There are 2 major construction issues that we are having fixed. (that we know of now anyway)

1) leveling the floor of the “addition”

2) replacing the header over the doorway and making the opening another foot or so wider.

Scott will be working on the floor leveling today, I will help as much as I can, so that might put a damper on my remaining deconstruction, but it’s all good, because it’s going to be done right and look good when it’s all done.

by the way, did I mention that we are having a house guest next week for 10 days??

Sunday, we (me, jen and Shirl) decided to go down to Sea Isle and just take the day off, my back could use a break and the pool.  I stayed in the pool until my hands were raisins, but it was great, even went down to Ocean City for a few hours.

Today it was back to work

Yesterday was more of an ‘at work’ day…I kicked some ass on my list of things to do.  Scott brought the wood needed to level the floor and while he was here he introduced me to a couple new tools that I have never used before…my only question IS, why have I never used these tools before??

1st) ‘panel carrier’, now if you have ever tried to carry/move an 8’x4′ piece of wood or drywall, you need to have one of these.  This thing is made to make it easier for 1 person to carry an 8’x4′

2nd) Cat’s Claw is now my preferred tool to the crowbar.  This thing goes deep into wood, paneling, drywall, etc

Last night I spent an hour or so using this tool to removed deeply embedded nails in this 3/4″ wallboard (this is the stuff that used to be on the outside wall, underneath the siding)

Got and early start today…nails, nails , nails…

I have the kitchen ‘addition’ 99% gutted, cleanup and then onto the remaining drywall.

There is very little left to demo…maybe one more day and lots of trash bags later…

I have been asked by a few people, how’s living without a kitchen, Jen describes it as being on an indoor camping trip, that seems to be the appropriate description.  It’s also been less than a week, so ask me in another week or 2 🙂

First thing that has made our lives much easier is the fridge with water dispenser, we were able to swing it around the wall into the dining room and leave it connected.  And the microwave is on a rolling cart.

The living room is the kitchen condensed, but it’s so well organized that it doesnt feel that much smaller, we put alot of the cabinet stuff that we shouldnt need down in the basement

Coffee maker is set up in my office

Paper plates, plastic ware and red solo cups

Also, some of our favorite Take Out

• http://www.doubledeckerpizza.com/
• http://www.venicepizzapie.com/
• China Wok in Ridley Park

Mom will be here for a few hours tomorrow, or maybe until Sunday morning, I will ask her to rate the amenities

I am all the way down to the studs in ~75% of the ‘addition’…but at this point I can have Scott come in and pull up the flooring, we need to make it level before putting down the cement board…I’m sure this will be a fun project #sarcasm

Trash is going out tonight.  I am hoping someone stops and grabs up some of he wood, so I can put more out there

Jen here.  Our color scheme has changed a few times since the demo started.  Scott told us it would happen, and he was right. But to visualize the whole finished thing was really difficult.

What would I use to design a room?  The Sims 3 of course!  I’ve made our house many times, and you can just plop colors and textures in on a whim to see the effect in the room.

However, you’re limited on style of furniture, appliances, cabinets and window coverings.  So this model is solely for finalizing the color scheme, and envisioning the new layout.

We finally decided on medium gray floor tiles, white ikea cabinets, butcherblock countertops and a nice muted green paint on the drywalled walls.

Details we like that aren’t pictured are brushed nickel hardware on the cabinets, and we might go with nice curtains instead of bamboo blinds.  What do you think?  The eat-in breakfast nook will definitely have a different style table and chairs, but I hope to match the colors.

Much closer to being ready for Scott, I bought us a day because I knew there was no way that I could be as far along as I would have liked to have been…we will see him tomorrow

I knew taking on this project that I would find some weird shit…and I am

many layers of floor: vinyl is all up, half-assed cabinet base is gone, in some places, I found some old tiles, not ceramic or stone…kinda like the stuff that was on the floor in elementary school, but green not grey.  There is also criss-crossed wood panels, that look like they were used as a sub-floor…

many layers of wall:  even more layers of ‘addition’, I can’t tell what was the original house and what was added on.  When I re-did the bathroom 10 years ago, I found a storm window behind the wall, so I assumed that what WAS the exterior wall at some point. If this is true, then they added on a second time.  Guess once I remove that layer, I may see the original layout

Shirl should be here later today to help rip out more, more, more

this is how it looked at the start of tonight

and how it looked at the end of the day

this isn’t all of it…but it’s SO getting there!

So, didn’t take today off, so normal work day (and then some)

After talking with Scott yesterday about the what’s next and when, we decided that we are going to rip out the flooring in the ‘addition’ part of the kitchen.  The floor is not level, there is about an inch, inch and a half difference between walls and it’s not very sturdy…so let’s fix it, starting Wednesday.  I told him that I would be ready

Today’s todo:

The addition list

• remove the rest of the ‘diner’
• rip out all the walls down to the studs
• rip out the ceiling tiles

more to come later, and pictures

Did an hour or so of Coretel work, even taking a day off, I don’t want to drop anything that really needed to be at least touched…

Had to finish pulling everything out of the cabinets, run the dishwasher one last time and take out the trash/recycling…Jen kicked some ass!!

Scott got here just as we were breaking for lunch, but he went right to work removing the copper and sewer lines from the sink, and pulling the sink out of the countertop. And not to forget about removing the electric line for the stove.

• All the countertops and cabinets have been removed
• Most of the 1st and second layer of flooring have been removed
• Some of the 1st layer of walls have been removed

each of these things had something weird happening that made us all shake our heads:

the base cabinets were sitting on a pre-made, nailed to the floor base, but not secured to each other, so once the countertop was disconnected, these cabinets just pulled right out of their slots

the flooring…this might end up being it’s own blog entry 🙂

1st layer of wall, paneling that just crumbles (makes easy to put it out in the trash), but under it, drywall that does the same thing…down to the studs we go

This is the quote that started this project…

well, if we are going to have a BBQ, I want to rip up the vinyl flooring that is slowly breaking apart where the underlayment meets…but the new flooring ideas will have to wait until after the BBQ.

well, if we are going to replace the flooring, we should probably do it right and pull up everything that we can

ok, I hate the cabinets, why dont we replace them…

let me call Scott (who I worked with for a few months on his property that Shirl needed to move in to, (before I hurt my back.))

So Scott came over Sunday morning and we discussed the options…which I am sure will change after we gut the kitchen…RIGHT AFTER THE BBQ