Kitchen Remodel: REJECTED!

Yesterday was our final electrical inspection. It all went fine until just about the very end.

Rejected!

What?

How?

Apparently, on the peninsula between our kitchen and dining room we need an additional electrical outlet because the top of the cabinet facing into the dining room is 6" higher than the kitchen coungtertop which backs into it. That's right, since it is 6" taller it is being considered a "wall" so it needs to have an outlet ever so many feet. (see diagram below). Although the electrician put in an outlet on the side the cabinet (at the very end of the peninsula) that wasn't enough to satisfy the inspection.

So today the electrician came back today to put in an outlet. I had to be installed into the back of the cabinet facing into the dining room....so the outlet front faces into the kitchen. That meant the electrician had to cut a hole in the new dining room cabinet (which have glass doors...ick...get the idea?) to house the outlet. Fortunately it's not that visible, but it sure is a sad thing to see the cabinet marred with this.

To top it off, the inspector asked to see our breaker/fuse box. Noticing that there is no fuse box but a nice new circuit breaker box, he immediately asked when it got replaced (our house was built in 1959/60). Paul replied about 5 years ago by electrician so and so. The inspector said he'd check the inspection on record back at the office. Good thing Paul kept the inspection card from our basement remodel (when we replaced the box).

The rejected inspection card...
...rejection is so hard to take...

The purple outlines the edges of the Silestone countertop...
...which sits mostly on the dining room cabinet...
...that is about 6" higher than the kitchen countertop next to it...

A-a wall outlet facing into the kitchen from the wall (already there)
B-a wall outlet facing out from the end of the kitchen cabinet (already there)
C-where the inspector is making us put the additional outlet

A shot taken from laying on the floor...yuck!!
As Count Floyd might say, "Vow, kids...vasn’t it SCARY vhen we had to put in that outlet?"
We'll paint it white to match...hopefully it will hide it somewhat...
...and hopefully no visitors will lay on the floor next to it and look up...

The view from a seated position...
...fortunately you only see a small piece of the flexible conduit..
...which we'll paint and put something artfully in front of...
...note the child locks...Sammy can be a handful!

Kitchen Remodel: Cool, clear water!

Much progress is being made in our kitchen remodel this week. Monday's highlight was to have the plumber hook up the water in the kitchen (the sink faucet, garbage disposal, dishwasher, and refrigerator water line).


Since work started on our kitchen before Labor Day, this is a huge event for us. We turned on the sink faucet and gazed in contentment at the water coming out for a very long time.

The plumber showed up early on Monday...

Our much beloved Kohler Essex faucet (in "Vibrant Brushed Nickel") ...
...with water finally pouring out...

Kitchen Remodel: Corian Countertop Installation

This last week the much awaited Corian counter top got installed. Earlier they had come out and done some digital photographs using tape with patterns of dots on it to make the template. The counter top came in three pieces and first perfectly. All they had to do was lay it down and attach the pieces.

Paul asked the installers how much Corian counter tops they are installing these days. The guy said something like this is the third they've done in six months. Apparently everybody wants either Granite or one of those stone dust (Silestone, Cambria, etc) counter tops these days. We like the feel of the Corian and the look of the integrated seamless sink. And Corian is priced somewhere between Formica and granite. The main thing is that you can't put anything hot directly on the Corian counter top.

We're still waiting on the Silestone top for the cabinet which faces into the dining room--it is supposed to get installed next week.

The Corian counter top arrives...

Two of the three pieces have been laid down at this point...
...can you spot the seamless Corian sink?

This gizmo pulled the two slabs together so the adhesive could set...
...it looks like something from an old 1950's Sci-Fi movie ...

This is the "user manual" they gave us...

Kitchen Remodel: Cabinet Installation Part III

Well, the cabinets are all in now. The installers returned with the doors to the white cabinets facing into our dining room. The top of the cabinets will get a Silestone top in Verde Agua (to add some color to the mix). The cabinets are painted a bright white to match our woodwork in the dining room.

We have to get kidde-locks for these...

Kitchen Remodel: New Refrigerator Arrives

Now that the electrical is mostly done, we had the refrigerator delivered (the local store was kind enough to hold it in their warehouse for a month or so). It was a bit pricey to get a cabinet-depth refrigerator (to replace a perfectly good one) just to have a clean line of wall cabinets, but we think it was worth it--the wall on the side only barely comes out past the face of the cabinets and the old fridge it would have stuck out an additional 6 inches.

Little Sammy got a kick out of the appliance cardboard box he gets to play with now.

The fridge arrives...

The electricians previously installed the wall oven...
...here is one wall that is pretty much complete now...

Kitchen Remodel: Counter Template

This past Wednesday the Corian guy came to make the counter template so they could accurately fabricate our counter top. He put tape with patterns of dots on the wall and edges of the cabinets. Then he laid down some tiles on the top with more dots on them. Finally he took digital pictures from various angles. He said that he puts the photographs into some sort of software which then can calculate the counter top dimensions (based on how he joins up the dots in the photographs). In about two weeks we should have our counter tops installed!

Polka-dot tape and polka-dot panels...

What one of the polka-dot tiles looked like...

Kitchen Remodel: You Light Up My Life...

Yesterday (a Saturday) the electricians showed up to finish most of the electrical work. The put in the furnishings on the recessed lights, installed the wall oven, put in the outlets, and the under-cabinet lights. We went with the Kichler Series II Xenon under-cabinet lights. The electricians are a father and son operation, both very friendly, did excellent work, and we'd highly recommend them.

What was once lighted by a single 100 watt light bulb is now this...
...a "pot light"ed room that Candice Olson would (hopefully) approve of...

Autumn Descends...

Autumn descends on our neighborhood. Surprisingly, there is a stretch of road a few blocks from our house which looks like a country road...

Earlier today...

In the Middle of Our Street...

Here are some snapshots I took with my Sony DCS-T1 camera in front of our house back in 2005. Our street is a residential boulevard. For about 2 weeks during spring (2nd half of May usually) the trees bloom. It never lasts as long was we would like it to, so the rest of the year, we just have photos. When we bought our house, they were in full bloom. Someday, when we put our house on the market (years from now), we will do so in the 2nd half of May.

Nothing Says I Love you...

Nothing says I love you, like a new chandelier....or...diamonds are forever but a chandelier lasts long enough. Since we've now opened the wall up between the kitchen and dining room, Michele wanted a new chandelier to echo our choices in the kitchen. Since it will soon be the 25th anniversary of our first date (high school sweethearts) we decided celebrate by geting her choice. Once we get it installed we'll post a photo.

Restoration Hardware's
Chrystal Ball 6-arm Chandelier Antique Silver Plate

Here's a pic of our current chandelier...
...in the house when we first moved in...
...we tore off the wallpaper soon after we moved in...
...oh, and the wall to the where the kitchen on the left has now been opened up...

Kitchen Remodel: Cabinet Installation Part II

The second day of kitchen cabinet installation went well. For the most part the cabinets are installed (the have to return one more time for some minor finish details). The installers really had to work on a couple of spots to get the cabinets to look right (as it would seem, most houses do not have perfectly square and straight walls). Here's some photos of the kitchen now. Note the crown molding is installed too.

From the living room looking into the kitchen...

From the dining room looking into the kitchen...

From the dining room, again looking into the kitchen...

Veto inspects the new recycle center...