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

Page 2  •  May 21-26

   Wednesday, May 21 - Revisit Shop & Futz with Cabinets Day

The exterior to the condemned building in Whitmore Lake that is my woodshop.  Been upwards of 2 years since I set foot in the place.

Yikes!

Just like I left it! (except a lot dustier.  Plus I never left that lemon oil on the floor!  Must've been an intruder!)

What a pit.

My coveted table saw.

Treasures of sundry types & varieties.

Boy have I missed this place!  (Not.)

The oak boards (salvaged from my shop) that will be wings.

Actual installation of cabinet wings.

Actually installed.

Another angle.

Futzing with Mr. Fridge.

Fridge straightened, stove positioned correctly, cabinet installed & mini-countertop reinstalled!

Another angle.

Yet another angle.

Marching counter-clockwise.  Next!

Hamming it up.

Planning the all-critical corner.

Drop the stove & violà!

What a mess!  Probably time to clean up.

What happened to the mess?  And that's all for Futzing with Cabinets Day I!

   Thursday, May 22:  Futzing with Cabinets Day II.

Time to make a mess!

Moving counterclockwise -

One down.

Next!

The specific clamping technique.

Getting closer.

E Pluribus Unum.

I've missed my Jorgensen Clamps.

The specific drilling technique.

Whew!

Hidden corner shelves & cabinet.  Before now this was a completely wasted 2' x 2' space.  Now there's 8 extra square feet of cabinet storage space!  WooHoo!!

Peering into the space in question.

Sort of like that.

Let's look just a little closer.

Second shelf!

Backing off . . . eight doggone square feet!  Hot dog!

Okay!  Time to lower the counter!  Step 1:  Move the stove out for the last time so it can end up overlapping & resting atop both countertops —

— all the way around to the dishwasher!

Note the glass getting filled with water from the sink!  Nine days from unhooking to hook back upping!!  (We still need a plumber though — a slow leak from the part that branches off to the dishwasher & 2 unsecured drains.)

And that's pretty much that!

For the rear:  maybe a Diego Rivera mural in three sections?

Just in time for dinner at Tios!

   Friday, May 23:  Futz with Cabinets Day III.

With oodles of materials from Fingerle!  A late start today . . . going to be a short one —

Back of the Cabinets Day I!  Step 1:  make a slot for the dishwasher pipes so dishwasher can be pulled out from the front.  Careful not to hack at the copper pipe!

Note the precision cut!

Phase I of slot completed.

Go about a third of the way . . .

Slot completed!

Step 2:  Rough up surface for gluing.

Step 3:  Glue specially prepared 1x4 over opening of slot to ensure structural integrity of base cabinet unit (not much action today so compensate by taking lots of pictures).

Step 4.  Take photo of specially fabricated piece of 1/4" plywood to go around pipes.

Step 4a.  Take photo of the original document detailing dimensions of said specially fabricated piece of plywood.

♪ ♫     Ta dah!    ♪ ♫     

Step 4b.  Dry-fit specially fabricated piece of plywood.  A success!

Step 4c.  Actually apply glue onto roughed-up surface.

Steps 4d-j.  Use clamps & weights at first; later abandon for screws.

Step 5.  Take photo of new back for base cabinet.

Step 5a.  Point out the sophisticated bracing & anchoring technique.

Step 5b.  Take photo from the front (not perfect but perfectly suitable).

With all the cabinets firmly anchored.   ♪ ♫  WooHoo!!  ♪ ♫

One last shot!  Tomorrow:  Toe-kicks & finish the back (one continuous piece of stained & oiled oak plywood till little door in corner, about 1/2" recessed from edge of countertop.  Materials list:  2 little hinges, 4 @ 1x4x8'; that's it I think; saw Don Gonzales at Fingerle today, he says hi & says we should get together with him & Anna soon —).  Then Sunday & Monday, rip out & dispose of carpeting!!!

Saturday, May 24:  Cabinets Day IV

Grout Sealant Application No. 1.

Hidden detail under the base cabinet that will permit a 400 lb. plumber to lay his bulk upon the bottom shelf & not budge a doggone thing.

Framing in the back.

♪ ♫     Ta dah!    ♪ ♫     

Cutting plywood!

Second cut!

Staining!

