Countertops? Already?

So I was told that the countertops wouldn't arrive until next week. But i came home to a surprise.


Wow!


Hmm. I had wondered if that moulding under the window sill was going to fit with the countertop. I guess I know my answer -- time for new moulding.


Some of the other cabinets have gone in as well.


Look at that shine. Look at that under-mount sink.

If things keep moving at this pace, I won't be able to talk people in to sharing home cooked meals at their houses anymore.

Cabinets Come In

The cabinets are here, and starting to go in.


Cabinets by the window



Cabinets for the island/peninsula. The open spot is where the dishwasher will go.


The corner cupboard (with its doors off)


In building out support for the floor, part was sanded down to help level everything off.

Things are moving at a fast clip. I really am going to need to decide on paint colors soon.

Lighting Update

After writing my last post I opened up my RSS Reader and found this story: New Bill Aims to Rid U.S. of Inefficient Light Bulbs by 2012

It sounds like there is going to be a push for efficient lighting at the federal level.

Cyberlux (which is the company I bought my LEDs from) says:
And with technology that consumes 92% less energy than incandescent bulbs (common household bulbs), 30% less than most fluorescent lighting systems, and new lighting efficiency that can last up to 20 years, Cyberlux is at the forefront of next-generation lighting solutions.

Their stock is doing very poorly, but if there is a chance of this passing, maybe I should invest.

Thoughts?

The LEDs Arrive

OK. This is the coolest new thing about my kitchen redesign.



LED lights are slowly starting to turn up in all sorts of places. They use very little electricity, and they last for years.



There are a few companies that seem to make them for consumer uses, including under cabinet lighting. Right now they are still overly expensive, and not really straight forward. I could not order them directly from the manufacture, the reseller had to work with my contractor to work on the right sizes and the issues of primary lights vs. secondary, and there is some special transformer needed (No, not Optimus Prime). And when you finally order them, you have to wait a few weeks for them to ship -- shouldn't they have a warehouse of these things ready to go? Actually I hope this is a sign that demand is so high they can't keep them in stock long enough.

-- Andy

Nice New Floor

I came home to a nice new floor.


You can't really see it from this picture, but amazingly, with the tiles at an angle they fit perfectly from one end to the next.


Here is a close up of how the floor was leveled off. You can also see the cool little spacers they use to make sure all the tiles are evenly spaced from each other.

In the foreground is my nice hardwood floor that is once of the few things in my condo that I have really tried to keep clean. Currently it is a lost cause. Once all the construction is done, I will have a lot of cleaning to do.

-- Andy

"Red Room, Red Room"

The base for the new floor casts an eerie glow on to the entire room.


Running wiring behind drywall is easy. Running it through plaster? Yikes. The good part? While they were at it, they also ran the power supply for my AC/heater unit behind the plaster as well. The bad part? Everything in my place now has a coating of dust.

Floor No More

The water was shut off, and the last of the floor was removed.


Electrical has been run through the ceiling for the drop lights.



Electrical has been run through the wall as well.


Plumbing has been run out as well.

More to come...

Get Out Your Frustrations

Ever get to a point where you really are frustrated and just want to do something? How about taking out large pieces of your floor.

I can not disconnect my dishwasher, but I found I could pull it out and then work on the floor under where it usually is. As you see all that pounding paid off and it wanted to come out as a big piece.



Too heavy for me to carry (too much work just to pull it out and prop it up). But I am sure strong construction guys will have no problem taking it down.

Yes, the water valves will be replaced tomorrow and more work can begin.

Demolition - Things Become Clearer

Old debris was hauled away on Monday!




Still stuck with the sink and dishwasher. Ugh!


Wow! The camera makes it look clean. This is where all the old cabinets were stored.

And plywood and soundproof drywall were brought up.

Demolition Weekend: Sunday

Well, it is more than a one day event.

Much to the annoyance of my neighbors who had to deal with constant pounding, I was back at it on Sunday and later on my friend Beth joined me once again.


This is the progress we made the first day



Here I try to show off just how think this stuff is. Like an archaeologist, I use the hammer to give sense of size.


