How to design a kitchen? With the kitchen being such a high activity area of the house it’s worth finding out how to design a kitchen – even if you’re using a kitchen designer or architect. Knowing what’s involved in the process will help you design your own kitchen or give a detailed brief to your designer. Kitchen renovation cost depends on the design of your kitchen. A glass replacement near me in case glass in also included in your kitchen renovation.

This page makes up part of the kitchen design layout series.

Step 1 – Pick Your Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer

Now usually I’m always encouraging my site visitors to think in terms of how you want a space to function before making interior design or furniture choices but for kitchens it helps to know where you plan to get your kitchen cabinets from.

Most manufacturers have units in various standard sizes but always work with the kitchen cabinet dimensions that the manufacturer provides.

Even if you’re getting a bespoke kitchen made, getting in touch with a maker and finding out if they work in any standard sizes (eg using whole pieces of wood to avoid cutting which reduces waste, need less labor and therefore cost a bit less).

Step 2 – Create a Floor and Wall Plan

The second step of how to design a kitchen is to create a plan of your kitchen ‘space’ – the floor space and the wall space.

First decide if you’re working in feet and inches or m, cm and mm. For example in the United States and Canada kitchens are designed and sold in inches, in the UK and Australia it’s millimetres. Take the lead from the main measurement that your cabinet manufacturer uses.

Time to measure up! Take your time and be accurate and measure using the right measurement for your country. Measure floor dimensions, niches, windows, doors, where the water pipes (and gas supply if applicable) come up from the floor.

Now it’s time to draw up the plan.

You can do this on paper by following the instructions on draw floor plans but just for your kitchen rather than the whole house. Or you can use one of the online kitchen planners or software available (a bit more about that at the bottom of this page).

If you stick to the paper option, it’s a good idea to adjust the scale so that you fit the kitchen onto a sheet of paper rather than the whole house. The scale you can use depends on how big your kitchen is and how big your paper is.

Step 3 – Plan the Outline of Your Kitchen

It might be really obvious what shape your kitchen is going to be. If so, go ahead and have a look at the relevant page below. If not you can take a look at these for inspiration

Also take a look at the kitchen dimensions page that goes through some important kitchen planning guidelines.

Using your paper drawing, online kitchen planner or software plan in the outline of where you will place the base cabinets, wall cabinets, islands and tables in your kitchen in plan view (looking down from above). Don’t worry about where the appliances and fixtures will be placed just yet.

Other Considerations on Kitchen Shape

As well as the shapes above you could also consider incorporating curves in to the kitchen. This introduces challenges of being able to open adjacent cupboards and drawers at the same time without the doors or drawers banging into each other – but leaving a bit of space in between each set of units mitigates this.

If you have a bigger room to work with one of the main things to decide is whether the kitchen will occupy the whole room with an eating area open to the kitchen, or whether you want to try and maintain a bit of privacy to the cooking area – make it a bit like a bar or a coffee shop counter. If you have an accident with dinner you might want to be able to put it right without everyone looking at you!

Step 4 – Place the Appliances and Fixtures

Head on over to the kitchen triangle page.

Then come back here and draw in the the appliances and fixtures onto your plan

Step 5 – Plan Detailed Storage

Head on over to the kitchen storage ideas and kitchen storage solutions pages. Storage is a big part of how to design a kitchen.

You’re back? Phew – that’s kitchen storage done. At this stage you should have the wall plans filled out with all the fixtures you’re planning.

Step 6 – Lighting

At some stage I’ll be writing up a page on kitchen lighting design.

Your cabinet manufacturer may have some integrated lighting options.

Step 7 – Electrical

Plan the electrical points (outlets and switches for appliances) for your kitchen.

There are several options for general outlets.

If you have an appliance garage, a cupboard mounted microwave or want a TV in your kitchen think carefully about the best position for outlets.

Step 8 – Plan for other activities in the kitchen and surrounding spaces

What other activities will happen in your kitchen apart from those related to food? How about a sitting area with a TV or games console? Office type activities such as computer time and paying the bills are also popular in kitchen spaces.

Have a think about how your kitchen will relate to the spaces surrounding it. If it’s open plan to a dining space or living space what kind of view does the people in these areas get of the kitchen?

How to design a kitchen? Click here on how to design your main living space.

Master electricians require some formal education and extensive hands-on training. Learn about the education, job duties and licensure requirements to see if this is the right career for you. There are services that emergency 24 hour electricians Melbourne that are not available on others.

They’re not called ‘master’ electricians for nothing: achieving this rank involves years of work experience and continuing education. You can begin on-the-job training without formal education in some states, while others do require a degree or certificate. No matter where you start, you’ll need to work for several years before you can become licensed as a master electrician.

Essential Information

Master electricians are often in charge of the installation and maintenance of electrical systems in homes, businesses and institutions. Most states license master electricians based on examinations, accrued experience and on-the-job training as a journeyman or apprentice electrician; some states lower the required years of experience for master electrician candidates who have vocational school training, an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

Educational Requirements for Master Electricians

Colleges and vocational schools offer certificate, degree and continuing education programs for those seeking a career as a master electrician. Maine mandates a 576-hour vocational training program for electricians, while postsecondary education is optional in other jurisdictions. Some states accept a trade school diploma, associate’s degree or engineering bachelor’s degree in lieu of some of the required practical experience. Most states require electricians to pass the same licensure exam, regardless of their educational background.

Classroom study in an electrical engineering bachelor’s degree program usually consists of applied mathematics, fundamentals of electricity, project management and architectural wiring. Vocational programs cover the National Electrical Code, cabling, OSHA regulations and local building codes.

