Kitchen Renovation Week 1 - Let's do some demo!

Week 1 was a short week - only 2 days of actual work.  During those two days the guys removed all the cabinets and appliances, saving the fridge, dishwasher, and disposal as those were new appliances.  We are donating the remaining appliances and cabinets to Habitat for Humanity.  We did discover some 2 problems with the renovation. 

Problem 1
 
In the bottom right photo you will see what looks like a beam coming across the space and into the wall.  We thought that was only duct work for the A/C.  Apparently, it also housed all the wiring for the other side of the house.  The Architect believes we can run the wiring over the new beam and through the ceiling to the rest of the house.  Or we will have to get "creative."  Yeah, getting "creative" scares me.  As in "how much more is this going to cost me" scared. 

Problem 2
 
The other issue was with the new beam we have to put in to span the space where we will remove all the walls.  We have to do a bit more carpentry in the ceiling to ensure the rafters (or are they joists? Clearly the Architect isn't writing this post) are properly supported.  Apparently, the ones up there right now are just kinda laying on the beam which  is twisting the beam.  The Architect assured me that this isn't a problem the way it is and the new way will be much better.  This information just fuels those nightmares I have where I come home and find my roof caved in during demo.

Week 2 sees further demolition, electrical, and the beginning of the structural work.  Exciting!

Renovating a Kitchen!

After living in our house for about 5 years, we are finally renovating our kitchen.  This will be the Architect's first realized design and hopefully will lead to more side projects.  Over the next 6 weeks or so I'll be updating on our progress.  Hopefully this process will be more of a HGTV-type experience rather than "Renovation Nightmares."  Above are the "before" pictures.  The renovation will remove all the walls you see in the upper right and bottom two photos.  The kitchen will also double in size, allowing us to utilize some dead space for the new dining area.  I'm not looking forward to living on microwave meals and sandwiches for the next 6 weeks; but I know the finished project is going to be outstanding.  Apartment Therapy here we come!!!

Home Renovation Pt. 1 Results

Part one of the living room home renovation is done. Part one involved replacing the old floors with stained concrete floors in the living room, dining room, hallway and bathroom. See the before here. The renovation is about 98% done. We need to put back the baseboards and paint them. Our goal is December because we be having a kick ass Christmas party! The picture to the left is of the living room. More pictures of the floors below.



The view from the dining room.


















Here we had the old tile floor removed, applied a skim coat of concrete and stained the floors to match the hallway and the floor. We skim coated the bathroom so the tile grout lines would not show through the stained floor.

The next project will be the floor to almost ceiling bookshelf behind the sofa. Stay tuned!

Let's do some demo!

That was said in my best Ty Pennington voice of course. The Architect and I are finally getting around to some home remodeling. The first stage is refinishing the living and dining room floors and hallway. We decided to rip up the carpet and nasty laminate flooring and do stained concrete floors.

Pictures of the progress so far:

The Night Before Demo:



Living room - everything that is blonde flooring is going, going, gone.



The dining room - blonde laminate be gone!



Don't get me started on my hatred for white berber carpet.

Day 1: Flooring and carpet removal



Remember a few years ago when the government asked Americans to stockpile plastic sheeting and duct tape in case of a chemical attack? That's what the house kind of feels like now.

Day 2: Patching and prepping the floor



It doesn't look like much, but the workers smoothed out the step and patched all the holes from the old carpet tacks that were on the floor before the previous owners laid the laminate flooring. Tomorrow the contractor will be staining with sealant to follow on Friday. So far the process has been incredibly smooth with no hang ups at all. I can't wait to see how the furniture looks on the new floors.

Don't forget, only a few more days to enter to win the Aalto vase (or bowl as some have said) from All Modern.