Kitchen Remodel Day 6 (Elapsed Day 10)

 OK, now there is something to see.  Saul got the dining room wall dry walled and mudded.

Maybe you want to see it closer up?

Saul decided to leave the sink operational through the weekend. Thank you, Saul.

He'll be back Monday to put on the second coat of mud.

Kitchen Remodel Day 5 (Elapsed Day 9)

Can you see the progress today?  Saul dropped off Saul Jr. to finish wiring the electrical boxes.  Not a lot to see!

Saul Sr. spent the day driving out to Anaheim to take possession of the granite slab.

The plan is to get ready for granite measurements Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Kitchen Remodel Day 4 (or is it 6?) - Drywall Pass-Through

I missed this shot on Friday of the condition of the entire kitchen for the weekend.  Yes, I had a workable stove, but not a whole lot of cabinet space.  

Below is a picture of the floor after I picked at it all weekend. 

First I tried the water trick, where you just get it wet and it curls up and peels off.  But that didn't work.

Then I tried soap and water, and that didn't work either.

The problem was that it was sticky, and everytime you walked through, your feet would stick to the floor.

Jerry found some super-duper adhesive remover out in the garage that you spray on, so I tried that.  It smelled like solvent and I worked with a face mask.  It said to let it set for a minute, but a couple of hours worked better.  Then I took one more pass at it with the putty knife.

Jerry also found some super-duper cleaner/degreaser, so when I was done with the putty knife I sprayed that on and scrubbed with a scrub brush.  That got lots up, but how long do you want to scrub?  Next was the broom and a bucket of water, while Jerry vacuumed it up with this shop vac.  This is the result.  It doesn't stick when you walk on it anymore.

I don't know if it was the floor, solvent or degreaser, but I was sick on Sunday.  Slept almost all day.

So should I count work days or elapsed days?

Monday became the 4th workday for Saul.  He got the drywall around the pass-through finished and mudded. 

He's coming back on Wednesday to apply another coat of mud.  And to install Jerry's 240v heater plug. 

The plan is to demolish the rest of the cabinets Friday, and start in with the new Monday.  We talked dimensions today.

And what goes in what sink hole.  The compromise sink Jerry ordered is huge, bigger than the current one, but only has 3 holes.  I count faucet, filtered water, hot water.  But Saul thinks we need a garbage disposal air vent (I'm still not sold), and Jerry wants a soap dispenser (I'm not sold on that either), and we both want a air button for the garbage disposal, so those aren't' all going to fit. Maybe the hot water dispenser will have to be returned for a combo hot water/filtered water version.  Bigger mess under the sink.  We'll see.

Notice the stove doesn't have any burner grates, oven knob or broiler handle?  I found a place that will refinish them for a small fortune.  All I have to do is mail them away with a check!

Kitchen Remodel Day 3 - Gas/Electric

Today was the day to move the gas for the stove, and put in the electrical boxes.  While he was at it, he installed lights in the crawl space.  Seems it's a little difficult to work when you have to hold a flashlight.

And a receptacle and switch, so our crawlspace fan doesn't need to be plugged in downstairs.  No more ugly yellow cord!

Some of the drywall also got put up.  It hasn't been cut yet, it comes down to the top of the stove.

This is where the stove is going to be.  Saul hooked it up so I can cook this weekend.  And I still have a sink/dishwasher!

The floor still has all that nasty mastic on it.  So I started a project to scrape it up.  Now Jerry's working at it.  It's one of those things that once you start, you always see one more little piece.  Something to keep us busy over the weekend.

That, and finding an air switch for the garbage disposal.  It's a round flat switch so we don't need a flip switch. 

Jerry ordered  the faucet and hot water dispenser yesterday, and they arrived today.  Easier than going to the store!

Saul surprised us at 9 this morning.  But he left about 2.  He needed something else to finish the drywall.  The wall is too thick.

To be continued...

Kitchen Remodel Day 2 - Pass-Through Day

Here it is! 

Our new pass-through window.  We can see forever!  And forever can see me!

The stove is in a temporary position, just to get it out of the way.  

And from the other side:  

Notice the stove.  When Saul pulled it out, there was a little teensy bit of dirt on the sides and in the back.  Why would spiders live in a stove?  He found a spatula, two brushes, two sponges, and a vegetable steamer.  I took my Magic Eraser to it and it cleaned right up.

