Improving Your Kitchen

The oldest, most obviously outdated offer, one priceless ingredient: space

Few rooms in older houses can be im- proved so dramatically as kitchens. There are several important reasons for this.

First of all, the kitchen of an old house (one built before World War II, for instance) was generally designed without adequate knowledge of housekeepers' work methods. In recent years, domestic science experts have uncovered a great deal of information on exactly where each kitchen appliance should be to help a housewife do her jobs with minimum steps and maximum efficiency.

Secondly, old-time kitchens were put together with few if any of today's modern labor-saving conveniences. For instance, few were built to accommodate dishwashers, oversize refrigerators, separate range and oven units, etc. Old kitchens had none of the many modem materials such as plastic countertops and tile flooring which simplify home maintenance.

On the other hand, old kitchens usually have a wonderful ingredient. They have space—more of it, generally, than can be found in any but the highest-priced homes of today. And with space in a kitchen, you can achieve marvels.

If you plan a kitchen remodeling project of any major proportion, it's best to start as though you were creating an entirely new one in a new house. When you do this, you see many opportunities to improve its efficiency that might be missed otherwise.

A striking example of superior planning entailing a U-shaped layout is the kitchen at left, with its spacious cabinet storage, airy skylight, and old-fashioned lamp above the table.

Youngstown Kitchens

A one-wall kitchen that may contribute to your own planning is above at right Note the breakfast- or lunch-counter space that simplifies serving and the post-meal cleanup chores.

This L-shaped kitchen combines needed food-storage, preparation, and cleanup areas in less than 13 feet. Effect of openness is not diminished by handy island the model uses.

Hotpoint

First, draw a plan of your kitchen to exact scale. Let each inch or half-inch in your drawing represent an actual foot in the kitchen. Mark in, also to scale, such basic parts of the kitchen plan as windows, doors, and existing plumbing lines.

On a separate sheet of paper, make drawings to the same scale of the basic equipment you intend to have—a range, refrigerator, sink, dishwasher and so on. Cut these drawings from the paper and you will have little scaled models you can move around over the plan of the kitchen. You can then see how each piece of equipment will fit into the overall design.

"Work Centers"

To create an efficient kitchen, you should know the three principal "work centers." The refrigerator center is where you remove items from the refrigerator and prepare cold dishes—sandwiches, salads, desserts, etc. Next is the sink center. This area is used more than any other, both in preparing meals and washing dishes after them. Then there's the cooking center where meals are prepared.
Each center requires counter space where the work can be done. For instance, there should be counter space at the refrigerator, at the side of the door opening. On this counter, you'll be able to put things down as you take them out of the refrigerator. Work space is needed on each side of the range center for dishes, vegetables which are to be washed, and so on. And it should be possible to take hot dishes from the range and oven and place them on the counter without taking a step.

Home-planning experts have doped out that kitchen work patterns usually proceed from the refrigerator center to the sink center to the range center, and back again. All modern kitchen designs are created with these work centers and work patterns in mind.

If a kitchen is long and narrow, it may have a corridor-type layout—one in which refrigerator and range are at opposite ends of one side of the room, and the sink in the center at the opposite side.

If the kitchen is square, the layout may be U-shaped: The refrigerator is on one wall and the range is on the wall opposite it. The sink is usually on a third wall, in front of a window and opposite the open area of the room.

If the kitchen is rectangular, the layout may be L-shaped: Refrigerator on one wall, sink and range on the wall adjacent to it.

Regardless of the layout, all equipment should be arranged, together with counter-tops and cabinets to make it easy for a housewife to do her daily chores. When you consider the findings of investigators at Wayne University, Detroit, that the average housewife walks about a third of a mile just to prepare three meals, that she stoops a dozen times and reaches into cabinets and closets three dozen times a day, you'll appreciate an efficient arrangement of equipment.

Among other factors which go into making an efficient kitchen, the most important revolves around traffic patterns. Ideally, a kitchen should be located so that a mother working at the sink has a good view of the outdoors where her children are playing.

Of the four basic kitchen plans diagrammed here, the U-shaped is probably the most popular, the L-shaped most adaptable. Corridor kitchens are quite efficient but cannot include family room. If your improvement is to be major, it would be well to think in terms of entirely new kitchen.

She should then also be reasonably close to both front and back doors.

If your kitchen is not so located, there is probably little you can do about it now. But in remodeling, you can change traffic patterns so that a person cooking, washing dishes, etc., won't constantly be disturbed by others using the kitchen as a hallway or walking in front of her. If there's a compact work triangle between the sink, range and refrigerator, she can work without being interrupted by traffic.

Doors and Windows

A kitchen needs only three doors—one to the hall, one to the dining room, and one to the outdoors. Extra doors are undesirable. They create traffic problems, and each door takes up about three feet of floor space. That space usually can be put to better use as a closet area. It could also be used to house a clothes washer or dryer.

