Inauguration Day, a new kitchen sink, and the bathroom tile is nearly complete!

On this Inauguration Day, hope and positivity prevail! What an exciting time for our nation!
On the home front, the remodel is going smoothly, and the pace seems to have picked up, maybe because the structural work is now done, and the decorative, creative part- the best part- is the main focus now.
Andrew and I spent some time at The Cottage last weekend, cleaning up and putting one more coat of Friendly Yellow on the kitchen walls before the countertops were installed.

We decided to make an upgrade to one of our new cabinets. One of the lower cabinets contains pull-out shelves. When we ordered our cabinets, we went with the basic stock shelves, which have flexible white plastic rails around the edges, to keep objects from falling off. Andrew gets the credit for noticing that our current shelves just are not right, and look flimsy alongside the sturdy chrome rails on the shelves of the pull-out pantry. We have opted to replace the current shelves with box-like shelves that resemble shallow drawers. The new shelves will require upgraded ball-bearing slides. Making both changes will add just under $200 to the cost of the cabinet, but we think it will pay off in the long run. Luckily, our cabinetmaker will have the new shelves ready to install by Friday.

Upon careful inspection, we also realized that 3 of the new cabinet doors had minor dings to the wood finish. The affected doors have been taken back to the company's shop for sanding and refinishing. The doors will also be re-installed on Friday. We love the new cabinets, and have been very impressed by the cabinet company's efforts to make sure we are completely satisfied, right from the beginning. They have truly been a pleasure to deal with. (Shameless plug here for Town & Country Cabinets of High Springs, FL)!

Today, Carlos returned to grout the bathroom, and what a fine job he is doing!
Here are some photos of the grouted subway tiles:

Closeup of the glass pencil trim, which really has depth and sparkle now that it has been grouted:

And the junction of the grouted and not-yet-grouted walls:


And, in the kitchen, big news! The porcelain farmhouse sink has at long last been removed from its box and given a place of honor! The countertop construction has begun. The plywood and Durock underlayment is now in place, almost ready for tile to be set.
Here, Andrew stands beside the new countertop base around the kitchen sink, with the sink dry-fitted in its new home:


When we got to the Cottage this evening, it was immediately apparent to me that the sink had been installed backwards!
The guys evidently failed to notice the blue trademark stamped into the porcelain:

and had it facing the window, rather than the front. Andrew and I hoisted the sink off of its stand, gave it a 180-degree turn, and slipped it back into place. However, because this sink has an offset drain, the drain-hole that has been cut out of the wooden sink base will have to be corrected, but that should be a relatively easy fix. I blame the mixup on the fact that the installers are male and, as such, completely oblivious. (In their defense, Andrew also said that he didn't know the sink had a trademark until I pointed it out, so it must be a guy thing, and only confirms my suspicions).

The sink, correctly positioned:

and resting on its sturdy wooden base:


The bare wood sink base will be completely concealed behind wood trim and some fancy millwork when all is said and done. The space beneath the sink will be kept open (without cabinet doors), and a curtain will eventually cover the under-sink opening, to complete the country kitchen look.

The Big Remodel

The kitchen remodel has finally begun! We started last Saturday, a few days ahead of the contractor's arrival, by clearing everything out of the kitchen. Only then did we realize just how much stuff was in the kitchen. We moved carloads of food, dishes, and utensils over to Andrew's (the Vacation Home). And still there was more.

We had already moved the fridge into the living room about a week earlier. Wish I had some video of that little adventure. Our fridge is old, and heavy. We noticed after we had pushed it about halfway across the kitchen floor that the weight of the fridge was causing one of its wheels to leave a nice permanent indentation in the pine flooring. Terrific! Good thing the pine floor was destined for the dump (minus any salvageable boards), and will be replaced with tile. It was a heartbreaking sight, nevertheless. If you have ever priced heart pine flooring, you'll understand why. We managed to move the fridge the rest of the way through the kitchen by wheeling it over plywood scraps to its final destination. I guess desperation leads to creative solutions.

On Sunday, after clearing out all of the cupboards

and the Depression cabinet full of Blue Ridge china,

we tackled removal of the kitchen cabinets. The old cabinets were hand-built by the previous homeowner ("PHO" from here on out). The PHO was a fairly good carpenter, except where hanging things on hinges was concerned. Or, building drawers. I know this because the old cabinets had lots of doors, all slightly off-kilter on their hinges, and absolutely NO DRAWERS. Yup...a kitchen with NO DRAWERS. Try finding a place for your silverware, dish towels, spatulas, etc., in a kitchen with NO DRAWERS.

He couldn't build a drawer to save his life, but the PHO could build some strong plywood boxes, now. It took us about 2 hours to remove the two-part set of upper cabinets. One section came out completely intact.


The second set....well, let's just say I'm glad I own a Sawzall.

We managed to remove all of the cabinets without damaging the wall, and without any injuries.

On Monday, the contractor arrived! In just one day, he removed all of the lower cabinets, the sink, dishwasher, and old 1940's Maytag gas range, pictured here:

After that, he ripped out all of the heart pine floor boards, down to the house's original subfloor. After which the kitchen looked like this:




Wherever there is a plywood scrap in the photos, there is a hole beneath it, either due to weak, rotten wood, or water damage. By Tuesday, our contractor had ripped out most of the subfloor, too, in preparation for replacing it with new plywood. Here is a view of the kitchen, sans floor:

I continue to refuse to ever enter the crawlspace under any circumstances, so this is probably the only time I will ever see what lies beneath the house and actually be able to touch it. Very cool. Except for the dead snake he found. And the rat poo. But, that's another chapter.....