Show Me Some Real Progress

Yeah, those last pictures aren't what you came see, right? Yesterday the cabinets started going in! The installer is back again today to finish the job. We are so thrilled with the quality of the cabinets and how they look/operate. One tries to do one's best when you pick them out but if they are not exactly what is in the showroom, there is still a little margin for error. But we are so pleased. The cabinets do look a little more orange in the pictures then they do in real life (just in case you were wondering.) I will post pics and talk more about the lovely birthday celebration we had last night a little later when I myself have recovered. I'm dragging this morning but it was worth it.

Pictures I meant to post in the last blog

Here is a hole that goes through the kitchen down to the laundry room. Delightful. Per our cabinet installers we had to reroute our kitchen pipes into the wall so the cabinet would sit flush against the wall. Ken is very proud of the fact that he replaced the sash cord in this old window. I would have just assumed replace it but Ken reminds me of the "charm" and that we are putting one less thing in a landfill. Oh, alright. Here is the gorgeous plastering job on the ceiling. (To be painted this Friday with the rest of the walls.)

Big Week Ahead

This coming week we are looking forward to the greatest amount of progress in the on-going saga of Kitchen Remodel 2008.

I have confirmed that we will be receiving cabinets tomorrow--a day earlier than promised. Can you believe it? Bright and early too (7:30am) so Ken has already made a temporary space to store them in the garage. The floor will also be going in which is a welcome relief to the dirty slats we find ourselves with now.

But the cabinets will spend little over 24 hours in the garage because on Tuesday & Wednesday the cabinet installers will work their magic. We will begin to see our new kitchen take shape! On Thursday the Caesarstone counter template is made. Lots of measurements are taken for an exact fit on top of the installed cabinets and to fit our overmount sink. Once that is done we have to wait 2 weeks or so for the Quartz composite slabs to be ready and installed.

Friday we're going to try painting--again. What happened was that the plaster guy came in at the beginning of last week and did a fabulous job on the ceiling but didn't quite get all the wall areas we needed. When the painters came in mid-week, the plaster was also not dry so they happily patched the areas we needed and pushed out the actual painting to this week. Our walls will soon be Miller Paint's Kettlecorn yellow (#0874).

(Blogger is having a problem and won't let me upload pics today.) You're just going to have to imagine all the pieces of plaster, old nails, bits of wood, dust and general rubble have accumulated along the walls and between board slats in the kitchen. I am so grateful the floor guy is coming with a shop vac tomorrow. Oliver seems to love tracking dirt/dust into other parts of the house. He's so helpful that way. You'd think a cat would be fastidious about being clean but no.

In other news, we just finished watching the first season of Heroes on Netflix. It really is as good as people say it is. And it's been a nice distraction while my normal shows have been side-lined by the strike. I guess we better queue up Heroes Season 2 now.

Weekend Progress

It's the second weekend of the Moore/Sakai 2008 Kitchen Remodel and might I say the current state of limitation, dust and clutter is just beginning to get a bit trying. Sometimes I just want to use an oven and a few burners at one time and not have to wash the dishes in the bathtub. But it'll be over soon and worth it, I know... Progress? Yes, we have some of that. Over the weekend our floor guy removed not only the very ugly yellowed vinyl tiles but also the next layer, leaving us with just the sub floor. We don't get a new floor until the week of March 10th which is okay because in this coming week we are looking forward to plaster wall repair and painting. But now you dare not walk through the kitchen to the downstairs or vice versa without shoes. Since we are general contracting this project ourselves, the schedule is squarely our responsibility. What is interesting in a 12-15 step remodel like this is (a) how pivotal the order of the vendors is and (b) some of the tidbits of detailed knowledge that come to light at the last minute which save us from making major mistakes. Such as needing an electrical inspection so we don't have to back track and rip stuff out. Or having the electrician follow the plumber in the final installs so that the disposal & dishwasher can be tested once they are hooked up to power. Or that replacing the floor means not just the vinyl tiles but the 1" layer of wood it's attached to. My greatest fear is that possibly, perhaps, maybe in the week of the 10th, the cabinets will not be delivered when they've been promised. The manufacturer and distributor have said nothing of the sort but almost everyone we've talked to bemoans the cruelty of not getting cabinets when they were promised. And we've based the timing of all the other vendors upon this delivery date. So we are thinking really positive thoughts right now that all will be well.

"Seriously, what is all this noise and mess about?"

"I got your snips right here..." Ken shows his HVAC handwork by sealing off a heat vent which will soon be blocked by cabinets.

The kitchen now minus the floor.