Are We There Yet?

This past week marked the end of Week 5 of Project Kitchen Renovation.  And we're ALMOST there.  ALMOST isn't really any consolation when you've been doing your dishes in the bathtub for 35 days, though.

Because we're getting closer to the end, I don't want to spoil the big reveal with full room pictures at this point, so we'll just do some closeups to tide you over!

First up- the countertops are in!  I worked last week sealing the undersides of the countertops at night after the contractor left for the day.  They stunk up the basement for a few days, but I wanted to make sure that all 6 sides of these beautiful walnut countertops are sealed against the elements as much as possible.  I won't bore you with step by step details on how to seal butcherblock countertops, but here's the link to the best tutorial I found on DIY sealing.  The product I'm using is called Waterlox- I did my research, and found it to be very highly recommended for sealing butcherblock countertops with undermount sinks. 

Umm...amazing, right?

My contractor installed the countertops after the bottoms were sealed, and now I've been working to seal the tops at night to give them ample time to cure before work begins the next morning on other parts of the kitchen.

Sink's in!  Too bad there's still no water hooked up to it.  I got a 10'" deep sink.  Couple that with 2" thick countertops, and one short gal, and you'll probably find me head down, bum up on multiple occasions as I fall into the depths of this beautiful piece of sinkdom.  (Not. Even. A. Word.  Really, though, who cares!?)

Look at all that extra counterspace!!
Think of the smorgasbord of food that can be lined up
in Pinterest worthy shots that will drive everyone mad
with jealousy! (Or not, if you're not into that sort of thing.)

The tile is also in the process of being installed. 

Yes, siree, I asked the contractor to tile behind the entire fridge.
You'll never see it after this picture, but I know it's there.

My open shelves are also starting to get their coats of sealer...look how beautiful they are!!  Quick shoutout to my brother's friend Steve King (yes, that's his real name) for making these beauties for me on super short notice so I could haul them back with me from New York last month.  He's such a gem!

Bottom shelf with one coat of sealer.  Others are still raw walnut.
So pretty!!!

That's all you get, folks.  A few quick snapshots before this project gets wrapped up!!  (And by wrapped up, I mean that my contractor is going on vacation in a few days so the project completion date is getting delayed.  It was supposed to be done before he left.  Sigh.)

Walls. It's Nice to Have Them.

Hallelujah, it's starting to look like a room again!  This week, the drywall went up, was mudded and sanded, and brought my house into an absolute state of FILTH.  Even with the tarps up, that drywall dust just seeps its way through every nook and cranny.  I'm pretty sure it's alive and has figured out a way to permeate plastic like some sort of intergalactic plasma goo.  I can even feel the dust in between my toes, with socks AND shoes on.  Yuck.

Oh kitchen, how I cannot wait to walk through your doorway again.

The new doorway studs into the living room have been closed up, and the walls and ceiling have gotten a coat of primer.  Things are moving in the right direction!!

Is heaven on the other side of the plastic?
That glowing blu orb sure looks like it.

The outlets are finally at even heights!
I can sleep easy tonight.

My window wall into the dining room has been temporarily closed up to help tame the dust.
What's taped up there, you ask?
Only my cabinet layout...it's finally time!!

The floors are also going in- I bought salvaged hardwood from the Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit - hooray for less environmental waste!  Everyone is jumping on the "salvaged goods" bandwagon - check out this great article from the Huffington Post to see what some of the incredibly talented people in Detroit are doing with salvaged materials from the city!!

Guitars from Detroit wood?  Check.

Because the floors were removed from someone's else's house, they aren't in perfect shape, and the boards are shorter than most brand new board lengths would be.  Once installed, they'll be sanded down and refinished to match (as closely as we can get it anyway) the existing hardwoods that they will butt up against.  I'm excited about all of this- because they aren't "brand new", I have zero worries about dropping a knife or splashing bacon grease on them.  They'll already be worn in, so I can enjoy them to the fullest! And let's just hope that when I DO drop a knife, it stabs into the hardwood, and not into my foot.  I have squeamish nightmares that this will happen one day.

It's been moved from the basement to the kitchen floor...baby steps!

The appliances also were delivered this week, so now I've got my full new kitchen sitting in my garage.  We unpacked the cabinets from the boxes, with only one fatality- one cabinet door was scuffed up.  Lowe's has promised to deliver a new door within 5-7 business days, and the scuff won't delay installation at all- thank goodness for small favors!

They're crying to be brought inside.
And I'm crying for that white stove to be sold.  Come on, Craigslist!!

Things are moving along! Hopefully we'll see some great progress within the next week- removing and rebuilding the guts of the kitchen is over...on to the pretty stuff!!!

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...and makes me impatient.

I'm sure you're all waiting on pins and needles for something exciting and dazzling to happen with this kitchen.  So am I.

This past week, we passed the electrical, plumbing, and mechanical rough inspections, which means the walls are now being closed up.  While that means we've been making good progress, it isn't especially exciting in terms of how my house looks.  It just means more tarps are now draped across my doorways.

Should there be a tarp on that chair?
Yeah, probably.

How is it possible that this space looks even smaller
WITHOUT the walls???