An unnecessary door usually breaks up the wall space and makes it hard to get an efficient, unbroken countertop arrangement. Instead of having a long, continuous counter—which aids greatly in preparing meals—you may be forced to buy two separate countertops. Two separate units usually cost much more than a single unit occupying the same area.

Don't be awed by the job of closing off a door opening. It's easy. Just take off the door along with the jamb—the wooden pieces along the sides of the opening—and the trim around the sides. What remains is the rough framing of the wall

Now all you need do is to lay a 2x4 flat on the floor along the width of the opening. Then nail vertical 2x4 studs to it—one against each side of the door frame, and the third in the center of the opening. You will now have a surface to which you can nail wallboard, gypsum lath to serve as a plaster base, or whatever wall-surface material you intend to use.

It may help to close off an existing window as well. Generally speaking, it's best to get as much natural daylight into the kitchen as possible. But sometimes small kitchen windows detract rather than add to the overall value of the room. They take up space which could be better used for wall cabinets.

If you close off a window, use the same basic procedure as is used in closing off a door. You will have to provide a framework in the opening—not only for the interior wall material but for the outside one as well. Since exterior wall materials (except brick) have a tendency to fade, you'll probably find that you can't match colors with the older stuff. This difference should not cause great concern: The difference will vanish next time you paint.

You may also want to consider removing old windows, widening the openings, and installing new ones. One reason for doing this is that old-time windows often were much longer than present ones. In old houses, the window sill runs down to 24 or 30 inches above the floor. You can't put modern appliances under such windows, because standard appliances stand 36 inches high. Because of these oversize windows, wall space is wasted.

Replacing a window is not difficult. Only when the exterior wall is of masonry or brick construction are there any problems. Even then, they are not great ones.

How to install plastic-laminate countertops

The average home handy man can readily replace old countertops with modern plastic laminates. Plumbing fixtures, sinks, old metal-trim stripping are removed; then the old surfacing, splashboards first.

Hold base is sound, it may be cleaned up and reused. Otherwise, new plywood is recommended.

Measure, mark and cut laminate with sharp saw. back up with power saw, front up with handsaw.

Formica photos

Apply contact bond cement to both laminate and subsurface. Allow to dry. Bond forms on contact.

Place wrapping paper between surfaces to verify fit. Slip out paper; press laminate into position.

Apply pressure with roller, from center to edges. 70° F. minimum; bond failure may result otherwise.

During installation, room temperature should be Countertop is similarly surfaced. (See next page.)

Plastic-laminate countertops (cont'd)

Formica photos

File is used to smooth edges. Cutout for the sink can be made alter the laminate is applied.

Fine-blade saw is used for final trim at sink cut-out. Front edge-band may be matching laminate.

An alternative is the popular metal-trim stripping used here. It is easily cut to fit and screwed on. This is the final step except for replacing fixtures and the sink rim.

First step is to take out-the old windows, along with the surrounding trim. Remove any plaster or wallboard above, below, or to the sides of the window which extends to the first stud beyond the dimensions of the new window. Carefully remove all exterior finish on the windows.

Now go to the outside and saw off the exterior siding to the first stud beyond the new dimensions of the windows. The shingles should be taken off to about a foot beyond that point. They must be refitted carefully after the new window is in place.

Next, build frame for the new opening to correspond to the dimensions cited by the window manufacturer. To create this framework, you probably will have to nail new studs in place—double 2x4s.

Nail the new window frames against the 2x4s on the sides, top and bottom. Use a carpenter's level to make sure the frame is perfectly aligned. If necessary for perfect alignment, shim between the window frames and the 2x4 framework. Fill any inside spaces between the studs with insulation. Fit the window sash, nail in the window stops and the trim, and you're ready for the outside.

Make sure that the exposed sheathing is covered with building paper. Install a horizontal strip of copper or aluminum flashing so that it overlaps the top of the window frame. This flashing will keep water from getting into any openings where the window frame meets the wall framework. Now extend the exterior sheathing, along with the exterior wall material, so that they fit tightly against the new window frames.

Completed installation. Though clamps and certain tools, such as the electric router, simplify the job. it is readily accomplished with simple tools shown in demonstration by those of modest skills.

Tile Council

Slide-out trays, shelves of varied heights contribute greatly to kitchen neatness and work-ease.

Distinctive wall storage units fit completely into recess, have perforated hardboard sliding doors.

Increase the efficiency of your kitchen with ideas like these

Frigidaire

For a small kitchen, such as the one at the right, a table that folds out of cupboard can easily be installed.

Republic Steel Kitchens

Lazy-Susan subcounter storage makes use of once-wasted space, is ideal for large boxes such as soaps, cereals, etc.

Easily-constructed what'sit. right, serves as both stool and step ladder. Linoleum on its seat-treads matches countertops.

