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.

Ready for Cabinets

So it's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been working - believe me. In fact here are some pictures.

Electrical work is done. I've never done much work like any of this, so I'm having a lot of fun learning. My brother-in-law, Jerry Poe, helped me rewire some things in the walls and the breaker panel. Jerry broke his ankle 6 weeks ago, so he's using a walker to get around with his walking boot. He is amazingly mobile! Dan MacRaild has also helped over the phone to guide me in the right direction on some wiring. I had to run new wire for the circuit along the wall where the stove is. Also, the circuit for the family room was too short. It was easier to use the same wire and terminate in the box where the OTR microwave is. After a few shocks, all is pretty much complete with wiring. Dan is coming tomorrow to take a look at the rest of what might need to be done, but it should be minimal.

I've had to work on the flooring a bit this week to raise it about 1 inch. The previous cabinets were placed directly on the sub-floor, and then linoleum was put down, followed by a layer of backer board and tile on top. New cabinets don't fit exactly the same as the old ones, so we needed lift up the floor to match. A layer of OSB and cement board have done the trick.

Next I need to measure where the cabinets go and start laying down plumb lines and ledgers to hang the cabinets onto. There is a small problem with one of the cabinets at this point. An insert on a base cabinet is not what we expected. I'll call Lowe's tonight to see if I can straighten it out. Hopefully, they'll send out a new insert and all will be well.

In order to motive myself a bit, I've scheduled the granite measurement. C&C marble and granite is coming next Wednesday, so I need to have at least the base cabinets down. I'm hoping to have all the cabinets down before I go to work on Monday. Once that's done, I can work on the trim work while the granite is being cut and polished. It moves pretty quickly from here, which is nice. The novelty of living in the media room is starting to wear off.

All in all, this is great fun! It's a lot of work, but fun. Now, let's hope it turns out!

Kraftmaid Outlet Store details

A lot of people have asked us about going to the Kraftmaid outlet store, so I thought I'd post it here and just refer people to it when they ask. We learned about this opportunity from the internet and Tony Paat (thanks Tony!).

Essentially, Kraftmaid has a warehouse at 5232 Tod Ave.S.W. Lordstown, Ohio (Warren/Youngstown area) in the Ohio Commerce Park, where they receive overruns, returns, or slightly damaged cabinets, trim, furniture pieces, and other accessories. The prices of the cabinets are ridiculously low. For example, the cabinets we were looking for were $60 a piece - not by lineal foot, but total! Other finishes were $80 or $100, but still that's a big savings.

Here's a link to a forum that discusses the process. It has changed a bit recently.
http://www.ownerbuilderbook.com/forum/messages.aspx?ID=135

So how does it work? Well they only open the warehouse on Saturday mornings from 7AM to 1PM except for holiday weekends. You have to call (330)393-8520 for the holiday schedule. To get in you have to arrive early. Cars and trucks start lining up at 5AM to get an instruction paper. At 6AM instruction papers are traded for wrist bands with a number for the lottery. At 7Am a number is chosen from a hat, and the next 150 numbered wrist bands are allowed to go in. If the 150 exceeds the number of people there, they go back to number one and roll on up from there. At 7:30 the next 150 are let in. At 8:00 everyone else is allowed in. The 2 times we were there, about 350 people showed up and the number chosen was in the high 100s. We were let in for the second wave (7:30) both times. There seems to be no advantage to arriving early, so just before 7AM might be best actually. The last people to arrive were actually the first ones in when we were there.

Once in the door it is pretty orderly. All the cabinets are arranged by finish, some by finish and wood. It wasn't always accurate, so you just have to look at the tags on the piece. Kraftmaid has a naming system for each finish and wood (eg. CGO = cognac oak, ABO = autumn blush oak). There are a lot of cabinets up front, but also more in the back of the warehouse. Just keep walking around until you find what you need.

Just inside the door there were also full kitchens for purchase as a whole. If you are doing a new build or have a lot of flexibility, you can get a good deal. Also inside the door are accessories like glass shelves and wastebasket inserts. It was not as organized, and we didn't spend much time here.

In the back of the warehouse there was also molding, trim, toe kick, replacement doors, and other finish pieces. I think there is a lot of value looking here. We got all of our trim, crown molding, and some toe kick. Molding is $3 per stick. Toe Kick is $1. At Lowes' it was $75 and $50 respectively!

When you find the pieces you need all you need to do is mark them. Most people use masking tape or a grease pencil. There were reports of people ripping masking tape off, but we didn't see it. It was pretty civil, really. There were a lot of people (us included) who marked everything that might work. The rule of the house is if you want to buy something that someone else has marked, you can put your name on it with another number. When you check out you can have the first name tag paged and they have 15 mins to claim it; otherwise it's yours.

When you find all the pieces you want, you need to find a worker dressed in orange to write up the order. Then you take the order to the front cashier. Payment is accepted via cash or credit card only! After paying you get a number and wait in line for a dock worker to get your cabinets off the risers and take them to the dock. We found that they would drop your stuff at the dock and leave it there. It is totally up to you to load it in your truck, trailer, or whatever. The dock is a dock, and it can get congested. Actually, there are 2 docks - one up front for full kitchens and one in the back for everyone else.

