Detour...

After almost four weeks of mudding, sanding, mudding, sanding and more mud and sanding, the walls/ceiling are starting to take shape. Here's a shot of Dad helping out before he got smart and went home. Even an unlimited supply of beer couldn't convice him to stick around for this phase.



The project is starting to look like a room again...not a kitchen yet, but a room.

After getting some primer on the walls, I spent a week preparing the subfloor for tile. Put down 5/8" ply over the original 3/4" T&G subfloor, then 1/4" HardiBacker. 15 sheets of HardiBacker...in thinset. After the first sheet of HardiBacker I realized I was going to need alot more thinset...and a power drill. I also wished I just screwed it directly into the ply. But at that point I was committed and I'm not about taking shortcuts. Oh well, just another trip to "Big Orange." Thanks to the guys at the www.floorstransformed.com forums for great info on preparing a subfloor for tile. Check it out if you are planning to tile.





Not sure how many batches of thinset I mixed, something like seven bags I think.


That bit of open wall is for running the wiring for the floor heat mats which will go down this week.

Now for the detour...
Then after some more thinking and encouragement from a friend, we decided to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. I didn't think of it earlier, but I like the idea. It will really open up the kitchen to the rest of the house. I wish I had considered this earlier.... like before the drywall was up!!!

Here is a shot from the dining room before surgery.

Once the wall was down, I needed to reroute the electric which will be a pain now that the drywall is done. Looks like I will have to punch some holes in the ceiling that I just finished....And after...The plan is to put in a compact food service/eating island.

Another roadtrip to IKEA is in our future to pickup the cabinets that I am going to use for the island.Here is a quick sketch of the island design. Specs are: size will be 24x48. Tall wall cabinets on each end and a custom wine rack in the center.

Roadtrip

With our cabinet layout finalized and the framing nearing completion, we took a roadtrip to the new Cincinnati IKEA in late June purchase the cabinets.

Yes, it took two cars to pickup all the cabinets. The folks at IKEA were great. They stayed late on a Friday night assembling the order and helping load. Thanks, guys!

Also continued to hang drywall and work thru other details....like the cooktop vent placement. There was an existing vent opening already in the wall, but of course, it ended up being too low, so I needed to cut a hole for a new one. This was not as easy as it sounds because the outside siding is stone...um, fake stone made from cast concrete rather. My sawzall wasn't up to the task and the access was impossible for a circular saw with a diamond blade. Thanks to the suggestion from a friend, a 4" grinder with a diamond blade....worked like a charm.

Starting to rebuild

Starting to frame the built-in for the fridge and a new knee wall next to the steps.

Dad came up for a week early on to help. We were able to make alot of progress with him working first shift then me on second shift. Thanks for all the help, Dad!

We added insulation to exterior walls and ceiling. Before with no insulation the kitchen was always cold in the winter. Only one HVAC vent didn't really cut it. I am also planning to add an electric floor warming system to improve comfort of the ceramic tile floor in winter. Yes, that big box is a new toilet. A casualty of the new plumbing is needing to replace the original Douglas-Leader toilet in the upstairs bath. I preferred to keep the old one, because I liked the old wall hung tank style. But the plumber could not guarantee it wouldn't leak due to parts not being available. Replacing the toilet left a bare spot on the wall where the builder tiled around the tank.

Well..I now know what my next project will be... A look as drywall is starting to go up...

Demo!

After the drainline was replaced, we started demo on the rest of the kitchen on May 31st. Evidence of the carnage:

My three rules of demo:1. Don't break the windows,2. Don't break the pipes,3. Dont go thru the interior walls.Only collateral damage was my friend getting too ambitious removing plaster with the pick-ax and punching thru to the dining room wall. All things considered, 2 out of 3 isn't too bad....

A couple friends and I were able to knock this out on a Saturday. Plaster and lath makes a mess!

Filled up a 14 cu yard dumpster. I'm glad I had second thoughts and ordered the bigger one.

Plumbing issues...

I had been planning to remodel the kitchen for some time, but other things seemed to get in the way. Last spring a plumbing problem in the upstairs bath, required replacing the drain lines so this just the "excuse" we needed to get started on the kitchen remodel. Several clogs in the past four years led me to believe that this will be an ongoing problem if not taken care of. I'm not adventurous (or experienced) enough to take on old plumbing, so I called in a pro. I took care of the demo to save $$. The plumber did a fantastic job at a fair price. The old galvenized plumbing was replaced with PVC drainlines and copper for the supply lines.



After opening up the wall, it is apparent that the tub has been leaky inside the wall for some time. Notice the mold, nasty!




My new pipes!



Pat and I like how removing the archway and high cabinet really opens up the space and connects the two rooms.

Kitchen remodel update - before pix

We started remodeling our kitchen on June 1 this past summer. I started a blog about it on another site but found it too cumbersome to use, so I'm giving this one a try. I'll transfer over the previous posts as I go to get up to date.

To start with, here are the before pics.

House was built in 1930. As you can see one side was remodeled in the 50's and the other is the original buit-in cabinets.

A view into the attached eating room.

Can't wait to get rid of the terrible blue plastic wall tiles, vinyl floor and bad lighting.