Armstrong
A folding door, as at left, represents substantial space-saving, as it does not require clearance of swing door.

Modern-Fold Doors

Plan for the addition of modem appliances, whether or not you add them now. One practical newcomer is this prefab fireplace for charcoal broiling.

Frigidaire

Matching food freezer and refrigerator stand side by side in this kitchen-dining room. Note tableside niche with lattice doors for the toaster and the percolator.

General Electric

Built-in range below features a rectangular remote control panel for oven and surface units. It can be conveniently located any distance from the range.

General Electric

Partition Walls

As you plan your kitchen remodeling, consider variations in size. You needn't restrict yourself to the original dimensions, as long as you are careful not to disturb bearing partitions—those which carry weight from above down to the center girder or foundation. You can knock walls down and rearrange room sizes without nearly the difficulty you might expect. But my warning against monkeying with bearing walls stands repeating. Don't.

You can usually tell whether a wall is a bearing wall with a simple test. Go to your attic or basement and note which way the floor joists run. They generally are placed upon a foundation wall and upon a partition or girder running across the joists. Obviously, this partition is what holds up the ends of the joists. Remove it, and the entire floor will collapse. So don't fool with this bearing partition unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Elkay Mfg. Co.

Stainless steel sink features a built-in power blender. Available separately, the Nutone unit is mounted in drawer below, includes easily-stored grinder, shredder-slicer among its attachments.

Marsh Wall Products

Many other partitions are not necessary for the structure or strength of the house. They can be removed without endangering it in any way. These partitions usually run in the same direction as the floor joists, and no joists rest upon them.

In a typical kitchen, at least one of the four walls is nonbearing. So it's possible for you to remove a partition now standing between your kitchen and dining room, your kitchen and pantry, or your kitchen and hall. If you have a partition which could be taken down without danger, it may open up dramatic new design ideas for you.

You may be able to create a much larger room—maybe a family room with plenty of space for eating, plus an easy chair or two and maybe a television set. In a room like this, the family is together for longer periods. Mom can keep her eye on the youngsters while she's preparing meals or cleaning up after them.

Removing a partition may also help you to get an open-plan effect between your kitchen and dining room. If these rooms are small, taking out the wall between them will give a new air of spaciousness. By changing partitions around, you may also be able to put a laundry room next to the kitchen and save the housewife a great deal of time and trouble.

Another thought: Rearrange walls and install a lavatory next to the kitchen. Many older homes have no washroom on the first floor, and it's a real nuisance to run up and down stairs all day long. A mud-room by the kitchen, where family members can wash up before sitting down to meals, is a real asset.

As long as you don't fool around with bearing walls, you needn't be a skilled handy man to remove a partition. First, pry off the ceiling molding, baseboard and any other trim on the wall. Then knock off the plaster and lath, wallboard, or whatever other surface material is there. Standard 2x4 studding will now be revealed. You can knock these studs out in a few minutes. Ugly gashes will show on the floor and ceiling, but can be easily patched. Another thing you should think about before beginning your actual work is whether your floor can withstand new, heavy loads. This point is especially important if you're considering a center island—an arrangement with the range in the middle of the room. A modern range with a built-in oven weighs about 400 pounds. A refrigerator laden with foodstuffs may weigh the same. A dishwasher may total 150 pounds. If you concentrate these appliances near the center of the span of your floor joists, at a point where they are not supported directly from below, you may cause the floor to sag. You can prevent this by putting a 4x6 or a large piece of lumber supported by floor joists under the vulnerable joists. Total cost: about $20.

Simple devices such as gate, left —standard stair-top Americana— are often overlooked and can make major contributions to convenience. Here it keeps the child away from sharp knives and hot stove, enabling mother to watch as she works in adjacent area.

Intercoms can prove tremendous step-savers. Unit shown, joining kitchen to child's upstairs bedroom, is the Masco Wireless-Corn (Mark Simpson, Long Island City. N. Y.). A complete transceiver, it entails no wiring, is merely plugged in, grounded at outlet

Surface strip wiring, such as that seen beneath cabinets in photograph at the left, has spaced convenience outlets, as well as a fluorescent light fixture that can be connected at any point that's convenient.

Wiremold Company

The test of adequate kitchen wiring is whether you are able to use a minimum of four electrical appliances simultaneously. If not. you need more circuits or "juice." Diagram shows amperage required.

A ceiling fan can be installed in a wall cabinet this way with duct running through unused shelves.

Thoughts for Efficiency

Here are other important suggestions to help you get maximum efficiency from your new kitchen:

You need enough wall and base cabinets to store all utensils, dishes, and staple foods like flour, sugar, cereal. Cabinets should be arranged so that all space is used to the best possible advantage.

If possible, provide adequate storage space for cleaning equipment According to the experts, you'll need about eight square feet of shelf area for soap powders, waxes, etc.

