Sunday, January 22, 2006

We're almost done

Things we’ve done in preparation for new kitchen cabinets and flooring:

1. at least 8 hours at Home Depot deciding on the layout
2. remove old cabinets, some a few weeks ago and the rest yesterday
3. remove sink, water purification system and disposal; drop very heavy cast iron sink on little pinky finger
4. tear out ceiling getting sheet rock dust in eyes, hair and shirt
5. replace kitchen valves under sink to hot, cold, and dishwasher
6. put new kitchen valves on, but forget to use plumber’s tape; remove valves again and re-do with tape while cussing
7. pull out two layers of old linoleum
8. paint where walls will still show (all wife)
9. paint ceiling (all wife—what can I say? She’s a much better painter than me.)
10. rewire kitchen for canned lights and undercounter lights—wife’s design, dad’s help
11. rewire outlet under sink so we can move the dishwasher to the other side of the sink
12. move stove wire to other side of the room (wire cost $50 and is a bitch to manipulate)
13. hired John, our best find in years, to rough in new ceiling, sheetrock, mud, and advise on a number of details and decisions
14. I hope we haven’t forgotten anything—the new cabinets are here and the installers come Monday
15. p.s. purchased two cookies and one 9 buck loaf of cherry chocolate bread (I’ve never spent that much for a loaf of bread) from Great Harvest in an attempt to comfort myself in the face of spending thousands of dollars and doing last minute prep (see numbers 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7)
16. p.s.s. pulling up part of carpet downstairs and mopping up water because after shutting off the water to replace the kitchen valves, I opened it up too much—it leaked for about 8 hrs. Luckily oldest son noticed it just before we went to bed. Another 10 hrs of leaking would have been too much: no amount of delicious breads at Great Harvest would have healed me

I would have never guessed I was going to spend this much of my life remodeling: wife’s vision of our home + three kids + teacher’s pay = mucho time remodeling

Before and after pictures forthcoming

5 comments:

shane said...

Sheeew! I'm tired just reading it. Makes my two-hour snow shoveling ordeal seem pretty trite.

Lisa B. said...

Bon courage, my friend. I bet your house will be amazing, which will almost compensate for the loads of cash you shoveled out for that privilege.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the invaluable assistance of your future brother-in-law in your wiring endeavors ;)

Counterintuitive said...

Sorry Rod--I knew I left you out as soon as I saw your name in my email

middlebrow said...

When you're done with the kitchen you can, as my mentor, help me with a remodel of our bathroom.