The Aftershock

Of course, after the Big One there will be small shocks afterward. The shock I encountered was when I double checked everything after priming to find the flex duct had a large hole in the back of it that ran up behind the drywall. This must have occurred as I was moving it to attach the adapter to the hood vent. This set my schedule back a bit from when I thought we would get the kitchen back in working order but I did correct it as I didn't want the warm, moist air from the hood vent producing mold in the cavity above the alcove. But this was after I had gotten the sanding and priming done.

Taped off for primer.

First coat on.

Sanded and 2nd coat applied.

I also took the time to move the outlet for the electric range connection. Though we have a gas unit, I wanted to have this moved so that it wouldn't interfere with putting the fridge against the back wall. It was easy enough as it is fed from a junction box in the basement directly in the center of the alcove. I disconnected the outlet (after making sure the breaker was turned off) and just pulled the armored cable down to the basement. I drilled a new hole, fed the cable up, and simply re-attached the outlet on the right side of the alcove.

Moved the electric range outlet.

Fridge put in place.

It was about this time that I did my double checking of all the new construction and setup. I found the hole in the flex ducting. I called it a night and planned my work for the next day. I replaced the offending section of the flex duct with a rigid duct. In order to do this I had to remove the microwave, cabinet, and cut the ceiling drywall for access.

Replaced flex with rigid.

Replaced the cabinet after duct work.

Microwave attached and connected to new ductwork.

After testing the new duct work for leaks, I cleaned up and reattached the cabinet doors. I put the range in place and tested the gas connection. I then unboxed the final cabinet: a 12" base cabinet. We still haven't picked out the counter top material for this cabinet but it is between granite to match the existing top on the opposite side of the kitchen or a butcher block style of hardwood. For now, we are going to use a cutting board for a top and be careful not to make too much of a mess as we cook.

Everything installed.

We still have to paint the kitchen when we decide on colors, but the primer will keep the drywall sealed until that time. I have some toekick left from the pantry cabinet project that I still need to attach to the new base cabinet but I will do that later. All in all the remodel turned out nicely and I'm quite pleased with the results.

The Big One

It's finally here: the kitchen remodel. My brother Jeremy came out from Michigan to lend a hand and expertise in the demolition and reconstruction of my kitchen. In my previous post I did some preparation work which helped make the main project go a bit faster. Even with that prep work, I would not have been able to get this done without Jeremy's help.

We started with demo after moving the fridge and range out of the way. The tiled walls (the back and left side) were coming down since I will be installing a new backsplash at a later date.

The start.

Moving appliances. Notice the gas supply coming
through the middle of the wall.

Jeremy starting demo.

We noticed a few odd things in the wall as we opened it up. In the picture above you will see Jeremy holding a section of conduit that was live (when the breaker is on) and was not connected to anything. The wire ends were bare which means this was a huge fire hazard. We rectified this as we were routing the new electrical for the outlets. Also, there was a 2"x6" board with fire damage mounted in the wall. It wasn't a structural member but was just fastened in the wall before it was closed up. I'm not sure where it came from as there is no fire damage anywhere else in the house. I think there may have been a fire a long time ago and this board was kept for historical purposes or some such reason. The main thing that slowed us down during demo was the difficulty of cutting and removing the plaster. This material is as hard as a rock and we ruined several reciprocating and oscillating saw blades. 80 grit sandpaper did a decent job of knocking down some of the high spots where we removed the wall but a diamond blade for the tools would have been much better.

Jeremy in front of the odd, fire damaged board.

Almost done with demo.

After demo, it was time to rebuild. We needed to add a new header across the top of the alcove and add new stringers to form the ceiling. It was interesting working with the old framing as the original framing is made from studs that are actually 2" x 4" unlike today's nominal sized lumber which is 1 1/2" x 3 1/2".

New framing going in.

Next we prepared the mechanicals before drywalling. This included adding an adapter to the existing vent ducting, feeding the new electrical for the microwave up the wall and stapling it, replacing the old outlets with new ones on a proper circuit, and moving the gas supply for the range to the other side of the alcove.

Ducting for range vent and dedicated power for microwave.

New drywall going in. Notice the new
gas supply location.

Attached flex ducting to the adapter. Outlets installed and
working. Drywall cut around outlets and gas.

We installed just two pieces of drywall by the end of the first day. It was about midnight and we had been working since 2 o'clock. Our goal had been to finish the drywall and have the first coat of joint compound drying overnight but we had been delayed due to the slow work of cutting the plaster and several framing issues we encountered. The next day we quickly finished hanging drywall and started mudding. Most of the day was spent waiting for the compound to dry so we could sand it. Because the plaster walls were uneven, Jeremy had to work to blend the new wallboard in with the old. In the end it turned out well but made for a lot of sanding.

Drywalling finished.

