Day 12: A little rest

It's Sunday and no workers in the house.  I've taken advantage by doing a little cleaning.  We also had a big snowstorm--heavy wet snow--and I did go out and shovel off the driveway and walks.  A neighbor helped me, and thank goodness for that, as it was backbreaking.

Last night I decided to go return sample tiles to Home Depot and start rethinking.  After seeing how dark the paint and walls were, I realized I needed to go lighter not darker with the backsplash. Instead of looking for fancy elegant highly-patterned tiles, I looked for very simple and neutral.  Now if I were not thinking of selling the house in a few years, I might have gone for a real contrasting color, but I settled on a plain almond color ceramic tile -- as basic as they get.  And then with the help of a woman who worked in the tile department, we experimented with creating some accents to dress up the plain tile.  I finally settled on one that really appealed to me.  I bought more sample tiles to show this possible design to my contractor.  In this picture I've placed the backsplash tiles on the new floor and I've added a piece of the cabinet wood and the countertop granite to show the contrast.  Add in the plain white appliances, and I think I manage to achieve the clean simple look I want.  The backsplash height is 18 inches and these are 6-inch tiles, so this is a fair representation of the end look.  I would choose a grout that matches exactly.

Day 11: Paint

They arrived right on time, just as promised.  I like the painters, they did a nice job.  Painted the ceiling white, painted the walls tan - about the same color as the opposite wall in the living room, maybe a tiny bit darker.  The chocolate color is gone from the kitchen, but I still have the accent wall that runs through the dining room and living room.  I think I like this color.  I had thought about going lighter, but I think this will be nice.

I enjoyed a wonderful time with my Reel Women friends a good part of the day today.  My dear friend Celia really knows how to put on a party!  Her house is filled with the beauty of the season.  The food she served was so delicious.  What a great time we always have at her house!

Tomorrow is another rest day - no workers in the house.  It is welcome for sure.  I'll catch up on some house cleaning too.  They are very good to clean up every day before they leave, but I see there is that very fine dust on things and I can clean some of that up.  I think they are going to have to redo the patch job of the hole in the hallway ceiling.  The texture they applied was too thick and it's cracking.  I won't worry about it as my contractor is a stickler and he'll have those guys back in here to fix the job.  That's what I like about him, he really supervises those subs closely and makes sure he's satisfied with their work.

The first few days of the week will show some real visible progress with cabinets and lighting going in.  Then I think we wait for the countertops.  The rest of the schedule depends on how quickly those get done.

Here's a picture of the paint.  They only paint where no cabinets go, although they did prime over all new drywall.  I do love that floor.  It will be even prettier when they do the grouting.

Day 10: Signs of Prettiness

They finished up all drywall work including texturing the ceiling today.  They did quite a good job of matching my existing texture.  It's a bit different and I agreed that if they couldn't duplicate it, we could have just a smooth ceiling in the kitchen.  But I'm happy with the result.

The tile is being installed even as we speak.  It's late, but the guys want to finish tonight rather than work on the weekend.  Painter comes tomorrow.

I'll look at some backsplash tile in the morning.  I have a fallback option that I think will work if I find nothing else.  But I have all next week to do this and being exhausted from so much shopping, I'm going to keep it very limited this weekend.

Pictures of the floor later when the guys go home.

Here's a peek at the floor.  A bit dark as the lights are not on in the kitchen at the moment.

Day 9: Floor tomorrow

Today was more drywall work.  Man, that stuff takes a long time.  The contractor and his painter are coming by this afternoon to review the job.  Floor tile is scheduled to go down tomorrow.  Painting on Saturday.  Cabinets go in on Monday and the countertop guy comes to make a template.  He believes it will take a week to cut the granite, but contractor says it shouldn't take that long.  Electrician comes again on Wednesday to finish up.  I have decided on all the light fixtures, but now the lighting company failed to place my order this morning and I'll have to pay premium shipping to get them here on time.  I'm not happy about that, but I sure don't want to go looking again.  There's nothing I've spent more time looking at so far than lighting fixtures and I'm finished with it.  Hopefully we'll work something out -- I told them I was not happy.

My one remaining decision is the backsplash tile.  I am having trouble figuring out when I can even go look now.  My life is just too busy including evenings.  I may be able to squeeze some early morning hours on Saturday if anyone is open.  But my best friend is having a luncheon on Saturday, and I will not miss that.

No picture today as the room still looks exactly the same.  But if we have a floor tomorrow, there will be pics!

Day 8: Nothing new to report

Just ditto to everything from yesterday.  Drywall guy back for another round.  Too tired to expound.  No pics, it looks just the same.