Boiled linseed oil!

More specifically, Sunnyside Boiled Linseed Oil from Stadium Hardware!

♪ ♫     Ta dah!    ♪ ♫     

Actual installation.

The actual nails that will be used.

Moulding!

The Craftsman, his Product, and the Vacuum Cleaner.

That angle.

Toe-kicks!

More toe-kicks!  (well one more)

From the vantage point of your typically-sized historian.

From the vantage point of your typical 2 year-old.

Same.  Still needs caulk - but first more grout sealing!  And that's all for Cabinet Day IV!

Sunday, May 25:  Ripping Out & Disposing of Carpet Day I.

A lovely Sunday morning on Memorial Day Weekend!  Step 1.  Grout Sealant Application No. 2.  Don't forget to wait 10 minutes & wipe off the excess sealant!  We don't want permanent white streaks on the tile now do we?

Step 2.  Go out into the sunshine & do an hour's worth of yoga.   Take a nap.

Step 3:  Get up & start moving furniture.  (Late start today . . . )

Step 4.  Clean up & discard all the saved & abandoned tissues!

What happened to all the furniture & clothes & the bird's nest & stuff?

Step 5.  Gather together all the tools you'll need for the carpet removal process:   1. Utility knife.  2.  Duct tape.

Step 6.  Start the actual carpet removal process.

Step 7.  Take lots of pictures!

Another floor in 1080 laid bare to the plywood!

Huh!  Somebody must've spilled candle wax here!

Goodbye corner piece of shit carpeting!

I bet anything Gil Grisham of Los Vegas CSI could track me down with this little spot of blood on this soon-to-be-discarded piece of carpeting, I'm not kidding he's a really good forensic scientist!  Probably the best there is!  Luckily he doesn't work in the Midwest.

Close-up of both the blood-stain and the little gouged out part of my right index finger; Gil Grisham of the Los Vegas CSI could get his Crime Lab Forensic-Scientist Team to digitally enhance this photo if he wanted, I'm sure of it!

Step 8.  Tie debris on car & dispose of before rains come!

Step 9.  Take lots of photos of bare floor!

Stand sideways & take pictures just for the fun of it!

I'm thinking of making a piece of moulding for the bottom of the mirrors that they'd rest on (with a lip to hold them in place) and that way get them off the floor.  A piece of 3/4" x 3" pine, as long as the two big mirrors are wide, routed with a lip, fastened to the wall just above the base moulding & painted white.

How'd the study get so crowded all of a sudden?

Jeez there's stuff everywhere!

Weird!

The coming challenge — Prepare the floor so that it can receive new carpeting!

Truly understanding a particular floor means occasionally taking a bug's eye view of things.  A metaphor for life.

A daunting challenge indeed!

The BP on Plymouth Rd —regular gas at $4.19 a gallon!!!

Huh!  All that carpeting debris must've fallen off the car!  Something happened that's for sure.  And that's all for Carpet Preparation Day 1!

Monday, May 26 —Memorial Day & Carpet Day II

Ah yes the piece o' shit bathtub plumbing access panel . . .  and Happy Memorial Day!

A bug's nightmare.

Not even sure why I took this picture.

Mirror moulding!

Floor ready to receive carpeting!

Pondering what to do about that little stone in the foreground.

Corners painted —

Mirrors up!

Hope they don't fall & crush me like a bug!

Actual application of paint.

Don't forget the ceiling!

Almost out of ceiling!  Almost out of paint!

Don't worry it's not my doppelgänger!

The actual painting implements.

Plenty of paint left over!

Six p.m. - start ripping out carpeting!

♪ ♫     Ta dah!    ♪ ♫   

Those carpet strips are nasty little buggers.

♪ ♫     Ta dah!    ♪ ♫ 

Outer part stained that crappy dark mahogany color . . . we'll have to replace these wrought-iron railings & dark colors at some point . . .

Workin' my way down . . .

Almost got my head into the picture!

There we go!  The two principal tools used in this particular stage of the carpet removal process.

Just showered; 9:30 p.m.

Weird.

Fortunately someone came along & tied the old carpeting on the roof of the car already!

Doesn't look at all suspicious . . . can you find the Release String?

Thank goodness for flashes on cameras!  And that's all for Carpet Removal Day II!

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