99%? Done

It's pretty common to say that you are "99% done" with a project - there is always those straggling tasks. But, we are all way too optimistic - saying that there is only 1% of the project left is underestimating the effort. Say my kitchen had 1000 tasks - that's a lot! I know it was a lot of work too, and I suppose if you break it down to each nail, screw, or board, then it's well over 1000 tasks, but let's just say general tasks - like "install the faucet". So, if 99% of those tasks are done, then that means that I only have 10 left. Well, my list is over 25, and growing.

Not only that, but those lingering tasks are seeming to take double the amount of time that the other ~975 tasks have taken.

The problem (challenge?) is life. Normal day to day life just doesn't leave much time to devote to these tasks. By the time I get home from a busy day at work, make dinner, and clean up from dinner, there isn't much time or energy left - it's so easy to blow off the tedious work of emptying boxes, reorganizing cabinets, and sorting through piles of stuff to determine what stays and what goes.

Tonight I sorted through 2 boxes. I brought in all the boxes that were still in the garage. I figure if I have to trip over them, I'll have to do something with them.

Some of the tasks on my list are no small thing. We were left with a large section of the back of the house primed but not painted. Russell has been helping me with the painting, and we probably have ~6 hours so far, and it's still not done. Some are not a high priority (making throw pillows for the living room), but they all, in my mind, contribute to the "doneness" of the project. For now, I'm trying to have a goal and select tasks that work toward that - right now that is to be able to pull in/park in the garage. So, there are a million other things to be done, but if the task doesn't help me with my current goal, it keeps getting pushed to the end of the list.

So, the next time someone says (or maybe even you say), "I'm 99% done.", have pity on them :-)

Wow, where is the time going?

Yikes, a whole week since I last blogged. Well, activity has slowed down quite a bit. I actually managed to stay out of Home Goods and Target last week :-) I am a bit overwhelmed with everything that is left to do, however.

I've been slowly trying to put everything back together and put away, but it is difficult. Most nights, I am now cooking dinner as before, and I am trying to get the usual life things done - grocery shopping, laundry, etc. That doesn't leave me much time or energy for even emptying a bin.

On Friday I worked from home because Gwen was sick. Between meetings, I made a list of things that had to be done - it number 21, and that wasn't without a lot of the sublists. I was able to check off some items after this weekend, but there is still SO much to do, I could work for a week straight and not have it all done. But, I would have a good dent in it, and that would feel good!

On top of all this - school is starting next Tuesday for Russell and Tess, and that is stressing me out because I'd like to be a lot more organized before it starts. I have tried to prioritize what has to get done vs. what can be done later, but it's still a lot.

It's all coming along, though - I got the china unpacked and the liquor cabinet organized (high priority!). Each bit feels good. I'm definitely running out of space, though, and that is concerning me. I have 1 more full bin of bottles and boxes - Worcester sauce, vinegars, corn starch, vanilla, etc. I don't know where it is going to go. The 2 12" wall cabinets on either side of the oven are not big enough for all I want to store there. I may have to do some more rearranging, but I'll figure it out.

Details

I figured I'd add the detail, you know, for posterity. Now that you've seen the pictures, I'm sure you all have lots of questions :-)

Details: Total gut renovation with removal of non-load and load-bearing wall. From demo to functioning kitchen with all the large items completed was 8 weeks, which included 2 weeks of which we were on vacation, and at least 2 weeks (somewhat overlapping) when there was NO activity.

I had budgeted $50k based on the amount that I wanted to spend. When we took out the HELOC, we had to pay off the 2nd that we already had, so that left us with approximately $42 to spend. When the estimates came in, and I added up what I budgeted spending, I figured just over $35k for the project. With a 20% contingency, it came out to be just over $43k, and that's about what we've spent. I still need to do the final accounting, but out of the gate I was over $1k for the cabinets, we went over on the refrigerator ($1k), and there were additional costs to the project ($3k), and there were miscellaneous budget busters or unbudgeted items that brought us up to the ~$7k contingency.

Cabinets: Kraftmaid Maple Hunnington in Biscotti
Counter tops: Julia soapstone
Floors: red oak, matching dining room and living room
Hardware: Restoration Hardware Marston cup and strap pulls
Lighting: Hinkley Lighting small pendant OBF, from lighting universe with no problems
appliances: all existing except for refrigerator and disposal:
DW: Kenmore
OTR MW: Maytag
Stove: GE
Refrigerator: NEW Electrolux IQ Touch FD CD with ice and water in the door Black. Bought from AJ Madison with no issues - excellent customer service when I pushed out the delivery date 4 times.
Disposal: Insinkerator Compact Evolution
Sink: Blanco 511-710 Blanco diamond Single Bowl Kitchen Sink, Biscuit
Faucet: final faucet will be Elements of Design Tempa 2 handled in ORB, but currently have cheap temporary is Kingston Brass Victorian twin handled faucet.
Paint color: SW Milk Pail (a Martha Stewart color, which is discontinued, but they will still make it for you)
Bar stools: Boraam Industries Ming bar stool Glass in cabinet: wissmach hammered
Patio door: outswinging Anderson french door with retractable screen.

The moment you all have been waiting for . . .

Oh, I'm sure you have just been sitting at the edge of your seats. :-)

Well, one of the final details was completed today - Dave switched out the door and strap pulls on the pull out cabinets. Also, the cleaning ladies came, so I figured it would be a good night to take a bunch of pictures.

I won't keep you in suspense - this is all about the reveal. Feel free to visit my Shutterfly photo site for more detailed pictures. I still need to photo the dining room and living room, but I'm not quite done with them yet, so that will have to wait.

Above is the "before" kitchen is on the left, the new kitchen is on the right.

Above the "window" wall before and after.

Below is the before and after of the "buffet" area.

And here is a close up of the new door. I'll have to try to take some pictures in the daylight.

And the final shot of the doorway into the kitchen and the newly covered stairs:

The Chairs

Remember the wing chairs from, oh, about the 4th post? Well, 3 people have mentioned that they miss them :-(

But, I am not going to get hung up on it - I didn't really have anywhere else for someone to hang out, but I will, and we'll see if they still miss them after that.

Gotta get the living room done. I brought in the rug tonight. If I can do one or two things every night, I should be close to having things settled on the 1st floor - then I have to move on to the other rooms that got completely trashed while the reno was going on.

It's going to be a lot tougher to make progress now that the kitchen is functional - that means I have to make dinner and clean up - I'm usually done for the night after that.

Got to stay motivated . . .

I have a dream . . .