I'm stuck.  Can't use the front door, can't use the side door, and while the guys are working, I can't even get into the dining room to heat up a cup of tea.  Life's tough when you're lucky enough to be getting a new kitchen, right?

Even though I've been banished to the back of the house, and there's nothing pretty to show quite yet, we did find something interesting!  Stapled behind the door jamb were two of the original permits to the house:

Sorry online creeps, I photoshopped out my address.
You'll now have to do 1.5 seconds of sleuthing work to find it.

Pretty neat, right?  Even though they are old and tattered, I plan to frame them and keep them in the kitchen- I think this old house deserves to keep her historical documents, don't you?

By the end of this week, the floors (and maybe the cabinets!) will be going in, and I'll have some fun pictures to share...eek! 

I Have No Kitchen.

Well, it only took 4 hours on a Saturday morning for my kitchen to go kaput.  Minutes before hammer met wall, I began to feel a bit guilty about what was about to happen.  Someone built a kitchen that has lasted for almost 70 years, and here I was, about to destroy it.  It might not have been functional for modern day living, but it WAS solid.

Look at the inside of those cupboards...I will miss that pop of teal blue.
Miss Mamie was a color rockstar when she lived here.

The hesitation was short lived, though.  Dreams of a dishwasher and actual counter space becoming reality trumped any guilt I felt about destroying someone else's work.

And just like that...

...my kitchen disappeared.

When Dave came home to an empty room that afternoon, his first response was, "This place stinks".  He's right.  Uncovering wood and insulation that hasn't seen the light of day in 66 years doesn't smell like roses.  It smells....old.  I'm just waiting for the smell of new wood, fresh paint, and wet varnish to fill our nostrils with the pleasant aroma of toxic cell killing freshness.  It'll come soon enough. Till then, we breathe deeply to inhale what are most likely asbestos and lead particles.  (Don't worry, Mom...the dust was properly contained and removed during demo- I'm just making jokes.  Promise.)

So what surprises has this house revealed thus far? 

1.  Wires hidden behind one cabinet bulkhead that need to be moved.

I forgot to snap a picture of the wires before they were moved.  Whoopsie.
Instead, you get more holes and future range hood draft ducting.
Bonus? If you look closely, you can see remnants of all of that glorious
mid-century metal mesh that holds the horsehair cement and plaster to the walls.
Old houses are where it's at, yo.

2.  Pipe hidden behind a second bulkhead that needs to be moved.

Well, umm, once again, my contractor was too quick,
 and got to the pipe before I had a chance to take a picture.
At least I know he's doing his job, right?

3.  Wallpaper!

You'll have to pretend you're in a drug induced haze while looking at this picture.
The only strip of wallpaper that was left was stuck behind molding that was ripped off,
only to be promptly covered over with plastic to contain the dust.
I can't even gain access to the kitchen without asking permission,
so fat chance I was going to get a clear picture just for you all!!

4.  The kitchen wall cutout (not original to the house) was never properly supported by a header.  My closet is directly above this wall.  Could it have caved way at some point?  Maybe.  Wouldn't that have been an absolute mess?!

The ceiling was bowed about 3/8" in the center...yikes.

Whew...all better.
Notice something else that's now missing, though?
The ceiling.  Had to make a sacrifice to get all of my new lights wired in.

Next up?  Finishing the non pretty stuff...electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work.  Snooze fest.  Wake me up when the cabinets arrive.

Sorry, Not Sorry...to see you go (and other passive-aggressive titles)

Hey you guys!!  It's finally happening...the Great Kitchen Renovation of 2015!!  I can't even BEGIN to tell you how excited I am to say goodbye to my current kitchen.  Before demolition begins next week, let's take a (very short) tour of my (very small) kitchen, shall we?

There's a small window each day when my sink doesn't look like this.
It's elusive, and hard to catch.  Consider yourself lucky if you've ever  seen the
bottom of the sink.

There are many things about this kitchen that just drive me BATTY.  At the top of the list?  No dishwasher.  Unless you count this guy:

Christmas Card 2014 Outtake.  He's alllll mine, ladies.  Back off.
(What a good sport he is, right?)

Right up there with the lack of a dishwasher?  This stove:

Why is it so BIG?
(The Office has forever ruined us with, "That's what she said," jokes, hasn't it?)

It's huge...40 inches of mammoth hunk o' electric metal.  This beast is being replaced by a beautiful gas convection slide in range with 5, count 'em, FIVE burners.  Dave is very excited about this fifth burner.  Whatever floats your kitchen boat, babe.

Next on my list of annoyances is my lack of useable counter space.  This is all I've got.  Twenty seven and a half inches.  TWENTY SEVEN AND A HALF INCHES.  Let's move on.

White, on white, on white?  This kitchen delivers.

Oh, this guy?

Despite the small stature of this fridge,
an amazing amount of food still manages to get lost in the back of it.

Yeah, he's an apartment sized gem.  Can't replace him without ripping out all of the cabinets on this wall, though- they're one continuous built in piece. 

We've already discussed the flooring issues in my last post, but let's see a quick picture for old time's sake, shall we?

