One week of kitchen renovations

I've been sending updates to my coworkers every day by email.  Seems a bit silly since I have this blog and everything.  So I'll just cut and paste everything in here (duh!).

Day 4:

Small steps on that day.  All the joists have been “sistered” to new boards to make everything level (it sloped 2” before)  The whiter boards are the new ones (you can see how they aren’t level with the old ones so the floor is more even).  And you can also see the little beach under my house!

Xander has a new heating duct that isn’t jimmied together (they didn’t connect the elbows with anything so they kept coming apart). For all the gory details of how we put holes in our brand new house to fix this, stroll down As She Knits Too memory lane.

And the 2” tripping hazard in the transition from dining room to kitchen is eliminated!  Seven floors will do that to a house.

That’s a sample of my new floor too! Bamboo in Natural Vertical.  There's no way to match the hardwood on the rest of this level and while it's lovely, it's not really something we would choose so we decided to go with something completely different and a bit more modern.

This is the design idea we're going for with natural maple cabinets, bamboo flooring and a light, airy design. That's important since we are losing some of the natural light with the window change and because semi-detached houses are already a bit dark since the sides don't have windows.

I think some outside stuff is happening too since there’s siding missing.

Shit, I just realized Kenny filled in the window area we boarded up with siding.  I mean just now.  Huh...

Days 5 & 6:

Pot lights are in:

Heat/cool vent is now not under my stove but behind the door where it should be:

The pipe used to run under the floor completely uninsulated.  Now it’s all cozy.  This is good.

Stove is now properly vented (no more bathroom fan!)

Stupid window that’s been broken for 3 years is gone

And here’s the outside view.  Amazing match on the siding (it’s much cleaner than the original stuff, but colour is quite close)

The back window has been made smaller so I can have a corner cabinet where the chimney is (the old window went right into the corner which is sorta dumb).  He used the leftover siding where the fan vent was to fill in the space so it’s all older siding here.

Inside view.  The window is on order.

Monday was all about plumbing.  The octopus that used to be our pipes, duct and wires that looked like this:

Is now this:

The pipes are sitting in a bed of insulation.  Very nice and tidy.  Kenny even redid our outside water access so everything shiny and new. 

Day 7: Closing Stuff Up

Kenny-awesome-contractor started putting things back together yesterday.

Solid, level, insulated subfloor (there must be 100 bags of insulation in there):

Window (I have no idea how he got this so fast!)

Nice neat pipe area which will be behind the fridge

Today looks like drywall.  Friday is floor.  I like this part because it's starting to look less like a pit and more like a room. 

I’m pretty sure this will be our countertop (it’s on the cabinet sample which is on the floor sample):

It’s really hard to photograph with an iphone at night…

I think I want a blue kitchen but want to find backsplash tiles before I decide.  I want glass mosaics but need to see what the budget says.  

 

Comments

[katie]

This is all looking wonderful! What a relief it will be to be in your bright new kitchen. We have lived in homes that were previously inhabited by ambitious "do-it-yourself-ers", it is amazing the kinds of things you will find. I think that the countertop you photographed is the same (or very similar) to the one I have in my home. I love it! It looks great and (most importantly) hides dirt very well!

[Seanna Lea]

This might be the fastest kitchen renovation ever! And it looks super, nice and clean and light.

[M-H]

It looks like a lovely neat job. We all need a Kenny - ours was called Angelo. Careful meticulous tradesman who look on problems as puzzles to be solved, not as dramaz or things to be avoided.

I think that getting all the old renos sorted out and cleaned up as the job progressed was one of the best things about getting our kitchen done. It all just feels so much more cosy and homely and, well, integrated, somehow.

[Allison]

Thank you for indulging my unnatural obsession with other people's renovations! Everything looks fabulous!

[Jenni]

I have a blue kitchen with glass tile backsplash and I love it! LOVE IT! The glass tile we found was very affordable and comes in a bazillion colors. Oh, I remembered the company: http://www.hirschglasscorp.com/

Blue is a difficult color to come by, based on our shopping experiences last year. Blue plus green was really difficult. We found it with Hirsch tile, though.

[round tube]

Good to know about kitchen remodeling. A good transformation in the end. Thanks for sharing your expedition about remodeling of home.

[Chase Conely]

Looks like you’re headed for some major kitchen reno, but that’s alright. Once you see the end results, you’ll realize that all your hard work is worth it. And good decision on the use of wood materials. The maple and bamboo definitely gives your kitchen a country/barn feel. But be sure to give the materials some protection to prevent it from moisture and termite infestation.

[Sandra Turner]

The kitchen deserves this. As a plain housewife, I would want that my kitchen also must be as clean and presentable as it can be because the health of my family depends in here.

[Gripping Beast]

Insulation is good for winter seasons and may prevent kitchen from being damaged. A great thing would be done soon for you housewife.

[Michelle Perez]

The idea shown above is just so excellent! I am planning to build my own house as a gift for my fiancee, this gives me a lot of idea in the very first place.

[basement remodeling va]

Hambleton Construction has the experience of remodeling many kitchens so you can be assured that all aspects of your remodel will be looked over carefully and a complete price will be given to install your new kitchen. Our smoothly run scheduling allows us to finish your kitchen quickly so you are not unconvinced for very long.

[David F]

Nice work, it's coming along, can't wait to see the progress by Day 14.