I had a goal this weekend, it was to be able to make, serve, and eat dinner in our dining room. It doesn't sound like much, but I had to do sooooo much to make it happen. I decided that the dinner would be spaghetti and meatballs to boot.

I am here with the last 5 minutes of energy left in my body to tell you that I achieved my goal!!

I spent all of Saturday painting. I got up early and painted quite a bit before the kids were even awake. Unfortunately, all the last minute work by the guys left me with more priming to do. So I primed, then I did 2nd coats where I had done first coats last week, I did touch ups, then first coats, then taped and painted more trim - well, you get the picture. Lots of painting.

In the meantime, I also emptied a few boxes. I wanted to get things ready to make the spaghetti and meatballs, and so I needed my pots and pans. I also needed some of my food items.

On Sunday, I again started early - about 6:30 - but today was all about clean up, set up, cooking, and serving. I started with cleaning up the paint stuff. I had rolled out the dining room rug the night before so it could flatten. Chuck helped me with hanging the curtain rod, and I hung the panels that I bought. I'm happy to say that they look really good with the paint and rug.

You can see the newly-covered chairs in this photo too.

By then, the kids were starting to get up (Tess), and so I made pancakes, and they ate at the bar. It was challenging because we don't have our 3rd barstool (it was sent without the swivel assembly, so we are waiting to see if they can send us one). But the girls actually shared a seat, and it was pretty cool.

After cleaning away all the paint stuff in the living room and hall, I cleaned the table - 2 months in the garage had not been kind to my dining table. It probably needs the top refinished, but after I cleaned it, I gave it a coat of Restore-a-Finish. Once it was in the house, I concentrated on the chairs. I have recovered 4 of them, but there are 2 that needed the seats repaired, and 4 that may need complete refinishing. Chuck had been taking a break until this point, so I asked him to make the seat boards that I needed to replace, which he did. Unfortunately, he didn't have the nails needed, so I had to run out to Aubuchon. Got back, built and covered the 2 seats - yes! We will all have a chair at the table.

From that point, I finished making dinner - cooked the spaghetti, made the salad, and served everything. I must say, while I am still getting used to certain aspects of the kitchen, I mostly feel very comfortable in it. I really liked working at the peninsula. It worked well to have the stove near by, and the trash right underneath me for vegetable peels and eggshells, etc. I think it is going to work out pretty well. There are some cons, but I'll talk about them in another post. This one is for all the pros :-)

After dinner we cleaned up, then Chuck helped by installing the towel bar, paper towel holder, and the can opener. There is more to do, but I just couldn't even think of it, I'm so tired. I have 4 boxes on the kitchen floor needing to be unpacked, but I just cannot do it. Must sleep . . next goal: The Living Room!

1 more day?

Well, count down says 1 more day to finished kitchen (as defined by a functioning kitchen and all the big items - door, window - being done). I think we will make it!

I know there are another million details - siding on the house, finish painting, putting all the kitchen stuff back in the kitchen, etc. But, the kitchen is functioning (ok, I found out the dishwasher isn't draining, but I'm assuming that can be fixed.), the door and window are in (needs trim, but I believe they will get to that today and tomorrow. So, for all intents and purposes, it is done! It took 8 weeks. About 2 more than I had thought, but that can be explained by the floor delay and the door mix up.

Wow, I can hardly believe it.

So, for the next week or so, I'll be busy trying to finish up everything - get furniture back into the house, etc. I probably won't be blogging much until the big reveal. I guess that depends on how it goes :-) I might need to vent!

A room with a door

Nice surprise today - my door was installed! I didn't think they would be here until tomorrow.

Only disappointment - it seems a bit small. And, I was hoping that it would be over to the right more. Can I live with it? Probably. I suppose it's too late to change it now - maybe Dave put it there because he had to? I think it will be fine.

That strip on the left-hand side is the screen. Since the door is an outswing, you have the screen on the inside. It's pretty cool.

A house full of men

Yes, my house was full of men again at 7:30 AM yesterday! Dave, John, Andy, Tony, and more to come. Yesterday was the day that they would install my faucet, dish washer, stove, microwave, water and ice for the fridge, and disposal. At 10:45 AM, I get a call from Dave to say that the faucet that I bought didn't fit. He tells me that the threads aren't long enough to go through the counter top and have enough thread left to hook up the water. He indicated that sometimes with these "low end" (i.e., cheap) faucets, this is a problem.


So, long story short, I:

1. Cancel my 11:00 meeting.
2. Drive to Peabody Supply. They don't have any faucets in stock with the finish I want. I price out a stainless faucet by Danze - $201.
3. Drive to The Ultimate Bath - around the corner. They don't have anything in stock either.
4. Backing out of my parking place, I back right into a Honda Accord.
5. Call Liberty Mutual on the way back to Peabody Supply.
6. Place claim, buy faucet.
7. Drive home, log on to 1 PM conference call.
8. Hand faucet to plumber while taking conference call.
9. When conference call is over, go to talk to plumber -
10. He tells me that this faucet DOESN'T FIT EITHER. He says he has to grind down the nut (plastic) that they give so that it will fit. So, I say - well, if you are going to grind down the nut, please do it on the $75 temporary faucet vs. the $200 Danze.


What this means is that I didn't have a faucet problem, I had a counter top thickness problem. Which means I didn't have to do #1-6 above - no faucet, no accident, no problem. I posted on the kitchen forum to see what others said, and several have suggested that there is an extender for the flange, which would take care of this issue. Makes me wonder why this plumber doesn't know this.


On to the good stuff - we are almost done. Dave told me that my door would be in today, and they will probably be back tomorrow to install it. All my appliances are in and hooked up and working (as far as I can tell). I must admit, I didn't use them much. After the day I had, I opened a bottle of wine and Dawna and George came over and we sat on the deck and ate cheese and crackers and picked off a rotisserie chicken. And it was good.

Now, I know you don't really come here to read my drivel, so here are some pictures of my new refrigerator!!!

Five doors and a colonnade

This will be a short post - I am beat to a snot. I have been on a painting marathon - going on about 18 hours now, so that's heartbreak hill, right? I really thought I could do it, but I think I am going to have to throw in the paint brush for the day.

It's the damn hall way - it has five doors and the colonnade - it took me 2+ hours just to cut it in, and another hour to apply the first coat. After that, I did a first coat of some of the trim in the kitchen. Then I poly'd the woodwork I stained yesterday, then I gave the grommets and 2nd coat of Waterlox. Then I painted the colonnade trim (first coat). Then I finally started the 2nd coat of the living room and hall paint - that was about 8, and now it's 10:30, and I'm not even half way around the hallway. I really wanted to finish and clean up everything so that I wouldn't have to think about it again once my appliances were all in, but even if I stayed up to 1 AM, I still wouldn't be finished. So, I'll just finish the wall I am on and clean up - which will take an hour itself.

