Kitchen Remodel PET

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 7:04 pm

Just about kilt ourselves last night clearing out the dump of a current kitchen to get ready for today's start of the demo. We already had the lights done a couple of months ago. The old lighting was a couple of 2x4 fluorescent fixtures in the recessed ceiling and a yellowed plastic lens over the whole thing. The new lights convinced us even more than before that we needed to change the whole thing.

Here are the before pictures taken after we got done last night:

There used to be a large black microwave over the cooktop and a black side-by-side refrigerator to the right of that. Those are both in the garage now, temporarily, and will be replaced. I wasn't sure about replacing the fridge until after I had moved it last night down three steps and into the gargage. No way am I moving that thing back into the house.

Cabinets will be refaced, with glass put into both sides of the upper cabinets over the island. Counters will be replaced - no more ceramic tile and shitty grout!! Double ovens will be replaced with a combo full sized oven on the bottom and micro-convection on the top. Under the lower oven will be a warming drawer.

In the meantime we're eating out of the utility room with plastic plates and cups.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:24 pm

Mikey,

Not sure what your situation is, but I have a nice 4 car detached garage. I plan on doing a remodel on my kitchen in about 5 years. I will be putting my current kitchen into my garage. Cabinets, appliances, counter tops....all of it. Something to think about for your old stuff if you have the space to put it.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:49 pm

That sounds like a good plan, but not for us.

I have a three car garage with basically no room left. There are already a lot of built-in cabinets along the back and one side. Besides, we're not removing the old cabinets from the kitchen, but refacing them and replacing the doors. Also adding pull-outs and new "modern" drawer slides. The 4" ceramic tile countertops that I'm taking out I would not give to my worst enemy. OK maybe to my worst enemy, but I'm so tired of looking at the worn-out grout that I'll be happy to never see it again. The microwave is an under-cabinet model which I have put on wood blocks on a table in the garage for temporary use, but there's no place to permanently install it. The fridge is still good, but we don't really need the extra refrigerator space so it would be a useless energy hog. Besides my new outdoor kitchen has a small fridge as well. The dishwasher is only a couple of years old and so is not getting replaced just yet. When we do we will also replace the compactor.

missjo · Post by **missjo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:00 pm

I've never understood the whole tiled Kitchen counter top thing you guys do in the states
here in Oz people either have laminated, Granite or solid wooden kitchen counters

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:58 pm

Ceramic tile went out of style about 20 years ago, which is when our house was built. I don't think you will find any new homes around here with tile counters.

(check back in a month or so to see the new counters)

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 6:49 pm

I think your tiled countertops look great. But your lament is the big drawback -- just too much shit sticking in the grout, making for a cleanup nightmare.

At the Homestead, went with 12" granite tiles (got an outrageous deal). The ever so slight bevel makes for just a tiny little bit of grout -- but since the granite is nearly-black, coffee-colored grout was the call... coffee colored grout doesn't show the coffee stains. Single slabs of granite for each counter is preferred, but you start getting into the big bucks for it. Ended up getting something like 70SF of granite counters for a few hundred bucks... installed (old buddy does that for a living... actually several do, but one gave the right number -- I think it was $700 labor for the whole shooting match).

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:10 pm

The house we bought has corian on the island and one half of the kitchen. The other countertop where the sink is has a white tile. I never really thought much of it because it looks ok, but what would make someone want to do that?

Here you can see. The countertop on the left is corian. The island is corian. Then where the sink is they did a white tumbled marble tile. Looks ok for now. As I said, we'll be redoing the kitchen in 5 years. We're goiong to tear that wall down and bring it out 30 feet.

other side

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:35 pm

I'd rather beat off with a piece of sandpaper and fuck a salty lemon that live in a house where the name Corian is even uttered.

Awful lot of money to pay to make something look as cheap and ugly as possible.

Corian is like the 4 Non Blondes of counters.

Gives me the heebiejeebies just looking at it. I'd rather have gray fucking laminate than that abomination known as Corian (which often costs more than grantite, which will never stop being funny to me).

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 12:39 am

The countertop we're getting is engineered quartz in a sort of sand color. I know Dins won't like it because pure granite is the only worthwhile counter surface, but fuck him anyway. The engineered product actually has a lot more SiO2 than granite does, is more resilient and easier to care for (allegedly).

The countertop of the wet bar and the backsplash behind the sink will be 6" green slate tiles. The backsplash behind the cooktop will be the same green slate but in a smaller ledger stone orientation with some sort of distressed glass pieces here and there. This is supposed to tie in with a lot of the stonework around the pool immediately outside the breakfast nook windows and the natural river rock hearth in the family room.

The cabinets will be "espresso" color, with glass in both sides of the units hanging over the sink island.

trev · Post by **trev** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:16 am

I love our engineered stone countertop. Despite dins.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:46 am

Mikey wrote:The backsplash behind the cooktop will be the same green slate but in a smaller ledger stone orientation with some sort of distressed glass pieces here and there.

Got the same sort of thing going on here.

