Kitchen Demolition

A bit of a delay in posts I realize, but I'm back on it now. Something about demolitioning a kitchen doesn't leave a lot of time and energy to create posts on my delicate computer.

So here's the start of it...

Gary with the circular saw to the......counterTOP????

And the final outcome...

Magazine Rack

When I did the attic remodel back in 2003, a little light bulb in my head went off to add a built in magazine rack next to the toilet. With the advent of great smartphones, I tend to not read magazines during those deeds anymore, but I still thought it would add some character for the downstairs bathroom remodel.

Rough opening between two wall studs...

With the 1x3's cut for the casing...

Using my kitchen countertop on it's last days as a nearby workbench...

Assembled and held in place by gravity...

This was all done by less than par drill bits so it has got its share of flaws but I think it turned out just fine. It will be painted white along with the trim and beadboard wainscoting.

The Copper Hood Is Here

I didn't want to give any sneak peaks to the kitchen remodel but I was so psyched to see the copper hood, that I had to share.

This was made by Vlad at Art of Rain. I highly recommend him. He's personable, friendly, quick, very talented, and with reasonable cost. All the things that make a great experience when it comes to purchasing these types of items.

I didn't really need the hood this soon, but I sure like having it around so I can gaze at it.

Bathroom Door Install

The bathroom floor was fairly easy to install. Now it came time for something more challenging - hanging the old $75 five panel bathroom door purchased from the salvage section at Rejuvenation. I've done this about 3 times before, none of them have been absolutely perfect, but good enough to be workable and to fool those who know not what to look for.

Things were going fine as I took my time on an evening after work, then all of a sudden 3 issues arose:

1. I cut the incorrect end of the jamb.

2. The floor sloped so bad that it created a half inch inch gap at one end of the door's side.

3. The rough in of the framing was too tight and gave no play for adjustment.

As panic sort of almost set in, I broke for dinner and had a solution after my first bite. I just needed to trim off about 1/4" of the jamb. This turned out perfect since I was able to lower the door about 1/4", meet halfway for the slope of a 1/4". The jamb end, that had a funny angle, could simply be caulked to hide my oversight of cutting the incorrect end. My door, which I had custom cut, still had plenty of room to fit within. The task continued to churn forward.

That first evening took 5 hours and I was up until midnight, but the successful ending made it all the worth it.

There is nothing easy about hanging a door, I've concluded. Even attaching the strike and knob hardware needs to be thought through carefully. It sure is fun opening and closing it now though only for the simple fact of.... because it works!

Getting Heat to the Bathroom

If there is one thing about HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) work that I have learned, it's ALWAYS wear gloves. I'll never forget the first HVAC project that I worked on at my house (adding heat to the upstairs) and the next day, when I went to work, my hands were riddled with band-aids, much to the amusement of my co-workers. I eventually spilled some blood on this project, since there were some moments that I needed the fingertips.

When I put the bathroom floor in, I spaced and forgot to locate the heat register. That meant I had to rip up some tile and cut through the cement board. That cement board eats sawzall blades like bar pretzels, so you know!

I had some custom boxes made to fit the old registers I bought at Rejuvenation. Once those were installed, and taped up, running the hard and flex duct was a piece of cake.

Here's a shot of the register install...

A before and after view from below...

Bathroom Floor Install

Now that I have the wainscoting almost ready, I realized that I needed the baseboard molding in before I could install the wainscoting. But before I could install the baseboard molding, I really should have the floor in. Works for me. I really enjoy installing floors. The outcome far exceeds the work put into it. That doesn't necessarily mean it's easy, just doable.

Since this section of the house is a tad lower than the rest, the floor needed to be built up to make a total of 1.25" thickness. Half inch plywood was cut to fit....

Then half inch cement board....

Making a nice thick floor...

And now for the 1" hex tile (1/4" thick), for the period bathroom look. They are not exactly authentic because I wanted glazed tile for ease of cleaning.

At the door, I needed to support the grout edge so I took one of the floor board samples I'm going to use in the kitchen and installed it as a threshold. I really like the worn antique wood look against the shiny new tile.