Three Steps Back

As quick as things seemed to be going with the kitchen, they suddenly came to a screeching halt. After the electrical work and delivery of the flooring supplies, I was ready for things to get hopping. Not so much.

For some reason, I thought the installers were coming on Friday, which was my day off, to install the flooring. Not sure why that was in my head, but since I lost my pocket calendar where everything was written down, I couldn't be certain when I thought they were coming. After they didn't show up, I called and left a message to double check on the scheduling of the work. The contractor called back and after looking at his schedule, said he would be there to install the flooring on August 11 and August 12, which is another couple of weeks away. Of course, the stove and dishwasher can't be installed until after the floor is done either. So it's just more waiting.

At least the date is set to have the countertop measured. Someone from that company comes out on Monday morning to get all the exact measurements so they can cut the countertop. Now, after initial talks with that company, they were set to come out and install the countertop on August 12. With the contractors doing the floor that day, there's no way they can both be in there at the same time. So I asked about moving the countertop install to a different date. Of course, there was no way they could do it sooner, they were too booked. Earliest they could do it was the following Monday, August 16, so I booked that date. Since the sink will come with and be installed with the countertop, I will continue to be with no kitchen until at least then. I'm also hoping they can install the countertop quickly since I close at work that night.

So I guess you could say the patience is starting to run a little thin. More out of anticipation than anything, but a little frustration as well. It just seems odd that they can come and work on it, and in a four to five hour work day, get the drywall up and install all the cabinets, then go weeks without touching it. If so much can get done that quick, why not come back sooner and get it totally done and out of the way. Obviously they have other jobs going on, but the large gaps in doing the work on mine is a little annoying.

There is another matter I need to figure out as well, but I'm not sure I can do that until everything else is done. I need to figure out paint colors for the walls. A friend suggested doing that early in the process, before they put up the cabinets. He said it would be easier to paint without anything in the way, which is true, but I'm not sure I could decide on a color until I had the cabinets, countertop and floor all in to match the colors better and see what looks best. So that will have to wait for now.

So now it's just more sitting and waiting until Monday, when they come to measure for the countertops. I did break one of my goals though. I ate out at the same place more than once now. I know, I know, I was going to try and not do that, but it just didn't work out that way. On Friday night, I ate at Steak 'N Shake for the a second time during the process. It was quick, easy and cheap, and a friend I was meeting there didn't have a lot of time, so we met there. I'm sure I'll hit up some of the other restaurants more than once too, especially since I've got at least another two and half weeks before its done.

Current Restaurant Tally: Tues 7/13 - Wendys, Wed 7/14 - Macaroni Grill, Fri 7/16 - Red Lobster, Sat 7/17 - Steak 'N Shake, Mon 7/19 - Max&Ermas, Sat 7/24 - Dominos, Sun 7/25 - 54th Street Grill/Dairy Queen (dessert only), Wed 7/28 - Little Ceasers, Thud 7/29 - Longhorn Steakhouse (treated a friend to dinner on her birthday), Fri 7/30 - Steak 'N Shake, Sat 7/31 - Penn Station

Two Steps Forward

First thing this morning the electrician showed up to finish work on the all the kitchen electrical work. It took a couple hours and he got everything hooked up and ready to go for power. While he was here, Lowes delivered all the tiles, grout and supplies needed for the floor work.

The electrician liked to talk to himself as I soon found out. Initially I couldn't tell if he was talking to me or to himself, which made it a bit odd at first. I was a little nervous at one point when he was reading instructions on the GFCI outlets, thinking as an electrician he should know that, but who knows, he could have been reading something else.

He got all the wall outlets done, and hooked up an outlet under the sink for the dishwasher and garbage disposal to plug into. The stove outlet got all hooked up and secured and ready to go as well. He also had to hook up the power to the microwave. He had a little trouble with that but got it done as well. He got the two lights hooked up as well. There is one under the cabinets above where the sink is going to go. That was a change I made from the way it was. Previously there was an old, ugly looking light on the ceiling above the sink area. I had them take that out totally, and instead had a light hooked up and hidden underneath the cabinets.

The other light is the ceiling light. It wasn't originally in the plans to have them switch that out, to be honest I had actually forgotten about it. I had bought a new light and just left it sitting in the kitchen for him to see and hopefully change out. As he was finishing up today, he said he noticed the light and said he didn't think it was on the original job description to include that. I played stupid, hoping for the best, and said I didn't remember if we talked about it or not. He said he could go ahead and do it assuming there were no complications. Thankfully there weren't and he changed them out in about five minutes time, and looks so much better.