Maybe I'll come up with some pics... but it's definitely a nice look. You'll dig it.

I like the kinda dull, natural looking slate backsplash with the polished counter surface.

Definitely want to seal the crap out of the slate before it gets put into service... maybe 2-3 coats of sealant, so it stays that way.

And if it works with your color scheme, I recommend the coffee colored grout, despite the sealant, or at least if you're a coffee drinker, if you get my drift.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:08 am

I fuggen hate corian, but i wasn't going to pass on the house because it had it. The shit scratches and gets fucked up. You use their method of fixing the scratch which is using a scotch brite pad and then it dulls the finish. I know this.

Granite will be put in when we remodel. Not worth doing it twice.

trev · Post by **trev** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 2:15 am

There is no ideal countertop in my opinion. You have to decide what you want and what you want to give up. After having ceramic tile I wanted something that was low maintenance and sanitary. Granite did not fit the bill.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:51 am

Demo Complete

Here are the various parts of our current kitchen...

trev · Post by **trev** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 3:44 pm

That cobweb next to the butter needs to go.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:20 pm

LOL. It's already gone. You can see how much attention our utility room normally gets.

Besides, it wasn't next to the butter. It was at the complete opposite end of the kitchen.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 4:23 pm

trev wrote:I love our engineered stone countertop. Despite dins.

Can't believe we're actually in agreement on something.

What next, peace in Gaza?

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:00 pm

trev wrote:I wanted something that was low maintenance and sanitary. Granite did not fit the bill.

Uhm...

Don't even know how to respond to this besides "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

Sounds like someone got one hell of a sales pitch from a Corian dealer.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:37 am

trev wrote:I wanted something that was low maintenance and sanitary.

So did your husband. T & P for him.

trev · Post by **trev** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 1:45 pm

Dinsdale wrote:
trev wrote:I wanted something that was low maintenance and sanitary. Granite did not fit the bill.

Uhm...

Don't even know how to respond to this besides "BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

Sounds like someone got one hell of a sales pitch from a Corian dealer.

Actually I didn't talk to any salesperson. There's this thing called the internet where you can research these things.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 6:51 pm

Anybody ever give concrete a shot? I am finally getting around to finishing the upstairs bath and I am thinking of trying a poured in place concrete top. The vanity is in an alcove which makes fitting a premade countertop a PITA. Considered tile, but, been there, done that with the downstairs bath and I've had issues with tiles coming loose which I'd just as soon not have to deal with here.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 10:44 pm

The OL wants to do some concrete floors when we rip out family and living room carpet. I'm not so sure about it, but if it turns out to be some hideous monstrosity I guess it's won't be too hard to cover it up.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:43 pm

You already have concrete floors mikey. It's called the garage. I guess it might work OK in places where 60 degrees is considered cold. Don't you already have a concrete floor under whatever there is there? Seems like there might be issues with getting another layer of concrete to bond with the slab. Good luck with it.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 2:50 pm

Yeah, I have a concrete slab. When they pour a concrete floor on top they put down some kind of insulating layer first so the floor isn't a constant 55 degrees. I guess they can also stamp it with whatever phony texture you want and finish with an epoxy coating in your favorite color.

Dr_Phibes · Post by **Dr_Phibes** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:20 pm

Mikey wrote: if it turns out to be some hideous monstrosity I guess it's won't be too hard to cover it up.

just drape it over with a blast furnace and a steam press. I admire a woman whose taste in interior decor leans toward heavy industry. :?

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 3:41 am

:popcorneatingsmiley:

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Apr 10, 2009 5:49 am

Dr_Phibes wrote:
Mikey wrote: if it turns out to be some hideous monstrosity I guess it's won't be too hard to cover it up.
just drape it over with a blast furnace and a steam press. I admire a woman whose taste in interior decor leans toward heavy industry. :?

Those are part of the kitchen renovation. We already have them on order from Kitchenaid.

If we do the concrete floor in the family room I'm thinking of going with one of these:

and one of these:

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:40 am

Mikey,

I have a ton of recipes stored mostly in MS Word format. I often thought that if I ever did or re-did a kitchen, I'd include a PC with a wall-mounted monitor for reference. Or for surfing porn when doing a slow simmer.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:21 am

Been thinking about hanging a small HDTV, which could double as a monitor, under the new cabinets. That will have to be an add-on at this point, though.

missjo · Post by **missjo** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:52 pm

So how long till the Kitchen reno is finished?
or are you having too much fun cooking all your meals on the Barbie in your Kewl new outdoor kitchen?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:37 pm

The renovation is going a little slower than we had hoped.

They got the demo done pretty fast but then things seemed to slow down. When prepping the peninsula (hanging) cabinets to be refaced they discovered something unexpected. The cabinets that were originally used were meant to be wall hung cabinets and so were not originally finished on both sides. The back side had been jury rigged with some paneling that matched the front. That meant that we couldn't just rout out the back panels and insert glass as we had planned to do, because the framework in the back did not match the front.

