(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 2003)
This is how the kitchen renovation is going:
Demolish kitchen
Vacuum kitchen
Vacuum basement
Cut out old plumbing
Vacuum basement again
Vacuum kitchen again
Lay down tar paper on floor
Vacuum basement again
Lay down subfloor
Vacuum basement again
Install pull-down stairs to attic in cellar stairway
Vacuum basement again
Vacuum kitchen again
Find problems in ceiling-have to tear it down
Vacuum kitchen again
Install French doors
You guessed it…vacuum again
And so on, and so on, and so on!
If I thought I would be going to hell when I die (I won’t because I have heaven insurance. I took my grandmother and mother-in-law to see the Friends of Lawrence Welk years ago so I now have a speedpass straight to the pearly gates) this would be it for me. Even though we are behind schedule and seem to take 1 step back for every 2 steps forward, thing are progressing.
The porch is enclosed! It looks amazing. The minute the guys left I moved the folding table and chairs out there. I have to share the porch with the appliances for now but I don’t mind. The porch is awesome! I painted the porch ceiling before the guys came to enclose it thinking it would be easier and I would not have to be too neat. You should have seen me up on the ladder on the porch (which is about 5’ off the ground), with a bucket of paint and my roller with the extended handle, trying to paint the roof while facing the setting sun, with the dog running around on the porch trying to catch the hornets buzzing around us. I can see the headlines now “Woman and dog found unconscious in driveway covered in white paint…Story at 11”.
We finally picked out kitchen cabinets and the granite for the countertops. The cabinets are due to arrive the first week of June (we won’t be ready) and the granite installation is probably 8-9 weeks away (we have to be ready). We are at the point now where I am not able to do be of much work (like plumbing and electrical) so my life is getting back to normal. Gabe's, however, isn't!
We are never as far along as we hope to be. The dumpster is gone and we got charged another $50 because we were over the weight limit. I'm not surprised with all the junk we stuffed into it. Gabe put down the plywood subfloor and worked on leveling off the walls. You'd be surprised to hear that nothing is straight in this house! We also have problems with the ceiling. When the wall between the dining room and pantry was removed we found that the ceiling heights did not match exactly. Gabe has not been able to get the ceiling leveled so he ended up tearing it down (more vacuuming). We were hoping to just restrap it and plaster over it. Aren’t we silly?? When he tore down the ceiling Gabe discovered that some of the ceiling beams were running parallel to the roof peak instead of perpendicular to it. We have no idea how this happened or why someone would have done it. By the way, the ceiling beams that were running the wrong way were not attached to anything either. Gabe can’t believe the roof has not collapsed on our heads! Unfortunately for us this is something that has to be fixed immediately so that takes time away from progressing on the kitchen itself. Another setback was realizing that once we plastered the ceiling there would be no access to the attic so Gabe had to install pull-down stairs in the cellar stairway (yes, more vacuuming).
As I said, the subfloor is down and the walls are ready to be insulated and covered once the electrical work is complete. I’m pretty good with an exacto knife and a staple gun so I can put up the insulation. Aren’t I a big help? Also, the French doors have been installed Of course they hung those last week during the snowstorm. I am told they dropped the doors trying to get them off the truck. Oh, and the doors fell on Gabe. You know him, the guy with the bad back? Good thing I was not there to see it. I would have had a heart attack.
My major headache is trying to figure out what to get for takeout every night! You would think this wouldn’t be a problem, huh? I feel like every time we finish a meal it is time to start thinking about what to buy for the next one. Who knew eating out all the time would be such a big deal? And I am starting to gain weight too. I guess I will just have to work out more. Since I won’t let Gabe work on anything but the kitchen I have made myself responsible for all yard work and painting the house this summer. I would also like to seal my driveway. How hard could it be??? Ambitious, aren’t I?
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