. When I got back and chalked out the cabinets I stood there and worked the kitchen from every angle. I realized that the dishwasher had been designed to be directly behind the sink. If I am doing dishes in the sink, the dishwasher drawer would come down behind my butt - not to the side. Oh No, this is not going to work!!!</p>
<p>So I had to call the guy and change my order, cancel some of the cabinets in the island and reconfigure so that the dishwasher door would drop down to the right of someone at the sink - move it over 12 inches.</p>
<p>I’ve seen neat air vents for dishwashers that are a combination vent and soap pump. It looks like a fancy pump, but has a little bit at the bottom to allow for the venting. I think they were only around $20-$30 on Amazon.</p>
<p>I would think a thoughtful kitchen design pays in the end if only as a quicker sale? </p>
<p>I stayed in a high end rental recently where the refrigerator handle was on the wrong side if the door, so that it opened away from the counter where you would set the food. This kind of stuff with clear lack of any thought process drives me crazy.</p>
<p>I have the smallest kitchen (U shaped) in the world and when I gutted it, fitting everything in I wanted was a tall task, but I managed 13 upper cabinets, 4 lower cabinets (one is a corner lazy Susan) 3 huge drawers and 5 regular sized ones. We knocked down back wall for a family room and island is where wall was. I put in 3 more huge drawers in that, plus a double garbage can cabinet. I was even able to fit in a range hood which was important so the whole kitchen wouldn’t look like one big cabinet, and fit micro in its own cabinet. </p>
<p>If I had changed the basic foot print it would have been way too expensive for us (as it was 50K for kitchen alone) but it functions perfectly and looks fantastic if I do say so myself. :)</p>
<p>I like the cathedral ceiling, that is really going to open things up, although it looks like you are burying that little triangular window at the top.</p>
<p>PEX has been around for a while, I’m surprised the “home inspectors” are not up on it. Although, I have encountered any number of “home inspectors” who are not worthy of the name.</p>
<p>Is it typical to have the breaker box on the outside of the house? I’ve never seen that around here.</p>
<p>I had a friend with a NYC apartment where you couldn’t access the garbage can and the dishwasher at the same time - sometimes it really helps if someone who has cooked designs the kitchen!</p>
<p>I don’t think PEX has been allowed in NY until the last building code up date (2010). Our local plumbing inspector wouldn’t even allow PVC until recently. I have yet to actually see PEX in a house.</p>
<p>Breaker box being outside is pretty standard here in southern CA. I don’t think I saw one house without it there. In some areas you can even have your hot water heater (in a little cabinet) outside because there’s never a frost.</p>
<p>I saw one house that had undergone a massive flip by a guy that lived in the garage while he did it over half a year. He had done PEX for all the new plumbing, and I have to say, it seemed pretty nice. I use similar stuff at work for my water cooling lines and love how easy it is to put together and take apart. Man, that house was cool. In a neighborhood where the average house was easily over $1M, but since this was at the end of a mile long windy dirt road going up the side of a hill the price was only ~$650k.</p>
<p>I researched PEX pipe because I am not familiar with it. I can see that PEX pipe is part of the Sharkbite line. I love love love Sharkbite stuff because it really helps us cap off open lines while we work. Unfortunately the Sharkbite fittings are really expensive. For those that are not familiar, Sharkbite fittings allow you to just snap on a 90, coupling, or end cap onto copper pipes without soldering. And, there is a tool that lets you just pull off the fitting without having to saw up the copper pipe. </p>
<p>When I first started we used sharkbite to build a small new plumbing area and there was a lot of controversy when a traditional plumber came in to do a fix. Old fashioned plumbers refuse to use Sharkbite and claim it is not to code. So I had to research it and Sharkbite (and I am guessing PEX) is now allowed for plumbing installations. I always keep lots of end caps on hand. We use it during the plumbing so that we can get halfway done with something, shove on a Sharkbite end cap and then test the lines. This also allows us to stop the plumbing, shove on an end cap and get the water turned back on (for certain people who need to wash their hands or use the toilet… gee I wonder who that is??? ME) Then we can take the caps off with the tool and keep them for the next job. </p>
