New house, new renovation project :)

[Gabe]

Started today with putting on the second coat of paint on the ceiling in the third bedroom and the kitchen, and putting in the recessed LED light assemblies.

I then went back to the wood shop where the rest of the kitchen cabinets are, finished cutting/gluing/sanding the veneer pieces that will be the visible finished ends on the cabinets (the shop owner is spraying them for us - he's doing a great job), brought home the sprayed/finished drawer fronts and most of the cabinet doors, went back to working on the kitchen, primed the 2 opposing walls that will be red with the required gray primer, and cut-in and painted the other 2 walls with the same taupe paint that we used in the sun room:

(the bare areas will be covered by cabinets, so no need to waste paint)

 

[LAStang1234]

Absolutely wonderful job Gabe! I just skimmed through this whole thread and am in awe of how much progress you've made. I did get a good laugh at your "hopeful" move in date of March lol, I had a feeling that might get pushed back.

Keep it up and keep the pictures coming! Again, great job.

 

[Gabe]

Absolutely wonderful job Gabe! I just skimmed through this whole thread and am in awe of how much progress you've made. I did get a good laugh at your "hopeful" move in date of March lol, I had a feeling that might get pushed back.

Keep it up and keep the pictures coming! Again, great job.

Lol, thanks man ... today was a huge day, as I finished painting the kitchen and started moving in the cabinets.

The 87"-tall pantry barely fit inside the 91"-tall room, but we got it standing right:

And the other walls got some cabinets in the rough spots of where they'll end up:

 

[Gabe]

Today we installed most of the base kitchen cabinets, first putting down 3/4" plywood to bring up the cabinets/appliances to the same height as the new hardwood flooring we're gonna install.

The GF helped a lot, first cabinet being a corner unit she volunteered to get in there and drill the pilot holes, then screw it in:

And the way it looks now, after about 6 hours of work:

 

[Gabe]

All the base cabinets are now installed.
The pantries are set in place where they'll be installed, the new fridge will be in-between them.
New countertop template also got done today.

 

[ksack]

What's the distance from the fridge to the sink? We learned about the Golden Triangle in architecture class and curiosity is really killing my cat right now

 

[Gabe]

What's the distance from the fridge to the sink? We learned about the Golden Triangle in architecture class and curiosity is really killing my cat right now

It's about 12 feet, I think.

We decided to have "zones" instead of the Triangle.
We have cooking zone, prep zone and storage zone, and the storage zone is only about 4-5 feet from the prep and cook zones.
Sink is in the middle of the cook and prep zones

 

[Gabe]

Finally got the generator hooked up yesterday and did the first start-up.
The electrical still needs to be hooked up, so this was only a short run

 

[Wicked GT]

All the base cabinets are now installed.
The pantries are set in place where they'll be installed, the new fridge will be in-between them.
New countertop template also got done today.

Gabe, I can see the stove will go in the gap on the right, is the gap on the left for the dishwasher? Curious as it looks pretty narrow?

 

[ksack]

Thanks for the response. I hadn't heard of the zone thing before in residential kitchens. I'm personally always running between the fridge and stove getting ingredients and such. I don't like leaving cold stuff out on the counter.

 

[i am ryan]

Thanks for the response. I hadn't heard of the zone thing before in residential kitchens. I'm personally always running between the fridge and stove getting ingredients and such. I don't like leaving cold stuff out on the counter.

The "zones" thing is definitely a more recent theory, largely because of people building homes with open floor plans with long narrow kitchens rather than a dedicated room. It uses the same zones that a commercial kitchen would use so that each task has everything you need within a certain number of steps or movements. Think of it like when a basketball player stops and can only rotate from one point. If you follow the blog Contemporist, they posted photos of a home built from a converted warehouse yesterday that had a kitchen that shows how the zones would work in a layout that doesn't allow for a triangle to work.

Looking good, Gabe! What are you doing for the countertop material?

 

[Gabe]

Gabe, I can see the stove will go in the gap on the right, is the gap on the left for the dishwasher? Curious as it looks pretty narrow?

