Moving In!

Major operations are basically over in the kitchen after a great weekend of work. For those of you wondering, of course I stopped to watch the Buckeyes defeat TTUN. As you can see from the latest pics, we finished lighting, electrical, and put the corner cabinet together. Mindy and I are very pleased. This has really come together like we envisioned.

We still have a little work left. The piece of crown molding should be in this week. We have that to finish and some putty/touch up work. There is a piece of tile that needs to be added near an electrical outlet. Mindy plans to finish painting the pot rack today, and we'll hang that when it's dry. All of this we should be able to finish up next weekend when we get back from family visits.

Are we there yet?

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog due to camera issues. All fixed, so now we have some pictures to show of our project. You are probably saying (like us), isn't that done yet? Well, the short answer is, no. BUT we are getting close.

When last we left Millie on the tracks, we were working on the back splash. That is done, and, wow, was it easy. Mindy did a great job laying it out and working very hard to put it together. Jerry Poe (Mindy's brother) helped us get started and loaned us tools to do it. The wet saw is really a great tool. I might have to get one of those when we do the floor. Thanks to Rodney Holaday for understanding when I had to blow him off for golf to do the back splash. Rodney, we'll cook you and family dinner in the kitchen to make up for it - K? Anyway, we are quite pleased with the results of the back splash. Matt Beaumont thought it looked professionally done, so that made us feel good, especially for our first tile attempt.

This past weekend was all about trim. We did toe kick, scribe, base shoe, and some quarter round. Who knew there was so many types of trim. I fell in love with the air nailer. Jerry let me borrow his, and I think I'll pick up one of these for future projects. Great tool!

Jerry and I also worked very hard on the crown molding. We were sooooo close to finishing, but unfortunately, we ran out of molding about 3 feet short. When Lowe's estimated what we needed, they must have anticipated we would get EVERY cut PERFECT the first time. I can't imagine that is possible with crown molding in a 20 year old house. I had to run to Lowe's and order another stick - $75! I got it for $3 at the outlet. We might make another run up there this weekend. Even with gas prices on the rise, it might still be worth it! They also told me it will take 2 weeks to get the last piece to finish our kitchen. How frustrating! Oh, well, it's starting to look good. Check out some of those cuts Jerry did. There was one cut that ended up being too short, only because I noticed a finish nail preventing it from falling in place when I checked the cut. I yelled 'Wait' just as the saw turned on. Jerry is so good, he pieced it all together and puttied so it's impossible to see it.

Mindy is working to spray paint the pot racks. She repaired the wall and re-painted since we are moving the rack to the left. It looks really great, and I can't wait to put it on the wall. Essentially, it's that, the crown, and adding the electrical outlets. Another day or so of work, I think.

It's not the fountain of youth...

But it sure is nice to have water in the kitchen again. The plumber came Monday to finish the sink, faucet, disposal, and dishwasher. My sink overfloweth!

This past weekend I also put doors and hardware on. The drawer hardware is still in progress, but we're starting to look like a kitchen again. The cabinet we've been waiting for finally came in. Again it was damaged, but Lowe's took half off, so we decided to live with it. Still no touch up pen from Kraftmaid. I should say, they sent one, but it was the wrong one again! 3rd time's the charm I hope.

The 2 cabinets to the right of the window were hung too low on the first pass, oops. Thanks to Matt for helping me re-hang them and the new cabinet as well.

This weekend, Mindy is working on the tile backsplash. Her brother, Jerry is helping. I have a meeting Saturday morning, but I'll be on tile duty after that. We hope to have it done by Monday or Tuesday. After that it's just finish work - molding, toe kick, and drawer handles. A couple of more weeks, and we'll be done. I think I can see the finish line...

Countertops Installed

C&C Marble and granite came today and installed the Giallo Ornamental granite counter tops. They did a great job! It looks just like I thought, though Mindy thinks it looks darker than she imagined. She still likes it though. There is a seam in the granite near the sink. We thought they would avoid a seam, but not so. I'm not a huge fan, but it's really not that bad. See if you can tell from the pics below.

Since the last post I also have doors and hardware going in the right direction. The sink is undermounted with the counter tops, and C&C did that today too.

The Plumber comes Monday to finish the sink, faucet, disposal, and dishwasher. Everything in the kitchen will be working by then. I hope to finish doors and hardware this weekend. Next thing is the molding and finish work and cabinets are done. Oh, yeah, lighting came this week, so I might do that this weekend, too.

