Kitchen Confines- Open It Up!
Today's lifestyle of entertaining more at home with friends and family has contributed to the trend of a combination kitchen and living area. Families may have more than one cook and enjoy being together after a long day at work or school. Unless your home was built with an open kitchen concept, you may think you will have to move to get the kitchen you have always wanted. However, there are many options depending on your home's structure, even if the wall between your kitchen and living area is load bearing. A load bearing wall provides essential support for the ceiling joists and roof of your home. Installing additional supports in a variety of sizes can compensate for removing a load bearing wall. Structural products on the market today include engineered timber that allows for more support over a greater span of space. These products are commonly called micro lams or lam beams. These beams are constructed by an incredibly strong adhesive, gluing layer after layer of thin wood together. The wood grain of each layer alternates to give more strength in each direction so the layers stay together. Supports can be added, either 2 x!2 beams or microlams, to your home's structure to open the space and have fewer support posts. If a wall is not load bearing, it can be removed without adding additional support. Please consult a qualified building professional before removing any walls. Our clients had an existing kitchen separated from the main living area. They wanted to open the area and join both rooms to entertain children and grandchildren. Other priorities included enlarging the countertop area to encourage family meals and better use the kitchen area, adding additional seating and changing out the Formica countertops with granite. These changes would open and beautify the area. A better use of space in the kitchen would allow more cooks and friends and family to spend more time together.We identified the wall area to be removed and used attic areas for structural reinforcement. Microlams were added to existing supports in the attic, the wall was removed and the brown molding was patched as necessary. Electrical switches and outlets had to be relocated or deleted that were previously in the removed wall. Recessed can lights were added to brighten up the new serving area. Ceiling and walls were patched, taped, floated, textured and painted to achieve a consistent look on the old and newly constructed area.Enriching the existing cabinetry was achieved by applying an espresso colored glaze over the existing cabinet stain for a rich chocolate color. Wood wainscoting was added to the front of the peninsula to match existing cabinets. While corbels are a beautiful millwork accent, they tend to be located at knee level when used as a countertop support and may get in your way. It was important not to add millwork in a cramped space, under the countertop, in this kitchen. To avoid a structural need for corbels, a custom tubular steel support was fabricated into a grid pattern. This support was trimmed out with wood to match the countertops. Now countertop leg room is more open and comfortable. Granite countertops replaced the Formica and a tumbled stone covered the backsplash. Porcelain stone-look tile was installed for flooring.Remember to think idealistically when planning your home updates and make sure you review your options when remodeling any room in your home. New technologies may give you options you never knew existed.Bobby Sanders is a Certified Graduate Remodelor™ (CGR) with an exclusive professional designation designed to emphasize business manage¬ment skills as the key to a professional remodeling operation.The CGR designation requires that graduates meet prescribed standards of business practice, possess a minimum of five years remodeling industry experience, have a proven track record of 'successful project management, complete a comprehensive education curriculum, and pledge to uphold the program's code of ethics. | ||||
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