Kitchen Before and After

I've definitely neglected my blog since returning to work in the engineering field. The kitchen was completed months ago, but I hadn't taken time to get my husband to snap some nice photos. Finally made time for that, in between work & using my days off to painting & reorganizing the other rooms in the house after the re-wiring job. I put together some before & after shots so you can see what a big improvement the new kitchen is.

Happy to see go: wallpapered ceiling, vinyl floor, old hardware on cabinets.

Favorite new additions: recycled glass countertops (vetrazzo), DSC range, bosch dishwasher (nice & quiet), new bar/counter & window valance made with the glass bottle bottoms & LED lights. Eco friendly marmoleum floor and bamboo cabinets with a tall pantry.

Inexperienced Tilers at Work

After weeks and weeks of delays due to missed appointments and scheduling conflicts our contractor finally came a week ago and installed the backerboard for the backsplash. He brought us thinset & trowels, but left us on our own to install the glass tile backsplash. He was very uneasy about cutting glass tile. We are using 6"x12" tile, so they are a bit large. My husband took a few days off work and we've spent 4 days working so far and have only finished the first wall. 
First we needed to put in some aluminum edging to cover the backerboard where the tile ends because we didn't find any matching bullnose for our glass tile. The first strip we cut by hand with a hacksaw. Since we no longer had the miter saw, or a hand miter box, my husband thought we could use the tile saw to cut it. We have a portable wet saw (picked it up at a yard sale for $20) and a diamond blade for cutting the glass tile. But hubby wanted one with a sliding tray because he was concerned about scratching the colored backing that comes on the glass tile. So we went out and rented a tile saw and tried cutting the metal trim. That didn't work too well, the metal heated up from the blade & left an edge at the cut. So we had to go back to hand cutting with the hacksaw & trying to make clean 45 degree cuts. Ended up taking the rest of the day to install the trim & get the skim coat of thinset on the backer board. 
Next day, we needed to figure out the best placement of the tile under the windowsill and around the electrical outlets so that we would have the simplest cuts possible. Laying them out was also a bit difficult with two faucets at the sink sticking up in the way. After a bit of debating, we finally settled on the placement and went to make our first cut. Well the blade on the rented tile saw chipped up the edge of the glass all along the cut. We should have tested it the day before... come to think of it, we did with a sample tile of a different brand & it looked OK, but our first cut was unacceptable. So we gave it a try on our wet saw with the diamond blade and it was a nice clean cut. Of course, at that point we looked at the clock & it was passed closing time on saturday for the rental place. So we'd wasted 2 days rental on a saw we didn't use. Lucky for us, when we did return it, the owner was very generous & only charged us for one days rent. Anyway, since neither of us have much experience with tiling, we decided to start with just the small batch of tiles centered under the windowsill first. After we got those cut, thinset mixed, notched troweled on the wall & buttered on the back we mounted our first tiles. Those little tile spacers are a pain, they keep falling out, especially when you try and sponge the thinset off the face of the tiles and out of the grout joints. When we finally finished that, it was getting too dark so the next morning we cut the ones to the left of the window. We laid them out like subway tiles but in a vertical direction, so each column had 1 full tile and a bit less than 1/2 a tile. The hardest cut was the 'U' shaped cut out for the outlet. Since the glass is so easy to crack & chip, the best recommendation we found was to cut parallel strips to the bottom of the 'U' and then break out the pieces. The first time we didn't get the 'U' quite deep enough. I suggested using the tile bit on the dremel to cut it a little wider. Unfortunately the dremel slipped and the bit scratched the front of the tile. Then I suggested that he try to just bring the tile down over the saw blade at the bottom of the 'U' not necessarily cutting all the way through the tile but to help break away the strips. I think he misunderstood what I was getting at - he tried the cut on another tile, but didn't cut the sides of the 'U' first and the tile cracked in two. Then on the third try, he cut the side lines first & then laid the bottom down over the spinning blade & it worked. The corners did chip out a little in the back (as the blade is curved) but the cover plate for the outlet is big enough to hide it. 
So after we mounted those on the wall we got to repeat the same process for the other side of the window. But we didn't get the last section mounted until today, after returning the rented saw. The next problem was deciding how to space the tiles so we only had to cut one tile each for the 2 outlets on the next wall. I spent a few hours shifting them around so that we wouldn't have too thin a strip to cut on either end and by the time we settled on the proper spacing it was getting a bit late again, so now we have to squeeze in the rest of this tiling around our work schedules. The fun of DIY!

Kitchen Renovation Winding Down

We’re finally approaching a completed kitchen. We’ve been drilling the holes to put the hardware on the cabinets and get them hung, but it turned out that we didn’t get a few of the hinges that connect the two piece doors for the corner cabinets. They arrived yesterday, so we should be able to finish hanging and adjusting the doors this weekend. We still have the backsplash left to complete and to finish getting the bottle bottoms mounted in the bar.