Mindy is working on the tile back splash. We stopped at The Tile Shop on Morse Rd tonight to look at tile. Wow were they helpful. Prices are a little higher than I wanted, but it really helped us focus on the right things. Here's what we are thinking at this point. A lighter tile with a colored border and pencil edges on the border and on the ends of the back splash. Mindy is working hard in this picture to show it off, but I don't know if you can see or now how it looks.

OK, time to take a break and hang out with my wife! I miss her. :)

Holding Pattern

The kitchen project is basically in a holding pattern. There is one cabinet left to install before we can do molding, etc. This small, 9in open shelf was not what we thought when it came in the first time. After sending it back and ordering the correct item, it was damaged when it came in. So we sent it back to Kraftmaid one more time. Hopefully, they will get it straight this time. Lowe's has been great! The store at Polaris is outstanding regarding customer service. Pleasant and quick with help on these matters.

We've started with some finish work. Mindy did sand and paint the new drywall areas. She did a great job blending the paint. Thanks to Matt W. for tips on doing that! Appliances are going back in place. The new microwave is up and the fridge is fully functional at this point. There is a power problem with the range, but I'll sort that out this week. I also hope to get the doors and hardware finished this week. More pics once that is done.

Granite should be coming late next week, which means we'll also have a sink. It also means we can start the backsplash - so we need to pick that tile out. Mindy did find some nice mission style lighting, which we hope will be here next week.

So it's all coming together. Maybe another month and it will be fully completed!

All cabinets are in

This weekend was especially fruitful. My friend Dan came back, and he brought his friend Jon, our friend from college, Steph's, husband. Jon works as a drywaller and finish carpenter and used to work as a custom kitchen installer. They were a big help! As you can see from the pics, the cabinets are all installed, except for a shelf next to the window that we had to get Lowe's to correct.

The granite company, C&C Marble and Granite, comes tomorrow to measure for the counter tops. It takes about two weeks for the granite to be cut, edged, polished, and installed, so we still have plenty of time before we can move back in. Here's a link to what the counters will look like.

Our microwave / hood vent didn't survive the demolition process. The button to open the door is falling off and the screws to hold it on the wall are stripped. The turntable hasn't worked since we moved in. Hanging it on the wall was not happening, so we had to purchase a new microwave. Sears had a great floor model on a Kenmoore. We got it for $150 off the original price. I'll work to get that in place this week.

Next thing to do is clean up some of the walls and paint where necessary - maybe the entire room. Also, we need to level doors and drawers and attach hardware. Jon and Dan may be coming back to do crown molding and finish trim. It won't be too much longer before we can start doing tile back splash. We are planning to do tile from counter top to wall cabinet from the refrigerator around the "L" to the end of the cabinets. Over the new 7ft section of cabinets (see left) there will be a 4" granite back splash. I'll also move the pot rack to center it on the wall. Mostly finish work left. It's starting to look like a kitchen again.

Cabinets are going up

My good friend Dan MacRaild and his wife Stacey came to visit this past weekend. Dan works as an audio installer for a large sound company and has worked as an electrician in the past. When Dan came in and took a look around he had some significant changes he thought we should make, mostly to bring the kitchen up to current electrical codes in Ohio. Thank God for Dan, otherwise we could have had some problems. After a few hours of work on the electrical Friday night and Saturday morning, the electrical work was mostly done. I still have a wire to run this week to correct one circuit that is in the way of some cabinets that will go up over the refrigerator.

After we worked out the electrical issues, we started working to hang cabinets on the wall. Since the drywall doesn't go all the way to the ceiling after removing the soffit, we added OSB to the studs to make the cabinets level at the top. Once we did that, the corner cabinet was the first to go up. Next, the line of cabinets along the stove wall went up. It is starting to look like a kitchen again. Mindy and I both are impressed with the quality of the cabinets and how good they look in the kitchen. After looking at how the work over the kitchen window will go, I'm thinking about getting a finish carpenter to do the drywall and crown molding, as well as the shelf that will go over the window to hold the light and carry the molding. That looks too touchy for me to handle.

Thanks again to Dan and Stacey for their friendship and all the help!

On Sunday I started working on the last electrical piece and to set a base cabinet. The corner cabinet, which we got at the outlet couldn't be more perfect. It was actually different than we thought when we talked with Lowe's about the design, so a cabinet we had purchased is no longer necessary. We can return it and save some money! Unfortunately, I have come down with a nasty cold that is keeping me down. I'm actually staying home from work due to the cold. Believe it or not, I've not even worked on the kitchen since Sunday, that's how nasty I feel.

Oh well, hopefully later this week I'll be able to get back at it and run the wiring. Once I have the lighting in the kitchen back, I can work later in the evenings to get cabinets set. Hopefully by the end of next week, I can get the granite folks in for measurement.