Kitchen Week 6

We didn't make as much progress this past week because I had to take some time off to recover from some back pain. Must've been the cabinet all-nighter from last week...

By the weekend my back felt better, so we went back at it. I started with the over-the-stove microwave.

I set aside the microwave glass plate and miscellaneous parts here in the cabinet while I worked on mounting the unit. Bad idea - I accidentally knocked over my drill, and it landed right on the plate. A replacement is $35, but luckily the plate from our old microwave is the exact same size.

The instructions recommend lifting the microwave in place with two people, but it wasn't too heavy to install by myself. It's mounted using a bracket attached to the wall, and also with screws through the upper cabinet.

I also wanted to get the sink light finished before starting on the floors.

We chose Dupont Real Touch Laminate flooring because it's quick to install (especially compared to tile), looks nice, and has a great 50 year warranty.

It's a floating floor, with foam underlayment pre-installed, so there's no gluing or nailing. A 1/4" expansion space is provided around the perimeter. The space will be hidden by the floor trim. We chose the 'multi-slate' pattern.

Everything was going great until we opened the last box. It's the wrong pattern! We special ordered six boxes, so I'll be returning this one box first thing in the morning.

We're about 3/4 of the way there!

At least I'm able to finish the area under the dishwasher and stove. I have enough pieces to finish up to the sink cabinet, but will need that last box to finish the area by the back door.

I'm on vacation this week to finish off the project. On Monday and Tuesday, I need to finish the flooring, or at least under the appliances so that I can have them installed before Wednesday. That's when our granite countertops arrive. Other items on the agenda include the fridge and icemaker line, floor trim, cabinet trim, subway tile backsplash, misc plumbing, disposal, faucet, water filter, under-cabinet lighting, cabinet doors & handles and crown molding. Lots left to do!

Kitchen Week 5

Although I worked on the cabinets all 4th of July weekend, I needed one more full day to finish. So I used a sick day on Tuesday for a case of "Kitchen-itis". Symptoms from Kitchen-itis include anxiety, sweaty palms and insomnia, and is caused by remodeling a kitchen at the last minute when your wife is 8 months pregnant.

Lots of cabinets still needed to be installed before the countertop template appointment on Wednesday. It's going to be a lonnngg day (and night).

The rule is to start in the corner, and with the wall cabinets because the base cabinets aren't in the way. A 2x4 serves as a ledger for the next pair of 33" cabinets. I screwed them together before heaving them onto the wall.

I put them on a pair of sawhorses to make the lift easier.
After getting the majority of the wall cabinets up, the corner base cabinet is next.
It wasn't easy, but I shimmied it through the kitchen doorway without much problem.
We moved the stove about 10", so the stove outlet needed to move also.
A small spacer is nailed to the corner cabinet. The folding door for the corner cabinet needs a little extra space so that it doesn't hit the neighboring cabinet door.
I used a string line to make sure the cabinets between the dishwasher and stove were lined up. It's after midnight at this point...
The sink base (middle) is screwed to the trash cabinet (left) and drawer cabinet (right) on the floor before installation.
It took all day and all night, but the base cabinets got finished in time for our appointment! Here, the gentlemen from Colonial Marble & Granite places targets on the cabinets for his laser and computer program setup on the tripod. The lasers precisely measure the in-place cabinets and create the countertop template.

The granite installation date is July 20th!

There's still a lot of work to do in the meantime. Here, the new LED can light bulbs are installed. There were more expensive, but use very little energy and last forever.
I skipped installing some smaller cabinets to concentrate on the base cabinets for the countertop appointment.
Look how straight those base cabinets are!
There's a 12" cabinet that will be installed to the left of the window.
It was about 3am when I was cutting the holes for the plumbing and the GFCI outlet...
The LED lights are also dimmable! Here's the brightest setting...
And the dimmest (is that a word?) It's really more dim in person.
This weekend I installed the last three cabinets. Here the cabinet over the stove is installed, but I needed to cut some drywall to get the last cabinet in properly.
With all the cabinets in, there are three more outlets to replace with new GFCI's. There is an original outlet that is a curious location next to this cabinet, but it's easier to replace it than move it.
That's 60 years of dust and cobwebs.
Here's the current status. All cabinets are installed!
Here's the future home of the stove and microwave.
The goal for this week is to have the floors installed, along with all of the appliances.

