Remodelling the Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of any home, and this one needed a transplant desperately. The obtrusive peninsula had to go and the electric range, though new, will be replaced with a new gas one.
We gave away the stove and most of the cabinets to our friend Darlene, whose dad is installing a second kitchen in his garage. The refrigerator will be replaced and re-situated and the cabinets on the back wall will be replaced with a pantry.

Since the new stove will require electricity for the microwave hood and ignitors on the gas stove, and will be located on the opposite side of the kitchen, we made the necessary electrical additions and added a gas line. The kitchen will prove to be a major challenge for wiring skills, because we wanted so many "extras" in our new kitchen. Even scaled back to budget, there is a lot to do in the kitchen, and when sometimes the switches did not work properly, we had to re-think and try again.

We plan on an island as the centerpiece for the kitchen that will require more electricity for appropriate lighting. The fluorescent fixture was removed and replaced with a temporary incandescent bulb while Paul wired for the new recessed lighting and installed 3way switches and dimmer switches on both sides of the for the new kitchen.

In place of the rear wall cabinets, we framed out a 7 foot pantry that we know we will never regret. Once the pantry was enclosed, we had no problem filling it with stuff that needed a home.

Some of the work we had to do for the kitchen may not be the most entertaining views on a blog, but it needed to be done and there was lots of it. Because we are entirely remodelling the kitchen the heat registers needed to be moved. In the pictures above, notice there was one near the door that we took out and put near the new pantry, and the one near the sliders had to come out to make room for the refrigerator. Some of the work, like the extension cord that was hardwired for an outdoor spot light, needed attention but really not worth photographing.
Then we found this contraption hanging from the ceiling in the basement that we removed. That may have been to heat the sliders or the basement, but whatever, we took it out.
As we began planning putting in the cabinets, we discovered that the kitchen window jammed in the humid weather and it was ugly and drafty, so we removed the old window and dropped a few hundred on a new casement window.
Unfortunately, our measurements were too small so we exchanged it for a double hung, which was bigger than the previous window but we opened the wall a little and got the larger window in.

The new window really brightens up the kitchen. and does not look so dated. Here's the kitchen almost completely gutted with a working sink. The electrical outlets on either side need updating and we still need a switch for a light over the sink.
Click on this picture to enlarge.

Believe it or not, this was not the worst of what we found under the cabinets, only what was left before we remembered the camera. We found decades of mouse shit in the kitchen.
Finally, we began installing the upper cabinets and the kitchen is beginning to take form. The upper cabinet enclosure will house the microwave hood over the new stove, an additional overhead cabinet will be installed on the right and will hover over the refrigerator.

The bathroom

The bathroom was a tough rehab. the water to the toilet had to be re-routed from an old artesian well that was gravity fed. The main well was cleaner and faster becuase it was actually pumped from the well and was filtered. The plumbing for the tub was a challenge because the tub we chose with surround walls did not line up exactly with the old tub that was installed 40 years ago. We tried to keep as much of the original copper piping as possible, but ended up with a good deal of PEX, which Paul got quite comfortable installing through out the house.

After the initial gutting of the old fixtures, we installed a "light tube" in the bathroom, which is really a sky light without a view. The bathroom has no windows, so the light was welcome. It brightened up the room immensely and eliminated the need to turn on a light during the day. The funky old light/fan combination is still pictured here, but that too was replaced with a more modern fixture that we can share later.

Then we rewired for new lights, and upgraded most of the plumbing. Once the utilities were attached in working order, we added a thick layer of insulation around the bathroom and put up the new walls. Lee worked meticulously to get the ceiling smooth after we installed the sky light and removed the old light fixture.

We had a real tough job getting the tub to line up. The four piece kit contained the tub and three walls that needed to fit together on the sides and the bottom. The small space in which we were working made that difficult enough, but the fact that everything was so inflexible made it almost impossible. We finally managed to get it in, vowing that the master bath installation would be tiled rather than one of these kits.

