small is ok...this all happened for a reason. maybe that U kitchen can become L or a small galley or you get to spend on better materials...take a breather.

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I really can sympathize... we bought this house with the assumption we would add a second-story addition to it. But when we started making drawings we realized that, structurally, the house had been built in such a way as to require much, much more extensive structural reinforcing than we'd thought in order to build the addition. It put the idea about 3x what our budget was, so we had to scrap the whole thing :(

I was devastated at first, but the (smaller, less expensive) renovations we ended up doing instead have actually turned out quite wonderfully. I hope that will also be your situation!

we too had planned an extensive extension and as we realized the money would easily go into 6 figures; we scrapped the idea and decided to live within the existing footprint. Best decision we ever made and could not possibly be more thrilled with the outcome. Post your existing layout here and let us help you.

Both Staceyneil and particularly remodelfla spent a long time in planning - because of the complications of the physical limitations and also because they were committed to their goals of the kind of space they wanted in the budget they had.

Along with commiseration on the dream changing, the best advice I can give is to slow down a bit and poke around. These are examples of what I'm thinking about from what you said...

Is it possible to raise the ceiling? I've never tackled such a thing so I really don't know - but can you go up or would it be too expensive?

Were you thinking about tile or could you now be thinking about tile? Take the 2x4's and ply off, level the floor, do radiant heat under the finish floor - then look for some way to box in a cooling only duct up into the space above the ceiling? In some areas, radiant heat can be placed under wood floors too.

Get a mason and dig a big chase in the floor and insulate it. You could use for piping, ductwork, or wiring.

Sometimes, ducting can run through toe kicks or the base of built-ins. If you are doing this, you can order the cabinets as boxes without toe kicks and construct your own that later get covered with material that matches the cabinet finish. Again, you can use the space for running other utility stuff.

to piggyback onto bmore...we raised the floor in your entire garage area which became part of my kitchen, a laundry/pantry, and a bit left over for DH's storage. He did it in sections, built forms and poured the cement. While doing this he was able to re-route the plumbing for the hot water heater and washing machine which we moved. It takes time and is a PIA to live that way, but it is doable. If you are handy; you can save a boatload of money.

I was also thinking radiant heat might work. My plumber is pushing me to do it it my kitchen extension. He even installs it in driveways so that people don't have to shovel the snow!

Also, I thought electric baseboard heating could be run anywhere? Not sure, but that's another option that's been discussed for heating our extension.

Also wanted to mention that if you do decide to go ahead with kitchen in garage space, be sure the plumbing is either well insullated or installed on an interior wall. Frozen pipes are evil. I just mention this because garages often are not insullated the same way a house is.

Did anyone discuss other heat options? we have a house where doing anything underneath is not possible. We have electric baseboard heat, and each room is a seperate zone with seperate controls and heat unit.

Even so, the only place for a heater in the kitchen is where I dreamed of a window seat. Learned about a mini-split system (provides both heat and AC). Got all excited about maybe getting AC in the house (we have to use window units) and got a quote for putting them in three room -which turned out to be horrendous. Looked online, we can purchase one and install it ourselves as installion is very simple.

We still plan on getting one system (at a cost of under $2,000) for the bedroom, and will probably go with a ceiling cove radiant heater for the kitchen (Cost about $200) - so I can still get my window seat.

We have no central heat source, so that the house has been added on to five times didn't cause problems. Just another electric circut to run. BTW- I live in SD were heat is a major concern.

After 11 years of experience with remodeling and renovating an old cape on a small budget, I have learned that sometimes the house tells you what it will and will not do well.
For me, before every project, I had to find the compromise between my dream and my budget and believe me they were very far apart. What I found though is that it makes you focus on what you MOST want. For example if the thing you want the most is the larger space, then will you ever be satisfied with the newer kitchen?
I thought about moving my kitchen too. In the end, I kept it in a small space. (Knowing though that I do not want to stay here forever was a factor) But aside from being a little crowded when it comes to working in the kitchen with others, it is fantastic in terms of function. Everything is close. I have plenty of counter space. Several can eat at the counter at a time and it is only about 9x15 or 16. We completely changed the layout and everything is new. I feel happy in my kitchen.

