Kitchen Refresh, Weeks 3 and 4

We were out celebrating our 25th anniversary at week 3 of the remodel, so I'm doing a catch up here.

Last weekend found us with the windows and doors installed, and drywall from ceiling to floor.  The guys had pre-taped the drywall, ready for mud.  Sofits were built for the new wall cabinets and the window to the stairs has been closed off.  It's still open below the stairs, but all the treads are now blocked off from the kitchen.  Although we had intended to repurpose some of the cedar paneling for wainscot, it ended up not working the way we thought.

Week 3 was a short week due to the holiday, however, things moved along quite well.  Tuesday they finished the prep for the tape and mud dudes.  Wednesday the mud dudes came and did all of the seams, while Ralph and Sean painted the cabinets for the new hutch.  They were just finishing up for the day when we got home, ready to light a huge propane heater in the middle of the dining room to help everything dry - my eyes watered so much from the off-gassing.  Thursday was texture day and when we got home Friday night, everything had been primed.

This coming week should reveal the painted walls, along with the crown molding, the installation of the hutch, and maybe even start to refinish the existing cabinets.  I pick up the new oven on Wednesday, and I've ordered some of the new hardware for the cabinets.  I'm ready for this to be as fabulous as I imagine it should be. 



Kitchen Refresh - week 2

It doesn't look like much has happened this past week, as it's been mostly prep for the actual resurfacing.  However, I do have a new set of doors in the dining room.  The floor and walls had suffered water damage, as we suspected, and since we were looking forward to putting a door in, there's no time like the present. The floor was repaired and new frame was installed for windows to flank the door. 

It appears that the re-purposed boards have been cut down to size for the wainscoting.



And a new support box has been built for the incoming oven and microwave.  In addition, the air return for the furnace has been repaired.

Light fixtures have been installed.  Windows have been ordered.  And switches have been put into place.  The studs and joists have been "plumbed" so that when they install the drywall, it will be level. 

All in all, prep work.  Doesn't make for pretty pictures, but it is progress....

And the walls come tumbling down...

It has begun.  Refreshing the kitchen has been on our minds for years now, and finally, after I taped down a(nother) rip in the linoleum with purple duck tape, we caved.  We called up our favorite contractor, Coastline Construction, and asked them to help us out.  And so, before...

All of the wood is great, as long as you aren't seeing it day in and day out.  And every little thing that spills, it sticks to the cabinets until the end of time.  I'm still not sure what the opening above the stove and through the stairs is all about, and forget that tiny little corner cabinet.  The microwave is ancient and weak, but tied to the electric oven.  And notice the duck tape on the dining room window?  You wouldn't believe the draft that was coming in through that window.


Wednesday was the beginning of demolition.  We aren't officially remodeling, as nothing is moving (or wasn't to start with!), but instead, nearly everything is getting resurfaced.  Our desire started with the floor, crawled up the walls and over the cabinets and ceilings.  It's happening in a somewhat more orderly fashion.  The first steps were to pull down the wood that clads all of the walls and ceilings in this part of the house and assess the damage time and water has caused.  

Damage was not nearly as bad as it could have been.  There appears to be termite damage in one of the headers, but it looks to be pre-construction.  And there is water damage under the big window in the dining room - but we were expecting that.  Ralph & Sean have repaired the air return to the furnace and the damaged header.  We've decided to replace the 10' long window with a pair of doors (6' wide) and some side windows.  We're putting in a large built-in hutch in the dining room for additional storage.  The hole over the stove is getting a face lift.  And bonus!!!  Ralph & Sean cleaned up the garage so that they could pull their trailer in to ease the removal of extras.

I'll try and keep you up to date with the goings on.  We're quite excited to see it done!