One Week Into The Remodel

Last Friday I started our kitchen remodel. I had to wait until after I ordered new windows for the whole house. To finish the remodel I will need three new windows, so there is some timing involved. Things have been moving pretty fast... in my book... my book is usually very slow.

The covered patio floor has been raised, the ceiling in that area has been raised, the new exterior wall is in and the old backdoor has been relocated there. A new backdoor is on order (knotty alder). Some electrical wiring has been redone.

I do have the help of my neighbor Sonny, (a retired jeweler) and I consider him the McGiver (spelling?) of handymen. He likes to help people. So he is over here every afternoon, after his morning golf. We have a running joke about me wanting to be perfect... and of course no house is square... so the banter is frequent. I now know, that this house is well built... from taking it apart.

Here are a few photos...


Nice and clean.

The windows and the walls to the left side of the photo will be gone in next weeks update. The whole area will become part of the kitchen. Notice the old backdoor, which will move 90 degrees left.

Hopefully in two weeks the wall at the back of the kitchen sink will be gone (along with the upper cabinets) and the new ceiling will be starting to go in. At that point we will be running the kitchen with about one third of the cabinets and no oven. The oven leaves this weekend. Martha baked a cherry pie for me tonight as a farewell to the ovens.

Some of our favorite plants migrated to the covered patio for winter... it didn't help this year... Next year they die... no more porch.

The back door has moved around the corner and the solid wall to the right of it isn't really going to be solid... it is waiting for a 5ft wide by 30 inch tall picture window. That is where the new breakfast booth will be installed.

The window leaning on another window just came out of the wall where the ladder is. The sun always cooked us at the kitchen table at dinner time... no more. That is where the oven will be installed. New kitchen cabinets will wrap around that whole end of the kitchen. Our tiny kitchen will double in size. The cabinets by the window and the breakfast booth will be knotty alder with a dark cherry stain... the cabinets by the kitchen sink will be white... unless the paint colors change... :-)

Right now I am trying to decide on drawer slides... I have always like the kind that won't let the drawer slam... but, the backside of the "no slam" feature is the resistance you get when you open the drawer... it is surprisingly strong.