Absolutely disgusting.  I am embarrassed.  Completely embarrassed.

Hasta la vista, baby.  You're getting the boot.

RIP: 1949-2015

See ya!

Up next?  New layout plans!!

Peeling Back the Layers: Part Deux

We're starting the one month countdown to the kitchen renovation- it's finally happening and I can't wait!!  And because I can't wait, I started some DIY demo this week while Dave was out of town.  At least this time I was kind enough to give him a heads up (as well as tell him how lucky he was that his wife just saved some dough on demo costs).  I'm nice like that.

Yes, I consider DIY to be therapy.  Potato, potahto.
Notice the absence of questions on Dave's end, and my ignoring
of his response.  We're such a good team.

So who remembers when I started picking apart the floor behind the fridge to see what was back there?  No?  Check it out...I wussed out and didn't peel back all the layers.

Anyhoo,  as I'm ordering all of my materials for the kitchen, I really need to know ahead of time what I'm working with down there (the FLOOR, people, the FLOOR).  I've got two scenarios:

1. I rip up all of the floor layers and find beautiful wood floors that just need a little TLC to make them shine. (fingers crossed, please, flooring gods!!)

2. I rip up all of the floor layers and find 66 year old plank subfloors, which will require installing new wood floors.  (Yes, naysayers, I'm doing wood in the kitchen.  And I plan on splashing grease and spilling food on it.  If you think I'm doing travertine tile in the kitchen, then plan to start calling me Tarek el Moussa and give me my own show on HGTV  (hardcore HGTV'ers will get that reference...the rest of you...meh.) )

If Scenario #1 happens, I'll be in heaven.  If Scenario #2 happens, I've got a plan. 

I have oak wood floors in every other room of my house except the bathroom (yay for no wall to wall carpeting!).  Side note:  I watch too many episodes of House Hunters where people say they want a house with carpet because it's "cleaner".  WHAT???  Carpet is the most disgusting thing on Earth for people who like a clean house, and for those who have allergies.  I look at carpet, and feel like I can SEE the billions of microscopic organisms just squirming their way into the corners and under the furniture.  Gives me shivers.

My apologies to you if you're a fan of carpeting.
I. Just. Can't.

So.  Because my oak floors are now 66 years old, they are aged and dignified.  If I try to put brand new oak flooring next to these, it would probably look ok, but I'm not going for just ok.  I need character, continuity, and beauty.  So if I need to put in new wood floors, they'll be new to me, but they won't be new- I'll be buying salvaged flooring from an old house. One advantage of living in a large metro area is there are plenty of opportunities for architectural salvage materials!  I've got two places on my radar if I need them:  Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit, and Reclaim Detroit.  Both work with local non-profits to train and employ those needing job assistance in the Detroit area- I'll gladly give some of my renovation money to great groups like these!



source



In order to do some flooring archaeology, I decided to tear up the side entryway rather than the whole kitchen floor.  As I didn't have any muscle to help, I thought it might be better to start small! To give you a point of reference, the side entryway connects the kitchen to the basement, and leads outside to the driveway- a pretty standard setup for a mid-century bungalow.  I actually had my fingers crossed that maybe, just maybe, this side entrance may have some neat-o tile, but alas, that was not to be, which leaves me little hope for the kitchen floor.  Here's what I did:

The floor as it's looked for 7+ years.  

I spent around $75 shortly after we moved into the house in 2007 to put down some "temporary" peel and stick tiles to cover up the god-awful gold 70's vinyl.  Almost 8 years later...

Do the two step.

I started with the two steps that go up into the kitchen...that gold vinyl is starting to rear her ugly head again.

And there she is.  Breathtaking.
Literally.
It takes my breath away, and replaces it with vomit.

Oh look.  A blank stair with nothing good underneath it.
Bummer.

Well, let's start near the door.

More vinyl.  That is now covered in ridiculously sticky residue.
Awesome.

At this point, I had to throw two scrap towels on the floor in order to walk on the floor- my feet would have been stuck otherwise.

Those towels are now toast.
Sorry, towels.

No beautiful tile or wood under here.  Sigh.
Correction: Luan board is only spelled with one "n".
Apparently I have the girly version in my house.

It's crowbar time.

This took some wiggling, and sweating.
Not to the oldies, though.
More to the cuss words.

I wasn't joking.  Those towels are STUCK to that glue.
Also, ghost hunters might say that the white orb to the left is
my faithful house ghost, Anna.
Heyyy, girl.

Wowza...it's another layer of flooring!
Filled with staples- even more amazing!
(sarcasm abounds.)

Every. Four. Inches.

I secretly kinda like this floor.
Ok, it's not such a secret.
Too bad it's filled with staple holes!

Oh yeah.  There's another layer under there.
And it's probably filled with asbestos.
Sigh.

 

So, here's where we leave it.  With a layer of flooring covered in staple holes (I pulled out over 100 staples.  It's a miracle my hands even work to type today!), tools all over the floor, and the toe of my toasty slipper peeking into the picture.

I don't have any amazing "After" pictures, and I'm not giving you a sneak peek just yet into my kitchen plans.

Deal with it-there will be plenty to see in March, and I can't wait!!