That's pretty much it. As I said we went twice and got 5 cabinets, molding, trim, toe kick, and some other stuff. Essentially, we saved about $2500 from the Lowe's purchase. Oh, another thing, we were able to find mostly matching doors, but where we didn't, we were able to purchase doors from Lowes' for about $75-100. Even with the $60 for the cabinet, it was a huge savings. We highly recommend this approach. It wasn't all that hard, really. Thanks also to my sister Joni and her family for helping us. They live about 30mins from Lordstown, so we camped at their wonderful home and they helped drive our stuff to our house, too! What a blessing my sister is to my life!

If you have questions feel free to post to the blog, and I'll try to answer. Good Luck!

Demolition

Demolition is fun! And it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. As you can see from the pics, we are out of the kitchen except for the refrigerator. I'm going to move that Saturday, which will take away ice and water, but still leave us a place to store food. OK, so here's some details on the demo.

Here some of the first cabinets are being removed. We were starting with just the over the range microwave, which my friend, Matt White, helped me with (Thanks Matt!). We had so much trouble, we started taking cabinets out, so I just kept going. We came across something interesting electrically when we were working on the OTRM. There was a live wire in the same box as the microwave, and it was on the family room circuit (next room over). Unfortunately I found it the hard way. My hand was still stinging a few minutes later. We'll cap that at first chance and figure out what to do with it later. Obviously, we did get the microwave out, and I'll admit we had to find the directions. It was not obvious how this thing attached to the wall.

So, cabinets started coming out pretty quickly, faster than I figured. Unfortunately, I keep finding things in this kitchen that don't excite me (read: I have work to do that I didn't expect!). It looks like the builder set the cabinets flat on the floor rather than on top of the tile floor. Considering that the new cabinets won't hit exactly in the same places, I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this problem. I'll consult the experts on what to do with this. I guess I could add leveling to the holes and try to set the cabinets at the tile height or I could cut out tile where the new cabinets fit. We'll see...

After the cabinets came out, I finished taking out the ductwork and remainder of soffit drywall and wood. In order to keep the kitchen and garage clean, we got a dumpster from AAA Affordable dumpsters. For $150 they delivered a dumpster on wheels for 4 days and $5 per day after that. When I'm finished all I have to do is call and they take care of going to the junk yard. How easy is that!?! So I took the opportunity to start filling it. It was good that I was able to get this so quickly, as we started filling up the garage with cabinets, old and new!

Yep that's right the new cabinets arrived yesterday. The Kraftmaid truck came at about the time kids were getting off the school bus, so the neighborhood was out watching. It seems like we are the talk of the neighborhood, now, as everyone learned we are remodeling the kitchen. My neighbor, Helmut, who helped carry some counter top to the garage, asked me not to tell his wife Chrissy I was doing this - sorry Helmut, too late, now! So, now we have a garage full of old cabinets and boxes of new ones.

It looks like Saturday will be about electrical and drywall. There is a lot of remediation to do in that area, more in the electrical area than I anticipated. I'm learning a lot about how kitchens work as I go along. Hopefully, I can get the electrical done and start the drywall today and finish it by Monday. Of course, watching some of the Buckeye's opener might interfere :)!

Taking out the Soffit

First step of the project is to take out the soffit above the cabinets. We purchased 36" cabinets and will be putting more space between the wall cabinets and counter tops , so the soffit has to go. I wanted to start here to see what is in there I don't know about in case I have to make some adjustments.




Here is the first hole in the wall - ah, that felt good.






As expected there was some electrical and ductwork in the soffit. These I have plans for.






What I didn't have plans for is this bit of plumbing. Looks like someone took a shortcut with a drain pipe. I'll have the plumber come out and rework it this week. It could throw off my schedule a bit. We'll see.

It took about 4 hours, but the soffit is out. I thought I was going to be able to do it with very little mess - I was wrong (my wife knew it though - note the plastic in the doorways). We started packing up the kitchen. This week we'll start taking out the appliances and base cabinets. Anyone want cabinets!

The Before Pictures

Here are some "before" pictures of the kitchen. As I post these, I can't wait to post the after pics! The pulls especially drive me nuts. You might need to zoom in to see the knives, forks, and spoons. The 2 tone cabinets are also an issue, but it might just be painted cabinets too. I'm a big fan of wood.

You'll notice the color of the doors and the fireplace. The wood of the new cabinets matches them nearly exactly. Hopefully it will all tie together!

Reworking the Kitchen

When we started looking at this house I said the kitchen has to go. It's not awful, just not my taste - so much so that it drives me nuts. When we moved in back in February, we started researching what we wanted to do. Mindy and I finally decided on an Arts and Crafts theme. We also decided to limit the work to cabinets, counter tops, sink, and faucet, and now we've added a back splash. We might also look at floors depending on finances

Lowes has been a great help. They did all the design work for the cabinets, and we even ordered some of the cabinets from Lowes. I say some because we got some from an outlet. More on that later.

The cabinets will be Kraftmaid Meredith Oak with a Cognac stain. They arrive Friday 8/31, so pics will follow when they arrive.

Countertops will be Giallo Ornamental (aka Venetian Gold Light) granite. C&C Marble and Granite in Plain City are doing the fabrication and installation. We spent much longer than expected picking out granite, but I really like where we ended up. C&C was the least expensive and easiest to work with. Hopefully the end product will look good, too!

I (Jon) am doing most of the work with cabinets. This is a big step for me, as I've not done much of this. I'm hoping for help from Mindy's brother Jerry and my friends Dan and Matt.

So keep looking here for progress. I'll post updates and pics of demolition and installation as we go.

Jon