Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Plumbing We Will Go

Ashley is out of town on business this week so that means less decorating work and more TOOLS! We're talking running electricity to relocated appliances, installing new plumbing for the kitchen sink, dishwasher, and icemaker, and making plans to add support to the ceiling. The previous owners removed a load-bearing wall at some point years ago and the ceiling is beginning to sag a bit. My uncle and cousin (co-author of this blog) came over to give their expert contractor/engineer opinions. Huge help, that project is a little down the road.
We started painting this week! It makes SUCH a difference going from wallpaper, to finding paneling underneath, to now having modern colors in the house. It's not done, but coming along. Pictures in a later post.
The countertops are all in, the island is installed, there's one more cabinet being installed tomorrow and then we can finish painting those.
Today was a productive day, but purely in a behind-the-scenes way. The new stovetop is installed, along with its new junction box for power. Thats's the only pic today. I only had my phone.
The new faucet on the kitchen sink is connected, along with all the new plumbing for the dishwasher and icemaker.
The power for the dishwasher is next up, after I crawled under the house (the length of the house) to relocate the existing wire to the new location, only to find it was too short to make it.
Props to my dad for the big assist today.
Everything is coming together amazingly well, can't wait for everyone to see it!
PS: I miss my wife. Hurry home.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Covered in Dust

We're very close to having the big projects done. The tile is done in the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom. The cabinets and countertops should be done Tuesday or Wednesday. Once all that is done we can paint the walls and cabinets in the kitchen, and put up a backsplash (we might need to pick one out....). Yesterday and today we put sheetrock mud in the seams of the lovely paneling and started sanding it. Wow, that dust gets everywhere. This is the first part of the project both Ashley and I haven't enjoyed.
So here's the progression so far:


















And I mowed the yard for the first time! It looks fantastic. I'd love to take credit, but it was in great shape before we moved it. I just have to try not to screw it up!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Kitchen Refresh

The biggest project we have going right now is the kitchen. There was a small section of linoleum in the kitchen, with the refrigerator halfway on that and carpet. Anyone else find that strange? The carpet was roughly 12 million years old. (Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you get the point.)


 Here's the kitchen before picture (click on the picture for a larger version). Notice the space-hogging panels above the upper cabinets. Bleck. And the dishwasher under the oven? Not staying there. Flooring, countertops, cabinet color? Not a fan. We'll change that later.


 Here's the kitchen after we sanded some of the cabinets, removed the linoleum, removed the sink, and removed the cooktop. Oh, and the ugly panels up top. Opens the room up a bit, yeah?

New flooring! Who loves tile? This guy. And his wife. Not done yet, give it another day or two. Notice the dishwasher is MIA. I told ya that thing was getting moved.







So there's the kitchen progress thus far. Thoughts? Suggestions? Volunteers? You get to work with some moi caliente people; namely, my wife.


And remember, Safety Begins With Me!