Come have a ride on the renovation roller-coaster!

Ugh. This renovation can be such a roller-coaster ride. I came home, and I was happy to see my new window. It looks great! I started looking around, and I found that many of the items on the punch list had been done - like the toe kick molding, the cabinet doors adjusted, the trim under the bar counter top (although - I had wanted to see what they were going to put there first).

I started doing some clean up, and I went under the sink to recycle some paper, and I found the very wet rag that they had put there to catch the drips. Now, when the plumber installed the sink, Dave told me that it was leaking a little bit. He said we wouldn't be able to move the spout. There was a plastic container and the rag under the sink, I thought, as a precaution. Well, when I removed the rag, I saw all this blue stuff and a large water stain. Yup - mildew. I went to turn on the faucet, and the water is pouring out of it. I just had one of those pit of the stomach feelings again. Of course, I didn't use the faucet again.

So, I cleaned up the water, and I got my blow dryer out and dried it for a while. It feels dry to the touch, but the stain is still there. Then I noticed that there is a big wet spot on the floor where the dishwasher is supposed to be, and then I noticed that it's all wet on the wall too! I don't know what to do. Dave mentioned that he was going away this afternoon, so he isn't even around to do anything or look at this. And, what could he do? The only thing I can think of is that if we could get the plumber here to put in the other faucet, at least I will know that I can use it and it's not aggravating the problem. But, what to do about the damage? I was going to spray some tilex to kill the mold, but I'm not sure if I should do that or not. I hope he put in the water-resistant blue board behind that sink!

This is really disappointing. Why does there always have to be something that goes wrong when there are so many other things that went right?

Oh, and my floor is already scratched. Dave said they would put down craft paper, but they didn't. I don't know if they did it, but we've been walking around in stocking feet, so I don't know how we would have done it. My new car is dented, and I haven't even gotten to drive it off the lot!

A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day. First, we found out that the freezer's compressor was shot, which means it is under warranty! Yay. Next, I found out that Chris, aka "the floor guy", was putting on the 3rd coat! Yay. Finally, when I stopped by the house to pick up my mom, I saw that my window had been delivered. Yay.

So, we will be able to get back into our house tonight (stocking feet only). So that's a whole day earlier than we thought. I hope that it has ventilated fully, because I stopped by yesterday, and it was smelly.

And, the best news was today - John will be over tomorrow to work on finishing up all the carpentry. I'm not sure if they will be able to do it all in one day, but I know that they will be putting in the window. I am looking forward to looking out my window all weekend.

I doubt that anyone will be around on Friday, but that's ok - the refrigerator is coming on Monday, and they will hook up everything - the water/ice, the gas for the stove, the heat/thermostat, the oven, the disposal, the dishwasher, and the microwave.

Looking good . . .

Yea Yea Yea! The floors are sanded and the the sealer has been applied. They look great. See for yourself:

This is the before and after view from the kitchen into the dining room.

Unfortunately, we have some stains from the previous owner's dog. If you know anything about urine stains and wood floors, then you already know that they are impossible to get out. I actually thought that they would be able to get some of it out, but the day that Chris came, he told me that they wouldn't be able to get any of it out. He said that they usually patch that type of damage. I wish I had known because I would have patched it. Now it will be there until the next owners :-( See what you think:

On the left is the stain before sanding, and on the right is after sanding. In some ways, it sticks out more. I guess that's what area rugs are for.

So, now we are trying to figure out logistics for tomorrow, Monday - Thursday when we basically have to clear out of our house in order for them to finish the floors. It looks like Russell will go to my sister Lauren's house (thanks Lauren!), Tess and Gwen will go to Dawna's house (thanks Dawna!), and Chuck and I will sleep at Derek's house (thanks Derek!). Hey, maybe I'll even get to use the hot tub - I've never been in it.

Due to the condition of the floors, we did not do any painting or staining. I decided to work on other items on my punch list - like recovering my dining room chairs. I was hoping to get to some refinishing work that I need to do, but I wasn't very efficient with my time. We went to a great cook out at the neighbors on Saturday, then followed up with George's birthday dinner and a walk around the Lowell Folk Fest. Saturday night was beautiful - finally a real summer night in the 80s. I hope it's not our last one.

I am looking forward to getting through this week and on to the next week. I don't expect that Dave will fit in any work next week, but I'm hoping that the following Monday will bring Dave and the plumber back for all the work that is left to be done. I know that my refrigerator is being delivered that day, so I intend to plug that baby in and get her going. Having the refrigerator and water on the same floor - and the grill steps away - will improve life significantly.

Ok, not sure how much I'll get to post next week. I won't be home much if at all, but if I have any great news, I'll try to jump on at work.

Here are some additional photos of the floors before and after (to date):

A light?

Today will be the 4th day of nothing. BUT, there may be a light at the end of tunnel. Yesterday Dave met with a new floor guy (Chris). I was excited, but I tried not to get my hopes up, which was a good strategy. I called Dave later to find out that they would start on the floors until next Tuesday :-( What can you do? I wished it was sooner, but at least I had a date. Dave said he was very confident.

Now, the issue is that we *will* have to be out of the house for most of it. We could be in the house after the first day - but the fumes might be strong. But, after the last coat, Chris suggests that no one be on the floors or even in the house for 48 hours! So, I spent some time looking for possible accommodations for my family. I figure if we have to be out, maybe we could make it pleasant. Chuck was all freaked out because he is going away the following weekend, and he would have to limit his access to the house from Tuesday on.

So, after letting the news settle, realizing that I actually could leave my refrigerator delivery for 8/3, etc., Dave called and said he had a message from Chris saying he may be able to start Friday if I was able to. Well, heck yeah - we'll figure it out! So now Chris is coming tomorrow. We'll be able to get back into the house (stocking feet only) tomorrow night - although we may want to stay out until Saturday. But, we'll have the weekend in the house, then have to be out early next week. But, we potentially will be back in by Thursday, maybe Friday at the latest, which will work out better, I believe. Now, I just need the humidity to not be horrible (of course, it's going to be a monsoon tonight). Keeping fingers crossed.

Ghost Town

No work. No calls. No surprise.

I didn't expect anything today, but here's the thing - I try to communicate even when the communication is to say that I have nothing to communicate. I wish contractors would do that.

Now, I know that I have to reschedule refrigerator delivery, but to when? I'm not going to push it to Monday or the following Thursday without a definite floor date. I'm bummed. I really thought that I'd have a functional kitchen by the end of this week. This means that I won't have a fully functioning kitchen until next Thursday at the earliest. Even if they show up tomorrow (which they wont), it will take a few days plus drying time, and then they can put in the appliances.

