Here we go

Got the word from the contractor- electrical and plumbing are set to start Sept 8! That means I have a heck of a lot of demolition to get through in the next week and a half! Glad to have a 3-day weekend in there!

And this means that more pictures will be forthcoming as soon as something actually changes. Busy busy!

A Lull

Not much happening for the next few days- I have a line on someone from my craigslist add who is interested in the cabinets and countertops- I really don't want to see them in a landfill, but Re-Use center never returned my calls. If it pans out, we won't be fully removing them for a week, but there will be plenty to do besides that. Still need to move all the appliances (double oven will be a pain), take down the basement ceiling (more on that later) and pull up the vinyl flooring. Plenty to do- just less dramatic.

First Blood

I almost forgot- the ritual blood sacrifice to Thor, God of Thunder and Home Improvement (why else would he carry a hammer?) has been made- I managed to pinch the palm of my hand between a hammer and a prybar. No pictures- I'm sparing you that- but There Was Blood, even if it was just a little. Hopefully my sacrifice will not go unrewarded.

And so it begins

Not with a bang, or even a whimper. No- it begins with the grinding sound of an electric screwdriver. Then the bang- when I pry off the Corian (tm) backsplash.

Cupboard doors are off, the dead microwave/range hood is gone (shorted out 2 months ago- didn't bother to fix it since it wasn't in the plan for the new kitchen), and Sherri and I spent much of Sunday sorting things into "store", "use" and "lose" piles.

Good news- the vinyl floor is only edge-glued! We won't have to scrape glue off ALL the plywood subfloor. Possible bad news- will may have to remove the plywood sub-floor to leave proper clearance under the doors for the new wood floor. What does it look like under that on the main subfloor- or is that it? Won't really know until the first cabinets come out (hopefully tomorrow night) so we can get a look at all the layers.

On the plus side- I finally got to justify that reciprocating saw! Picked it up tonight. Got a new, very destructive power tool; It's a good day.

The Calm Before

Here are some photos of how the kitchen looked before anything started. Note the clean lines, structural integrity, and of course- the actually functional kitchen. Why are we doing this again?

Kitchen Project Kickoff

Yes, we are certifiable. After a year and a half of thinking, and 3 months of detailed plannin,g- Tom and Sherri are actually starting the Great Kitchen Makeover. I'll be periodically posting updates and images here as we go through the project to help keep friends and family up to date on just how ugly this is, and of course how wonderful it will become. I'm an optimist.