Can I remodel Mom's kitchen for $428?

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Xist

Don't you need to remove the grease residue before installing the bolt?

Yes. You wipe the surface off with a paper towel and the chips come with the grease. Then run the bolt in and out a few times and whip the remaining grease off the bolt threads each time the bolt comes out. Repeat until clean. If you really want it clean and the tapped hole is blind spray some degreaser in the hole and run the bolt in and out wiping between.

[Xist]

I wonder how this video compares to Kevin's. This guy has been renovating for decades and does not rely on clickbait, but this was recorded live and I do not think that he had the organization or polish beforehand. I really do not remember most of his suggestions, just that everyone says to renovate kitchens and bathrooms, but he says that even a DIY guy can lose money there, it is cheaper to add on to a home [space permitting] than make an old basement livable, if you remodel the bathroom install heated floors and prevent moisture problems, and building your own deck will raise your home value more than the cost of tools and materials anywhere in the country:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU6YnPBc0Ec

It is over two hours! Of course I watched it at 2x, but I really wish that he or a commenter listed the 10 improvements and time stamps.

Part of the reason that it is so long is that he answered many questions from the audience.

[Xist]

Kevin's Krazy Kash Kreator

Originally Posted by Xist

1. Painting your kitchen cabinets: $200 - 600, but worth $5,000 - 15,000.
2. Fake marble contact paper $25 on Amazon. We would need two rolls. Less than $200, but worth $2,000 - 3,000.
3. Tile refinishing, $23.70 on Amazon. He says the whole process would cost $150 - 350, but be worth $3,000 - 5,000.
4. Depopcornificating your ceiling. This is the first time that he gives an indication of how much your labor is worth. He suggests only working on one ceiling per weekend, but says that materials would cost $200 - 300, while this is worth $4,000 - 8,000.
5. Upgrading baseboards: $400 for $3,500 - 4,500.
6. Replacing hardware like door handles and hinges: $500 - 700 for $3,000 - 4,000.
7. Replacing landscaping mulch: $40 for $1,000 - 1,500.
8. Replacing light switches and light fixtures: $1,000 for $4,000 - 5,000. He recommends these instead of can lights: Lithonia Lighting WF6 LED 30K MW M6 13W Ultra Thin 6" Dimmable LED Recessed Ceiling Light, 3000K, White.
9. Pressure-wash your house instead of repainting: $130 for $1,000 - 2,000.

I keep mentioning the professor that I have been taking out. She is supposed to drive up this weekend and I have been trying to clean up the house.

My family has been trying to mess it up again.

If they didn't take naps I would never be able to get ahead!

However, I made oatmeal raisin cookies, and I am only sharing them when my family cleans, so that seems to be working.

For now.

We are not painting Mom's cabinets, we like the wood grain, but since there aren't handles they are pretty dirty in places.

Kevin says to spray TSP on them.

I thought that fake marble contact paper was tacky for a cheap kitchen, while basic women seem to love it.

They also seem to take too many shortcuts.

I just want it to look like laminate in good condition, not scratched, faded, and overheated laminate.

Mom wants fake marble, but I looked on Wednesday, and couldn't get any here by Saturday, although I need to see what kind of Contact Paper Dollar Tree has.

Contact paper isn't paper. It is plastic. Kevin calls it Formica foil tops.

They aren't foil either!

Allegedly nobody else in-town sells it.

Mom still wants a light over the sink. She told me "Don't wire it, just plug it into the outlet!"

For some reason I feel nervous about switches by lights by the sink!

Kevin says to soak your gas stove burners, etc. in ammonia in Ziploc bags overnight, so I will do that.

Have you ever had a nasty range hood? It seems like nobody has this problem. All of the instructions that I find on-line say "Just wipe it!"

Really?

When I have tried to clean this various cleaners don't seem to have any effect.

I sprayed it down today and almost nothing happened, but I poured Dawn all over it, let it sit, started scrubbing, and the first spot looked clean almost right away!

However, scrubbing the rest of it just made me tired!

...until the paint started peeling!

I don't think that should have been so easy!

Some of the paint had already bubbled off, so I am just going to scrape off the rest, remove the hood, take it out back, degrease it again, sand, use high heat appliance paint, and reinstall.

The stove has some similar issues, but I would need to take the whole oven out back!

[redneck]

.

This is what you seek.





Use full strength or dilute as needed for finer things.

It will clean your cabinet doors as well as the range hood and stove.

Do not use full strength on car finishes. It can remove the gloss and etch the surface of the paint permanently.

This is my go to cleaner. It is cheap and works well.

