Kitchen Updates

The dreaded kitchen renovation.  We have a love/hate relationship.  I love the prospect of a fresh (and clean) kitchen that I know is done correctly.  But man, do I hate HATE the place we are right now.  We are in that "why don't I see any progress even though I've spent x dollars and 94 hours working on it" stage.  Ugh.  I need some progress people!

Here's where we left off on the blog...

 

So far, we removed a half wall to open up the space, replaced the plaster with cement board and fixed electrical issues.
 

Since then, we've done a whole crap-ton of work.  Mostly prep work and behind-the-scenes kind of stuff.  We've done approximately 6 updates since the last time I posted progress.  This will be a long one... 

 

Update #1: We ran the range hood venting (which was actually already in place, we just extended the vent) and prepped it for the new range hood.  And we also had the electrician prep the electrical in the ceiling - the last range hood's electrical was ran from the basement through the wall and we needed it ran through the ceiling.  The range hood will be one of the last items installed in the kitchen.  We are now ready to bolt it to the ceiling when it's time.  Will it ever be time? 

 

Update #2: Recessed can lighting was also recently updated.  The can lights in the kitchen were dated and inefficient.  The baffle was on a 90 degree angle from the light; which means that the light worked more like a spotlight.  While we had 5 recessed lights in this 12 x 13 kitchen, there were still lots of dark spots.  

Well, no more!  We added a 6th light and updated (well, paid our electrician to update) our can lights to LED, placed them on a dimmer switch (because, lordy they are bright), and shifted two cans about 18" from their previous home.  

This switcheroo has given us so much light that at nighttime it still looks like the afternoon sun is flooding the kitchen.  No need for a skylight in this room... the Costco LED lights do the job.  These lights go for $22 a piece and we are really impressed with the quality.  If you already have the can housing, then you can install these yourselves.  We had to hire the electrician because our wiring was not done properly and our old recessed lights didn't have a can housing.  The electrician installed the can and wired them up, and it took me 15 minutes to install 6 of these new retrofit kits.  If you're in need of recessed trim kits and are interested in LED, check out Costco.  I can't find them on the website, but this is the exact light.

 

Update #3: We (attempted) to expand the storage pantry.  Our kitchen is fairly small, and we were searching for creative ways to gain extra storage.  Even if we don't need the storage now, it's always a good thing to have.  We've used this pantry to store the vacuum and dust mop and I felt like it had so much more potential.  The cabinet door was warped pretty bad and couldn't be repaired, so I made a new plan for the space.  Here's the old pantry to the right of Lucy.  You can't see the warped door from this angle.  There's a fairly large gap between the door and the frame in the middle (>1"). 

My plan was to open up the space to the right of the pantry so that a full 30" interior door could be installed.  I thought that the blank wall space to the right of the pantry might be open.  I should know better. 

 

It wasn't.  

I cut a whole in the wall and knew there was a chimney.  It was taking up 95% percent of the space. But we decided to go forward with the opening anyway (since we couldn't reuse the old cabinet door).  However, we did gain about 6" of storage space between the chimney and the future door - so why not add more storage for cans or hanging cleaning supplies? 

Did you notice the little sneak peek of the next few updates we've been working on?

 

Update #4: The cabinets have been primed!  Are being primed.  It's a long process.  No, I still don't know what color we will be painting them.  We are working on getting rid of the wood grain right now.  (Spoiler alert: I'm on my 4th layer of primer and there's still grain showing through).  I'm using the sand, paint process. Sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint... you get the point.  It's time consuming.

Update #5: We nixed the nook.  I didn't really have a reason to keep an urn in the kitchen, so the weird shrine-esk space needed to go.  After playing around with some ideas, we decided to utilize the space as much as possible.  We couldn't expand the nook because there is a closet on one side and a stairwell underneath it. 

It was the perfect spot for a...this is hard for me to type... a microwave.  Yup, you read that
right.  This girl is allowing a microwave into her home for the first time in SEVEN years!