At least I should get my window this week - I think it's in either Wednesday or Thursday. I'm thinking Thursday.

I'm sorry, but this is getting old. Even though I have some improvements (water, access to deck), it's still a mess everywhere else in my home. I'm sick of going up and down two or three floors to have a glass of ice tea. I'm irritated by having to clean up a kitchen that isn't clean up friendly. I don't dwell on these things, but I would feel better if there was a clear end in sight.

Paint the weekend "Milk Pail"

Long time no post. What a busy weekend! I rushed home on Friday (after a stop at Home Depot, of course) so that we could go to our annual anniversary trip to The Daily Catch in the North End. Gwen had been sick with a fever, and Chuck had a bad headache, so I wasn't sure if we would go at all, but we did, and it was fun.

I didn't have much time to appreciate my new lighting, just enough to flip some switches, then we were out the door. But I made up for it on Saturday, putting all the bulbs in that I had bought at home depot. It is so great having lighting! It is so much more than I have ever had before - can lights, under the counter, pendants, etc. I didn't think I needed so much light, and I didn't even want the under the counter lights, but I've been using them the most. They will replace my previous "night light" which was the fluorescent over the sink, but now it's the fluorescent flanking the sink under the cabinets.

I haven't included any pictures on purpose. I am going to limit the amount of pictures I share from now until the big "reveal" because I think it will be more dramatic. And you know me, drama queen.

Also on Saturday, I made coffee in the kitchen! I have water and now electricity, so I was able to run the coffee maker. Ya Hoo! Then I skim-coated the half walls for the colonnade on the hall way side. They had really been chewed up in the work. Skim coating is hard!

From there I got to work on finishing the first coat of the paint that goes from the kitchen to the dining room and also spans the wall that the dining room and living room now share. Can I just say, KUDOS to the person who invented the plastic pour jug for paint! Maybe the same person who finally invented the upside down ketchup bottle :-) Seriously, I know I'm probably filling landfills more (although, I do think that the plastic jug is recyclable), what a joy to just be able to first shake the jug with the handle to mix up the paint, screw off the lid, pour it into the tray, and screw the lid back on. The one thing that would make it the dream option would be if the pour spout had a strainer so when the paint gets lumpy, it would strain the lumps out.

I only had 2/3 of the shared wall, the support beam, and around the patio door to do, so it wasn't too long. Lots of cutting in. On Sunday I sanded the walls in the hall, making a big, dusty mess. Then I put on the second coat from ~middle of dining room wall, shared wall, support beam, and around patio door. So, I finished the painting of the "Milk Pail" portion of the first floor. Now on to the rest of the living room and the hallway, including all the trim/woodwork on the colonnade.

In the middle of all this, we found out that our full, upright freezer is not working, so I had to triage a bunch of frozen food into the other refrigerator freezers and try to determine what to toss, what could be defrosted and just refrigerated, and what needs to be used right away. What a drag!

At the end of the day I "cleaned" the downstairs and the kitchen. I just couldn't take it anymore - there was so much dust and debris on the floors. I also needed to move the pile of construction stuff to the DR so that I can start painting the LR wall. I finished by cleaning the kitchen because although it's not a functioning kitchen, it had already gotten cluttered and messy.

As I was sweeping and washing the floors, I was hoping that maybe this would save some time or a step for the floor guys. I still don't know if they are coming tomorrow (probably not), but when they do come, someone would have to clean up all that crap before they start, right? They probably still will, but at least now it won't take them as long :-)

Ok, I am seriously beat. I'm going to bed.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good:
Dave and the plumber were here today. I have a faucet with running water! They got a lot of little things done. I'm happy for progress. Dave put in a temporary door to the deck, and that is huge!! It is so nice, and I know I am going to be very happy to be able to step out to the back. The cabinet for over the microwave came in, and they installed that, and they did a lot of little things like putting the shelves in the cabinets.

The bad:
They put my door hardware on, and they put the wrong pulls on the pull out cabinets - and they put them in the wrong place. I am very depressed about this. It is not only the fact that it's not how I wanted it, but it's not as functional either. I don't think it can be fixed either - the cup pulls and the strap pulls do not have the same distance between the screws. I could have them change them, though, because the strap pulls will hide the holes. But, they will still be on the inset, not the frame, and it will probably look weird. So much for my poll - all that obsessing about the preferred hardware, and look what I got.

The ugly:
Well, I can't say it's ugly, that's too strong a word. But, taken more liberally than literally, I'd say the ugly includes the fact that the electrician didn't come (2nd day in a row that Dave said he was coming), and the floor guys still haven't said when they are coming, and the temporary door to the back - practical, but not pretty - and it lets the bugs in. The faucet, our original one, is looking rather sad and has putty around it so that it doesn't leak. And, of course, the cup/strap pull fiasco. That definitely is added to my issues list as #5.

Today is my 21st anniversary!

More Disappointment . . . And Counter tops!

Start with the good news, right? I stayed up to 11:30 last night painting so I'd have two coats on the walls behind the counters. The stone guys (Juan and Pedro, left to right in the picture) were here at 8:30 AM! And they were done by 10ish. I have counter tops. They are beautiful. They did a great job. I love them.

I got really nervous last night and this morning before they came. I'm realizing a pattern here. I am very confident about what I want, but then right before the plan becomes reality, I start second-guessing myself and getting nervous about what could go wrong. I think part of it was reading about horror show issues that some people have had. I started to think - what if I hate the way they cut the stone? What if i don't like the patterns that they chose? But, I'm happy to report that it wasn't an issue at all. Yeah for that. AND, they didn't have to cut my sink or modify the cabinet to put it in. It may be a little tight in the back, but I think it will be fine!

The disappointment came in that no one else is coming today. On Tuesday Dave said that the electricians were supposed to be here today, but they weren't here, and not even a call or anything. I called Dave to see if he had any questions about the counter top, and he didn't but then he told me that electricians, plumber, etc. will be here tomorrow. I'm glad that there will be stuff done tomorrow, but I thought it would be today, and that also means that floors are not being done tomorrow. Dave doesn't know when the floors will be done, he still hasn't heard from the floor guy. I guess everyone has all of a sudden gotten swamped. I'm glad for them that they are working, I really am.

Picture is of the counter top unoiled.

I pushed out my refrigerator delivery date for the 3rd (and last) time. If the floors are not ready by 7/24, I will have the refrigerator delivered and put in, and they will have to work around them.