Enjoying the Chaos

As we worked, we managed to have some fun too. Many of our friends popped in to see what we were up to and we enjoyed showing them around. I took so many pictures of them, but unfortunately accidentally erased all the pictures from my digital camera and lost them. Damn!
I did manage to get one of Anne when she brought us some lunch the day Jack was helping with the dryer hookup. Darlene and Will were over a couple of times, this time was for pleasure only, but they also helped removing the old stove and kitchen cabinets. I did not hesitate to pump Will for some electrical advise while he was here.

Vinny K came by one morning and took all kinds of pictures of us on the property and around the house. Too bad we did not get pictures of Vinny! Maybe next time, we want his picture on this blog.
Here is some of what he took, Lee and Paul giving Pitoune her morning coffee by the pool (we hope the vet does not see this, she doesn't agree with all the "people food" we give our dog), Lee out in front of the house and Paul loving the barn up in the back.
We love having company and appreciate everything our friends have done for us, be it helping with a project or just popping in to make sure we are alright. Even though we are living in the seclusion of the woods, we are not too far away and its nice to have friends we can count on close by.

Somewhat moved in

Lee had to empty his house first, so we began moving his stuff into the house. Since we were still under construction, we needed to store all his stuff in the basement temporarily using only essentials upstairs.
We may be under one roof now, but we are far from organized. Some days it seems like we are never going to get there, other days we fell like we've arrived.
We did manage to move out of the sun room where we were sleeping on an air mattress and set up bedroom after Lee cleaned it thoroughly. He's a real stickler for cleanliness, on this day it looks like he decided to sleep in a little. He deserves it, he works very hard.

Once we got a regular place to sleep established, we set up the first room anywhere near completion. Being small and out of the way the sun room gave us a place to relax and watch some TV in between projects.

Next were the animals. Pitoune, our precious dog, was easy since she goes everywhere. She has barely worn a leash since we moved in, she loves her new home and the freedom it affords. She enjoys visits from neighboring dogs, deer and bunnies too.

The cats were a different story. They just hid at first, not only because of the new surroundings but because of each other. It took a couple of days for them to adjust but Olivia ("Scootch") and Boy are doing just fine and love all the space inside and out.

They don't exactly love each other, but they are getting along pretty well and can eat side by side. Pitoune helps keep them both in check.

"It's Just Cosmetic"

The seller of this house told us that everything we wanted to do was "cosmetic." To this point, we have done nothing cosmetic. Every labor intensive task has included major renovation and money. Here is Lee ripping up the horrible green living room carpet and padding, underneath which he discovered years of cat urine and a bubbled and damaged subfloor that will need to be resurfaced. Talk about a stinking job, this really smelled awful!

In the mean time Paul works on the subfloor for the bathroom and the installation of Hardy Backer waterproofing. The old subfloor suffered a little water damage, but after 40 years of use was not too bad.

Finally we loaded up the pick up with 1,450 pounds of "cosmetic" waste, which consisted mostly of the cast iron tub and all the bathroom fixtures, the bathroom walls (including the tiles), the carpet and padding from the living room and any other garbage we needed to haul away. We suspect that this won't be the first trip to the dump.

Repairing the Pool

The new pool liner arrived and Jimmy and his crew got started 7am Saturday morning. The first thing they did was make needed repairs to the vermiculite bottom which was cracked from exposure but Jimmy said he had seen worse. Then the side walls needed to be re-surfaced with special insulation to protect the new liner.
Once they began putting the new liner in place, we started feeling a lot better. It certainly was attractive, Jimmy said we were wise to pick the heaviest gage liner they offered.

When they began rolling the liner out, putting it in place, vacuuming out the air from the walls and making the proper cuts in the liner, the pool started looking and smelling brand new. This was a very exciting day for us. The time and precision required to install a pool liner was impressive. I remembered that when we discovered the pool's condition, the owner said he would fill the pool with garden the hose and it would pop back into place. Not quite.
Jimmy and his crew ran back and forth on the pool's floor pounding corners, adhering the sides and perfecting the fit as the vacuum worked vigorously to get the air out from underneath.