First coat of drywall mud.

We noticed after we moved the gas line that the existing valve leaked when closed. I don't know if it leaked when open but I never smelled gas in the kitchen. It was an older valve so I opted to replace it with a new ball valve. Jeremy suspected the threading that went all the way through the valve was the culprit and managed to tighten the bolts on the back to stop the leak while we waited for Home Depot to open in the morning.

New ball valve installed on the gas supply.

The old valve. The threading goes through the back of  the valve
to the two nuts on the back where the leak was found.

After a lot of sanding and mess-making, we were ready to hang cabinets. Since these are going up in the corners we didn't need to have the joints perfect or paint the walls behind them. Jeremy had to leave Sunday morning so I wanted to get the microwave mounted while he was still around. The cabinet that went above the microwave had to have a lot of modifications done before going up. Holes for the outlet, the flex duct, the mounting holes, and the hood vent needed to be cut.

The above fridge cabinet and the center spice cabinet hung.

The above range cabinet hung.

Adapter added to the flex duct. Microwave mounting bracket
installed on the wall.

Our mess after most of the work is completed.

As soon as we had the microwave hood installed and tested Jeremy packed up to return home. It was unfortunate we weren't able to go out at all while he was in town but we did get a lot of work done. It was now up to me to finish the project which included mudding, sanding, and painting. I closed off just the alcove with plastic drop cloth to prevent more dust getting everywhere since I only needed room for one person to work instead of two.

A few more coats of drywall mud and sanding in my bubble.

Ready for primer.

The last thing to do is to apply several coats of primer to the walls before putting the appliance back in place. The primer will seal the wall against moisture while cooking until we put up the tile backsplash. The drywall dust was a pain to clean up and I had to purchase a mop and cleaner to get it off the floors. The steam mop was not picking up much of it and sweeping just made it airborne again. After priming, I will be installing a 12" base cabinet in the center, in line with the 12" upper cabinet. I'll create an update post with the priming and cabinet install later.

This project was a lot of fun and I learned a great deal of construction techniques from my brother. I had never used drywall mud before nor had I worked with plaster. I hope I never have to cut plaster again. We did have to wash all of our dishes and the sanding dust got into all of the kitchen cabinets but this gave us an opportunity to reorganize the spaces. And we reclaimed some counter space by removing the old microwave so now we actually have room for preparing food!

Water, water everywhere...

...and plenty of it to drink. In preparation for our large alcove remodel we will be doing in order to hang our microwave range hood, I swapped the places of the fridge and range. The main part of this project was to relocate the water supply for the ice maker and water dispenser on the fridge. The reason these appliances need to be moved is due to the way the microwave opens. The hinge for the door is on the left and if we were to mount it in the alcove on the left side, the microwave would be directly against a side wall and the door would not be able to be opened. In addition to moving the appliances and hanging the microwave, we will also be adding some additional cabinets. Expect the next post to be quite lengthy but for now, lets get some water moving.

The original configuration. 

The door cannot be against a wall on the left side.

The microwave range hood.

This project gave me the chance to replace the existing saddle valve with a new ball valve. Saddle valves are used prolifically from kits for ice maker supplies. From my research, they are generally not recommended but do allow you to attach the line without having to turn off the main water supply. I installed an angle ball valve, similar to what you see for toilet shut off valves. This also gave me a chance to correct a stupid mistake made by whomever installed the water supply previously: the saddle valve was installed after the shutoff valve for the outdoor sillcock. So if I turn off the water to the outdoor faucet (to prevent freezing in winter), I lose water supply to my fridge.

The original saddle valve for the supply line connected after the shutoff for the outdoor sillcock.

Cut where the saddle valve hole was.

Patched with a coupler.

I used a simple coupler to patch where the saddle valve was. This also gave me a chance to practice my soldering skills. I've soldered electronics before and the process is similar except you first add flux to the plumbing fittings before heating them. It is also important to make sure there is no water in the pipes you will solder, so after you turn off the main supply drain the pipe as well as you can. The water will take all of the energy from the torch and turn to steam leaving your pipes too cold to melt the solder and posing a steam burn risk.

After disconnecting the fridge supply I drilled a new hold in the alcove and fed the line through to the basement. It came out in the laundry hamper (which we don't use). I then just ran it across the joists and lined it up to where the new connection will be made.

Feeding the line through the new hole.

Coming through the hamper.

Tacked up to the joists with plastic staples.

Cut the 3/4" water pipe.

The new tee and valve.

I used a tee fitting with a 3/4" pass through and a 1/2" branch. To this branch I attached a fitting with threads for attaching the new valve to. Obviously my soldering could use some practice. The 1/4" fridge supply line is fixed to the valve with a compression fitting. After all the connections were made, I cautiously turned on the main water supply and checked for any leaks. Thankfully there were none and I proceeded to attach the fridge to the copper line coming up through the floor. I turned on the new valve and bled the air out of the supply line and no leaks were found there either. Before moving the appliances into their new positions, I used my razor saw to cut the molding flush with the side walls of the alcove, giving me just a little more room which will allow me to install a 12" base cabinet during the remodel.