Counter top oiled ^

I was going to post pictures of my painting, but you can see it these pictures enough. Nothing more boring that paint pictures :-)

Disapointment

End date has been moved to August 7 (I hope!). Today I found out that the patio door had not been ordered (some sort of clerical mistake/misunderstanding). Sooo, we have 3.5 weeks (min) to wait for the door to come in. While technically I will have a functioning kitchen (as defined as being able to actually make a meal in it), I won't really consider it complete until the door is installed.

Luckily, Dave is going to install a temporary storm door so that we don't have to walk through my mom's place or around the house to get to the back (such a PITA).

I'm counting down the hours until the countertops are installed as it seems like a lot of activity will begin to happen once that is done. The electricians are coming the same day, so they will also be getting something done, although I'm a little nervous about that. The agreement I signed said no other contractors could be working when they install the countertops. When Juan was here, I confirmed that with him, but he said he didn't mind if someone was working "over there" which I think he meant the living room area where Dave was working that day. Dave heard him say that, and I guess he figured it would be alright. I would think that the electricians would be right in the middle of the kitchen and underfoot of the installers. Oh, well, I guess Dave will have to deal with that if it becomes an issue.

No painting tonight - I'll try to get some done tomorrow.

Making my own progress

When we got home on Saturday, I knew there really wouldn't be too much progress. The kids hadn't seen all that Dave and John had done the week before, though, so it was exciting to see their reactions to all the change.

As far as I could tell, all that got done last week was trim on the DR window and the doorway into the kitchen, a coat of Waterlox on the butcherblock counter top, and install of the mudroom door. Not a whole lot. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm guessing it's partly because Dave has other work, and partly because of money. I've paid him 3/4 of what the estimate was (more, really, but I'm sure there will be addtional expenses), so he's probably trying to conserve his time as well as the subs time so that it's most efficient. I can appreciate that. Of course, it's all speculation.

Since there hadn't been a lot of progress (yet, there is still so much to do . . .), I decided to make my own progress and start painting. I primed the whole kitchen and the dining room wall (after fixing holes and dings, etc. Now I remember while we wall papered in there!), and then I started some of the color (I just really had to get some color up to see some change!)

Before:

After:

Reality

It's starting to set in that a lot of the work that is left to do cannot or won't be done until the counter tops are in. The counter tops are scheduled to be installed on July 15. The floors will be scheduled for right after that. I figured they would be the last thing to be done, but when I talked to Dave yesterday, he said that the electrical usually is done after the counter tops. He was going to check with Andy if they wanted to come in and do some of the electrical - under cabinet lighting, switches and covers, etc.

I rescheduled the refrigerator delivery for July 20 and pushed my end date until then - we cannot be finished until we have our refrigerator. But, now I'm not so sure that we'll have much installed by then - if the floors are not done by Friday, the 17th, then they won't be putting in any of the appliances. I hope for good weather because the humidity will delay the floor refinishing.

Our door and window still was not in, so that is another disappointment. I was really hoping that it would be in this week, and we could come home to the door to the deck being there. If we are going to have to deal with no kitchen for another 2 weeks, it would be very helpful to have access to the deck. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Curious . . .

Well, it's only Tuesday morning, 7:42 AM, but I can't help but be curious as to what is going on at my house since last Thursday. We have had some good weather since Friday, so we have been busy going to the beach and the pool. Yesterday was really the first working day, and I was reminded of the renovation only because my sisters, mother, and brother in-law were all asking me about it.

The big question still is: when will it be done? And I don't know. What is "done"? Is it functioning? If that's the case, then I am still standing by July 17. That might push 1 or 2 days, but I really think I could have a refrigerator, range, and sink by then. I'm not 100% positive about the OTR microwave because of the cabinet that goes above it that had to be replaced - I think they need that to install the microwave, and that cabinet probably won't be in for another week or more.

If done is painted, decorated, and all my stuff moved back in - that probably will not be until the end of August. Ken said Labor Day, and Lisa agreed. I was horrified at first, but when I think of it this way, I agree - a lot of the remaining work is weekend warrior work - painting, putting all my stuff away, rearranging shelves, hanging curtains, etc.

The big work left in the kitchen to get to "functioning" is:
-electrical (lights, switches, phone, cable)
-patio door and over-sink window
-counter top
-plumbing (sink, disposal, ice maker, heat)
-floors

I think it goes in that order. I don't know what we will do when they are refinishing the floors. I believe we have to not walk on them for 24 hours. I now wonder if I should delay the delivery of my refrigerator for another week so that it can be installed after the floors?

I am hoping that this week, they will:
-install the door and window
-sand the floors
-install all the pulls on the cabinets
-install the lights/electrical

I hope I'm not being too optimistic!

Progress AND pictures!

I had to leave beautiful, sunny, warm Maine (NOT!) to meet the counter top templater guy this morning. I stopped by the glass place and picked up the cabinet doors. They looked ok, but I couldn't help second guessing my glass choice - it's so hard to decide.'

I got so nervous as I approached the house - butterflies - I don't know why exactly, it wasn't an excited nervous, it was an anxious nervous. But, it passed.

When I went in the house, I got to see all the progress that has been made this week! The floors are almost done, all the cabinets were installed, and the trim for the colonnade.

<--Detail of the colonnade

I had to wait until almost 11 for Juan (the templater). It took him a couple hours for the templating process (from start to finish). We hit one glitch when he saw my sink - he says it's too big to have a the faucet that I chose behind it. We talked a bit about options, and he's going to make it fit - it will be tight, and he's going to have to modify the front of the sink to make it fit. I hope I don't regret that decision.

<-my name on the template
^the "bar" template

Dave put the glass doors on my cabinets while I was there, and they look great - I really like the glass now that it's on the cabinet. It goes to show you that it can look so totally different from sample, to just in the door, and then finally on the cabinet. I did wish I had gotten stiles, but I think it looks good without them, just would have looked that much better with them. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Click on it to enlarge it to see the detail of the glass.

Juan said that he thought he would be back next Friday for the install of the soapstone! I am both happy, but surprised - I really didn't want to go back next Friday just for the install. I asked him if it was ok if Dave was there instead of me. I don't want to hold up the install, but I really don't want to take time from my vacation, especially seeing as we really haven't even started it yet. Watch Friday be the best beach day of the summer!

Dave said he thought they would wait until the countertops were in before they finished the floors. It's ok with me, but I was thinking that it would be a good thing to do while we were all out of the house, but he's thinking that the less traffic on them, the better - which, of course, makes sense.

Everyone is off tomorrow for the holiday, so there won't be anything new until Monday, and no one to tell me about it anyway.

