Doors And Drawers Taking Shape

Since the counter top was installed I've been working on the cupboard doors and drawers. There wasn't much to see until today, because it's hard to show the groves and the tenon cuts. Each of the 72 boards were run through the table saw twice to center the grove and each of the rails had shoulder cuts then I used the tenon jig to cut away the scrap leaving tenons. And yesterday I picked up the plywood to finish them off. Today I assembled them, there are 9 drawers, 8 doors and 1 panel for the dishwasher. Next few steps are sanding, priming and painting.

Here they are glued and clamped together.

Counter Top And Faucet

On July 25th we went to a company in St Stephen called Sticks and Stones to see about a quartz counter top, because we have seen them in family and friends homes and they look great we decided to check them out. After a little while looking at different options (I had to hold my ground on not getting the GREEN one) ReBecca liked one called Hanstone Specchio White. We liked the little 12 x 12 sample block so we asked to see the larger stone to see if we really liked it and it was great. While we waited for a quote we went through the catalogue with faucets and saw what we liked and got a great deal on it as well. We knew it would be expensive, it is a forever counter so paying a little more for this quality was worth it and it came in on budget, at least what I thought it would be. Today they came and installed our new counter top, these gents did a fantastic job and very professional. I would just like to note for the record, ReBecca said she has no more excuses.

It has arrived.

Before they started.

Drilling a couple of holes.

It's in and looks great, despite the picture quality.



Nice looking and its 1 1/8 inches thick.

Everything went in perfectly.

Doors And Drawers

After the floors were laid we took a couple of days to visit with family, rest and I did a little golfing, now it's back to work in the kitchen. I've started to work on the doors and drawers, first I had to layout the cuts needed to maximize the wood. After all its 1" x 8" x 8' maple and I don't want to waste any. So now I have 36 stiles and 36 rails ready for mortise and tenons to be cut in, tomorrow.

This is what 40 feet of 1" x 8 " looks like cut up. Not much.

Great Looking Floors

The floors are laid and they look great. It took us 3½ days total to lay them, there were a couple of day's in between we didn't get any down, other commitments and a break helps. I still have to get the transition pieces for the bathroom and mud room doorways done. It took this long because we had to make sure the look was right, with some being a little lighter then others and the joint spacing was what we wanted. This is the first really big project we did together and it went very well, we're even still talking.

From the dinning room.

Looking back from the kitchen sink.

The fridge opening and the dishwasher was done too.

The kitchen's new look.

A great looking dinning room.

In front of the cook top and sink.

The Old And The New

Well the hall way is about done, just a couple of small pieces to cut and nail in, then onto the kitchen and dinning room. Here is a picture of the hallway as it looked when we first came to see the house, and a look with the new floors.

September 2011.

Today.

They look and feel great.

New Floors

We started to lay the new floors, they're 5 inch clear maple engineered boards. It took the day because they needed to be laid out so they look good, not too many small pieces together and make sure the joints aren't too close to the previous row. I used an air nailer with a shoe that fits these ½ boards, I borrowed from my brother-in-law, and it makes quick work nailing them in every 2-3 inches. No more pounding with a mallet on a traditional floor nailer, it is a little harder on the knees though.

The before look.

The after look.

A Nice Fit

The wall is up and painted, as a matter of fact both the kitchen and dinning room have a new look. We primed the walls, and applied two coats of Diamond White paint, it's hard to see in these pictures but trust me it's white. A little later on I'll build a cabinet to go over the fridge for more storage space.

The mud work is done, three coats and this
is the primer coat.

All done and everything put back.
A nice fit.

One More Wall

This is a wall we always intended to put up, it just took a while getting around to it. We needed the rest of the kitchen in place to before it went up. Not much to it, it's not load bearing, just a support board across to secure the cabinet that will go above it, never waste a space.

A simple frame

Drywall on both sides, metal edge and tape.

First coat of mud applied.