A kitchen should be as well heated as other rooms. Frequently it isn't. One reason is that it's hard to find wall space in the right location for a warm-air or hot-water heating outlet. Be sure you have outlets large enough to heat the room, and so located that the flow of heat won't be blocked by dinette benches, appliances or other obstacles.

You should have good overhead lighting to illuminate the entire kitchen. And there should be spot-lighting for the sink and work centers and for counter space which is directly under wall cabinets and which will usually be in the shadow if only overhead fixtures are used. You need about 200 watts of incandescent lighting for the overall effect and about 75 watts for each area to be spot-lighted. Fluorescents can give you three or four times more light per watt: You can get good results from three 20-watt fluorescent tubes in the ceiling and a 20-watt fluorescent tube over each work center.

Special Individual Circuits IIS/230 Volts Each

You will need proper ventilation to get rid of moisture and cooking fumes which usually have a large percentage of grease. Unless you dispose of excess moisture, it may condense in your walls, ultimately damaging the wood in your house. If you don't dispose of the grease, it will be carried through the house to spoil wallpaper, paint and draperies.

A ventilating fan is a must. It can go directly upon a range that's on an outside wall. But if the range is not on an outside wall, you'll probably need a hood to trap steam and grease and carry them through a duct to the outside. A fan should clean all air in your kitchen within two minutes. Estimate the cubic footage of the room, divide by two and you'll have the capacity of the fan required. For instance, a kitchen ten by twelve and eight feet high has a total of 960 cubic feet. Since an eight-inch fan is capable of getting rid of 600 cubic feet every minute, it can clear the kitchen within two minutes and is the size for you.

The test of adequate wiring in the kitchen is whether you are able to operate at least four electrical appliances at the same time without any chance of blowing fuses. Dishwasher, mixer, toaster and refrigerator should be able to operate at once. But if you've got to be careful about using them at the same time, something's wrong. You either need more circuits to the kitchen or more "juice" for the house.

How to install ceramic-tile countertops

 

1. Measure area to be covered and take steps to protect exposed woodwork. Masking tape was used to safeguard this walnut-edged kitchen counter.

2. Serrated trowel spreads ceramic-tile adhesive onto plywood backing. Backing must be sound, dry, true; adhesive bed is not thick enough for flaws.

4. Remove paper backing. Solvent-type adhesives must dissipate volatile elements through joints at least 24 hours. Mix Portland cement and water.

5. Mixture, of creamy consistency, is forced in. to fill all joints. After they are thoroughly filled. you merely clean face of tile with a damp sponge.

Tile Council

3. Press tiles firmly, evenly into setting bed. Note how sparingly adhesive has been applied. Ii too thick, it may be forced up through the joints.

6. Remove tape from trim and you have a handsome, tough counter like this. A new epoxy resin for the joints resists every known household stain.

Another test is whether you can keep appliances plugged in. If you must pull out the toaster plug to work the mixer, and pull out the mixer plug to use the electric coffee maker, you need more outlets.

In remodeling your kitchen, even if you're not ready to add increasingly-popular appliances such as dishwashers, garbage-disposal units, etc., provide for them so they can be easily added later. If you are putting in a new sink, make plumbing connections so it will be fairly simple to hook a dishwasher into the water supply and waste-disposal lines.

An intercom system is also worth considering. For as little as $50 you can get units that will hook your kitchen to the other main rooms of the house.

Homeowners have not fully realized all the advantages of intercom systems. They offer a convenient way to call the family together at meal time. They enable a person in the kitchen or elsewhere to keep track of what goes on in other rooms. Typical use: The mother, preparing a meal in the kitchen, instantly alerted by the baby's cry in the upstairs nursery.

Installing a Countertop

If you have laid out your kitchen efficiently, several appliances, or base cabinets will be lined up in a row so their tops can be used as a work surface. A countertop surface of plastic has many distinctive qualities—easy maintenance, resistance to stains, scratches or bruises.

The typical kitchen work surface consists of a ¾-inch-thick water-resistant plywood to which plastic materials are bonded with a waterproof adhesive, and an opening into which the kitchen sink is inserted. The plastics carry many different trade names but have many characteristics in common: They resist fruit acids, heavy cleaning alkalies, hot frying pans, alcohol, even burning cigarettes.

Other common counter-top materials include linoleum—once the most widely popular; stainless steel—usually seen in hospitals, restaurants and other places where meals are produced in volume; ceramic tile, which offers a long-wearing, fireproof, generally stain-resistant surface, and can be kept clean simply by wiping with a damp cloth; and wood—a countertop material still in vogue in many of the best eating places in Europe. The plastic, linoleum and ceramic-tile varieties lend themselves to easy installation by the average home handy man. Simplicity of working with ceramic tile is apparent in the photos. ·

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