Progress, but no pictures :-(

Chuck called me last night to tell me how great the "buffet" area looks. I guess they got the butcher block on it. I'm not sure what that means for the finish - I had talked to Dave before I left about putting on Waterlox. I told him I would do it after he installed if I have to, but that it was stinky. Since he didn't have time to do two coats, I'm assuming I'll have to apply it when I get home. That also probably means that he hasn't installed the cabinet and book case on top. I'll have to ask Chuck about that.

I asked Chuck to take some pictures (via phone) and send them to me, but he says he doesn't know how. I may have to prevail on Derek to help me - I know he can send pictures via his phone.

Since I don't have pictures of the kitchen, and I cannot personally talk about progress, I'll talk about our vacation and post pictures of that instead.

Here is the weather forecast for this week: Monday: rain and drizzle; Tuesday mostly cloudy with a shower or thunderstorm; Wednesday mostly cloudy with a shower or thunderstorm; Thursday mostly cloudy and COOL with a shower or thunderstorm; Friday partly SUNNY (finally) and 78.

So today is Tuesday. Sunday we went to Reny's for shopping and Jake's for lunch. Yesterday we took a walk to the Cove and bought candy. Today we may head for the outlets - Russell ruined his sneakers on Saturday, so he's been riding his bike with flip flops.

I've been reading, eating, and sleeping a lot. I'd much rather be reading, eating, and sleeping on the beach, but it's still nice to relax. The kids have been great - they are very content to watch TV, play video games, and play inside. Tess and Gwen get pretty loud and rambunctious - I think the people who live under us must be deaf.

Lisa and I went for a walk this morning - our first since it's been raining the other mornings.

Vacation?

We are in Maine! It's foggy and wet out - and only about 61 degrees. BUT, we do have a kitchen - dish washer and all, and that is a break from the chaos that is my home.

Friday I came home to MEGA progress. Unbelievable - Dave had worked all by himself that day, and he had installed 7 cabinets - all of the range/peninsula wall. He had also installed the wood flooring all to where he needed it for the time being. WOW, you can really get a feeling for how it is going to look, and it's going to look great. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, I uploaded them all to my home PC, and didn't keep copies on my camera, so there they be.

With the progress, we also had issue #4 (if you are keeping count, 1 was the heating pipe, 2 was the ceiling, and 3 is the faucet being backordered for 3-4 months). The over the microwave cabinet came in with a big style in the middle - it's supposed to be open (like a shelf). It's no big deal - they will replace it with the correct cabinet, but when I saw it installed, I panicked. I didn't know what to do - I knew I wouldn't be able to get a hold of Denise (nor could she do anything at ~7 PM on a Friday), so I called Dave - poor Dave after working so hard all day. As soon as I started talking to him, I realized that it would be ok, no problem, but I think the fact that he had installed it had me panicked because I thought we wouldn't be able to return it or something.

Denise already has the new cabinet ordered - it will take 2 weeks, but given that we have months to go before all the details are completed, I can live with that!

Yesterday I took the two doors from the glass-ready cabinet to the glass place for installation. They will call me when it is ready, but I am also expecting that to take two weeks.

I also spent the larger part of the day finishing packing for vacation, shopping, and unpacking. I think we got here later than we ever have - it was after 5 PM. Happy Hour :-) I was getting nervous yesterday, thinking that I won't be around for seeing the progress in the kitchen. I thought about getting a web cam for home so that Chuck could beam me pictures, but I didn't get around to it. Dave and I went over a bunch of questions, so I think we are good - and I'm going back on Thursday, so it's really only 3 days, but given the progress that they make and the "choices" that have been made and had to be corrected, I hope we don't run into issue #5 and 6, etc.

Ok, time to take a shower and do something on this wet, cold day.

Hmmm

Ok, so I came home tonight (late after a very nice dinner with my sister and cousin - so nice to not have to eat in the dust holding a paper plate in my lap), and I expected to see dramatic change - cabinets, at least 5 or 6 of them, installed. That was not to be. It's dark, so I can't really see that much, but it looks like maybe they were all taken from their boxes, but none of them are installed. Three have been put in place, but that's it! Wah.

Oh, well, I cannot really complain - the progress has been so great until now. But, I do know that Mr. F is off tomorrow, so I wonder if anything will progress tomorrow either. I figure that it doesn't really matter too much since we will have to wait for the counter tops, but there is so much else to do - floors, electrical, hardware, etc.

Speaking of countertops, I believe I have chosen my soapstone slabs. Check it out:

This is the same slab in both pictures, the 2nd picture the slab has been oiled a 2nd time, so the veining is much less pronounced.

So, one more decision made and detail taken care of! Now, if I could figure out what I'm going to do for a faucet until the one I ordered (backordered for 3-4 months) comes in!

Here are a couple cabinet pictures:

In a swirl about swirls

Wow, it's already Wednesday! So much has been going on. Monday the plasterers (mudders? Sheetrockers? Well, they didn't hang the sheetrock, Dave and his dad did that - so maybe drywallers . . .) came. When I got home, they had finished more than 50% of the drywall, including the ceiling from kitchen to dining room. In swirls. You know the texture that looks like an LP. Oh, you don't remember what an LP looks like? That's because this type of texture goes back before the phonograph was invented :-)

Here is a picture of the swirled ceiling texture:





Here's a close up of my ceiling:

Yikes! I didn't like it. I didn't know what to do. Chuck liked it. Russell liked it. Maybe I was over-reacting. I mean, who looks at the ceiling anyway? I didn't like the acoustic (popcorn) ceiling, but it didn't really bother me either (only when I had to paint it). Ugh! Painting - this would be just as difficult, right? Maybe even more difficult. For a minute I thought - maybe I could have them do the living room ceiling smooth and live with the kitchen and dining room, but then I remembered that the ceilings are basically open to one another for the most part. If they finished the living room, it would have to be swirls to match. That's a 12x20' space (25' if you count the hall) of swirls!



So, I screwed up my courage and called Dave. He explained that they wouldn't recommend a smooth finish due to the ceiling not being perfectly straight (so you'd see waves). I don't know - I think I could live with waves over the swirl :-) I asked what my options were. For a mere $250 premium, they would re-do the kitchen ceilings and they would do the LR ceilings in a "skip trowel" finish. It looks something like this:

I am much happier now! I know - I could have squabbled with Dave over the extra cost. They should have called me and confirmed the texture before they started, but honestly Dave's been great, and I think he may be eating any buffer he already had in the budget, so I didn't want to get into hard feelings over $250. There are pros and cons for how Dave works - he doesn't have the prices down to the last screw, which is a pro for not having to meet an allowance or doing a change control for every difference. OTOH, in situations like this, there's not a clear cut way to handle it.