The plan is to build in the space so it mimics the other kitchen cabinets.  There's a rough representation of where the microwave will sit.  We plan to build it in and place a shelf or cabinet door over it.  We did remove the recessed light (since we won't be displaying an urn with mood lighting), had the electrician run a dedicated electrical line through the wall, and install a recessed plug.

Update #6: Finally, the last update, we removed the floor.  Which was so. much. more difficult than I anticipated.  There's a layer of ceramic tile (which might as well be shards of glass when broken), a layer of fiberboard that was glued VERY securely to the laminate and plywood underneath it.  And just in case the glue failed, they (who ever installed this floor) also screwed the fiberboard in place using 4" screws every 2 inches.  No exaggeration there.  We pulled approximately 2,000 screws out of the floor (and every time we thought we got them all, we'd step on one).  The tile and fiberboard went around the cabinets.  But the cabinets sat on top of 3/4" plywood.  

Once we got down to the plywood level, we were finally level with the hardwood floors that go throughout the rest of the house.  Our goal was to have hardwood throughout the kitchen (at the same level as the hardwood in the dining room and foyer).  Which means that we needed to remove the plywood.  We played around with the idea of cutting out the plywood around the cabinets. If we cut around the cabinets, then we wouldn't be able to change the configuration of the kitchen with out having the floors done again.  

We opted to remove the cabinets and have the hardwoods installed wall to wall.  The subfloor turned out to be in great shape, which saved us some dough since boards didn't have to be replaced.  But we made up for the cost savings by requiring more square footage of hardwood (since we are not going around the cabinets).  This did give us the peace of mind that if we were to reconfigure the kitchen, we can do so with out worrying about what lies under the cabinets.

Let me tell you all how THANKFUL I am that we removed the cabinets to install the flooring.  While we were removing the cabinets, we revealed several hidden surprises that lurked behind cabinets.  The oak cabinets were probably installed sometime in the '90's, and they looked to be in great shape. 

My mom and I scrubbed (with bleach) the entire kitchen from top to bottom before we moved in.  So I was not prepared for what we discovered during demolition.    Let me warn you, if you are squemish or eating, stop now... hit that X in the top corner of your screen and forget about this update.  You do not want to go forward.  

I am so glad we did this demo now because if 5 or 10 years down the road we decided to remove the cabinets, I would probably make us move.

This is your final warning.  PUT DOWN YOUR LUNCH. 

Once we removed the pantry and the cabinets on the far wall, we revealed many many bugs.  The previous owner clearly had an issue with some kind of bug in the kitchen (I did not take the time to identify the creature) and once they bombed the house (or whatever they did), they probably figured their problem was gone.  Little did they know, the carcasses remained tucked safely between the cabinet and the wall just inches from fresh food.  Yes, on the bright side, the bugs (and larvae) were dead.  I just can't imagine the thought of living with bugs.  Thankfully, you are spared a picture of proof.  I swiftly vacuumed them up with the shop vac (while gagging) and then bleached the walls and cabinets.  And bleached them again.  Dear God.  I can't believe we almost did not remove the cabinets. 

You never know what is lurking in places you don't see.

Justin and I purchased this house and were relieved that we wouldn't have ancient electrical issues or asbestos to deal with.  Lol... so naive.  I should have known better...no house is problem free.

I was watching "Love it or List it" the other day and I heard the couple discussing the purchase of a newly renovated house.  The husband said "but it's renovated, we don't need to worry about what's behind the walls."

I almost spit my tea all over the cow rug.

Someone needs to knock that guy upside the head.  One this is for sure when you own a home (no matter what the age of it).  Expect problems.  Expect electrical to be all jacked up.  Expect plumbing to leak.  Expect...bugs.

At least I know the renovations in our kitchen will be done right.  It'll be slow.  But it'll be right.  That's what I tell myself as I wash dishes in the bathroom sink.