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.

Temp Top

It will be a while before out counter top is installed, as a matter of fact we are going to check out a very good company tomorrow and hopefully we'll have a better idea how long this temp will be in. It's ¾" birch plywood, with three coats of poly and after these pictures were taken I rounded the corners by the sink and the end, then I added the edge banding to finish it off, now for more poly. It may be a temp top but doesn't need to look shabby, it will look great.

The stone will be better.

Nice look.

177 inches of counter, with sink and cook top.

A Kitchen In The Rough

Well there in and they may be in the rough, but they look good. It took a few days, I had to make sure the base was strait and level, and then I added the base cabinets to get things lined up on the right side. Once that was done, up went the uppers and I added the receptacle for the cook top, I won't go into detail about where I had to go to get the proper fittings. Once that was done I could finish installing the base cabinets. I have a temporary counter to in the shop to be fitted, as it will take a while for the one we want. The sink will fit in as it did before and I have drain and water lines already run to the basement. It's all coming together.

A clean slate.

The base is in and base cabinets set in place.

The upper cabinets installed.

The uppers by the sink.

The far right upper.

Everything is secured.

All went well, even put in a couple of drawers.

You can see the cook top in place.

Patch Job Done

Well the patch job is done and I'll be starting the cabinet install tomorrow. Lots to do, making sure the base is level, getting the upper cabinet height right, then installing them and then the base cabinets. They'll need a little work, two will need cut outs for plug access, the cook top one will need an opening to pug it in and the sink, well that speaks for it's self. I'll see about progress pictures, no promises.

Left side, not perfect. They won't be seen
behind the cabinets.

Right side, same here and the back splash
will hide any other imperfections.

Under Cabinet Lighting

It's never as simple as just putting up the under cabinet lights and plugging them in, you see you're not suppose to see the wires or plug, and they need to be good LEDs. So I opened up the walls to add a plug down behind the lower cabinets, so I can plug in a little transformer for the LEDs, and run a low voltage wire for the lights. With the new LED's you can't just hard wire them in. When I install the lower cabinets I'll have access behind the drawers to the pug and all is good if I have to replace the transformer, easy access and no requirement to re-open a wall later.

The right side of the kitchen.

Add a little mud.

The left side, sorry no mud pictures this time.