Kitchen Week 4

To start Week 4, we need to finish the electrical upgrades.

We did a lot of re-wiring to upgrade the kitchen. Here the wires from the range hood weren't long enough to feed into an outlet above the stove, so I re-ran some new Romex for the new microwave.

New microwave outlet is in place.
The hole in the middle of the ceiling was patched, along with the oops over the sink. The pink spackling compound dries to a white color when fully cured.

We plan to install two new GFCI outlets where the window used to be.Before framing the window area, I have to clear some of the existing mortar in order to access some wood underneath. It's nicer to nail into wood instead of drilling into concrete/mortar.
Here's the window framed out with new junction boxes for the outlets.
We've been taken over by boxes! The cabinets arrived on Cendy's birthday, and we have boxes everywhere.
I intended to keep store all the boxes in the 'tan' room, but they all didn't fit.

Painting is on the critical path, so I move everything to the center of the room and cover it with a dropcloth. We start with painting the ceiling and trim white, then the walls come next. Farley does her usual mid-day sun-bathing as she observes the progress.

While waiting for paint to dry, we took care of some wiring. Here the new outlets are wired and installed.
The ceilings needed two coats of paint, and the trim got three.

We paint the walls last because it's easier to 'cut' the paint in next to the freshly painted white trim, than vice versa. No taping required!
Martha's right - the "Nimbus Cloud" grey color looks great against the white trim, and soon-to-be-installed white cabinets!
Home Depot sells these handy drywall patch kits. I used them on the ceiling, and here they are in place over the notches I cut to feed the outlet wires.
They're simply made of a sheet of aluminum covered in a mesh. Both have adhesive pre-applied, so everything sticks to the wall. The mesh is covered in spackling compound to complete the patch.
Here I've patched around a new junction box for a previously buried splice. As we learned from the bathroom renovation, it is not legal to bury wire splice. After removing the old backsplash, I found a buried wire splice. So we decided to un-bury it by putting it in a junction box.
Finally, with the priority electrical items complete, we can start on cabinets! We start with the pantry cabinet. It's huge...
I was hoping I could tilt it up without it hitting the ceiling...and it turns out I could!
But then I realize the first boo-boo of the day. I had pre-installed some level strips of wood for the cabinets to rest upon, but realized they were too long. Although the tops of the base cabinets are 24" long, the bottoms are only 20 1/4" because of the toe-kick. It's a pretty easy fix to cut of the extra 3 3/4".
The pantry rests comfortably.
With the pantry in place, I nail in a ledger for the over-fridge cabinet.
It's 24" deep, like the pantry, and is a little awkward to handle.
Cendy's helping! She's holding the prop that temporarily supports the front of the cabinet.
Six hours later, we have two cabinets installed! I'm definitely disappointed in the progress thus far, and have no intentions of abandoning my usual profession for a job as a kitchen installer.Next to the pantry, we have a 15" wall cabinet and a neat little message center cabinet. It's easier to screw them together before lifting into place.
The cabinet installation involves lots of long wood screws, which can be uncooperative at times. To make life easier, coat the screw with some bar soap. Not only will they drive easier, the work area is filled with a fresh scent!
The second boo-boo of the day is discovered as the base cabinet next to the pantry is set into position. It should be flush with the pantry....
But there isn't a straight wall in the house. There's a hump in the wall right behind this base cabinet, so I decide to do some precise demolition to fix the problem. With the drywall carefully removed, the cabinet should snug up to the pantry just fine.
Here I clean up some of my mess.
Five cabinets in eleven hours...still not happy with the production, but we're making progress!
With an "L" shaped kitchen, you always want to start with the corner cabinet. Here the ledger is nailed in place.
To no one's suprise, we find a big dip in the wall towards the corner.
With lots of shims, we place the corner cabinet to round out the weekend.
Only two more days until countertop templating appointment!