Baby steps

I talked to one of the project managers (there are two, and they don't talk to each other...) yesterday about the electical and plumbing not being done, and not even having heard from the plumber. The countertop will be going in on Monday morning, one way or another, and the shutoff for the hot water is in a void between two cabinets. The plumber who was here last week knew that, and included that fact in his notes. It would seem to be easier to do the work while the top is open, but what do I know? I'm a nurse, not a plumber... Then there's the matter of the electrical connection for the garbage disposal, which is being installed by the same guy who's doing the countertop and the sink. Wouldn't it be easier to put the cord on the disposal while it's not attached to anything? The wiring for the dishwasher is accessible, so it won't be a problem. I hope. Of course I will be at work and Rick will be holding the fort. He hasn't got a hot clue... I'll have to leave him a long, detailed list.

This morning I went back to Lee Valley Tools at 104th Ave. and 184th St. and got the slide-out insert for the skinny cabinet that was damaged in transit. It was supposed to have a divider but that was broken, so I bought a slide out with two baskets on it that will be more useful, I think. And I got the missing knob. How I miss-counted the number of doors, I'll never know. Then I drove over half of Edmonton looking for the Rona Building Centre I thought was on 170th St. and about 107th Ave. but it wasn't, so then I thought it must be on 156th St. and about 118th Ave., because those are the two streets I drive a lot, but it turned out to be a Totem Building Supplies. So I ended up driving all the way over to Darci's neighbourhood to the Rona I know is at 165th Avenue and 97th St. I wanted to look at tiles for the backsplash. They had a large selection and some very nice tiles, but the lighting was so poor I couldn't tell if they looked good with my microscopic countertop sample or not. So I came home, ate lunch and went back out, this time to our local Totem, where I had seen some tiles that I liked quite some time ago. I still couldn't decide, so I got the opinions of two ladies who were looking at floor tiles. They were really nice about it,a nd they ended up confirming that my first choice was the right choice. The trouble I could have saved myself... Must be the full moon. Anyway, the backsplash and countertop will look like this. Gotta call Bruce...

Week 2 and nothing I can do

It's looking like perhaps I've wasted a week of vacation time. The contractor called this morning to confirm the countertop installation for next Monday, and reminded me that the base cabinets have to be empty and the drawers all have to be pulled out. All 15 of them. And the stove. So I can't start putting things away, I can't paint, I can't tile, I can't really cook anything. So I'll be finding things that I can do... maybe sort out the storage closet under the stairs, get my garden settled, organize the paperwork in the file cabinet. Fun stuff. Yee hah.

Day 5 and the cabinets are in*

(2220 hours)

Byron is finally gone... for now. I had a face-to-face with the project manager when I went to pay for the electrical. I asked to see an itemized breakdown of the charges... oh look, he's charging for reinstalling the microwave and I've already paid for that. So she made a phone call to see how much his charge was out of the grand total and we decided that he'd do the work and the amount charged by the cabinet installers would be refunded. She told me that there will be a fairly substantial credit when the work is finally finished. The reordered cabinet should be here, she hopes, before the end of the month and it's priced the same as the too-short one. The broken divider and the remnant of the large panel are playing the role of countertop.

Tomorrow I start putting things back in the cabinets. After I clean them out. I'll have to figure out what goes where but that's the least of my worries!

Day 4... and more to come

Most of the work left with the cabinets, as can be done without the reordered one, is finish work. The toe-kicks, crown molding, light rail, knobs and drawer pulls... The wall cabinets can't be finished until the microwave cabinet arrives. Whenever that will be. And the project manager called to tell me how much the electrical is going to cost... I'll be asking for an itemized breakdown. $900+ seems like a lot.

Day 3 saw a lot done

Byron really got a lot accomplished, although it doesn't look like it. He's here from about 8:40 in the morning until almost 6:30 in the evening with only a short break for lunch and something to drink each day. The plumber was here around 2 o'clock to figure out what needs doing. He said he's done worse, so I'll take that as a good thing. It looks like I won't be able to put the garbage disposal on the left sink though, which throws my plan to put a rollout garbage receptacle under the sink into question. I'll need to do some measuring and revising. I think the cabinets might all be in by the end of the day tomorrow. What's already done looks amazing. (Amazing is in the eye of the beholder, of course!)

The KFC Rick got for supper was AWFUL! I think I'll have to go pick up the food from now on. Safeway deli is pretty good, so maybe tomorrow that's what we'll eat.

