From the Woodshed: Our new Kitchen

Ok. No excuses! I know you have really missed my posts. So I am going to play some catch-up! It seems like so long ago, but it was a significant event.

Last spring, right in the heat of preparing for the District Conference, Kim and I decided that the time had come for us to act on our long time dream of a new kitchen. I was a little hesitant due to the time and work commitment of completing my year as Rotary District Governor. However, Kim reassured me that we would have time. I am glad we moved ahead now, but it was a very hectic and difficult time for us.

We hired a local cabinet maker who had done a few small jobs for us before. His name is Eric. We talked it over, and after a few visits and lots of measurements we made the plunge. We decided on alder cabinets, as opposed to our existing oak, in order to give the kitchen a lighter but still rustic feel. A big change was the decision to eliminate the soffits (essentially box like extensions that hung down about a foot from the ceiling) from which the cabinets were hung. This would give us more space for taller cabinets, and allow us to raise the cupboards and help open up the kitchen.

The biggest change we decided on was to remove the wall behind the stove , including two massive pillars built of used brick. This would open the kitchen into the dining room, and turn the cook-top counter into a "peninsula". Since currently there was an upright piano on this wall in the dining room, we had to figure out what to do with my folks old piano. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and if it doesn't seem simple....you may be in trouble!

I took on all the demolition since that takes few brains, and lots of brute force. (Actually, I'm not sure if the "brute force" applies to me anymore!) After I got started, it was kind of fun, the main hazard being avoiding electrical wires hidden in the wall with my saw. Cutting into one of those can be a hair raising experience (believe me I know!). I went after the two brick pillars with a "hand held air hammer": a very small version of the ubiquitous "jack hammer" that they are always using to break up sidewalks and streets. It took three days to get those suckers out!

The brick demolition was terribly dusty. I used the air hammer to remove the bricks one at a time. Kim was my laborer help, hauling out bucket loads of bricks. She says she felt like the Sorcerer's Apprentice! We salvaged about 90% of the used bricks for a future project. They're stacked out of site behind the tack house. We had to hang a sheet in the passageway into the dining room as a barrier to keep most of the dust from settling thickly in the dining room. We covered all the furniture in the "Green Room" as well. It was a very dirty job.

Halfway through the first pillar. No dust barrier to protect
the dining room.

I have just finished taking down the over-stove cabinets
after demolishing the left side brick pillar.
Note the dust barrier behind me (live and learn!).

Me and my trusty air hammer. Wore out a retaining spring,
but it did the job.

Tearing out the soffits was tougher than I'd expected. They were very sturdily put together. The framer who built the house really got nail happy. I used a hammer, roofing hatchet, and my long nail bar. Lots of pounding and prying, but I eventually got it done.

Me and my trusty hatchet.

Next step was to reroute wires, and install electrical outlets. At this point, I increased my "head scratching time" to avoid any future problems. It all went pretty smoothly (but slowly) and I never had any "shocking" discoveries!

Here I start to remove the sheet-rock before cutting out the studs.
You can see some of the wires I had to avoid and reroute.

Tearing out the wall between kitchen and dining room.
Go to the light!!

After the electrical was taken care of, I patched all of the open area where the soffits had been with new sheet-rock, then taped the joints. (You use a special tape to seal all of the seams between pieces of sheet-rock.) After taping, I applied some plaster-like material called "joint compound". This helps make all of the seams invisible so the paint job looks good. Lucy was quite a bit of help with sealing a lot of the joints. The last step before priming and painting was to "texture" the areas that would be showing after the cabinets were installed. I was really worried about this step, but a search of YouTube yielded some great ideas for making this easy with no special tools.

Lucy and I slap on the "mud" (joint compound).
This was a portion where I tore out the old soffits.

We had the cook-top peninsula and cabinets installed first, then Kim and I headed for Reno to purchase a new stove that had downdraft ventilation. This allowed us to eliminate the overhead stove vent, and get more cabinet space (along with raising the bottom of the cabinets several inches).

Eric and I put the filter unit in together. Because of this
I didn't have to cut a hole in the floor to vent the stove.
It just vented out onto the kitchen floor after being filtered.

We installed the remainder of the cabinets, and used the old counter tops as temporary ones until we could get the granite installed. Yep, we went whole hog, and got a great deal on some beautiful granite countertops with the help of our neighbors, the Grieves. That is a long story. Suffice to say that the crew showed up one day, and spent about 6 hours doing some beautiful work. I really enjoyed watching these true craftsmen at work.

Here we are pulling out the cabinet that holds the sink, I am
showing my better side don't you think?

Eric installing the corner cabinet to the right of the sink.

I wired two electrical outlets into the main peninsula to charge
laptops and other electronic devices. Our own Internet cafe!

Adding 5/8 plywood tops was the last step before
the granite guys came.

Here they are fitting the cook-top peninsula countertop. They
cut the hole for the stove here, "on location", to ensure a good fit.

Fitting the cook-top.

They set up a whole fabrication shop outside. You can see
they have cut the hole for the new sink.

Kim carefully supervises the action as they instal the first
section of backsplash.

The final section of backsplash is fitted.

Kim decided she liked it. This is just after the granite guys left.
No faucet yet, and you can see all of the glue spots that have
not dried yet. Also, check out the reflection of the old ceiling
light fixture.

The last phase was tearing out the old overhead lighting, and installing new. We purchased some nice lights from a place in Reno. It is very mellow, yet bright. The old fluorescent lighting was a very large fixture, but with some helping hands from Kim, I got it removed without too much trouble. There was quite a bit of sheet-rock repair to do, but I put the skills learned patching the soffits to work, and it came out very nice.

We liked this pretty triple light over the sink. Also note the
new faucet.

It took some work to patch and prepare the ceiling for the new light.

Here you can see both lights.

It is really unbelievable what a difference this remodel job has made in the house. It is just so much more open and warm, and welcoming. A great place to entertain, and just plain live. Now we are both determined to continue to put effort into renewing and modernizing the house. Not sure what the next big project will be, but we will certainly enjoy continuing to refine our "dream home".