cabinet install...very exciting!

but really bad photos!

The cabinets that line the outer wall are by Schuler.  The door style is Soho and they are Quartersawn Oak with an Amaretto stain.  We ordered them through Lowe's

The ceiling used to have a nubby sandy texture to it...but the plasterer has skim coated it with fresh plaster- it still needs to be sanded, but we are very happy with the results so far!

The island cabinets are Kraftmaid- just a simple flat slab door panel in Dove White.  also from Lowe's.

A tour of the island:

here is the island...the range will be in the middle. 

with two pull out pantry drawers on either side (for spices and oils- very convenient!)

At each end of the island there are 12" deep cabinets.  I keep calling this one my tuperware cabinet...and boy am i excited about it!  We ordered 4 extra full height door panels to cover the exposed sides of the cabinets that are at the corners...the intention is to camoflage the side of the cabinet as a door

and on the side of the island that faces the dining room, there are two 12" wide x 12" deep cabinets that will hold items for the dining room (napkin rings, candles, vases, linens, etc).  There will be space for 4 stools between these cabinets.  In this photo, you can see the low wall and conduit that I mentioned in the previous post.

Just another view...from the Living Room pass thru...I recently ordered stainless steel sliding barn door hardware for the opening to the Pantry.

Drawers for Pots/Pans and lids...and a tall thin cabinet for cookie sheets.

A tall cabinet for glasses & dishes

One gap in the cabinet is for the dishwasher, the other is for the under counter freezer (since the fridge we ordered doesnt have a freezer...its just a full height refrigerator)

That's it for now...I promise to take better photos soon!  Now we have to select a countertop- Im thinking Quartz...we'll see!

a boring post about concrete and electrical conduit

Because we located the range in the island, we needed to somehow get electricity to it

so, we had to cut the concrete slab and chisel out a trench that would hold two conduit...one for the range and the other for a couple of electrical receptacles.

the trench runs from the side wall of the kitchen, to what will be a low wall that will be located behind the range and below the kitchen island countertop (this photo is deceptive...it is a very messy, very dirty process!)

here is a view of the installed conduit....we then needed to pour some fresh concrete and embed the conduit.

it's fresh concrete...i couldnt resist!  even though it will be hidden beneath the new tile!

and finally, the low island wall with conduit poking up from the slab...

easy peasy (not really) and yes, a little bit boring!

The four most expensive words in construction = while-you're-at-it!

The plasterer will begin tomorrow (monday), so we spent the weekend hanging drywall (yay for us!)

a view of the kitchen... 

the plasterer is also going to plaster over the textured ceiling in the living room, dining room, pantry and hall.

the real windows...and the "window" to the living room!

a view towards the pantry- and the hall niche where we will install built-in shelving

the new Pella door & window that we installed in the pantry

another view of the hall- the shelves will be on the left there between those wing-like walls.

and we decided to tear out the wood panelling in the living room and install new drywall "while we're at it"!!!  but the old fake beams will have to stay for now- hopefully they will look better when painted!

it's nothing but a duck toilet...

Before

 

...and now! Three weeks into the renovation

The framing for the new kitchen and pantry is complete

and the Pella Impervia windows have all been installed.

this is the view of the pantry:

The rough electrical is underway.  The electrical service will be upgraded next week.  We will hopefully be finished with electrical so that we can move on to insulation and boarding next week!

where the built-in shelving in the hall will be:

The rough plumbing was completed and we passed inspection:

because the house is on a concrete slab, and the plumbing runs below the slab, i made sure- when redesigning the kitchen layout- to keep the sink in pretty much the same location... to avoid having to bust up the slab and re-route the plumbing

The plumbing vent had a long way to travel, because of the windows.

in the meantime...I started to install the  floating flooring in the bedrooms...Home Legend click-lock bamboo that we got at Home Depot (special order)

I got one bedroom finished!.

...well, at least the flooring is in!

remember this pool? 

Home to frogs, ducks, mosquitos?

well, we got a couple of quotes to renovate it and after we got over the initial shock, we decided that we have to take care of this mess and do it right so that it will last many years to come.  So hopefully soon I will be posting photos of this transformation! 

I'll leave you with this....after the duck hung out for a while, it stood at the edge of the pool, turned around, and pooped!...into the pool water! guh!  as if it wasn't bad enough!

Wall down!

we removed the wall between the kitchen and dining room...installed a couple of windows (the other two will be delivered on monday!)  framed the wall to the living room (on the left in the pic), and next we will frame the walls of the pantry (to the right in the pic)

Removing an exterior bearing wall...all in a days work

When I arrived at the house in the morning...the exterior wall had been stripped of the siding the day before and Scott had started to remove the windows:

He had also constructed a temporary wall. 

to support the roof trusses while we remove and reframe the exterior bearing wall:

He built the temp wall about 4 feet in from the exterior wall- there are no nails or fasteners in the temp wall, its basically held together with friction

the exterior wall sheathing was removed:

then we attacked the framing:

opening up the entire exterior wall

We then installed a new 16' long beam to span the new windows and support the roof load:

framed out the new windows:

by the end of the day, the rain had started- we were able to install the plywood sheathing and get the wall closed in...next we install the windows!

Demolition Derby!

Jumped right in and demolished the kitchen...

Sold the appliances on Craigslist...love Craigslist!

This wall will soon be removed and reframed to accommodate four new windows and a door.  The plumbing will also need to be re-routed

here is another view...

that wall on the left is going to be removed altogether. 

the good news is that the roof is framed with trusses that can span 30', so that wall is not a bearing wall and it can easily be removed. 

We also had a chimney safety inspection and had it cleaned.  While they were at it, they removed the old brass doors (nice, one less thing we have to do!)  The chimney sweep recommended using Simply Green to clean the soot from the bricks..we will try that soon! 

so, it turns out that there is also a flue going to the upper right firebox that you can see here in the picture. Apparently all we need is some charcoal, a grate and we can go to town grilling up some grub in our living room!  saaaweeeeeet!

we're baaaaaaaaaack!

ok...i know. it's been a full year and I never wrote a final post for the renovation of the 2010 Colonial.

Well, the short story is that we sold the house- after two weeks of it being on the market- for a few grand less than asking.  not bad.

But enough about that house- let's move on to our next project: a 1965 slab ranch!   We just closed this past Friday and the renovation has begun.  This reno will be completely different from the others on this blog because this isnt a flip- this house is actually for us--finally!

here are some before pictures:

 EXISTING PLAN:

PROPOSED PLAN: