Autumn's remodel job... Part Three

03/1/09

Typing with a broken thumb is very difficult. We'll get to that...

We left off last time with a big hole in the kitchen wall. It's still there. (ha ha)

In my haste to make progress, I completely forgot to take photos of the ONE wall in the house with studs that I got to wire like a real human being. But here it is all drywalled up, with the plumbing complete. I used every scrap of drywall I had, since this part of the wall was going to hide being the cabinets anyway...

Here's the wall primed and ready for paint:

More kitchen walls ready for paint.

Same walls... painted! Look how bright and cheery it looks! :)

This kitchen cabinet came from one of the neighbors. I think it dates to the 50's. The actual sink cabinet from this set was too large for this space, so I'm having to modify this unit for the sink... The first order of business was to cut a piece of plywood for the countertop and cut a hole for the sink to fit in. I used a jigsaw for the first time ever. What a cool tool!!!

Meanwhile, back at the woodstove... both glass doors shattered on the drafty red one... so I picked this one up cheap. It's an old Fisher like Mom and Bob have. It works GREAT! Here is my first fire laid and ready to be lit. *grin*

Back to the kitchen... here is a look at the old floor... the linoleum is original and dates to about 1953.

A closeup. Yuk.

Here, I'm in the process of laying the new vinyl floor. The is the first time I've ever done vinyl. It would have been easier than I thought, had the home improvement store been more interested in helping me with home improvement, rather than home destruction.

You know, I was actually starting to think Lowe's was all right. The people there seemed helpful and knowledgeable, unlike some other major home improvement chains that are as bad as most Radio Shack stores. ("You've got questions? We've got high schoolers with attitude problems and a complete lack of interest...") But this last trip to Lowe's didn't impress me much. I went in with measurements down to the gnat's ass... and STILL came out with the wrong stuff.

The flooring "expert" at Lowe's, after examining my project closely, gave me the wrong size notched trowel, so my two little buckets of adhesive, which were supposed to cover the whole area, ended up doing on 1/4 of the floor. You're supposed to do half of the floor at a time... not stop halfway through half of it! But I ran out of adhesive... and when I rolled it, GOBS of of the stuff came squishing out. Thanks, Lowe's. Just about ruined $100 worth of vinyl flooring.

After a new (proper) trowel and another bucket of adhesive, the floor is finished and looks great. Except for the slightly bumpy parts on 1/4 of the floor where I never could get all the extra glue out. Thanks again, Lowe's.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you a picture of Rowan in her new wings. Grandma found them at a garage sale and she doesn't want to take them off. Ever.

And now, back to the remodel. I was finally getting somewhere on the kitchen. Despite feeling intimidated by laying the floor, it was done. Next, I was getting ready to tile a countertop for the first time.

First, however, I had to break my thumb.

Lovely, isn't it? Yes, that's mastic tile adhesive on the end of it. It hurts too much to try to get it off right now. *grin*

So, I'm cutting a trim board on the table saw, and am pushing the board INTO the blade, holding it with my hands on either end of using my thumbs for leverage. Like an idiot. NO, I do not usually cut boards that way, but I'd just finished ripping a sheet of plywood and was standing there, and it seemed like a fine idea at the time. Until the back edge of the board grabbed the saw because of the pressure I was putting on it and BOTH ends of the board came flying back at me at about 90 mph.

THWACK!

My right thumb hurt the worst, at first. That was a full sprain, all the way back to the wrist. I guess the left one didn't hurt so bad because it immediately went numb. I didn't realize it was broken until about an hour later, when the stinging started and the knuckle swelled up all funny and it turned blue and I couldn't bend it without screaming.

No health insurance, so a doctor's visit is out of the question and likely pointless anyway. So I splinted it, and went on.

Remodeling a house is hard. Remodeling a house with a hand-and-a-half is ridiculous. But I have a deadline, dammit. It's self-imposed, granted, but YOU try sleeping with a two-year old in a camp trailer through four months of winter and see if you don't try to rush things a little. *grin*

So I tiled.

Somehow, I got through it, despite the occasional "OW!", an expletive here and there, and the repeated dropping of everything I picked up. Funny... when I was cutting tiles on the tile saw, I kept cringing, until I realized that they weren't flexible and couldn't grab the saw and beat the crap out of me the way the board did.

So, the kitchen is getting close to being done. I have to grout the tiles (I got an epoxy grout, which supposedly is stainproof), drop the sink in and plumb it, route out around the sink hole for the clips since now the countertop is too thick and extension clips are $20 for 10 of 'em... paint the cabinets (wait'll you see the color!), paint the shelves, finish the trim, wire the range in, find a fridge... wire two more outlets on the outside kitchen wall (that requires crawling under the house again to continue the circuit from the living room... yippee...), turn the water on while I'm under the house... um... oh yeah, fix a couple spots on the ceiling... and I think that's about it. (Gee... that's all?)

Then, it's on to the bathroom. Or, rather, the closet which happens to have a toilet in it. *grin*

Anyway, here's a before and after recap on the kitchen counter.

From this:

to this, in two weeks. With only one broken bone! :D

Check out PAGE FOUR!

Autumn