Well its been a while since I updated this thread, partly due to many summer obligations as well as a job change and late nights working in the kitchen and/or on school work. Regardless, for those that are Facebook friends, you've probably seen some of these photo's, but for those that have not, I'll detail the updates below:
Drywall started after all new electrical was ran. I had to put in a sub-panel to accommodate the new circuits that were required. Electrical inspection went okay, especially for a homeowner, he had to come back and check the fire caulk and the addition of one new circuit but that was it.
Electrical completed:
insulation, where none existed before
The drywall wasn't too bad, except for the ceiling where I went over the existing ceiling with 1/2" material. I decided to not take out the existing ceiling since its plaster and I already took out a total of 6 tons of material with the previous dumpster. It was simply an added expense that I didn't want to accommodate.
Its also great knowing people in the industry as I had farmed out the taping of the kitchen and dining room parts to a guy I knew. He does homes in Fairfield County, Ct. so his work is spot on and it showed in the final product. His price was cheap and I welcomed him to do the work since I can't stand taping.
Walls and celing were primed and ready for paint:
My wife painted the walls, I painted the ceiling. I can't stand painting.
After paint, I trimmed out the electrical and got plugs and lights working so I could stop using a jerry-rigged light at night. For the recessed lights, I opted for the LED's with matching trim ring. They're a little pricey ($50/ea) but pay for themselves since they'll last for 35-50k hours. CT also had a rebate on them so I got them for $19/ea.
Roughly in the same time, my wife and I picked out the flooring since we couldn't salvage anything from the original setup. We ended up with a pre-finished floor from lumber liquidators. 2 1/4" in a chocolate color, etc. Ended up needing 420 sq. ft. of the stuff which equated to about 1400 lbs of material brought in by yours truly.
Started laying the floor; 15lb. tar paper underneath for moisture control.
After the main kitchen/dining room floor was completed, it was time to start cabinet install. Knowing the house had settled, I knew I was going to have to shim pretty extensively, which isn't a problem due to toe kicks, scribing and scribe molding being used.
Cabs compared to paint color:
Upper cabinet start
Added the others
I did add a nailer to the top of the wall cabinets to accept the Crown molding that will be installed soon.
First cabinet in and level. Luckily the high spot was in this corner to start the install from.
Taking shape:
New peninsula/breakfast bar
Stove & Micro installed:
Got boxes?
Yesterday, the granite guys came to install the granite we purchased:
Breakfast bar. Need to buy some stools.
New faucet. Damn things are expensive.
From the old dining room looking into the kitchen:
So that's where we are today. I'm waiting for my plumber to get here to connect the sink (supply and drain) as well as rough in the laundry room closet for supply and drain. Once that is done, I can button up the walls in the mudroom area where our pantry, fridge and laundry room closet are.
Its definitely been a tough project to do solo but I think its coming out great. There's a lot of satisfaction doing this work yourself and its really not hard at all.
Hope you guys enjoy the udpate as much as I do.
Drywall started after all new electrical was ran. I had to put in a sub-panel to accommodate the new circuits that were required. Electrical inspection went okay, especially for a homeowner, he had to come back and check the fire caulk and the addition of one new circuit but that was it.
Electrical completed:
insulation, where none existed before
The drywall wasn't too bad, except for the ceiling where I went over the existing ceiling with 1/2" material. I decided to not take out the existing ceiling since its plaster and I already took out a total of 6 tons of material with the previous dumpster. It was simply an added expense that I didn't want to accommodate.
Its also great knowing people in the industry as I had farmed out the taping of the kitchen and dining room parts to a guy I knew. He does homes in Fairfield County, Ct. so his work is spot on and it showed in the final product. His price was cheap and I welcomed him to do the work since I can't stand taping.
Walls and celing were primed and ready for paint:
My wife painted the walls, I painted the ceiling. I can't stand painting.
After paint, I trimmed out the electrical and got plugs and lights working so I could stop using a jerry-rigged light at night. For the recessed lights, I opted for the LED's with matching trim ring. They're a little pricey ($50/ea) but pay for themselves since they'll last for 35-50k hours. CT also had a rebate on them so I got them for $19/ea.
Roughly in the same time, my wife and I picked out the flooring since we couldn't salvage anything from the original setup. We ended up with a pre-finished floor from lumber liquidators. 2 1/4" in a chocolate color, etc. Ended up needing 420 sq. ft. of the stuff which equated to about 1400 lbs of material brought in by yours truly.
Started laying the floor; 15lb. tar paper underneath for moisture control.
After the main kitchen/dining room floor was completed, it was time to start cabinet install. Knowing the house had settled, I knew I was going to have to shim pretty extensively, which isn't a problem due to toe kicks, scribing and scribe molding being used.
Cabs compared to paint color:
Upper cabinet start
Added the others
I did add a nailer to the top of the wall cabinets to accept the Crown molding that will be installed soon.
First cabinet in and level. Luckily the high spot was in this corner to start the install from.
Taking shape:
New peninsula/breakfast bar
Stove & Micro installed:
Got boxes?
Yesterday, the granite guys came to install the granite we purchased:
Breakfast bar. Need to buy some stools.
New faucet. Damn things are expensive.
From the old dining room looking into the kitchen:
So that's where we are today. I'm waiting for my plumber to get here to connect the sink (supply and drain) as well as rough in the laundry room closet for supply and drain. Once that is done, I can button up the walls in the mudroom area where our pantry, fridge and laundry room closet are.
Its definitely been a tough project to do solo but I think its coming out great. There's a lot of satisfaction doing this work yourself and its really not hard at all.
Hope you guys enjoy the udpate as much as I do.