Yes, dishwasher on the left, to the left of the sink cabinet.
Then the stove in the space on the right, with its hood above it, and upper cabinets on either side of the hood.

The "zones" thing is definitely a more recent theory, largely because of people building homes with open floor plans with long narrow kitchens rather than a dedicated room. It uses the same zones that a commercial kitchen would use so that each task has everything you need within a certain number of steps or movements. Think of it like when a basketball player stops and can only rotate from one point. If you follow the blog Contemporist, they posted photos of a home built from a converted warehouse yesterday that had a kitchen that shows how the zones would work in a layout that doesn't allow for a triangle to work.

Looking good, Gabe! What are you doing for the countertop material?

Thanks Ryan, we're doing a dark gray granite, in a "leathered" look, a cool finish, kinda matte and with some texture like leather.

 

[Gabe]

So today the first of the upper cabinets got installed, the ones on the left side of the kitchen:

The little wooden thingy on the floor above ^^^ is a jig I made up, allowing us to put it up on the lower cabinets then rest the upper cabinet onto IT, holding the cabinet in place for me to screw it in.
It worked beautifully


I also went ahead and screwed in the large pantry, leveled perfectly side-to-side and front-to-rear.
The middle section will house the microwave:

Then I poked a hole for the undercabinet lighting wiring to come through, and left some messages to the future owner that might remove the cabinets:

 

[Gabe]

Went by the house today to check the windows since it's pouring out - had a couple of them open - closed them then left.
But I took a few pictures of the lawn/driveway, since I haven't taken any to show how it's coming along out there ...

The grass is growing awesome, the retaining wall and the landscaping around the driveway still need to be finished, but super happy so far with the change.

The "before" :

 

[Gabe]

Laid down a cement board on the bathroom floor today, with thin-set mortar under it and a whole bunch of screws through it.
Looking to get the toilet installed ASAP, so some tile will be installed very soon so we can do that.

Also cut-in the walls in one of the bedrooms, to finally get some paint in there ... so freakin humid today, I could only do one coat of the cutting-in, so no painting got done - hopefully tomorrow.


.

 

[cop on my back]

So today the first of the upper cabinets got installed, the ones on the left side of the kitchen:

The little wooden thingy on the floor above ^^^ is a jig I made up, allowing us to put it up on the lower cabinets then rest the upper cabinet onto IT, holding the cabinet in place for me to screw it in.
It worked beautifully

I always used a floor jack for lifting the uppers in place. Looks good so far!

 

[Gabe]

I always used a floor jack for lifting the uppers in place. Looks good so far!

Lol, that sounds like a good idea too! Thanks man ...



Today the GF and I went over, she cut-in all the closets with primer and primered 2 closets and their trim, she also primered the window trim/framing of the 2 older casement windows in the living room.
I put on 2 coats of paint in one of the bedrooms, installed a new thermostat in there, and installed all new white switch/outlet plates. All this room needs now is the hardwood flooring to be installed, trim, and the new fan/light assembly which is hiding in a box in the closet:

New thermostat also now installed in the bathroom:

Took a few more pics of the new front lawn and driveway since I love how it's looking these days

 

[Gabe]

Finished installing the bedroom ceiling fans today, so now all 3 bedrooms have them.
Installed a new light sconce in the back of the house for deck lighting.
The girlfriend finished cutting-in all the closets and put on the first coat of paint in the walk-in closet.

Today I also started putting down bathroom floor tile.
Installed a few pieces, then remembered that I was gonna use some of that "RedGard waterproofing membrane" stuff on the joints, so I put it on, which effectively stopped the tile installation for today since I had to wait for it to dry before installing any more tile.
So I installed a second cement board and stopped for the day:

 

[Gabe]

Today my GF finished painting all the closets, while I applied more floor tile in the bathroom and one more cement board on that floor.

We also received the first of our new appliances, the new Bosch 800+ series dishwasher, the new Bosch range, and the new Bosch range hood:

 

[LAStang1234]

Not sure if you might already be doing it Gabe, but carry over those bricks you're using for the walkway to the left side of the driveway, as well as the right. Would look really good imo!