Cathy Green Interiors

Earlier this week, I shared our ideas and progress on the kitchen renovation.

Today, I want to take you through the steps we’ve done so far.

Here is a reminder of the ‘before’:

And where we are in the process, as of this morning:

(I was out of town for much of the demolition process, so I asked Andrew to take pictures me!)

Andrew and I had done as much as possible to prep for the arrival of the contractor.  We emptied the cabinets that were attached to the wall that was being removed, he took down the crown molding, he was also able to remove some of the cabinets himself.

Once the contractor arrived on Saturday morning, they put up plastic sheeting to protect the rest of the house from as much dust as possible.  They also set up a ventilation system to push air out one of the windows.  In order to protect our hardwood floors in the dining room, they laid down Ram Board.

With the plastic up and the floors protected, they were ready to start.  They removed the oven and the dishwasher:

They cut the countertop, and removed that and the cabinets that were adjacent to the wall.

Next, they ripped out all of the old flooring.  Andrew said there were three layers of linoleum, then hardwood, and then the subfloor.

With everything out of the way, they were ready to remove the wall.

Andrew said this was his favorite part!  Isn’t using a sledge hammer and a reciprocating saw every man’s idea of a good time?

We decided to pull down the ceiling and redo that as well while we were in the renovation process.  The ceiling had a popcorn finish to it, which we did not like and wanted to change.  Ripping it out and replacing it with drywall would also allow us to reposition the lighting in the ceiling more easily.  This step is also where Andrew and our contractor found the ‘surprise’!

Our upstairs bathroom is located above the kitchen.  At some point in the history of the house (it was built in 1941), the radiator in the bathroom had leaked, leaving cracked and damaged beams.  The ceiling had begun to sag and was two inches lower than it should have been. We were lucky to find this ‘surprise’, because at some point, the radiator probably would have come crashing through the ceiling!

In any renovation project, it is always good to budget for and expect surprises.  We were thankful that this was fairly minor and not too difficult to repair.  So, how did they fix it?  First, they jacked up the ceiling to get it level.

Next, they sistered-up the beams with new 2”x8” beams and lag bolts.  Due to sistering-up the beams, they also had to reroute some of the plumbing.

Then, they added new studs under the old cracked beams, in order to even out the ceiling level.

With the support beams in place and the ceiling level, they could install the drywall.

Since I was out of town through all of this part of the project, Andrew wanted me to know how things were going.  He sent me periodic updates, and one morning, I received this picture with the caption: “Don’t worry, I was still able to make coffee!”

With the ceiling fixed, they turned their attention to the floor.  We chose a gray tile (from Mosaic Tile, Folio Artistica Meteor, color: Silver).

Over the past few days, they’ve worked to:

-grout the tile
-finish the drywall behind the sink
-spackle the new drywall and ceiling
-fix some of the electrical and re-hook up the disposal and dishwasher (yay!)

What we still have left to do:

-finish the spackling and sanding of the drywall
-paint the walls and ceiling
-install the new cabinets
-paint the cabinets
-choose and install new cabinet hardware
-have the new granite countertops installed
-Miscellaneous & accessories
-Clean up!

We are excited for the progress and are happy to have the hardest parts of the project behind us!

One last look at where we are now:

º Have you found any ‘surprises’ during a renovation?