New Electrical Panel

New Electrical Panel, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

Yeah, we passed our final electrical inspection today. Here's our new relocated breaker panel. Not quite sure why it needed to be so large, it's less than half full. Now I need a tall narrow work of art to cover it up. Guess I'll have to look through the thousands of my husbands photos for something the right dimensions. I also need to pick out a paint color for this little hallway and paint the patched up wall.

Bottle Bottom Valance

We finally finished mounting the bottle bottoms in the valance & connected it to the cabinets. We just love how it came out, can't wait to finish the bottles on the bar counter. Of course we had to take took it back down this morning as the electricians are here to install all the light fixtures and outlets. Little by little, we're finally approaching the end of this overdue project.

Kitchen Sink Installed

 YEAH! We finally have a kitchen sink. Earlier in the week one side of the kitchen got the counter tops installed, with the sink under-mounted. The other side of the room had two counter pieces that needed to be re-cut because the brick wall isn't square to the wall it abuts. Anyway since the sink side was ready, the plumber came today & installed the faucet and water filter and hooked up the lines for the dishwasher and the icemaker in the fridge. The appliances can't be used yet because the outlets won't be in until the backsplash is done. But we now have a working sink, no more going out back to use the laundry room sink. Little by little it's starting to look like a kitchen again.

Mounting Bottle Bottoms in Wood

Bamboo Finish on box to heighten Brick Wall

Bottle Bottom Template for Valance

Sometimes simple ideas are harder to execute than you expect. My idea of mounting glass bottle bottoms into the wood we used to build-up our brick wall to counter height took days & days of planning & practice to figure out how to accomplish it. 
First of all a lot of beer bottles appear the same size, but they vary ever so slightly. Also since we are using LED lights to shine through from the inside of the box, the bottles need to fit snug in the hole so light doesn’t bleed around the edge. The cleanest way to get a nice round hole in wood without chewing up the edges is with a hole saw. Only problem, they come in just certain sizes & the larger ones get pricey. Between the contractor & ourselves, we had quite a few, but not enough for all the sizes of bottles. We splurged on a few additional ones. My husband also found an adjustable hole maker, but it wasn’t cutting through thick pieces of wood easily. So after various practice holes and shaving down of glass bottles, he decided to use the adjustable hole saw to cut holes in a template, clamp that template to the box and use his router to cut the smooth round holes. So we ended up going out & spending almost $25 on the right router bit. In the end it was worth it.

Bob cutting Circle Templates

Adjustable Hole Saw

Hole Cutters & practice cuts in Bamboo

The Circle Templates

Special Router Bit

Box with Circles Cut Out (protective tape still applied)

Alehouse Amber Counter Top

IMG_3312, a photo by BaubCat on Flickr.

Today the counter top fabricator came to make the template for our recycled glass counter tops. Later in the day we drove up to his shop to inspect the two slabs that will be used.
I love these Vetrazzo counter tops even more now that I've seen the full slabs. The small sample pieces or online photos just don't do it justice. Certain pieces of the glass chips have so much sparkle & add such depth. I can't wait for them to be installed in a few weeks...so glad I splurged on my eco friendly counters.

Alehouse Amber by Vetrazzo

Installing Kitchen Cabinets

Installing Upper Cabinets, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

Those beautiful Bamboo cabinets are finally getting installed. At first it was a bit of a shock seeing the large open room & my new floor getting covered over by the cabinet carcasses. Made the room start feeling crowded. But after enough of them got placed, the design started to come together and I'm getting psyched. Can't wait till the doors & handles get put on.
The installation videos make it seem like a quick easy job, but to do a quality job, it takes a lot of leveling, shimming and interconnecting of the cabinets. It didn't go quite as quick as even my contractor expected, probably because he's as much of a perfectionist as I am...and of course his helpers are us amateurs & he's always taking time explaining every step to us. So far it's looking great!

Finished Floor Installed

Finished Floor Pattern, a photo by b-a-boop on Flickr.

We finally got my floor design installed (my mid century modern inspired pattern). The marmoleum click was relatively easy to install, a typical floating floor. The most difficult part was accounting for the expansion gap at all the different trim locations. It took a bit of thinking to accomodate those gaps & still keep the design lined up with the entries & cabinets before we started. You can find a few more photos on my flickr photostream.

Choosing Paint Colors

Why is it that every color on a paint chip looks so pretty but when you put it on the wall it sometimes makes you want to puke. I had such a hard time choosing the paint color for the kitchen.

The ceiling paint gave me a bit of trouble…I found the perfect paint color swatch, but the sample paint didn’t come out matching it, so I ended up going back for a sample of the next darker shade & mixed the two together. That came close to what I wanted, so it worked out fine.

