Kitchen & Bath Business May/June 2024 - 41

CHALLENGE #1 - PERMIT SWITCH
When the clients had set out to update the
plumbing and electrical on their own, they
obtained the necessary permits. For the S&W
Kitchens team to take over the project, those permits
had to be closed and new permits obtained
under the company's name. It was a lengthy
process.
" It took about 11 weeks to get the city to
allow them to close their permitting because
they hadn't completed the project, " said Hicks.
" It was an odd situation you wouldn't usually
run into. "
She convinced the city to close the existing
permit without doing a final inspection and let
the company open a new permit under their contracting
license.
CHALLENGE #2 - UNEVEN SURFACES
Unlike the old pipes, the homeowners wanted
to keep the original wood flooring, which
the design team refinished. But its unevenness
caused difficulty in the kitchen where Hicks had
decided to use inset cabinetry to complement the
historic period of the home.
" With inset cabinets, there is little tolerance
for irregularity, " said the designer. " To get the
cabinets perfectly level without hiding the difference
behind trim work took about three weeks
longer than planned. "
The installers adjusted the height of the cabinetry
2 inches from one side of the kitchen to the
other. They also brought the toe kicks forward
and adjusted every cabinet to make the countertop
level.
The home's walls boasted a combination of
drywall and plaster, and as the team opened the
walls to accommodate the plumbing and electrical
work, they had to make decisions about
whether they could tie in the new surface with
the plaster. Sometimes, they chose to go down
to the stud because they could not marry the
existing plaster with new drywall. Other areas
got drywall patches or cladding with drywall
over the top.
This became an issue on the ceiling, too, when
the team needed to remove some beams to incorporate
the new hood. Rather than repairing the
ceiling, they cladded it and added drywall on top.
CHALLENGE #3 - HIDDEN TALENTS
The second-floor primary bedroom lacked the
en suite the clients wanted. To create one, Hicks
took over a bonus room and a closet. A new bathroom
meant new waste lines, and the team had
to find a way to run them downstairs and out to
the main line.
" We had to open the entire subfloor and pipe
over to the sidewall by the shower then run new
waste lines through the downstairs home office, "
said the designer.
In the office, a column was framed out to hide
the new system, and Hicks added a second column
for symmetry. Back in the bathroom, she
discovered there were roofline rafters that had
KBBONLINE.COM
41
ABOVE In this modest-sized,
enclosed kitchen, designer
Larissa Hicks of S&W
Kitchens got creative with the
size and scale of the island to
leave a natural walking path.
She chose a smaller footprint
with a 3-inch quartz top to
provide a chunky, upscale feel
without taking up too much
space. Although some ceiling
crossbeams were removed to
allow for a large range hood,
the remaining rustic beams
and floating shelves bring
additional warmth to this light,
bright kitchen.
http://www.KBBONLINE.COM
Kitchen & Bath Business May/June 2024

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