The fun part was watching the three tractor trailer loads of water it took to fill the pool. 20,000 gallons in total. Once it was full we tested the lines and equipment. Except for one small crack in an above ground hose, we are ready to go. We're hoping for a long hot summer.

Gutting the Bathroom

Even though we were not sure exactly what we wanted, we knew the bathroom had to go. The toilet didn't flush, the lights were dim, the medicine cabinet was filthy and the tiles were white, brown, pink and tan. Three trips to Home Depot and $3,500 later we had the new fixtures, a skylight, tile, grout, subfloor, sheetrock, glue, nails and screws. We hoped it was everything we needed, until we ran into trouble with pluming and electric which has to be done before we install anything .

The toilet ended up sitting on the front walk for a few days and the porch became a dumping ground for the debris.

Our dog, Pitoune, immediately noticed the space left over, thinking to herself, "hey, wasn't there a bathtub here yesterday? And check out that floor! Tiny ugly pebbles glued to plywood and a complete bitch to remove (click on this or any picture to enlarge for a clearer view). An hour with a sledge hammer and and an ice scraper and it was gone.

In the end, we left nothing but the bare bones so we could begin replacing the plumbing and rewiring the electrical lines. Now that the demolition is almost done, we can focus on re-building. This will be the first new room in the house that will not include the smell of anything old. Believe it or not, we have grand visions for this space. The ability to use an indoor bathroom again tops the list.

Pool Inpsection

Lee was really excited about having a built in pool, Paul was a little skeptical of all the maintenance. Also, how do you inspect a pool in February? That's what the sellers were counting on! Its covered with snow and ice on top of that. But the water was at a good level, just below the skimmer. Good faith... We knew what it was, but did they?

We later learned that you should hold money back in escrow as a part of the contract process when dealing with a pool purchase. There is lots to consider, the pump, filter, waterlines, the liner, the vermiculite bottom, all things we learned when we bought this particular house.

The main thing we learned is to ask questions... lots of them. We did ask the realtor about the condition of the pool. She said it was only installed in 2001, seven summers of enjoyment. That's good. Then we asked the owner directly. He said it was six years old (oh well, whats one year) and he maintained it himself.

On top of that it had a pool room and an out door bathroom/shower right on the patio attached to the house! Whats better than that? It was looking more and more like a party house with its pool, big patio and huge stone barbeque pit. It was easy to anticipate a joyous summer. Whats that? No CO on the outdoor bath? Or the den addition? That would delay things.

The Systems Inspection

We had a great inspector, we really felt he was looking out for us. No great surprises, but a few flags. It was obvious we needed a new boiler to heat the house. The owner agreed to upgrade the electric service. Both the plumbing and electrical systems were pretty Jerry-rigged.

The old man selling us the house had built it himself, and though we were impressed with his handy work, there were some obvious shortcuts, and most of the stuff was just plain old.

Okay, we would have to invest some money in the heating and plumbing. $5,000 and it would all be fine, right?

Finding the House of our dreams

After deciding to search for a house together in January 2009, this was the first one we looked at. We thought we could pick it up for a song since it was in substantial disrepair and had all the modern features of the house on “The Brady Bunch”.
The house was built in 1969 and did not appear to have been updated since. It had a funky smell and the dark cabinets and retro fixtures reminded me of my youth. The bathroom was horrible with tiny ceramic tiles of tan and brown, you'll see them in a later post.
Well, we paid more than we expected, but the house was located in a remote wooded area with two acres of land and a built in pool. One neighbor is visible from the house but the summer foliage will cover that with no problem.
The outside was in desperate need of paint, everything needed work from top to bottom. There was potential here and we were convinced we could do it.
The owner informed us that all the renovations we wanted were cosmetic (HA!) and refused to mitigate the price. "besides," we were informed by the seller's realtor, "there is a buyer who keeps making offers higher than yours." (We suspected later that this was a lie to either hasten dumping the house on us or keeping us from buying it all together). Our Realtor showed us many other houses, but we kept comparing all others to this one. Finally, we decided to stop kidding ourselves and ante up. We made an offer only $10.000 less than the asking price.