For the walls I wanted green to match the glass bottle chips in the recycled glass counter top. We’re also putting in glass backsplash tiles that are a very pale shade of green, somewhere in the sage range. My first pick was from a paint card that had a green matching the bottles. I just picked one of the lighter shades on the strip. I painted it on a scrap piece of drywall (since the walls weren’t done yet). It ended up looking just like that green drywall they sell and I hated it. So next I went for something with more blue in it, an aqua shade, painted that one on the wall & it was way too bright. I then collected 2 more greens in olive & sage hues. I liked the sage, but my husband said it was too close to the tile color with no contrast. He suggested I find something in between the last two. So then I found the ‘Lemongrass’ swatch. It’s one of Martha Stewart’s colors. Hubby was happy with it, so the walls are finally painted. I love the color, but I’m still unsure how the glass backsplash will look against it. Time will tell. Just glad the room is finally painted.

Concrete Beam Repair

One wall in our kitchen is a concrete support wall so it was the only one we didn’t knock out all the plaster on. It was also the one most out of plumb; the room measures more than an inch wider at the ceiling than at the floor. There were some problems with the plaster surface over the concrete and we could feel some hollow gaps in between the 2 layers. That meant scraping the wall down, which lead to big chunks of the plaster falling off, all the way down to the rough concrete surface. Another repair not anticipated at the beginning of the renovation. 
Our contractor kept mentioning the steps we would be using to make the repair, but we were working on the other walls and when he left me on my own for a few days, I attempted the repair on my own. To fill those gaps back in bonding agent was needed to adhere the joint compound to the rough concrete. The concrete must first be clean & all loose particles removed. Then you coat the concrete with the bonding agent at full strength. Once it is tacky, but quickly before it dries, use an admix of bonding agent & joint compound and cover the raw concrete. You don’t try to fill the whole gap, but just cover the raw concrete. Once that dries then the next pass of joint compound will stick to the 1st coat.
Since the worst spots were at the corner joint, we needed to create a form on the underside of the beam to give a smooth edge to fill up to. My husband formed it up for me and I spread a very thick layer of compound across the wall and into those deep recesses. We had to let it dry for a day & a half before we removed the plywood form & even then, the underside of the mud was still damp and I even cut out a few big drips. Our contractor returned and decided to bring us a bag of durabond which is a dry mix of joint compound which is a bit more firm than the premixed stuff. Wish I had had it for the first layers; it was firmer & easier to work with. He had me add a few more layers of it to level out the corner as much as possible before adding the corner bead. Since the beam is solid, the plastic corner bead can’t be stapled into it, so I had to use the metal reinforced paper tape. Working again by myself, I smoothed on a layer of compound and climbed up ladders on each end of the beam to place the tape so that the bottom edge was level before I folded it under across the bottom side. There was of course a gap on the underside in the center that needed to be filled with joint compound too, but I’m pleased how well it came out. Now it just needs a few coats on each ace to smooth everything out nice & flat like the rest of the walls.

Inside Corners / Outside Corners

After putting up the new drywall in our kitchen, we had to form inside corners up three walls and between the 3 new walls & the ceiling. We also had to form outside corners on the window frame, the pass-thru and the hallway entrance. There was also an outside corner on the concrete beam above the brick wall, but that repair will be part of another post. 

some materials used

outside corners on window are in, inside corners on wall/ceiling need to be done, a gap at top of wall was pre-filled

The outside corners were the easier of the two. We used plastic corner beads that are stapled onto the dry and smoothed over with the joint compound. The toughest part of that was cutting and mitering the corners so that all the openings were square.

corner bead on window, sill needs work so top edge wasn't bedded

outside corner of pass-thru done

close up of pass-thru

outside corner on hallway entry

On the inside corners we used paper tape reinforced with metal strips. To install it you need to measure out a piece the proper length, spread out a layer of joint compound over each side of the corner (being sure not to put it on too thick, except in areas where the seams are really out of square). You then fold the tape down the center & place the tape into the corner keeping it as square & level as possible. Use the trowel to press it smoothly down into your layer of joint compound and then add another layer of joint compound over the top to bed it in securely. The toughest one of those joints was the 14’ long joint on the ceiling, there was a substantial amount of space (almost an inch) in the middle of the ceiling that needed to be filed in. Luckily my husband & I were able to work on that together and he devised way to project a line along the wall for us to follow to keep the tape level across the length of the wall. Once the joint is dry, and then comes the hard part of leveling out the dips in the walls and ceiling to meet your nice new sharp corners. It took quite a few passes on the ceiling to fill in that valley, especially a pain when having to go up & down the ladder so many times.

inside corners done

Happy Thanksgiving

Well here it is the biggest cooking day of the year and we still don't have our new kitchen. Our temporary facilities just don't cut it. So luckily my mom invited us up to her house for dinner, so we'll be "getting out of Dodge" for a few days. Hope everyone has a nice holiday & fills up on plenty of great food. 

Temporary kitchen, sink's out in the laundry room, fridge is just out of view, only have microwave & electric skillet to cook on

Bamboo Cabinets Ready for Assembly

The beautiful bamboo kitchen cabinets have finally arrived. They are now stacked up in two rooms in the house waiting for us to finish the walls & floor so we can assemble them and install them.