So...$3,000 change order to get peninsula cabinets built. It should only take "a couple of days in our shop". Almost two weeks later they are up but do not have the facing, the glass or the doors on them yet. The template for the counter top was supposed to be done early last week - the counter is the longest lead time item. It wasn't done, as far as I know, until Tuesday.

The carpenter keeps telling me that we are on schedule, but the original target date was April 24. No way will we make that. A week added for the cabinets would put us at May 1 and I'm a little dubious about that date as well.

The thing that has me worried is that I signed up to re-finance our mortgage a few days before we started the kitchen project. Got a great program at 4.6% fixed for 30 years. The problem is that the appraiser came a couple of days after the kitchen was demo'ed. The I get a call from the broker saying that they will not close the loan while any kind or renovation is going on. Gee...thanks for warning me about that upfront you asshole. We have a lock that runs out on May 18. If we don't close we lose our $500 deposit and our great interest rate.

If the kitchen contractors are not out of here by May 8 (my b-day, BTW) I may start going postal on them.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:02 pm

BTW, I'm really fucking tired of having the fridge and microwave in the garage and the grill about 1/2 mile away in the back yard. I'm really fucking tired of microwave chicken dinners and having to go in and out the door to the garage to get from the fridge to the sink in the laundry room.

I'm really fucking tired of the family room (where my stereo is) being virtually unuseable because it's on the opposite side of the kitchen.

Tonight we go out for Mexican food!

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:26 pm

Enjoy the Taco Bell.

I'm really fucking tired of the pool cover being open because it is torn and having to watch my kids (1 and 3) like a hawk so they don't fucking go outside and drown. I'm really fucking tired of the hot tub leaking and not being able to use it (though that should be resolved today). I'm really fucking tired of the brand new Aquabot getting stuck on the pool drain. I'm really fucking tired of the brand new Aquabot not climbing the walls to clean. I'm really fucking tired of leaving town every damn weekend and not having time to do near the shit I need around the house.

Anyone else really fucking tired of anything? Might as well make this a really fucking tired thread while we wait for Mikey's remodeling pics.

Screw_Michigan · Post by **Screw_Michigan** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:51 pm

You guys can whine about the checks you cut to feds. Oh, yeah, Mikey was above that.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 7:34 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:Enjoy the Taco Bell.

I'm really fucking tired of the pool cover being open because it is torn and having to watch my kids (1 and 3) like a hawk so they don't fucking go outside and drown. I'm really fucking tired of the hot tub leaking and not being able to use it (though that should be resolved today). I'm really fucking tired of the brand new Aquabot getting stuck on the pool drain. I'm really fucking tired of the brand new Aquabot not climbing the walls to clean. I'm really fucking tired of leaving town every damn weekend and not having time to do near the shit I need around the house.

Anyone else really fucking tired of anything? Might as well make this a really fucking tired thread while we wait for Mikey's remodeling pics.

I'm fucking tired of the Navigator stopping dead in the middle of the pool for no apparent fucking reason. I'm fucking tired of not having had the the time to backwash the filters and clean the algae off the side of the pool, because right now it's hot enough here and the water's warm enough to swim.

PS...and we don't frequent Taco Bell. We have plenty of better alternatives here. Rosa's is our regular Tuesday go-to sport for cheap but great Mexi take-out.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 11:18 pm

I'm really fukking tired of listening to fat bastards whine about having to do a little extra walking that they desperately need.

I'm really fukking tired of listening to somebody bitch about their pool cleaning issues while my crappy ass above ground recent skating rink still has a cover on it and will for another month or so until the oak tree pollen avalanches subside.

Looking on the bright side, I have nice big oak trees which will help keep my pool in the same zipcode after a good rain.

I'm really fukking tired of other things, but, I'm too fukking tired at the moment to think of any.

trev · Post by **trev** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 4:49 am

This just in: remodeling a kitchen never gets done on time. Look for Mikey to be in here next week broadcasting how tired he is of take-out.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:33 pm

Or how tired he is of paying more refi fees for his new almost as good as before, new low rate.

On the bright side mike, I doubt the fed is gonna be raising the prime and time soon from it's current .000000000002%

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:17 pm

smackaholic wrote:I doubt the fed is gonna be raising the prime and time soon from it's current .000000000002%

Hope you're right since my HELOC is set at whatever prime is.

Oh, and I'm really fucking tired of my new weedeater throwning all the clippngs (and rocks) backwards at my legs cutting them all up. I'm also really fucking tired of these damn edgin stones the previous owner put in making me have to refill my trimmer line twice in one cleaning. And I'm really fucking tired of smackaholic calling me a fat bastard when I am anything but.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:26 pm

I'm really fukking tired of reading comp challenged mofos not knowing who the fukk I am calling a fat bastard.

I'm equally tired of delicate faggits complaining about getting their shins chipped up right after they got them waxed, because they aren't smart enough to put a pair of jeans on over their thong when they do yard work.

If you insist on showing off that tush to the dude next door while you're weedwhacking, you might try a pair of leg warmers. You know you got a pair stashed away that you used to wear at the health club in 1986.