6 billion staples down, only 4 billion to go!

Today was a day of continued demolition.  And let's be honest - those days are the MOST fun!  I know what you're thinking - "installation is great because it leaves you with a sense of order and accomplishment!"  You're right, but there is nothing quite as satisfying as ripping stuff up and getting rid of the hideous linoleum flooring that we have lived with for so long.  Goodbyeeee ugly asbestos-laden flooring!  See you NEVER again.

Mom and I removed about 6 billion staples that remained, while Dad went around screwing down the floor boards.  It was lots of fun (and exceedingly noisy).  Ahhh, there's nothing like family bonding time.

Stay tuned for the cabinet action of tomorrow!

We don't need no squeakin' boards!

I don't know how you celebrated Memorial Day, but I know how to show the girls a good time!

We temporarily moved the stove, refrigerator and one small cabinet and removed the vinyl flooring and underlayment under them and in front of several of the floor cabinets. As usual, there were a million staples imbedded in the plywood floor that had to be pulled out with pliers. As you can see, some of the staples were flattened and had to be hammered into a vertical position for pulling.

 Amanda developed a clever technique for leveraging the staples out with minimal time and effort. She claimed to be able to pull about 6 staples a minute this way.

I drilled pilot holes and installed 2" deck screws to tie down the plywood to the joists, completely eliminating all of the squeaks that we've lived with for years. The builder used nails instead of screws to secure the plywood, and over time the boards loosened up and any movement against the nails caused the squeaks. We have about 1/3 of the kitchen floor secured now.

Taking it for Granite

I drove to the NSI granite warehouse this morning and looked at all of their granite. The Red Malibu is still my favorite, although I also like the Red Dragon a lot.  Here's a close-up look at the corner of the Red Malibu. Note the weight, 1860 Kg. The two slabs that we need will be shipped in a week or so to our fabricator.

Bonus today - some images of a granite slab being transported in the warehouse.

Screwed

The hallway floor boards are now completely screwed into the joists, as well as all accessible floor space in the powder room, which already was quite solid without the extra reinforcement.

The dining room is now ready for delivery of the cabinets, scheduled for Wednesday, June 1. Once they are installed, we can start transferring everything from the kitchen wall cabinets so we can remove and dispose of them. The kitchen cabinets and vanity for the powder room will be available for delivery around the end of June, which should give us sufficient time to tile the floor and remove the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining room.

We still have to work out the actual layout of the tile, which is complicated by the fact that we have so many perimeter surfaces to deal with in the various spaces. It will be a trick to avoid narrow strips of tile along conspicuous walls and transitions. Stay tuned!


Our granite counter top fabricator advised us last week that the two slabs of Red Malibu granite that they received for us had flaws and were rejected. I have located an alternate source, NSI in Glen Burnie, that has nine slabs on hand! I will select two slabs tomorrow and notify the fabricator that we are back in business. We have also selected an Emerald Green marble for the vanity top.

Joist blocking

We had some flexing and squeaking at the base of our stairs in the hallway. No amount of screws in the floorboards would fix the problem, so I installed a couple of 2x4's with 5-1/2" lag screws across the joists in the basement (easily accessible in our unfinished basement), and a bunch of screws in the floorboards to tie them into the new cross braces. No more flexing or squeaking!

I used the last of our 1-lb box of 2" screws and got a 5-lb box at Home Depot this evening. The hallway floors are about 80% secured to the joists, so this box should be sufficient for the powder room and kitchen floors. I am installing screws every 8" along all joists, whether there is a squeak/flexing problem or not. I don't trust the nails that the builder used 31 years ago.

Monday Funday

I have deemed myself the painting expert in the house.  My new rule is I'll paint anything as long as it's not white.  (which is coincidently the same as my cake rule - but swap "paint" for "bake/decorate").

Anyway, I decided that stopping to get water was just too much of an interruption, so I did what any cool person would do - I strapped on my Camelbak.  That's right ladies and gents - ice cold water attached to my person.

In more blog-related news: the dining room has officially been painted.  It's a lovely gray to match the hallway (and eventually the kitchen).  We're still having a bit of debate about whether the upper portion of wall between the kitchen and dining room will remain...so that has been painted (just in case).

Just to get a few facts straight. . .

• The only thing in this house that is nailed down firmly is the quarter round.
• After the builder completed this group of houses, he moved to Hawaii and became a professional ukelele player -- a decision we enthusiastically support.
• John has been to Home Depot so many times that they sent him an offer to join their contractor purchase program.
• And it was simply coincidence that the first Friday I took off to help with the construction (demolition?) happened to be the opening day for Pirates 4 (Imax and 3-D).

Rolling along

I continued spacking and sanding the dining room walls and ceiling, and finally getting the ceiling painted by late afternoon. In the meantime, Amanda was eager to roll some of our grey paint, so I edged the hallway walls and Amanda did the rolling. Looks like one coat is going to do the job and there is enough paint remaining for the dining room walls. The paint dried darker than when it was wet, but we all think it looks good.

Sharron removed the remaining accessible tiles in the powder room and pulled out the associated staples from the floor. The few remaining tiles will be removed when the vanity and toilet are removed for the tile installation.

Let her rip!

I awoke early Friday morning to the sounds of Sharron ripping out quarter round with a crowbar and hammer. Music to my ears! By the end of the day, she had removed all of the tile, underlayment and associated staples from the hallway. We now have a huge pile of 4'x4' panels staged on the deck for disposal.


I painted the dining room ceiling and spackled and sanded the walls, which still need one final sanding and perhaps some spackling in one corner where I applied drywall tape today. Meanwhile, I began the process of installing 2" deck screws in the newly exposed plywood in the hallway to eliminate squeaking boards. I also went to the basement and removed all of the wood shims between the joists and floorboards. These had been installed years ago to minimize floor squeaks in the kitchen.

Wired

I spent most of the day cutting holes in the wallboard and pulling wire for new outlets and a dimmer switch for the dining room under-cabinet lights. The wire exiting the small hole will feed the under-cabinet lights.

The square hole has been filled with a duplex outlet and the dimmer switch for the cabinet lights. A second duplex outlet was also installed further to the left of this one. Yes, I did turn off the circuit breaker when I had to connect my new wiring up to the juice!

Welcome, please make yourself comfortable!

It's official: we're finally remodeling the kitchen (and dining room and hallway and bathroom)!  Instead of sending out daily email updates - this blog will serve as a compilation of all of our pictures, thoughts, stories, and issues.

This way you can check for an update anytime, anywhere! Be sure to share with all your friends - they're likely to be delighted as well!