Hang in there. I am still in the planning phase and it has been such an emotional roller coaster. My house (and lot) are not ideal and it is disheartening. But I am finding that if I step away for some time (weeks sometimes) I come back to the project with fresh perspective and peace with the new reality of what can be done. How "small" is the current kitchen? Maybe posting that option here will give you some hope on making that work...

You did not mention what type of heat you have now. Forced air? HW baseboard? etc. Do you have oil/gas/elect? I would look at heating the space in this order:

1- Radiant- the best (and most expensive) method. It will work in a small subfloor. Most efficient.

2- HW kick heaters/baseboard. Should be fairly easy to put in. Fairly efficient.

3- Electric baseboards.

4- Combo AC/heat minisplit or ducted system...

Well, my kitchen has 7'6" ceiling and I can assure you that's not holding me back from remodeling ;) So raising the floor shouldn't be that much of an issue.

I definitely second the suggestion to post your existing space and seeing what the layout gurus can come up with. They are incredibly creative and can come up with options you would never even imagine.

I like all the alternative ideas for heating, but I'm also thinking about what you could do with your existing kitchen as an alternative to moving to the garage. What does the current space look like? I say this because we had planned to add on to a family home and had even drawn up architectural plans, cleared with the county building dept., and priced out the whole project. Unfortunately, the pricing out turned out to be more expensive than the value of the house and land warranted. Plan 2 was make our kitchen in our current house larger. We really tried, but there was no reasonable way to do it. Believe me when I say I feel your pain. Plan 3 was redo our existing space. We've done that and couldn't be more pleased. My daughter who grew up in this house was here for Thanksgiving and commented several times what a pleasure it was to work in there, so much easier than before, and before wasn't terrible.

The moral of the story is: If at first you don't succeed...

Instead of putting your kitchen in the garage area, what about placing your dining area there and using the existing dining space to expand the kitchen?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I had a meltdown this morning - sorry about that. We are going to meet with one more contractor tomorrow and I am going to mention some of your ideas. Thank you so much!

As Domino3 mentioned, renovating is definitely an emotional rollercoaster. I guess I should prepare myself for much more of it before our project is complete.

I hear you. Prior to this house, we lived in a 1200 sq ft. rambler that we'd always intended to add on a second story. Long and short of it is, the construction plans never really "felt" right (and was going to be waaaay too expensive.) So we moved instead. Now live on the same street as my DH's brother and family. Our kids all are growing up together and my SIL is my best friend. Couldn't be better. I agree with the earlier post--take a breather. It'll work out in the end, you'll see.
--M

1 or 2 inches less insulation on the floor shouldn't be a deal breaker. You can get more efficient insulation (spray foam is better than fibreglass I think for example) and you can also consider a heated floor (which is awesome regardless).

So while it may cost a bit more to insulate / heat, you can combine forced air heat with electric radiant floor heating for the coldest seasons.

It can be done - push forward.

At 7'10", your ceilings are still a few inches taller than mine. We just reno'd our whole house. :)

Many good suggestions. If it were me, I'd raise the floor using 2x6 joists, spray foam and a heat pump system for heating and cooling. Lots of ways to go, keep looking til you find the one you like. Always someone out there to do what you want, the way you want. Just takes a little extra effort sometimes. It's usually worth it though.
Good luck!

Please check out the possibility of a a split mini-system.

I put one into a 500 sq ft studio apartment with sleeping loft built in 2/3 of a three-bay garage. It does a great job of heating and cooling, and the AC has a really high SEER rating. Because the apartment has a high ceiling, we also put in a reversible ceiling fan, which can push the heat down in the winter. So far, it hasn't been needed.

Best of luck and try to be of good cheer. hbk