The bottom line is - I am happy. I hope Dave is happy. And we'll all be happy!

Oh, did I mention that the cabinets arrived today? . . .

Weekend Two

We were supposed to go to StoryLand this weekend, but when the weather was predicted to be raining and in the 60s, I cancelled our reservations. Wouldn't you know, the weather actually turned out to be pretty nice - Friday did rain, but it was warm, and we wouldn't have arrived until the afternoon anyway. Saturday was a gift - dry and partly sunny all day! We compensated by taking the kids to Kimball's for bumper boat rides and ice cream.

In the end, it worked out well because I worked from home on Friday and got my reviews written, and Chuck was able to do a lot around the house, move furniture out of the living room, etc.

Today I cleaned out the spare refrigerator so that Chuck can take it to work and we can put the old refrigerator in its place. I also did some refrigerator clean out of our current refrigerator.

This morning it took me about an hour to make coffee and toast. First I had to find the coffee maker on the office floor, then I realized that the cord wasn't going to reach, so I moved the temp table down from the FR to the kitchen. Then I finally was able to get the coffee started. Next I decided to have peanut butter toast. No bread. I had some in the freezer, so down to the basement to get it. Back up to the office to put it in the toaster. Next to the FR to find the peanut butter. Back down to the kitchen, but then back up to the office for paper plates and a knife. What a production! Everything is like that. I keep thinking I should have done more planning and put together a staged area for the kitchen. The problem is that the only place that make sense is on the next floor, and it didn't really seem logical to be running up and down stairs for everything, but maybe I should have bit the bullet.

I sold my ladder back chairs! Yeah, more $ for the bar stool fund . . .

Mr. F is still hot . . .

Ok, so I've known my contractor since he was a boy. I actually babysat him fairly regularly. The young "tweens" in the 'hood talked about how cute the dad was - definitely one of the finer dads - a carpenter/contractor, so fit and tan and decked out in painters pants (which were *so* cool back then) and work boots.

Well, Dave grew up and started working for his Dad's business, and last year Dave took over, but Mr. F is really not retired, just giving up all the long hours and paperwork, so we have the honor of having him work on our job. I will admit it, I was checking him out - he was in shorts, and man, his legs look like a 30 year olds. He's really kept in shape and even though he's lost some hair on top, he still has the tan and the great smile and the handsome brown eyes. I hope Mrs. F still keeps an eye out . . . :-)

Ok, so now that I'm done with that little, er, trip down memory lane, I'll focus on the progress. Today you can really see how the whole thing is going to shape up. They built the pony wall that will have the peninsula on it this morning. It's a little scary. I can't say that I love it. I'm sure I will when it's all done, but right now I'm hoping that the space will work better than it did before. One thing that I noticed before, and I mentioned to KD, is that when the DW is open, it will block the entry way to the DR. We had a similar situation when we had the DW open, it was blocking due to the peninsula. KD said that we had almost 2' between open DW and end of new peninsula, so I was assured, but when I see now how close it will be - and I measured - the "almost 2'" is actually 22". It sounds a lot smaller now, doesn't it? I mean hold your hands out for what you think is 2' - it's easy to do. I guess one person could get by, which is better than it was, but it still seems tight. My plan had DW staying where it was and next to fridge (which KD didn't like). Well, too late now, and it will probably be just fine, but I wish there weren't so many compromises.

I took down the wall paper in the front hall tonight, and we moved more stuff out into the garage. The downstairs is almost completely empty, but my office, bedroom, and family room are a disaster.

Dave says that the plasterers will be here on Monday, and cabinets will be delivered to the house Wednesday afternoon between 1-5, so I'll need to WFH that afternoon so that I can inspect them immediately. Dave says that once they are delivered, he will probably start putting them up right away. I cannot believe how quickly this is all going, it's amazing!

Here are some of the latest pics:

And the walls came back up . . .

Yesterday I couldn't see that much had been done - I wasn't even sure if the guys had been by, but then I looked up. The blue board was completely across the kitchen ceiling and into the dining room.

Today they came back and put up blue board on all the remaining walls. They have a little to finish tomorrow. We were supposed to go away today, but due to the crappy weather, we cancelled our trip. Chuck still took the day off, which was good because he was able to help clear out the living room. We have a little more to do tonight, but mostly it is empty and ready for the plasterers on Monday.

I sold my kitchen stools! I had them on Craigslist for $75, and I got $60. So, I think I am up to almost $500 for Craigslist revenue towards the remodel. Mostly it makes me happy that I'm not putting this stuff in the landfill.

I'm getting a little nervous about the fact that we leave on vacation 1 week from tomorrow. Dave says that the plasterers will be here on Monday, then the floor, the cabinets come in on Wednesday - he is moving right along! I don't see why they wouldn't be starting cabinet installation on Friday if not before. WOW. That means that I have to schedule in soapstone templating for early the next week - maybe as early as Tuesday? That's crazy. Sort of a bummer because I'll need to be here for it, so that means leaving the kids - I hope I don't miss a good beach day. Oh, well, it will be worth it when I come home from vacation and it's basically all done - the only thing is that I won't have my refrigerator yet.

I have to admit, I'm not too happy about the disruption. I thought that we would be able to cook out a lot, but first the weather has been so crappy, then they boarded up the door to the deck, so the grill isn't too accessible. There's dust everywhere, and there really isn't anywhere to sit down and eat. But, it could be worse. It could be a lot longer!

Eat out count is up - we had lunch out today, but we probably could have eaten in. Dawna was soooo great and made us a lasagne that we had last night for dinner. I think I had 3 helpings because I ate Tess's and Gwen's :-) So nice to have a "home cooked" meal.

The Walls Came Down . . .

Well they blew the horns And the walls came down They'd all been warned And the walls came down They just stood there laughing They're not laughing anymore The walls came down

I think you can guess what's been happening in my house. Yesterday they got the LVL up and they took the support walls down. They also worked on the colonnade, so I now only have half walls in the foyer. My whole first floor is one gutted, wide-open space.

I must have had 4 trucks and 6 men in my house by 7:30 AM yesterday morning. Dave had the electrician over, and they started yesterday. Today was less dramatic because they were working on electrical - you can see it, but it's not the big effect of losing a wall (or half of one).

Kitchen now totally open to dining room and living room.

I'm not sure what tomorrow will be - I know that Dave mentioned that they would be starting to put up the blue board.

I'm not sure what to put as the eating out count - I had plans for dinner anyway, and Chuck took the kids to McDonalds - does that count as two or one?