Old receptacle that had to be removed: 

Small dent where concrete block with old sink flue had to be removed.  Saul didn't even mess up the wallpaper!

Notice how Saul framed in the new opening.

Today he didn't get here til almost 12:30.  But he worked until after 5.

I found this while taking pictures.  It is below the pass-through.  Indicating that there used to be a receptacle BEFORE the wall on the other side was plastered.  Hmmm.  How could that be???

And here's some of that old wiring:

Kitchen Remodel Day 1 - Floor Day

Finally.  Time to start the kitchen remodel!  

Here's what we started with:

The rolling cart has been removed.

The refrigerator has been relocated.

Some of the floor has been lifted to see what's under the "hump". 

I decided rather late in the game to empty the existing cabinets that are going to remain.  Too much dust to get into my food and toys.

Also, the drawers are removed.  Saul is going to make  drawer fronts to match the new ones. 

Notice the lack of knobs on the right hand cabinets.  They had to be removed to get the refrigerator through the door.

The hutch with microwave has been relocated.

Most of these knobs have been removed in case we want to use them later.

You can't tell, but all the cabinets are empty. 

The old sink, just for a before/after shot.

Ah, here's Mr. Moveit.  The refrigerator is now in the bird's room.  The cabinet is moved.

The hutch is where the etagere used to be.

The bird cage is where the TV used to be.

The etagere is in the middle, emptied of knick-knacks and full of useful kitchen stuff.

And all the rest ended up downstairs, covered with sheets to keep the dust off.  The all the contents of the cupboards, and the rolling cart...

Well, OK, maybe some of the stuff is in the laundry room.  Sure hope someone remembers what's in what box.

It took us 2 days to get into this arrangement.  Actually, I've been stuffing things in boxes for over a month.

Monday we moved the bird cage and bird room cabinet, and I emptied the etagere.

Tuesday we tackled the refrigerator, the hutch, the rolling cart and the rest of the stuff.  To move the refrigerator, we took everything out, including the ice.

But it's all worth it.

Saul and helper arrived at 10:30 and got this done by 3.

Here is the end of day one.  A new sub-floor, with no lump.  The floor is almost level, front to back!

And the pass through is started.  Can't see it in this photo, but old wiring on the left, knob & tube.

Tomorrow:  Pass-through day.

 

Bike MS

Thank you everybody for your support & contributions!  I made it!  I took me 3 hours and 20 minutes, but I made it!  There were two significant hills, and I walked part of one.

Jerry and I left for San Diego Saturday morning, and had time to check out part of the route.  But when it was time to meet up with Janelle, it seems I forgot which hotel it was and it turned out we were 40 miles away.  Ooops.  We did meet up at the Sheraton Carlsbad right next to LegoLand for 14 month old Austin's delight.  Fraser rode 50 miles Saturday, from Irvine to Carlsbad.  There was another 50-mile ride Sunday from Carlsbad to Mission Bay (think SeaWorld).

Janelle and Fraser rode separate days so one could watch Austin while the other rode.

Since people doing the 100 miles spent the night in Carlsbad, they had to store all those (2,000?) bikes.  Quite a pile of bikes.

Since Janelle's team, the McCarthy Hammerheads, raised so much $$ last year, this year they were awarded a private lounge, inside the hotel, where you could eat your free lunch and/or dinner and listen to very loud music.  Very nice.

There were 60 riders with MS, and we got a special jersey for that.  Woohoo! 

Jerry and I stayed for some of the opening ceremonies, and Jerry enjoyed a nice prime rib dinner. 

As we were leaving the sun was just starting to set over all those bikes.

I think Austin enjoyed himself as much as anybody! 

The McCarthy Hammerheads have 38 members, but only 9 of us were riding the 25 miles.  A nice, manageable number. 

 There were only 100 riders total in the 25 mile ride.

Getting ready to start.  10, 9, ...1 Go!  Right.  50 riders in front of you, where are you supposed to go?

I passed up an estate sale, but stopped to take this photo.  Except for 2 cups of water and going back to retrieve my mister that fell out of my bag, this was my only stop.

Obviously if we're this high up there there was a hill somewhere.  We started at the beach.

It was a perfect bike riding day.

Tired and hot I finished and got my medal.  Ta dum!

I think the event raised $2MM for the 54,000 people with MS in the San Diego, Orange County, LA region, and Hawaii.  Thank you everybody!