Kim Fein has moved 17 times in the last 30 years. In that time, she has renovated seven homes. It helps that she’s trained in interior design, holding a design degree from Purdue University.
Fein has moved to follow her husband, an engineer with Envirocon, who is currently the senior project manager for the Milltown Dam removal. In an ironic twist, Fein is dealing with a water project of her own.
The kitchen in their mid-1990’s Lincoln Hills home was damaged by flooding during its previous ownership. The house, Fein said, was in the 1995 Parade of Homes, but the builder “took pride in some things and went cheap on others.”
“It was just bizarre,” Fein said of the odd combination of techniques throughout the home. Worst was the kitchen.
“We came across flooring issues where there were floods,” said contractor Steve Monogue of Natural Stone Solutions who is assisting with Fein’s remodel.
The kitchen floor was ceramic tile over concrete board, and had been damaged by water. Monogue suggested removing the concrete board and replacing it with hardiboard, a waterproof underlayment, and replacing the ceramic tile with stone. “If you’re using natural materials, you don’t have to worry about water,” he said.
Water damage to the kitchen necessitated removing the cabinet faces as well.
“The cabinetry was flaky,” Fein said. “It was terrible.”
Refacing the cabinets helped keep remodeling costs down. “If you’re doing a kitchen remodel that includes cabinetry,” Monogue said, “the cabinets will be the most expensive thing.” Fein chose solid wood doors, but is modifying them.
“I’m about to put a higher gloss, tougher seal on them to make them easier to clean,” she said.
Before redoing her kitchen, Fein toured houses for sale in her neighborhood, and noticed they all had granite counters. Attention to market trends prompted Fein’s use of stone in her own house. That, and a desire to eradicate germs.
Fein wouldn’t disagree that she’s germ phobic, and prefers surfaces that are easy to clean. One of the changes Fein prioritized was removing a tile counter top “with a wood edge, which you’re never supposed to do because you’re constantly wiping it down,” she said. And she was. Besides constantly washing the peeling wooden edge, Fein was “resealing the grout every three months.”
“The germs were just unacceptable,” she said.
Instead of hard-to-clean grout, Fein now has a smooth granite countertop, cut of a huge slab of stone requiring only one seam for the length of her kitchen.
The pink, black, taupe and crystalline stone attracts natural light from the nearby window, and bounces it on the slick, semi-translucent surface.
“It’s not impervious, but it’s nearly impossible to scratch it,” Monogue said of the granite. Fein has relied on Monogue’s assistance with her entire kitchen remodel.
“When you have places that make very professional decisions, you stick with them,” she said.
Natural Stone Solutions suggested slate for Fein’s backsplash, and Fein chose to have it set on point, in a diamond pattern, with copper tiles for accents. The slate will be sealed with a gloss finish to accentuate the colors in the stone, and to make it easier to clean, she said.
In addition, “There was a two-inch gap behind the sink that was a catch all for dirt,” Fein said. To remedy that, Fein had her backsplash set flush with her windowpane.
She also replaced her sink, selecting a granite-polymer composite with straight sides and a deep bowl. The material is “almost bullet proof,” Monogue said, stating it is resistant to hot pans as well as scuffs and scratches.
To enhance the crisp look, the sink is mounted under the counter, rather than from above. This method also keeps water from sheeting up and over the sink’s edge.
Fein will soon have a striking, modern kitchen featuring natural stone counters, walls and floor. She intends to faux-finish the remaining walls to match the natural rock tones.
“Then we’ll pick a paint color about four shades lighter than that for the ceiling,” Fein said. “I’m not a big fan of white ceilings.”
“She’s literally redone the whole kitchen floor to ceiling,” Monogue said.
Doing much of the work herself allowed Fein to have a high-end kitchen for a very reasonable price.
“Some people choose to use a general contractor. I’m my own general contractor,” Fein quipped.
“It’s a lot of time,” she admitted. “I just spent three hours running samples back and forth.”
Monogue encourages that sort of involvement, though, as stone samples look completely different in the warehouse than they do in a person’s home.
One project Fein credits to Monogue alone is simplifying a small “wet bar” sink tucked into a nook beside Fein’s fridge. The former sink extended over its countertop and had rounded edges, so “there wasn’t even room to set a glass,” Monogue said. He moved the basin to the side of the two-foot space, selecting a deep, straight sided model to minimize counter loss. The result is a small but usable space that maximizes flat surface availability.
“I was ready to get rid of the whole thing,” Fein said of the bar before Monogue’s modification.
The reworking fits Fein’s ideology in remodeling: “Kitchens and bathrooms not only need to be beautiful, they need to be functional.”
“The trick with remodeling is you want it to look like it was intended originally,” Monogue said. “It’s tough to do.”
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