<p>Have never done the water lines with Sharkbite because the cost is prohibitive. Cannot afford to use the material, although if I really analyzed it it might save enough in labor costs to offset the material costs. It just makes me nervous to have sharkbite fittings inside a wall that might leak in the future - probably a stupid fear.</p>
<p>But I might use this PEX stuff for the water lines that need to run to the dishwasher in the island because it looks kind of flexible.</p>
<p>Regarding soap dispenser/air gap thing. The kitchen sink is not going to be in the island, just the dishwasher. So, it will look really stupid to have an air gap (or soap dispenser) in the middle of a nice island countertop without any sink in the island I want to get a nice countertop area on the island.</p>
<p>Yes, most of the homes I have worked on have the main panel and breaker box outside. In fact there are a lot of code restrictions on where an interior ‘sub’ panel can be, so it’s best just to have all the breakers outside. Maybe it’s a weather/temperature thing? We don’t have to worry about freezing.</p>
<p>Snowdog - I agree about kitchen design. Refrigerator location and opening is important. Unfortunately in this kitchen the refrigerator has to be down at the end of the cabinetry, near the breakfast nook. But I prefer to have a refrigerator available to get to without having to go to the interior corner. For me, it is best to have the refrigerator in a position where family members can get to it without having to bother someone at the sink or stove. This kitchen is so small that it is going to be difficult for someone to get by the person at the sink who might be loading dishes into the dishwasher that is dropping out from the island. Sink passageway will be blocked but it cannot be helped.</p>
<p>I have learned to target the woman in all of my designs. As long as the man can see a garage and cable for their TV, the woman makes the buying decision. So, you have to appeal to their design sense and a Wow kitchen. I have had some buyers/potential buyers go through everything in the kitchen to figure it out and others that have just passed through and don’t check all the functionality.</p>
<p>I think there are other connector systems than sharkbite.</p>
<p>One thing I’ve seen is so-called “home run” systems. You buy one manifold with multiple outbound connections that you install near the hot water heater and supply, and you run a separate line from each fixture back to the manifold. That way you have no joints at all in the system, which makes it very fast to install. And no chance of leaks in the walls.</p>
<p>It uses extra material, but PEX is way cheaper than copper pipe, and zero connectors saves a lot of money. In a small house it seems like a very feasible solution.</p>
<p>I have been amazed at some of the poor kitchen design in local Parade of Homes tours (high end houses). I hear other people in the room, only seeing the nice cabs and countertop, talking about how wonderful the kitchen is and want to yell “do you realize how dysfunctional this kitchen would be to actually use?”</p>
<p>^^ Do you know how many people do not cook and they buy the house just for the look of the kitchen? I also have seen high end homes have two kitchens, one for the look, the other is to cook…look and cook, what is the difference? :)</p>
<p>Most people don’t actually use more than a few kitchens in their life… it can be hard to tell if a kitchen layout is good or bad until you actually have to use it.</p>
<p>There are some really basic elements to kitchen design though–work triangle, at least one uninterrupted counter space, counter space next to oven etc, sink/dishwasher placement that make it easy to determine how workable a kitchen is before you ever cook the first dish. Even the smallest kitchen can be a great work space with the right design.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add that I removed broken water heater (still have no idea how humans were living in this house - no hot water). I need the space inside the house for a stacking washer/dryer closet. So, we are going to install a tankless water heater system mounted on the exterior. I’ll let you know what the final cost for that installation is.</p>
<p>I’m interested in that upgrade since we’re thinking about getting rid of the water heater that’s in the middle(!) of our kitchen and replacing it with a tankless outside.</p>
<p>That home run idea is also a very cool concept. I imagine doing it before walls/floors are finished is almost trivial. The only thing I’d probably miss is when you run water to heat up the tub, you wouldn’t also heat up the line going to your sink next to it.</p>
I want to get a nice countertop area on the island.</p>