What is this?

I really have no idea what this is. It's just hanging out of the wall with no junction box or anything. And that's a wall that will show after everything's installed. I know you can't see it, but I wrote on the drywall in pencil "What is this??" 

Drywall

Today they installed the drywall/sheetrock. We have walls again. But perhaps you'll notice what took me several minutes... they left the window wide open. Someone, I can only assume the cabinetmaker, Javier, drew on the two outside walls where the cabinets will be. I say, I assume, because it only vaguely resembles the drawings we went over and agreed to three weeks ago! His plan has changed significantly. We will need to talk - soon. 

Switches

Here we're going to have another lightswitch for the kitchen, just outside the laundry closet. The other switch is by the back door. We thought the laundry closet lightswitch would be located inside the closet, but that's not the way it's wired right now. 

Monday - Week 3

Today they installed insulation in all the walls, and a gas line for the clothes dryer. They also ran some more electrical and located the leaks in the roof around the plumbing stack and the vent from the new tankless water heater. I'm so thankful for the rain -- very unusual in August and we need the moisture badly. But I'm most thankful that we discovered these leaks before they put up the ceiling in the new laundry closet! ;-) The plumber is bringing over a roofer tomorrow to seal up the holes he left. Next comes drywall! 

The new floor

So Friday, while Kirk was jet-lagged, sleep deprived and coming down with a 'bug' in his throat, they installed the floor - quite noisily! But hey, we've got a floor now. 

Gigi

After living in the kitchen for her entire life, she is now relegated to this bedroom she was never allowed into before. BTW, it is our guest room, anyone want to come visit?

Bad Monday

This was not a great day for the construction. Javier's main man, Jose, showed up at around 8:30 and started to work cleaning up the area and framing in the new kitchen wall. He then started to feel ill and left. Javier was sending a new person, but he did not show up.

A quick phone call to Luis , the contractor, and the news was bad. No one was available to come over. Not truly bad because the hardwood floor will not be here any sooner than Wednesday and maybe as late as Thursday.

I am currently in Flagstaff and L is going to meet me in Scottsdale for two days on Wed and Thurs I am teaching a class at the Marriott Desert Resort Hotel and get a free room. We hope by Friday there will be a floor and maybe a ceiling.

Friday Update

Well, yesterday not too much work (maybe none) was done as we made the decision to extend the wood floor from the den into the kitchen. The wood had to be special ordered as it rare (not the wood, but the specific cuts of wood).

This picture is the view of the kitchen with out the vent hood; it is actually kind of nice. The contractor and I were standing below the light you see in the picture looking out to the den just before and remarked that it might be worth looking at a "lower profile" vent hood that did not block as much of the view of the den as the original one did.

The drawback is that we liked the old one, it was custom built to fit the space. It looks like it will take about 200-250 dollars to get it stripped and powder coated, plus the costs of a new fan unit/filter for it.

The AC guy comes this afternoon to reposition the vents. Then the final demo, rough framing, final electrical and plumbing rough in's start Monday.

Leslie and I are going to go knob shopping this afternoon and purchase an under-sink water filter. 

Flashbacks

L, here.
For me it's the little things that I find most amusing. Like Monday evening as we trod through the grocery store, near zombie-like, trying to figure out what we had room for in our temporary kitchen that would require no prep or clean up. Did we mention that they took out our hot water heater Monday? Anyway, after about 20 minutes, we'd gotten deli meat & cheese, bread, dry cereal, milk, ready-to-eat soup in microwaveable cups, and Ooooh, look Ramen noodles -- a week's worth of sodium in one meal. Suddenly it hit me: I'm back in a college dorm room, with a refrigerator and a microwave oven. Only this time, I don't have my roommate's toaster oven to borrow. We might consider buying a little hot plate before this is all over, but with only a small bathroom sink to wash dishes/pans in, we might not.

I'll let Kirk post the pictures upon his return to town, but mostly I'm looking forward to a hot shower tomorrow morning. Step 1: new tankless water heater installed. "check!"

Also in the good news column: the musty, under-the-house smell has dissipated and the dusty fog that caused me allergy attacks the last two nights seems to have abated somewhat.

Pumpkin time - post more later.

Change Orders

A marvelous thing the change order. You set up your need and wants with the contractor, agree on a price, then something comes up. We decide that since the walls have no insulation, that we should go ahead and insulate them. That entails ripping out the rest of the drywall, adding insulation, then put up new sheet rock, tap, bed, and sand. Ca Ching!

Next we decide that extending the wood floor in the den would be the best look, that adds on a ca ching, then it only makes sense to refinish the hardwoods in the den at the the same time so that they match. That adds on another ca ching!

Up it climbs. We had what we wanted to spend, what we were willing to spend, and what was way too much. I think we just hit the number that we were willing.

End of day one

This is our kitchen after the end of Day one.
 

...ok, really

This is the room at the end of Day 1
 

...and this is the temporary kitchen

The temporary kitchen. Not much cooking going on, just nuking and coffee.
 

Last Before Picture

This is where a new door to the laundry room will be. More about that later. 

Before Part II

Here is the empty kitchen. The nervous puppy stuck her head in on one shot.


 

Before

Well almost. We had started to move things out, but this is pretty clost to the before pictures. As I write this the plumber and demo crew are now preping the area.


 

Hell Begins Tomorrow

The bad part was that the trip to Hell started this week. It started slowly early in the week, built to a crescendo Friday and Saturday, and climaxed in a whirlwind combining panic, pain, and pandemonium.

Yes the much needed remodel of our kitchen, den door and general electrical and plumbing systems gets underway tomorrow morning. We had to pack up the entire contents of the kitchen, create a temporary kitchen in the livingroom, and prepare for an invasion of dust.

Now for a week with out hotwater, then two months with out diswasher, clothes washer, stove and oven or big sink.

We keep telling ourselves that it will be worth it. Now to bed...with lots of advil.