Sometimes the stuff really does come out in big pieces!
Eitehr way it created lots of dust.


This is going to be a kitchen again?


Progress was made. Can't pull out the dishwasher or sink, so no real progress there.

Demolition Weekend: Saturday

Saturday.

Time to take the floor out. Or at least start.

After a slight delay, and a stop by Sidamo for the best coffee in DC, it was off to work in removing the floor.

But not just the tile (which I initially planned for oh so long ago). There was a cement substrate under the tile. I was told it had to come out as well. It seemed to be crumbling under the few tiles I pulled up with my kitchen contractor. It looked think under the tiles we pulled up as well.

What we found out that wasn't fully the case. The cement had been used to level out the floor, and for the most part was very thick. At least 4 cm in many places, I am willing to guess (I did not formally measure it)


My friend TJ is working away at it.



TJ making more progress


Maybe it is easier when sitting down?

My friend Beth also joined us later and helped out but asked that I not post photos of her. She was able to get much larger chunks out than TJ and I had been able to.

Yes, and all the debris had to be hauled downstairs.

All this pounding wore us out. But it also caused so much vibration that it destroyed the ceiling light of my neighbor below me. She has been very forgiving.

-- Andy

Demolition Continues

My contractor did a great job where I left off.

It seems the circuit breaker that kills power to the hood over the range is the same that kills power to the kitchen and living room lights. Whose brigh idea was that?

Trouble. And in my place that is spelled water. The water supply will not shut off properly. so we can't take out the sink or dishwasher. Current game plan -- have water shut off to the whole building tomorrow and replace the shut offs. Yikes -- my neighbors are going to love me for that!

-- Andy

Why Can't Google and MS Play Nice?

Live Writer is a blogging tool put together by Microsoft.  It really is a nice tool.

And for the most part it works really well with Blogger (which is now owned by Google).

But want to use the cool photo feature in Live Writer (which does much better image handling than Blogger) with Blogger?  Really take advantage of the better product?

No luck.  They don't allow that. (or at least they don't make it easy)

Bummer!

Demolition Begins

Well, it really began a long time ago (years ago), when a pinhole leak in a pipe behind a wall rotted away the drywall, and caused some of my cabinets to sag (held up by an old microwave, and phone books)

I lived a couple years or so in the kitchen without those cabinets, but knew eventually more stuff would need to be done. Eventually hired a kitchen contractor, who devised a great plan.

Spent a lot of time picking cabinets and appliances, and floor tile, etc.

Then a few weeks ago, my old refrigerator departed, and a new one arrived (tucked into a corner removed from the kitchen).

Now the rest of the kitchen must go.

This wall is where the cabinets that started it all once stood.

Now more are gone

I wanted to take out the ones above the range as well, but can't figure out how to safely decommission the hood above the range.

The old cabinets pile up in a corner (yes, that is an American Greetings box in the back)

Once the rest is removed -- the floor comes up. I will keep you posted!

I'm not web 2.0 enough

So I convinced myself to create a twitter account (http://twitter.com/135746) and a tumblelog (http://135746.tumblr.com/), but I am not sure I really get it.

It took me a long time before I finally got RSS, but once the lightbulb* went off, I got it.  Will these two be the same, or will I end up as a relic that can't understand the basics of where things are going.

-- Andy

Coming Soon: Kitchen Renovation & Photos

The kitchen (for the most part) has been cleared out.

One more day when I can wash dishes in the kitchen sink before I turn to the bathroom sink.

Tomorrow is my last chance for cooking on the stove for a while.

Thursday/Friday just about everything will be removed from the kitchen. This weekend a few good friends are going to help me rip out the floor.

Next week the new floor and drywall (really cool stuff called QuietRock) goes in. So too electrical and the initial plumbing works.

Then the cabinets start to come in.

Then appliances.

Then countertop and sink.

And the super cool under cabinet LED lights (I am really into the LED lights, and can't wait to see them in action)

And then I have a kitchen again.

Stay tuned for photos and updates!

-- Andy