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...

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...

Kitchen Remodel: Cabinet Installation Part I

Today the long awaited event began -- the installation of our red oak quarter-sawn Shaker style kitchen cabinets. Paul put on a quick coat of Sherwin Williams Porcelain (SW 0053) before they came (they arrived at 7:30am). We were really impressed with the two installers, really nice guys who seemed to know what they are doing. They didn't finish today, so they will be back at 7:30 come this Monday morning. The Corian guy who will make the counter top template can't come until Wednesday. But so it goes...progress!

The cabinet maker's installers arrive!

Work begins!

Piecing it all together...

Our 17lb cat Veto inspects the work...
...from where he shouldn't be...
...where the counter top will be!

The refrigerator will go in the middle...
...we feel that we made the right decision to buy a cabinet depth refrigerator...
...so all the cabinets on this wall will be the same depth...

Another view of the cabinets on this wall...

Kitchen Remodel: Floor tile is now in....

Today the tile man put in the floor tile grout. Tomorrow they start installing the cabinets. Monday the Corian guy comes to make a template for the counter top fabrication. We're getting there...slowly...but we're getting there.

The tiled floor...

Kitchen Remodel: Tile Progress

The tile man continues his progress. The floor has now been leveled and he is laying tiles...

You can see the portion of "cement" he last put down in the lower left hand corner...

Tiling commences (note we started painting the walls)...

The tile guy is kind of neat, he seems to take his time to be accurate...
...which we like...

Kitchen Remodel: How To Cope

We're a few weeks now into our kitchen remodel. So our current "kitchen" consists of a utility tub we had installed in our basement and a 20+ year old Kenmore microwave Paul bought back in college. Surprisingly, we get by pretty well...eating a lot of hot dogs, microwavable mac-and-cheese, and Pizza Hut.

When we were emptying out our old cabinets before the tear out, we found that Paul has more than a few bottles of Yukon Jack in there. It would be interesting to figure out how we ended up with so many bottles of it. Maybe we should just say we use the Yukon Jack as paint thinner.

All the bottles we found in the kitchen cabinets...

Kitchen Remodel: The Final Plan

Next week the cabinet maker installs the cabinets. Here is the final layout plan. Note that on the upper right hand corner, we had to see what ducts went through the wall...it affected how large the opening was. We did relocate one duct. Also note that on the bottom, where the refrigerator goes the cabinets are all now counter depth. It was a bit pricey to buy a counter depth refrigerator just to accomplish it, but we think it will look better in such a small kitchen.

The final plan....

Kitchen Remodel: The Tileman Cometh

The the drywall guy finished two days ago (Paul still needs to prime and paint the walls). Yesterday the tileman came, put in screws to remove floorboard squeaks, laid a steel mesh, and today started leveling the floor. If you look at the picture below, he's putting on a about 1/2 inch to level off all irregularities in our floor (he's almost finished). After the tileman is finished the cabinets get installed. Woo-hoo!

Imagine tile, cabinets, countertops, etc here...

Kitchen Remodel: New Side Door For Kitchen

Today our kitchen remodel progressed. The drywall guy started doing his stuff (whatever that is) and the general contractor replaced our side kitchen door.

Previously we had changed all our flat, hollow-core interior doors on the first floor with 6-panel solid wood doors (which someday Paul has to paint white to match the trim...but that is a completely different story). We replaced the original exterior wood door from our house with a fiberglass door (that matched the 6-panel doors on the bottom). We chose fiberglass over steel because the lumberyard guy said that steel doors would be more likely to dent than fiberglass. We will also be replacing the exterior door to our four season porch, we'll post on that when the time comes.

Goodbye old door...

Our contractor recommended Wausau Taylor doors...
...we hope it works out for us...

Inside view...
...not trimmed yet...

Exterior view...
...it's just primed...still needs to be painted...
....and some exterior trimming still needed...

Kitchen Remodel: New Window

Step one of our kitchen remodel was to replace the window above the sink. This way when we put tile on the counter back-splash we won't have problems replacing the window at some later date. We made a choice some years back to replace our windows with "Renewal by Andersen" windows. We do full-frame replacement which involves removing the old window frame and casing. This gives us a better install than typical sash-replacement most people do. Also, it ends up giving us close to the same amount of glass surface as we had in the original wood window. Most salesmen never tell you the drawbacks not doing a full frame replacement. We now have about 7 original windows left to replace.

This entry appeared in our main blog some time ago, but since we are in the midst of our kitchen remodel it makes sense to put it in this blog now.

The local Andersen Renewal franchise...

The original 47 year old window...

According to the workers...
...our frame is in great shape...
...though our sink was then a mess!

Exiled to the sun room while work progresses, Veto plans his return...

The new energy efficient window...
...we'll paint it once we remove the existing cabinets...

Kitchen Remodel: New Interior Doors

This entry is from our main blog from last year, but given that most of the doors replaced were in our kitchen, I figure it's in keeping with our recent posts here...take note below of the thickness of the plaster that was layered on the plasterboard...that is what our general contractor had to content with during our kitchen remodel. Something we've always wanted to do in our house is replace the existing hollow-core doors with solid wood doors. Since we have a 2-story house, we decided to first replace the doors downstairs. Our trim downstairs is painted white, so the doors will be painted white as well...but we wanted to make sure that the paint took well to the wood...so we put in Poplar doors (as opposed to Pine which is less expensive). We had a handy-man we trust do the work (Ron). He recommended just putting in new slabs instead of replacing the entire door frame...to avoid issues with redoing the trim. Ron's price was very reasonable. We had a doggie-door to the basement for our cat Veto, but it was much too large...we worried Sammy might crawl through it and tumble down the steps. Ron suggested putting an opening in the wall (see the red arrow in the pics below). In all, it looks like a good job, the doors feel much better to open and close now having some substance to them. Also, they look much nicer (just imagine them painted white...we will be painting our kitchen this year). Now the tough part...

• $474 for the door slabs (Pine would have been oh so cheaper...and looked that way)
• $290 for labor (not a bad deal considering the wall opening he cut and framed out)
• $100 for door knobs and hardware bought at Menards' famous 15% off anything you can fit in a brown paper bag sale

Our handy-man Ron looks sorta like Ron Howard... ...we're very pleased with all the work he's done for us...

Look at how thick the layer of plaster is on the gypsum board... ...on the left is part of the wall from the kitchen... ...on the right is part of the wall from the basement stairwell..

The before and after...from left to right.. ...our front closet, basement door, bathroom door, pantry... ...click on photo to enlarge...keep in mind we will be painting the doors...

Kitchen Remodel: Final "texture" Choices

The next step in our kitchen remodel is to put in the drywall. But while we wait on that, here's the (almost) final "textures" that will be going into our kitchen...

The cabinet wood will be quartersawn red oak...
...with a natural finish...

Cabinet hardware will be satin nickel...Amerock BP53030G10 3" Pull Mulholland, Satin Nickel

The faucet we purchased is...
...the Kohler Essex in brushed nickel...

Bucking the granite counter top crowd...
...we are going with Corian Abalone...

Our corian sink will be bisque in color...
...the 902 model...

Our tile will be 3"x6" bisque subway tiles...
...with an accent line of two 1" high rows of glass tiles...
...here's an approximation with the Northstar Ceramics White Blend11T...