I read some stuff on the Kitchen Forum today - this poster was looking for confirmation on her timeline. It was to be finished in about 1 month, and everyone was commenting that it was WAY too aggressive, and that they didn't know of a kitchen remodel that could be done in less than 10 weeks. Sooo, that got me to thinking that I might need to update my count down - in my head, I was thinking 5-6 weeks, and that includes this major structural change. Well, based on what Dave's gotten accomplished so far, I don't see why we wouldn't make that timeline, but maybe something else would bog us down. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to adjust my expectations.

Dusty

Wow, I know that everyone talks about the dust in a renovation, but I didn't think I'd have any major dust until they did the walls and ceilings. Not so. There is dust covering everything. Even with the plastic up on the wall (or what's left of it) - dust.

Can you see the dust on my laptop? I etched an X on the mouse.

Well, today was another day of a lot of progress. They did not get the LVL, so that did not go in and the temp walls did not come down, but they did a lot of other stuff. They did some plumbing - took out the sink so that they could remove the sink cabinet, then put the sink back on for our use until they have to shut it down for good. Hopefully that won't be for a week or more. They framed out the window and door, but then boarded them up - so no back door for right now. That will be a PITA - especially if it ever stops raining around here so we could cook out some more.

Speaking of cooking out, we had steak the other night. I thought it would be fine on paper plates (my litmus test for meals right now - has to be able to be eaten on paper plates), but I forgot about cutting with plastic knives. Not so great. I know these two weeks are going to fly by, but I was already done with the "camp out" mode of my kitchen by Sunday night. Now we don't have a stove or dishwasher anymore, so we are really down to the bare bones, and I see a lot of sandwiches in our future. But that's ok - it's an adventure.

Today I worked from home - it was ok, but the hammering and sawing made it difficult to be on conference calls, even when squirreled away in the family room with the door shut.

Well, off to do laundry - probably surf a little bit more before that.

What's on the sides of your range?

This is what mine looked like when they took it out of its "cabinet cocoon":

Eeewww! And that's just one side (but the worst side). Before you spew, just think about the last time you pulled your range out to clean the sides of it. Maybe you are someone who does that once a week, but if you are like most of us - you haven't done it in six months or more - if ever! Spills happen. The stuff has to go somewhere. It made me wonder if cooktops are a better design if just for the reason above. But where does the stuff go when the pot boils over on your cooktop?

So yesterday I cleaned the sides of the range until they looked like new (toothpick treatment). Here's another task I'll have to add to my list - pull out the range and clean sides - I think 2x a year will have to do.

We also made it to Ikea and bought the butcherblock for the buffet area. Wow, I had never been to Ikea before. I told Chuck we would be in and out. Well, as you know, that is just not possible. I guess if I had some clue as to how they snake you through the whole store just to get to the department you want and then to the checkouts - what a brilliant marketing strategy. I saw some things I would have loved to look at in more detail, but with Chuck waiting in the car, and Gwen and Tess in tow, it wasn't practical. I'll have to visit after the kitchen is done and I know exact measurements.

I also got rid of some of my cabinets - the others will not go for another 2 weeks, which is unfortunate because I need that space!

Dave stopped by today to ask me about the window - more decisions - do I want white or pine inside, they only have certain options for the inserts, etc. Everything is a 3 week lead time for ordering this stuff because no one is stocking this stuff.

Today I hope to get some more stuff put away into the garage, but I need to do some rearranging out there. Better get cracking.

Progress!

No post yesterday - it was a crazy day. Meal out count is up to 2 because we went to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. Not totally motivated by the renovation, but it certainly was a factor. Dawna was kind enough to have us over for dinner last night (drank too much wine!), so we did not have to deal with dinner.

This morning we had our first meal in our make-shift kitchen. It was not too bad. We still have a stove, a sink, the dishwasher, and, of course, the refrigerator. We broke out the new toaster - I have had the same under-the-counter toaster for ~14 years, so this was more exciting than it sounds.

I am pretty impressed with the progress made so far. All the walls are down. Of course, they have to build temporary walls so that the second floor doesn't come down, so it looks kind of funky, and we are currently blocked from walking from DR to LR, which is only inconvenient because all our stuff is in the LR.

Today I have a guy who is coming to buy the cabinets. Once they are out of my garage, I can continue the packing and moving of the other objects into my garage. I also want to go to Ikea and buy my butcher block counter top. Once that is done, I will just have the refrigerator and hardware to buy, and all the shopping will be done for what I need to have available for the renovation.

Dave says that the plumber is coming on Monday. Then he is trying to schedule the electrician for early next week too. I'm working from home on Monday, so that should be interesting.

We encountered our first real glitch - there was a heating pipe that was coming up through the load-bearing wall. The pipe is about 10" out from the exterior wall that was supposed to become one seamless, uninterrupted wall. Now this pipe will have to be moved, and my seamless wall will have a bump in it. It's unfortunate, but it's the way it has to be. I just hope they can make it as minimal as possible. I'm sure that it won't be the last glitch we encounter.

Exhausted

My alarm never went off because we turned the circuit on and off about 12 times last night and it reset my clock. All I know is I went to bed around 12:30 AM, and I felt like I hadn't slept.

After getting home from work last night, I made dinner, we ate, I cleaned up dinner, then started packing, packing, and more packing. Chuck actually got to take down a couple cabinets, the microwave, turned off some of the electrical as well as took some lights down.

I just cannot believe how much stuff was in that kitchen - I think of it as pretty tiny - and it was, but boy you could really pack in a lot of stuff! The thing is, those blind corners held stuff that I didn't even remember was there. And, the top shelves - yeah, a couple of them had stuff I used regularly, but a lot of the rest was also lost. I suppose that will also happen in the new kitchen, but I think what cabinet space I will have will be a lot more accessible. OTOH, I know that there will be A LOT of stuff that will not be coming back into my new kitchen.

<---the contents of my kitchen

So, today it begins. No turning back now. I met with Dave in the morning, gave a check, talked about the plan for the next few days, and that was it.

Tonight we ate out - Chinese. It was really more about belatedly celebrating my birthday, but it was also convenient since we wouldn't have much of a kitchen. I'm going to keep count of the number of meals out/take out that we eat (not including vacation) during this process. It really should be added to the budget.

When we got home, I got to see the first progress - I am already impressed. The wall between the kitchen and DR is gone, and they started on the wall between the DR and LR. Unfortunately, I now see a pipe (heating?) that is going up the wall to the 2nd floor. That means a relocation if I want my open wall. Which, of course, I do. That pipe is right where my china cabinet will go.

So, I'm really pleased with the progress so far, but what's that smell? It is like rotten garbage smell - maybe they found some dead animal in the walls?