Day 7: One week down

The drywall guy was back for a second round.  I'm not sure what's next.  We had a lot of snow today, I shoveled twice, I thought about 6 inches each time.  Sure enough, NSL got 12".  We got the brunt of the lake effect.  I visited the plumbing showroom and settled on the sink and faucet.  Ordered a light fixture for the dining room and another for my bedroom, but still need more light fixtures.  And did a little Christmas shopping.  Truly tired tonight.  Here's today's photo.

Day 6: Drywall, etc.

Had a houseful of workers today.  The drywall and first taping got done.  The ceiling is closed up and looks lovely.  They fixed the squeaks in the floor, closed up the old ceiling hole from the swamp cooler -- I really felt sorry for the guy that had to climb up into the attic.  Tomorrow, more taping, then painting, then more electrical, and then tile on Friday. 

I need to try to have lighting fixtures before then.  I don't know if I can do it.  But I found a local specialty lighting store that has several options that really appeal to me and are in my price range.  I hadn't considered them before as I just assumed their prices were too high for me.  But they do have lines that compare pricewise to Home Depot and Lowe's where I am finding only compromises to my preferences.  However, the items I found were online and they may not have them in stock.  Crossing my fingers.

The cabinets are on schedule for delivery next week and the cabinetmaker says he's ready.

My contractor is such a cool guy.  He offered to run a phone line for me into my new office and several other little things I need done, no charge.  That's just how he was with my exterior remodel a couple of years ago.  Taking care of a number of little things while they were here in addition to the big project.  Who ever heard of such a thing?

Well here's today's progress shot.

Day 5: A day of rest

It's Sunday and I'll have the house to myself today.  Somewhat snowbound - by my own choice as I prefer not driving on icy roads if I don't have to.  Today I'll catch up on laundry and housework (as best I can), and will shovel snow in awhile.  The rest of the time will be for reading, napping, blogging, facebook.  I sent both of my Netflix movies back yesterday so if there is to be a movie, it'll have to be one I own.  Maybe it's time again for "Four Weddings and a Funeral".  Always good for a laugh and a cry -- and a happy ending.

Day 4: No drywall after all

The drywallers didn't show up.  I was gone all day and when I returned, I was disappointed to see nothing done.  But it was Saturday, after all, and I wouldn't have expected any workers, except that I was told they were coming.  Well, it will be Monday now.

I had a long list of things to do today and got much of it done.  One big thing was to pick out a sink and faucet.  Though I made many stops, I found too many choices and much confusion.  My contractor sent me to a plumbing supply and advised I get good quality fixtures.  I visited two different locations and really didn't like the place because the show room had no model names nor prices on anything.  You had to ask for each little thing.  Tedious.  The trick with things like that is knowing the right questions to ask.  The other complaint I have is that there is retail and there is contractor pricing.  So they give you a price and you have no idea what you're going to pay until you talk to your contractor.  I also visited Lowe's and Home Depot and wore myself completely out there.  The plumber who recently did some work for me advised against buying fixtures at Lowe's and Home Depot.  He said all the manufacturers have A and B lines, and those big box stores carry the B lines.  You have to go to a plumbing supply to get the A lines.

I finally realized there was only one way to shortcut all this shopping:  the Internets.  So I have spent hours this afternoon researching stainless steel sinks and various faucets.  And I think I have finally narrowed down my choices to one faucet and between two sinks.  Now that's progress!

I also looked at lighting, but frankly was overwhelmed with too much shopping and didn't like anything I saw.

Before I headed home, I visited my son's family and gave them all their Christmas gifts since they fly to Brazil in a few days.  The kids were excited to get new games and toys.  Grandma got lots of hugs!.

Oh, and did some grocery shopping too.

And did I mention it snowed?  The weatherman lied to us--we weren't supposed to get snow until later Saturday and into Sunday.  Now it looks like a four-day storm in reality.  The roads were icy, the temps below freezing, there were traffic jams everywhere.  What a relief to get home.  I feel asleep with my laptop on  my lap and slept for an hour. This girl needs to try and get some rest.

Looking back on the first week, I'm satisfied with the progress, but I am sure hoping that ceiling gets closed up soon.  My house is losing a lot of heat through that big opening.

Day 3: A little progress

The drywall guys didn't make it today, but the light over the sink was changed out and they hauled away the dumpster and took the pile of things I pulled out of the garage to go too.  Now the drywallers are scheduled to come on Saturday, which is pretty unusual.  But it is great with me.  I'm prepared for the dust to come.  They have plastic tightly affixed over all the openings, but I know some will escape.  Then they expect to lay tile early next week. 

I've got decisions to make:  the sink, faucet, door handles, light fixtures, backsplash.  Plus Christmas shopping tomorrow. It's going to be a busy day.

