1080 Greenhills Kitchen Remodel & House Fix-Up, May-July 2008

Page 4  •  July 2-10

Wednesday, July 2:  Out with the Old (Countertop)

Countertop installers are coming tomorrow!  So let's get rid of that old white formica countertop, shall we?  Step 1:  borrow some spacers from Fingerle Lumber & lift up the old countertop so it can be sawzalled.

Move the stove out & remove that little countertop next to the fridge.

Sawzall the old countertop out (saving the corner piece, which I could use somewhere . . . )

Get it outa there!

Next cut!

Get that piece outa there too!

There we go!  Sink dismantled, faucets saved . . .

Ready for the countertop guys!

90 minutes & we're done!

Thursday, July 3:  New Countertop Installation Day !

New countertop being installed!  (Hi-Macs® from Lowes, a Corian® knockoff, basically plastic, for the countertop that doesn't scream out at passersby, "HI I'M A COUNTERTOP!"  Simple, light, plain, functional.

Caulking the backsplash, clamping & gluing the seam . . .

How you clamp & glue this stuff . . . Thanks Mike & Chris!

♪ ♫  Ta da!  ♪ ♫ 

Friday-Sunday, July 4-6:  Planning the Top Cabinets Weekend

But first — breakfast with Tim on the 4th of July ! . . .

Okay — for the base cabinets we didn't really need to sketch things out, but we'll need to for the top cabinets because they're a mite more complicated and because we want to change the configuration a bit to create more of an open feeling between the kitchen and dining room.  Right now up top there's 7 different cabinets in 3 different heights (we're also going to replace the microwave).   So the first step is to measure what's there now & make a scale drawing of what the heck we're up to. 

So let's get to work!

Did someone say something?

Explicating something.

Ta da!  Scale drawing of existing cabinets.

Scale drawing (top view) made the next day of what we're planning . . . gonna be kinda complicated getting things to fit since they don't make exactly what we need . . . (dimensions are off cuz Mike screwed 'em up . . . goes to show you gotta double-check y'er numbers when you do your figgerin'!  So this sketch is useless but included here for its incalculable historical value . . . )

So here's sorta what we have in mind . . .

[ That evening . . . video of the 4th of July party at Brett's around midnight . . . featuring Abby's hopes & dreams & Brett's improvised rapping . . . Destined for YouTube Greatness!  Helpful hint:  let the video play once through your computer, where it'll be kinda choppy . . . then once it loads onto your hard drive it'll play smoothly the second time . . . ]

Saturday, July 5 -- after much puzzling, a paradigm shift!  How about TWO CORNER CABINETS over the sink area -- one on each end?  Well it's a great idea but we need to VISUALIZE it!  So let's get some paper bags from Busch's & see how it might look!

The left corner . . . looks like it'll work!  (forgot to take a pic of the whole front part . . . oh well the paper bags were cut & taped BEAUTIFULLY!)

From the backside . . . (upper right corner S'POSED to have paper bag on it . . .)

Sorta like that!

Okay -- here's Mike's final sketch for the upper cabinets, reached through intensive study & discussion . . . this actually IS the FINAL PLAN . . . and now it's off to Home Depot to buy the blasted things!  (Turns out they actually stock all these puppies --)

Trip No. 1 completed!

Don't forget to wrap the cordage!

Actually lugging the actual cabinets.

Dolly time!  (not really).  Now off the Canton Home Depot for the last three cabinets!

Gathering ideas from the display model at Home Depot . . . we might do something like this . . . though we'd put a translucent panel under the light --

Monday, July 7:  Demolition of Upper Cabinets

Okay let's get rid of those cruddy wall cabinets . . . (camera might not be focused but the labor force most certainly was . . . )

That's better!

. . . it's comin' down - - - 

- - -  through Herculean efforts . . .

. . . and intense concentration . . . And at a certain point it all becomes clear -- Demolition is an art form !

Microwave safely out . . .

Don't forget to sweep the top of the fridge!  (T=3.5 hrs).

A conveyance truly meritorious of the moniker Little Blue IV !  (I.  1984 Toyota [m].  II.  1987 Nova [f].  III.  1989 Honda [m].   Gotta make a special pallet for such loads that can be popped on & off -- )

A very capacious vehicle debris-wise!  All the upper cabinets in one haul!

All those little brown smudges?   Old moth cocoons!  THAT'S where the little buggers have been breeding!

Later at my office -- must'a forgot to pull the release string!

Next morning . . .   Hooray for the Debris Elves!

Tues-Thurs July 8-9:  Installing New Upper Cabinets !

The spirit & utility of Little Blue III (may he RIP; see p. 1) lives on in its carjack!

A matter of simple physics really.

Essential tools for installing wall cabinets solo.

Next!  Gonna pause here for a bit o' consultation . . .  (also got the plumbing hooked up today thanks to Greg Druchniak of Ambulance Plumbing!  Now the kitchen's mostly functional!)

Wed, July 9 -- (writ up the night before) -- Don't forget to pick up shims & drill bits!  Couldn't find a shim today to save my life!  Plus all my 3/32 bits are all busted!  Also gotta return 2 of the KW3018s to Home Depot & replace 'em with 3015s . . . & call Fingerle & special order 4'x3' of oak veneer for the sides (Nora's right, the fake paper veneer on the sides of these corner cabinets looks like crap -- it's already unraveling, as this photographic evidence demonstrates!)

So . . .  desk work in the a.m. & a late breakfast with Tim!

Okay, both corner cabinets installed, now to bring the 15-inchers across between them . . . using a makeshift rig of milkcrates, pieces of the old countertop, various blocks & my old '89 Honda jack . . .

sorta like that . . .

& that . . .

As a strategy for elevating cabinets, an unsustainable approach.

Better!

From the back . . . and that's all for cabinets today!

p. 5

Thursday, July 10 -- well we won't talk about Thursday July 10 nor show any pictures of Thursday July 10 neither because frankly Mike screwed up on Thursday July 10 & forgot to install the 3" spacer & installed the 30" high cabinet in the wrong place & ran into trouble with the next cabinet the one over the microwave so we're not gonna show any photos of Thursday July 10 & instead we're gonna move straight on ahead into Friday July 11 on

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