Day 2 is finally over... but there's still a long way to the finish line

Byron finally left at 6 o'clock. There were some mistakes on the drawings. It appears that one of our walls has grown since the measurements were done. So we had a lengthy discussion about how to adjust for the errors. Got it all sorted out. Then he went out to the garage to get the cabinets he was going to work on next and discovered that two of the small base cabinets for my fake buffet and hutch were damaged. Badly. Fortunately the damage isn't going to be visible, doesn't affect the structural integrity and won't affect the function of the pieces so they can be used. However Home Depot will be hearing about it and I will be getting money back, or something of value in its place. What sweet little add on can I think of that I just HAVE to have? The sink base is in its desired spot so the plumber can get that work done tomorrow. Unless they're just coming to "measure". Good thing I didn't plan on having my kitchen warming party until December!

Day 2 off with a bang

So Bob, the electrician, shows up at about 9 o'clock with an apprentice (Matt) in tow. They start looking at the wiring issues... Of course they aren't as simple as the project manager has said. The light switch didn't have any slack on the wire so they had to cut a hole in the wall near the ceiling and put in a new junction box then run new wire from it to the switch. They ran a new length of wire for the dishwasher and used the previous dishwasher wire for the switch to the garbage disposal. Then the microwave wiring created a problem. It had to be brought out through a hole further up the wall and an outlet box attached to it. There are holes and holes and more holes. All the while Bob is grumbling and muttering about how this was supposed to be a "simple" job, "piece of cake", "only take a few minutes"... and how he had so many other jobs on the go and he really didn't have time for this and Home Depot wasn't going to be getting his services any more. Then he got me to sign a work order and he's coming back to finish up the work after the rest of the cabinets are in.

Byron pointed out a problem with the drawings. The cabinet that the planner put in over the microwave isn't tall enough and the microwave will end up being over my head. So we called the project manager and ordered a taller cabinet. Which will be here in three weeks. The skinny cabinet that goes in next to the stove has a divider in it for trays and baking sheets. Well, the box it was in was completely intact, no dents or dings, but the divider was damaged when Byron took it out of the box. Great. Don't really care about the divider, but I PAID for it!

The contractor's coordinator just called to set up the final measure for the countertop. They can't do that until all the base cabinets are in place and secured to the walls. The guy is coming on Friday morning to do that. But the countertops can't go in until the 29th... the day I have to go back to work. Do I let Rick supervise? And then that means I can't start tiling until after that. But I can do the measurements, buy the tiles and maybe do some of the cutting in advance. Wunderbar.

Poor Bailey is once again tethered to the coffee table so she doesn't get in the way. She's being really good, even with all the noise and confusion. Better than I am, probably. Oh well, it won't last forever.

Day 1 is done. How can I be so tired? I haven't done anything!

The day is finally over. Byron has moved a bunch of the new cabinets into the house and hauled all the old ones away. We uncovered some more problems... the light switch for the dining room light needs to be moved, the wiring for the old range hood is tucked into the wall and it's still live, the wiring for the dishwasher is in the wrong place and there isn't any slack on the wire so stretch it over, the switch that should supply the garbage disposal has no wires attached to it (it's just sitting in the face plate), the drain isn't going to be in the right spot to line up with the sink... The project manager at Home Depot told me that I should have hired an electrician and a plumber... So now she's calling around to find someone to come in and do the work.

Demo's done

Have you ever wondered what 's behind your cabinets? Maybe you don't want to know. We had mold. Rick thought treating it with Lysol spray would be good enough. (There's that phrase..."Good enough". I hate that phrase.) When I returned from my meeting, I washed down the walls where the mold lives and then washed them again with straight bleach.

Ready for demolition

Thank God for moms!! My mom was here visiting her sisters and offered to help me empty out the kitchen so the work could start. It would have taken me three times as long to do it all by myself. I just wish she would still be here when it's time to put it all back!

The BEFORE Shots

This is how the kitchen looked before any work started. Not horrible, but not efficient, not really user-friendly. I have a LOT of junk that needs to be housed (no DUH!) and when the job is done, I'll have more than enough space for my existing junk. I guarantee I'll fill every cubic millimeter of space soon enough.

And so it begins...

The final major upgrade to our house has begun. With any luck it will be completed within a week and life can get back to normal. There are stacks of things from the kitchen piled up in every room in the house. The kettle I use to make my tea is in the main floor bathroom... thank heaven for GFCIs! The microwave is sitting on the sideboard in the dining room, the toaster oven on my dresser (temporarily) and the poor dog is tethered to the coffee table. Day 1 is done. On to Day 2.