If you have a “dollar tree” store in your area it only costs a buck. They also carry the complete line of “Awesome“ products which are AWESOME. 😎

Especially the laundry cleaner with oxy clean. It cleans work clothes better than anything else I have used and is only a buck too.




>

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[Xist]

Why is there an emojo? How do I make that go away?

I have that cleaner and a refill in the garage.

It doesn't remove Gorilla Tape!

I think that I tried five different things. Maybe I shouldn't have bought them from Dollar Tree, but I was only out $5!

One product to rule them all?!

One does not simply spray LA's Totally Awesome and call it done?

Kevin says to use liquid TSP on cabinets. There isn't a liquid TSP, the company makes a liquid TSP alternative, although if that were important I am sure that "Alternative" would be bigger on the bottle.

Mom says that is a stripper, so it makes sense to use if you are going to paint cabinets, but not to just clean.

I quickly looked for my LA's Totally Awesome, but just found the refill (and their citrus cleaner). I will try it on the cabinets and shower when I find it.

Everyone and everything says that you just spray range hoods and showers and then wipe, but that hasn't worked for me, although when I find it, I will try it on the remaining range hood paint.

Bob Vila says to mix a squirt of dish soap and equal parts hot water and vinegar.

Dollar Tree [and LA's Totally Awesome] confuse me. They had a thirty-ounce bottle of Ultra Deluxe dish soap and a fifty-ounce bottle of Ultra Concentrated.

I would expect that to go the other way.

I bought the big bottle and their vinegar, sprayed down half of the shower, set a time for 15 minutes, and then used my homemade brush attachment on my cordless screwdriver to scrub it down.

Most of the worst spots cleaned up nicely, but I didn't notice any overall improvement. I rinsed it with the detachable showerhead, but it didn't seem to do anything, so I scrubbed a little with a white washcloth, which only slightly discolored.

I wondered if it needed to stay wet, so I sprayed it down twice, fifteen minutes apart, and scrubbed again immediately after the second time.

It didn't seem to do anything.

Have I shared The Hacksmith's answer to dishes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQybdFb-uW4

I am going to try that with my remaining solution and see if Dollar Tree scrub pads and a Dollar Tree binder clip do a better job.

I tried soaking the gas burner parts in ammonia overnight like Kevin said:
It changed color right away, although it seemed like the drip plates benefitted far more than the grates. The deposits on both seemed softer, but steel wool didn't do much to the grate, although most of the stuff on the drip plate cleaned up easily.

Mom said "Just use oven cleaner!"

Dollar Tree sells that, too!

I think that I will set up the metal shelves that I pulled out of the shed, put the stove parts on that, and let it air out in the backyard.

I put the bag in a basin of water to push out some of the air, although a vacuum sealer would do a better job. I flushed the brown ammonia, rinsed the bag, and put the other front burner, plate, and diffuser in with Home Depot ammonia, but it is still yellow!

[freebeard]

Got compressed air?

duckduckgo.com/?q=spot+sand+blaster

[Xist]

For the stove components?

[freebeard]

Bare metal. It will take the paint right off, unless you use ground walnuts shells or plastic media.

[Xist]

Oven cleaner didn't seem to clean the stove grates and plates. I bought 3 more bottles of ammonia and soaked everything together.

It was underwhelming. Did I hit the point of diminishing returns?

Mom told me to use Mr. Clean on the shower. I let it wait 15 minutes and used my power brush. That worked better than anything else, but my batteries ran out before I finished, and they were freshly-charged when I started!

I cleared and cleaned the counters and tried putting down contact paper. I don't think that they emphasize how much water you need enough. I sprayed the counter, but it quickly dried.

I think that you need to pour the water! If it isn't standing it isn't enough!

You also need to make it as simple as possible. I tried to start in the corner, but I was trying to deal with the backsplash (in a corner), and the leading edge (also in a corner). I put it down next to the sink and thought that I did a good job, but I couldn't push it into the corner with the backsplash, so I ended up with a bit of a gap. I struggled to line up another sheet and just didn't seem to be able to get the other side straight--or get it into the corner with the backsplash. Then I noticed a bubble in the first sheet and tried to gently work it with a credit card, but I ended up with a hole. The second sheet was even worse, so I removed everything, and my family immediately covered the counter with junk.

Also, some people use squeegees, but I couldn't find a good one. Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and Family Dollar didn't have anything. Walmart had one with a handle that extended 8'. I bought a Rain-X one from O'Reilly's and I am going to record a video of how hilariously horrible it is. All that it does is squeak and streak and it does both terribly.

I covered the junk with towels and sprayed some cabinets with orange cleaner, then wiped it down. There are still many bits of dried food, but it looks much better, although it still looks a little grey where we grab them.