We did ours ourselves too. I'm so glad we did. We just went slowly. Most of our cabinets were impossible to take out in one piece, here's some of the stuff I remember. 1-We took the time to pound any nails sticking out over. I thought it was a waste of time, until later when we were dropping off at the city site. Worth the time to make safer. 2-We had a soffit I was planning on leaving so that we wouldn't have to make repairs to the ceiling. That didn't work out, it was attached to the cabinets. Don't go in expecting exact results. Things change around. 3-SLOW AND CAREFUL!! I had to repair two unnecessary holes in the wall because my fiance was having fun doing 'demo' like they do on TV. We were trying to salvage the walls (to save on costs and avoid turning it into a 'permit' job). 4-Plumbing and gas - I went shopping before hand to find a cap for the gas for the stove, it was a little confusing because I'm not well-versed in gas pipes. I managed to have the right thing on hand, though, thanks to the friendly neighborhood hardware store - it made me feel safer. The sink, though, I was unprepared for - apparently gases can come out of a uncapped waste pipe for the sink. We ended up just stuffing ours with a rag and duct taping it - worked out. 5-Like anything else, if you're doing with a significant other, schedule breaks and have snacks. This is the sort of project that is PRIME for starting a ridiculous tension filled fight (see #3, with unnecessary wall holes!) It just took us a few hours, we were pleasantly surprised. One more thing, if it's just two of you doing it and there are appliances involved, I HIGHLY recommend getting a set of those 'forearm forklifts' - it made moving appliances SO much easier, and I'm pretty wimpy Have fun! There was something really satisfying about doing the demo ourselves. And, if we HAD had our contractor do it, I'm sure I would have been kicking myself for 'wasting' the money. Unless, like folks said, you need abatement for asbestos. Some things are worth paying the professionals for! Here is a link that might be useful: Forearm Forklift

I went on a trip to FL while my bathroom renovation was being done. I had picked out everything at the suppliers recommended by my contractor, left diagrams on where I wanted the knobs installed on the vanity, etc. etc. I tried to think of every last detail. While I'm gone, I get a phone pic from the contractor of the backsplash that he had just installed. The pic was very grainy, but the tile looked way darker than I remembered. I called him and said I didn't think it was the right tile. He had picked up the tile from the supplier and he assumed it was what I had selected. I asked if it had any white marble strips in it, and he said no. I said it's not the right tile. Turns out, it was a manufacturer issue -- they had the wrong item number on the back of the tile sample! Just my luck! He wanted me to leave it up rather than have to tear it out and re-install. He said "it matches". Ha, it was horrible! Anyway, I told him to take it out and put the rest on hold until I came back. Just goes to show, you have to be there every step of the way to be sure it's done right. Even the shower curtain rod was installed in a place that I thought was too far in. I took it down and reinstalled it myself.

Yep. I'm with Ihutch13. I can see a bit of wood flooring in a doorway. That would normally rule out any "wood look" tile. The faux sitting beside the real wood makes BOTH look cheap. I recommend a "travertine look" porcelain tile. It is striated (striped) like wood, but it is NOT wood. It comes in DOZENS of different colours. It is a "stone look" type of product that is stunningly beautiful. This would be my recommendation for your situation. Google "travertine porcelain" tiles. You will come up with HUNDRED OF THOUSANDS of photos. They are REALLY stunning. A natural cream coloured travertine (or a tumbled limestone would also work) looking tile would be a great option without worrying about wood-vs-faux wood in your home.

You can replace just the floor. There are several cautions. Do not increase the height of the floor in front of dishwasher/other under cabinet appliance. That will prevent removing that unit if necessary. Or removing the countertop. You will need to cut the old flooring as close to the cabinet bases as possible. That becomes a huge water leak situation as well as a dirt catcher and eyesore. You will need to seal the gap and install some kind of trim to minimize dirt/water/look problems. If there is damaged sub flooring that extends under the cabinets, that is a fairly serious situation. Patching should be done by replacing the entire area---even under the cabinets. When the cabinets are replaced, matching the flooring height will be the major concern. Unless the new cabinet footprints are shorter---and expose more of the old flooring.