Arden Park
As you can see in the pictures this kitchen had not been updated since 1973, at which time the single car garage had been converted into a dining and laundry room, and was a “non-permitted” conversion.

This project had some typical and unusual challenges. Typically on a the full demolition of a kitchen of this vintage the wiring does not meet current codes, which normally is not a problem if we do not disturb the existing wiring. On this job however, we had to remove non-permitted electrical, move some existing receptacles, and add more receptacles for additional counter space being added. So we ended up replacing all wiring in the kitchen, as well as the home runs to the panel, and added a couple of 20 amp. circuits to meet code and carry the load of a modern kitchen.

After removing the soffets and divider wall, the asbestos tested acoustic was removed from the dining area ceiling to blend both ceilings into one uniform look. A flush mount structural beam was added to carry the load of  the gable end of the home, as well as the ceiling joists. All of these issues are very typically addressed.

An unusual problem that showed up for us on this one was that the owners that converted the garage originally, built a planter onto the front of the structure/dining area and did not remove the concrete from the driveway, which gave it no normal way for drainage. Unfortunately, they poured concrete over the garage floor to raise the floor level even with the inside of the home, which normally would not be a problem except that the “cold joint” between the two layers allowed moisture from the planter box to pass between them, and up the joint between the house and old dining room at the old wall location, causing problems with the vinyl flooring, to which we came up with a simple and economical solution.

This kitchen features American Woodmark Cabinetry, Maytag dishwasher, disposal, electric stove, “California Golden” granite counter tops and back splash, under mount Kohler sink, new laundry room cabinetry, and vinyl flooring throughout.