Most master electricians take continuing education classes throughout their careers to keep their skills up-to-date and maintain licensure. Courses are typically offered by state-approved schools or vocational programs and may be held either online or on-campus.

Training Requirements

Training requirements for master electricians vary according to state and union regulations. In most areas, training begins in an approved apprenticeship program following graduation from a degree program. Some apprenticeship programs specialize in residential, commercial or new construction, while others may cover various general contracting jobs.

Apprenticeship programs usually run 3-7 years and typically divide hours between classroom and on-the-job training. Classroom study can include applied circuitry, electronic drafting, digital electronics and electrical instrumentation. Outside training is done under the supervision of a master electrician or journeyman at job sites and projects.

Following completion of an apprenticeship program, most states require that electricians spend time as journeymen before moving up to become master electricians. After earning a state journeyman license, electricians usually spend at least two years acquiring work hours before they can apply for a master electrician license.

Education options vary for those who wish to become master electricians, so often you can combine classroom learning and on-the-job training in a way that works best for you. Apprenticeships overseen by senior members of the profession are a common way to build up the years of experience needed to meet licensing requirements for journeyman and master electricians.

Hiring a professional electrician Melbourne CBD can be very expensive and is often the reason why people try doing their own basic electric wiring themselves.

I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly results of these efforts and I have come to the conclusion that basic electrical wiring is not something anyone should do without proper guidance, tools and confidence.

It is so important that before attempting any of these basic electrical wiring projects that people are aware of how dangerous electricity is and how important safety is for you and for your family and family home.

90 percent of the time I recommend hiring a licensed electrician over doing your basic electrical wiring yourself. Not doing this will usually end up costing even more money than before and increase the risk of bringing your family into danger without even knowing your doing it.

But doing your own basic electric wiring really isn’t that hard to do if you “educate” yourself on the topic.

Licensed electricians had to learn the stuff themselves too. So as a ‘do it yourself person’ this isn’t different. There is no escape possible.

You will see that the more you read about it the easier it will become and the more confidence you will get.

Just to give you an idea, here are 3 questions I recently got from people just like you who tried doing their own electric wiring:

Question 1: I installed a grounding probe in your aquarium and every time anyone in the house turns on or off the lights, the fish jump. What’s going on?

A couple of suggestions:

1. (easiest) Pull out that grounding probe and return it from whence you purchased it.

2. Check the wiring on your outlet. You may actually have ‘Neutral’ instead of ‘Ground’.

3. Check the wiring throughout the rest of the house. There are some people out there that insist on doing their own home repairs, yet don’t understand basic electrical wiring.

Outlets are easy to check by getting a $7.95 outlet tester from the hardware store. Wired-in appliances, lights, heaters, etc. are tougher.

4. Check all your electrical fixtures to make sure they aren’t leaking some voltage to Ground.

Question 2: What is the NEC? Where can I get a copy?

The NEC is a model electrical code devised and published by the National Fire Protection Association, an insurance industry group. It’s revised every three years.

The 1993 version has been released. You can buy a copy at a decent bookstore, or by calling them directly at 800-344-3555.

The code exists in several versions. There’s the full text, which is fairly incomprehensible. There’s an abridged edition, which has only the sections likely to apply to most houses.

And there’s the NEC Handbook, which contains the “authorized commentary” on the code, as well as the full text. That’s the recommended version. Unfortunately, there’s no handbook for the abridged edition. And the full handbook is expensive — US$65 plus shipping and handling.

Question 3: Can I do my own wiring? Extra pointers?

In most places, homeowners are allowed to do their own wiring. In some, they’re not. Check with your local electrical inspector. Most places won’t permit you to do wiring on other’s homes for money without a license. Nor are you permitted to do wiring in “commercial” buildings.

Multiple dwellings (eg: duplexes)are usually considered “semi-commercial” or “commercial”. However, many jurisdictions will permit you to work on semi-commercial wiring if you’re supervised by a licensed electrician – if you can find one willing to supervise.

If you do your own wiring, an important point:

Do it NEAT and WELL! What you really want to aim for is a better job than an electrician will do. After all, it’s your own home, and it’s you or your family that might get killed if you make a mistake.

An electrician has time pressures, has the skills and knows the tricks of the trade to do a fast, safe job. In this FAQ we’ve consciously given a few recommendations that are in excess of code, because we feel that it’s reasonable, and will impress the inspector.

The inspector will know that you’re an amateur. You have to earn his trust. The best way of doing this is to spend your time doing as neat a job as possible. Don’t cut corners. Exceed specifications. Otherwise, the inspector may get extremely picky and fault you on the slightest transgressions.

Don’t try to hide anything from the inspector.

Use the proper tools. Ie: don’t use a bread knife to strip wires, or twist wires with your fingers. The inspector won’t like it, and the results won’t be that safe. And it takes longer. And you’re more likely to stick a hunk of 12ga wire through your hand that way.

Don’t handle house wire when it’s very cold (eg: below -10C or 16F). Thermoplastic house wire, particularly older types become very brittle.

As you can see, getting the right answers to your questions can make the work a lot easier.

You save time by doing it “the right way” from the first time and you save money because you won’t need to hire an electrician to either do the entire job or to fix your screw-ups.

In any case, no matter what you, be very careful when working on electricity! If needed cut down the entire power of your house just to be sure.

Keep It Safe,

——————————————————–

Nico De Baere is a licensed electrician with over 10 years of experience with home and industrial electric wiring. He is the author of the ebook Basic Electric Wiring which gives answers to 77 of the most ask questions on basic electric wiring. Visit his site now or click here [http://www.basicelectricwiring.com]

—————————————————-

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Nico_De_Baere/8187

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/40054