Cabinets!

With the floors now done, we are starting to actually put our new kitchen together. Though they're the most difficult, we had to start with the wall cabinets (because they're easier to hang without base cabinets getting in the way).

This is our first cabinet. Once it was on, and on sturdy, there was much rejoicing.










Due to a heating vent, we had to make our first modification. Though it was the most substantial, it was far from our last. I'm pretty sure every cabinet has a touch of customization.







Here they are, side by side, framing our new cut-out very nicely.






However, because we're us, and because the cabinets looked so nice on the walls, we decided we had to take them down and paint, because we didn't want to make it too difficult to do the same in the future. We decided two coats of primer would do it.





And then the cabinets went back up.







And we could turn our attention to the base cabinets. This was taken with a self-timer. And no, we don't coordinate our carpenter wear; we're just All-American like that.



So, after much progress last night, with most of the cabinets in place, we were feeling good; we were ahead of schedule and things were looking great. Ilana was so excited that she asked me to rest the new sink in the cabinet to see what it would look like. I did so, and out of curiousity, held up our newly purchased garbage disposal to see how much room we would have under the sink (not much, by the way -- we've got a big sink and it rocks). Unfortunately, the garbage disposal didn't fit under the sink hole because one of the water pipes stuck out too far. We knew we would need a plumber (disappointing) and decided to hang it up for the night. So we took showers, and after Ilana finished, she noticed that the water wouldn't shut off completely. A steady drizzle was coming out of the shower. I tried all my tricks, but ended up having to turn the water off for our whole place. We went to sleep on a low note, knowing that we now had two reasons to call a plumber, and one couldn't wait.

Luckily, this morning, Ilana found a super nice guy on Yelp who lives nearby and came over within two hours. He fixed our leaking shower, showed me how to do the same in the future, and moved the kitchen sink pipe all for a ridiculously low price. He's our new plumber. With all that solved, we were able to turn our attention back to the cabinets.

This is our current setting. We're getting pretty excited; it's nice to get a sense of what our kitchen will actually look like, as well as actually have some room for things (Ilana has already used some cabinet space for pots and pans). Notice the sink is there, and the disposal fits fine this time.

The counter installers are coming tomorrow to measure everything so they can install next Wednesday. Then, perhaps, we can stop doing our dishes in the bathroom sink.

Floors!

On Saturday morning, we stopped by a flooring store, picked up some floating floor samples, and headed off to a very relaxing weekend with a good friend. As of Sunday night, we were planning on doing the floating floor (basically wooden tiles that stick to each other but not the floor), and installing them ourselves. As we figured out how we were going to do that and stay on schedule to install cabinets to stay on schedule to get our counters installed, Ilana made a proclamation: we should get the floors professionally done. The next day, we pushed everything back a week (more microwave meals!) and I was able to find a great store that could sell us ceramic tiles and install them for just a little more than the floating floor was going to cost us (and without us having to learn to and/or do a poor job installing them).

Last night we moved the fridge into the living room and this morning we put the stove in the carport. (See? We still do some things on our own!) That left us with a bare naked kitchen:

After many weeks of tearing apart our kitchen, we now get to start building it back up again. Ten hours later, this is what our kitchen floor looks like:


Don't mind the shine, they were still wet at the time. We got a matte finish. How'd we get here? One word: Joaquin.

Here he is starting off in the only portion of the floor that will not be covered by a cabinet or appliance. One of the reasons we are glad we didn't pay much for a floor is because we realized less than half of it is viewable.



Here is Joaquin working himself right out of the room. The legs in the back are of his assistant, who did all the tile cutting. He was the silent partner. But he whistled sometimes.




Here's the final, grouted product, with a little less shine. We're very pleased. Now it just has to dry.

It's getting hard to keep up

The changes are coming so fast and furious that it's becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the blog updates. Having my dad here was a huge help and we got a lot of good work done. As you saw from Ilana's post, we finished enlarging the kitchen-dining pass-through. Then we made it look pretty:

It's amazing how once we put the wall back up it looked like the hole was there all along







Following that (and finishing the wall in the new laundry closet), we decided to take out the rest of the old cabinets, including the kitchen sink and all the cockamamie pipes and wiring. I especially liked the wiring job that came out of the wall, travelled through two cabinets, then went back into the wall.

I could not have done it without my dad.








Here is the mess we made in the process, filling up our carport.








So Ilana and I loaded up my dad's truck. Take note of the fungus colony that had been living under the sink cabinet. Finding things like this have helped us to realize this was a necessary project, despite the difficulties.



We then got to go the dump, which I believe has been Ilana's highlight of this whole project (despite the rusty nail incident -- don't ask, but she's up to date on her shots). It was very cathartic to throw away all our crap -- 600 pounds for just $34!


We have now shifted our attention to the floors. Here is Ilana taking up one of the three existing flooring types (old-ass tile, 80s tile, and linoleum). We currently have a cement floor and are off to Home Depot tomorrow to figure out our flooring solution.

Moving and Shaking

And by moving and shaking, I'm referring to the walls, which are doing so as I type this.

Seth and his dad, Frank, are in the kitchen drilling and hammering away. As is often the case, pictures speak louder than words, so here's a little photo montage of our recent activities:

Here's Seth working to get the counter top off. As with everything else in this house, it was "stucker" than we anticipated it being.







And once the counter was gone, we figured we might as well do the corner cabinet as well.










And that's when Frank arrived!

The goal: enlarge the small pass-through in the wall in order to open up the kitchen.

Seth and Frank make a good team: Frank is all about demolishing first, planning later, while Seth is a plan first, then demo kind of guy.

Here they are surveying what needs to be done and how. Little did they know what they would find beneath the sheetrock ...



... lots more support beams than they had anticipated.









Brilliantly, they figured out a way to swap out the beams, all the while supporting the ceiling and preventing any potential sagging.












The finished product! (At least for one day.)

Holes in Walls

As previously seen, last week we removed the cabinets. Though part of the reason was that they were being replaced, another major reason was that we needed access to the wall behind them in order for our awesome plumber, Edgar, to connect a new drain pipe for our soon-to-be-moved-upstairs washer and dryer. So remember the last picture from last week (not including Seymour) and then take a look at our new and improved wall:

(drain pipe seen on right)

Don't worry too much about the holes in the walls -- my dad is coming next Wednesday to make an even bigger one so that totally 1970s pass-through actually becomes a useful opening between the kitchen and dining room. Let it be known that whenever we discuss the utility of the new opening, it is to determine how easy and/or enjoyable it will be for a guest to sit there and cut vegetables while we prepare food in the kitchen. So be forewarned -- if you come over for dinner, you're sitting at that window and choppin' stuff up.

Now, the downstairs is only a portion of this project. We also are putting washer/dryer hookups in our upstairs closet (we know the closet is not ideal, but it's more ideal than keeping them in the small kitchen or the expensive move out to the carport). Here's what the closet used to look like:


And here's what it looks like now:

More pictures of our kitchen "update" can be found here. It's not as fun/ny to write about the work other people do, but don't worry, there will be plenty of forthcoming Seth and Ilana shenanigans once we try to put together and install our cabinets. And our sink (which came today). Oh yeah, and we finally have couches. And our guest bed is now a guest futon. We're making moves!