O Christmas Tree

I'm not putting up a tree this year.  The living room is all covered in sheets, the kitchen and dining room are  a mess.  So I'm posting this picture of my tree from 2006.  My living room looks exactly the same now as it did three years ago.  I do need to make some changes.  But this year, I'll enjoy a virtual tree from 2006.

Day 2: Electrical and Finish Demolition

The electricians came today and wired up all lighting, outlets and switches.  The lighting includes six can lights, three pendant lights (over the island), a separate light over the sink, and three under-cabinet task lights.  I think I'm going to have enough light.  Just one mistake.  They put a can over the sink and I want a decorative fixture there.  I'll get it worked out with contractor Scott.  I didn't notice it until after they left.  They have to come back in a couple of weeks to finish the electrical.

The other workers came back today, too, and finished the demolition.  Sheetrock comes next.  They didn't know if that will happen tomorrow or not.  I hope so.

I'm feeling so tired now.  I woke up at 2:30 this morning and didn't ever get back to sleep.  Bedtime is going to be very very early tonight.  I need to go in to the office tomorrow for a meeting and a Christmas luncheon.  So I'll miss any work that gets done at home in the morning.  I work at home in the afternoon, however.

Kitchen area is so cold with that open ceiling.  Temps outdoors are below freezing all day right now.  Brrr!

Here's the final demo picture.  This is what you call 'gutted'.

And the lighting

Day 1: Demolition (the real day 1)

They've arrived and have turned off power to the kitchen and started dismantling.  These guys are very considerate and nice.  Covering things to protect from dust.  I'd already covered piano and living room furniture.  I emptied out the fridge this morning before they came - a perfect day for it since temps are sub-freezing outside and I just put the box of frozen foods out on the patio.  I'll have a refrig in the garage before too long.

Things are not as noisy yet as I had expected, but it will get worse I know.  I have no intention of live blogging.  I have work to do - work-work, that is.  My nerves are tense and I'm having trouble concentrating on the complexities of software applications, but am forcing myself.

I'll do an update later - end of the day probably.

UPDATE: Lunchtime

They have everything out except the sink, dishwasher and two cabinets.  These guys are really considerate.  The noise has been minimal except for my neighbor's dog who has barked steadily since the workers arrived (can a dog get laryngitis from talking too much?).  They are just arriving back from lunch break now, so demolition should definitely wrap up today.

I'm finding it easier now to concentrate on work and am being productive.  Back to work now.

UPDATE:  Evening

The demolition isn't quite finished.  I had forgotten the ceiling had to come down -- that whole dropped ceiling.  It's down now.  But the plumbing was more difficult.  The old valves wouldn't turn off at first.  But finally did, so the sink and remainder of the cabinets will come out tomorrow.  The electrician comes in the morning.  Good thing, too.  They cut the power somehow to both of my bathrooms and my bedroom.  We knew the power was off to the one bathroom, but didn't think to check the others.  But I'll live.  I'll take a shower by flashlight -- it won't hurt me.

I promised 'before' pictures.  So now, you get to see the ugly kitchen I've lived with for a long time.  The missing ceiling light is a family joke.  It always had problems, but the ex finally just pulled it all down, intending to replace the whole thing -- but never did.  But we also have broken drawers, missing doors, ugly damaged linoleum.  And those hilarious harvest gold appliances from the 70's - literally!  Well, we always talked about doing this, and now finally I'm doing it.  There's no going back now.  And I survived the worst day.

 

 

 And now, it's almost all gone.

 

Day 1: Water Softener

Demolition is scheduled to start tomorrow, although they said it might slip to Thursday.  So you might think tomorrow is Day 1.  But it turned out today was.  I had nearly forgotten I'd ordered a new water softener until the plumber called me yesterday and said he was ready to install it.  And install it he did today.  Perfect timing really. 

I think I'm ready for the big day tomorrow.  There will be a dumpster in the driveway.  I'm not sure how long it will be there, but they said I can toss in anything I want while it's here.  There are a few more things in the garage that will go now.

The fridge will get relocated to the garage.  There's not much food in it right now anyway, but I'll be able to continue using it until the new one is delivered.  And then Utah Power will pay me $30 and will haul it away.  I don't know anyone who still has a harvest gold refrigerator.  It's more than 30 years old.

I still need to cover up my piano.  Just to keep all the dust out.  I know I'll have a big housecleaning job when this is all over, but I want to protect my piano from as much as possible.

My little temporary kitchen in the TV room is pretty convenient.  I have a microwave, coffee pot, toaster, electric teapot, and electric steamer, stacks of paper plates and bowls and plastic flatware.  Coffee cups.  Some food.

Picked up a few more cardboard boxes from the liquor store and, I managed to do a little Christmas shopping tonight.  I missed the president's speech.  I'll hear plenty about it I'm sure.

Think I'll hit the hay early tonight and get up early to finish those last few things.  I think they start at 8.