Flush sawed the moldings.

The new configuration.

The fridge will move slightly back after I relocate the gas supply for the range and I'm hoping we can install a trash can slide out in the small base cabinet to save some floor space. After everything was put in place I noticed that the water flow to the fridge was much greater than it was with the saddle valve. I had to recalibrate the measured fill on the water dispenser and now instead of waiting minutes for a 16 ounce glass to be filled I only wait seconds. I'm glad I installed this new valve.

Like a Rock

Actually... quite literally a rock and not at all related to Bob Seger. Siri and I had granite countertops installed a few days ago and we are quite pleased with the result. The original was a dark laminate with poorly applied, cracked, black caulking. Obviously the bad caulking posed a water damage problem and the overall dark color made the already small kitchen feel more closed in.

The original countertop, please ignore the mess.

We opted for a lighter color: Tanami from Lowe's. The actual slab the top was cut from is more tan than the sample picture shows. The example at the store is a much better match to what we have so look below for the actual installed color. Despite spending an entire Saturday morning and part of the afternoon driving from shop to shop, Lowe's had the best price (with 5% Lowe's card discount) and they had a promotion for a free undermount sink. I was surprised that a local shop could not compete with that deal although the lead time was about two weeks longer from Lowe's.

The contractor my local Lowe's works with is McDermott Top Shop and the crew they had come in for both measuring and installing was friendly and professional. The first visit was for the exact measurement and the worker used a laser device on a tripod to get precise dimensions. He found that  the back wall had a significant bow to it and that there would be a bit of a gap behind sections of the backsplash. Since we will eventually put up tile on the wall this wouldn't be a big concern. A few weeks later the install crew came and put in the top. The weight of the granite does most of the work of securing it and the front is caulked to the cabinets with a small bead underneath the bullnosed front. They also installed a metal bar for fastening the dishwasher to the underside. Also installed was the backsplash and sidesplash pieces since the counter is between two walls. Because of the gaps in the backsplash the installers didn't fully caulk it so I ended up doing that myself later that night. I also installed the plumbing fixtures and drains as well as re-installing the dishwasher and disposal.
I had my buddy John assist me in removing the old top and I'm glad I did. I could have done it myself but it would have been much more difficult to move the top before I cut it in half. I took care not to damage the sink and faucet as I plan to donate these to ReStore. I also had to remove the dishwasher before the installers came.

Old top removed. John for scale.

The sink is held on by these clips.

Cut the top in half and removed the sink and faucet for donating.

Old top and dishwasher removed.

The installers arrived about an hour late but they did call ahead of time to let me know. It wasn't much of an inconvenience. It took the team about two hours to install it and I didn't take any pictures of the process.

New granite installed (by professionals).

Side splashes were added as well.

New faucet and soap dispenser. The third hole is for the disposal's air switch.

After the team installed the new top I had to return to work so the plumbing had to wait until later. In addition, it was recommended that I wait 24 hours for the caulking on the sink to fully cure. Since the top was put in on Thursday afternoon I didn't install the drains until Friday evening.

Drainage! Also, I need a new work light.

First drain in, now for the disposal.

After the drain for the left side was installed I attempted to mount the disposal and ran into a bit of a problem. Because the banjo sink's larger bowl has a drain that is lower and further back than the old sink, the 3-way adapter that was there actually touched the disposal and didn't leave any room for attaching pipes. This led to a late run to Home Depot for a 45 degree elbow and some additional fittings. I had to cut the old adapter with a hacksaw and put on the new elbow with PVC glue. I also picked up a kit that included all of the fittings and pipe for attaching the disposal and sink drain.

The new connection to accommodate the disposal.

New connections made.

Lastly I added caulking on the backsplash to fill in the gaps from the bowed wall. After I let it set up for a while I put our things back on the counter and cleaned up my tools. I also took this opportunity to clean and organize the cleaning supplies we kept under the sink. I also re-installed the dishwasher which only took a few minutes reconnecting the supply, drain, and electrical that were already there.

Finished installation and items put back.

And that was it. I made sure to get paintable caulking as we plan to change the color of the kitchen after our big remodel on the alcove side where the fridge and range reside. The new counter looks great and the new faucet is fantastic. It has a built in sprayer and is taller than the old one which will make filling large pots much easier. The soap dispenser is convenient and the air switch matches the finish of the new fixtures. The drains were a bit of pain when I tried to install the disposal, but once I got the proper parts it went together smoothly. I think we will be quite happy with our new half of the kitchen.