Kitchen Stage 8: Appliances!

We have water.  We have power.  We have appliances hooked up.  If needed, we have a fully functioning kitchen.  I must restrain myself not to move back into the kitchen until Jeremy has a chance to do the trim, end panels, and other details...But today is a good day!

Kitchen Stage 7: Countertops

From drywall installation to counter tops within one week...Jeremy has been hard at work.  And so have quite a few friends and family.  Today Jimmy lent his expertise on laminate counter top application.  This kitchen has turned into quite the community project. Many thanks to everyone!

Jimmy routering.

Jeremy chose maple for the routered edge.  Not sure if we will leave light to match the floor or stain to match the cabinets.

We used Wilsonart HD laminate, which is supposed to be 30% harder than typical laminate.

Kitchen Cabinets

Kitchen Floor

Today Jeremy and Dave did the floor on the kitchen side of the great room. In less than a day!  The other half of the great room will be done after the cabinets are moved over.  It looks AWESOME!

Jeremy locks the boards in place.  He used a thin foam underlayment, a 3-in-one that is supposed to be good for blocking moisture, sound, and...something else.

Dave says he'll sleep good tonight.

We used a laminate with beveled edges, so it looks more like wood boards.  It has a 40 year warranty and is moisture resistant - a good thing here in Kodiak.

We got the flooring from ifloor.com, which has a distribution center in Seattle.

Kitchen Stage 6, and Grandpa Dave

There has been much happening, as you can see from the pictures.  Brent finished mudding (Thanks Brent!), Jeremy sanded down the walls, and then we decided they looked so good, texture wasn't necessary.  So yesterday was priming, today was painting.  I had trouble pcking out the paint, worrying I was getting something too dark, but it is actually just a bit darker than off-white.  It looks good though - very clean, but warm too.  It should allow the darker cabinets to really stand out.

Grandpa Dave (Jeremy's Dad) has been helping during his visit for the past couple of days. It's what we call a working vacation!

Emmy dances with joy at all the progress.

Primed and painted.

Never thought "this old house" could look so new.

In preparation for tomorrow's flooring installation, Jeremy brings in some self-leveling crete for a low spot.

Keeping Grandpa busy.  Just don't believe any rumors about Jeremy working him to death on the remodel.

Kitchen Stage 5: Drywall

The guys are hard at work, with drywall now on most walls and some of the mudding well on its way.  I believe my job today is to pick out paint!

"Yes, I do love overhead drywall installation. Nearly as much as overhead insulation."

"There"..."No, There."

Surveying the progress.

 Emmy was having a lot of fun dancing with the guys after they finished up last night.  She saved the last dance for Daddy.

Kitchen Stage 3, 4

With the construction zone that is our house, It has been all too easy to use the excuse of not being able to find the connector cable for the camera as a reason to not update the blog on our kitchen progress.  So here I am playing catch up...

Brent and Jeremy obliging me with an "action shot" during floor demolition.  There were many old layers to the floor, which made it difficult to tear up. With the floor being so lumpy, and originally constructed with thin plywood,  Jeremy had to tear it down to the original framing, and even redo some of that.

Floor in partially removed, partially rebuilt stage.

With a clean, new floor, the downstairs has become an irresistible play area.

Old large window torn out in preparation for the smaller over-sink kitchen window.

Framed in opening for the smaller window.

Emmy working with her "tools," that is, making a collection from the many color-coded electrical caps.  Oh yeah, did I mention the kitchen has also been completely rewired, courtesy of Bill? Apparently the whole old kitchen was on one circuit.

Now that the new electrical has been run, Jeremy can put up some additional insulation before applying new drywall.  Notice the post next to the window at right - Jeremy added this after removing the old drywall and seeing how little reinforcement was on the original wall.

So, the next stages, if I understand everything correctly, include drywall for the ceiling and walls, installing the laminate floor, bringing in the cabinets, connecting the electric to the appliances and lighting fixtures, countertops, plumbing, and all those final touches.

I am at about 35 weeks now, just over 30 days until Baby Laura is due to arrive.  Since Jeremy's work is taking a spring break in about a week, he will have some uninterrupted work time.  So he believes finishing all of this is feasible before we become a family of four.  Quite a deadline though, eh?