Kitchen - Week 8

The final coat of mud went on last weekend.

Early in the week everything got sanded.

Late in the week the painter was here to prime and put on a coat of ceiling white.

There's also a stack of hardwood floor boards in the hallway acclimatizing to their new home.
Next week the plan is to level the floor and start installing the in-floor hydronic heating system.

The in-floor heat will get connected to the same system panel as the master bathroom, but the method and components for installing the tubing in the kitchen floor are different.

Kitchen - Week 7

Most of the drywall was hung early in the week on the walls.

The missing parts for the in-floor hydronic manifold finally arrived and I was able to install the manifold and hook up the supply and return lines. Just in time for the last of the drywall to get hung.

Then mudding and taping started.

A couple of coats are on already.  Might need another, but we'll have to see after it dries.

The New Neighbors

We've had some new neighbors move in this summer.  It's taken a while for me to get a good picture of them.  I finally got one this morning with a long lens.

They weren't entirely happy with me mowing the lawn underneath them.  They kept calling to another member of the family in a tree in the neighbor's yard.

I've also noticed that more of our perennials are unmolested this year and there may be a correlation...

Kitchen - Week 6

The exterior walls were insulated this week. This room has always been the most impacted by the weather - cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  Now that there's insulation, it should be much better.

The second entry into the kitchen was also created this week. With modern entertaining styles this will help traffic flow a lot, without destroying the integrity of the design.

Here's the view from the inside where you can see the new header and jack studs.

And drywall was installed on the ceiling!

Kitchen - Week 5

Apologies for skipping a week.

Since the last update, more mechanical work has been done; mostly electrical.

There are ultimately going to be six switches here to control various lights.  They will be 3-way switches so that everything can be controlled from either entrance.

Six switches probably sounds like a lot, but there are in-cabinet lights, under-cabinet lights (note the whip above and slightly to the left of the switch boxes), pendants over the island, recessed cans over the island, recessed cans at the edges of the room, and recessed cans on the way to the dining room.

There was never enough light in the old kitchen and we're making sure that doesn't happen again.

They'll all be dimmable so I don't have to wear sunglasses.

More Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Last week I was drilling holes for the kitchen's in-floor heat tubing.

The old bottom plates in the stud bays are quite hard and the bit binds on occasion. The bit also has an auger point that pulls the bit through the wood, assuming the drill has enough power and there's wood to engage the auger.

Once the auger breaks through, it's of no help. So you have to apply more pressure to the drill to complete the hole.

Here's what happens when it finally breaks through and you forgot about the nail sticking out of the back of the wood lath...

The observant will be able to tell which one sacrificed itself for the others...