The tile and other flooring supplies were delivered as well, and by the same guys from Lowes who delivered the stove, dishwasher and microwave. As we were talking we both wondered why they didn't have him deliver all the tile and flooring supplies at the same time he delivered the appliances, which would have saved them an extra trip. But I guess they have their reasons. And now my room that was just emptied of my cabinets now has the flooring supplies stacked up and filling the void. Will that room ever get emptied?

It's All Coming Together Now...

A former boss of mine in Buffalo used to say that all the time, and it's very appropriate in this case. The installation process on the kitchen took place yesterday morning (Friday), and all the cabinets are now installed.

Andy and his assistant, who does have a name but I feel bad because I can't remember, arrived bright and early Friday to start installing the cabinets. They got there a little before 6am, which was great since I closed at work the night before. First up was the new drywall, covering up the holes from the pieces they cut out when tearing out the back splash. It covered up all the electrical work/wiring that was done as well.

Then it was time for the cabinets. I wish I could say I was amazed to watch them put the cabinets in so quickly, but going off about three or four hours sleep, I was half out of it during the whole process. They did work quickly though, and made a whole lot of noise.

I have to say it's amazing to see how much different it looks already, even though the cabinets are the only thing installed. I guess having real kitchen cabinets as opposed to the cheap crap that used to be up there makes a big difference. The microwave was the lone appliance to be installed for obvious reasons. It's not working yet, but I've still go the old one to use for now.

They were very precise in doing the work too. I could hear them talking to each other and you could tell by the conversation that they were being very anal about making sure everything was measured up right, installed right, and fit together right. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I mean it is their job after all. But how many times do we see someone doing their job but knowing they don't really care and are just going through the motions. Obviously its different because I was here, but you could still tell they were being so precise because that's just the way they do it. They were also very thorough in cleaning up when they were done. Again, being very particular and wanting it to be done just right.

Now its moving on to the next couple of steps. One is the electrician. He has to come back out and hook all the wiring up so its live and ready. That includes hooking up the microwave, getting the outlet for the stove up and ready, get in the wiring for the dishwasher and microwave live and ready, and get all the wall outlets hooked up.

The other step is the countertop. They had to wait for the cabinets to be installed before measuring to get an exact fit on the countertop, so now that appointment has been scheduled. Unfortunately, that company couldn't get out here until August 2 to measure, and then set up a date of August 12 to install the cabinets. That means no sink until at least August 12, which means probably no cooking until then either. More eating out - oh joy!

After sitting on the couch through much of the work on the kitchen, the cat finally got spooked by all the work. With all the drilling, and hammering, and cutting going on, he hid in my bedroom around the corner of the bed and barely moved until they left.

Tonight I finally caved in to pizza for eating out. I was holding back because its so easy to do the pizza thing by yourself - and they deliver.
Here's a rundown: Tues 7/13 - Wendys, Wed 7/14 - Macaroni Grill, Fri 7/16 - Red Lobster, Sat 7/17 - Steak 'N Shake, Mon 7/19 - Max&Ermas, 7/24 - Dominos.

More Pieces to the Puzzle

Three more big pieces, both figuratively and literally, to the kitchen puzzle arrived today. They delivered the new stove, the new dishwasher, and the new microwave this morning.

I was a little surprised because as of last notice, they were going to call and let me know what day they would be delivered. I knew it would be Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, but I wasn't sure which day exactly. I was actually planning on calling them this morning to find out which day, but before I could get out of bed, they called me and told me they would deliver between 10am and 2pm.

They arrived around 11:30, and dropped off the new stuff. More importantly, they took away the old stuff. The old stove, range hood and dishwasher were all sitting outside along the side of my house, making it look totally white trashy. 'Ol Yeller, the ugly old piece of crap stove that started this whole project, has now left the building. It is gone. Forever. Thank God.

So now all my new kitchen stuff, and some of my old cabinets, are all sitting in one room. That makes it a little hard to move around in that room, but no worries, at least its here. Later this week, Friday I believe, the contractors will be here to install everything, then it will look totally different.

Oh, and another night of eating out, and another new restaurant can be added to the list. Here's a rundown: Tues 7/13 - Wendys, Wed 7/14 - Macaroni Grill, Fri 7/16 - Red Lobster, Sat 7/17 - Steak 'N Shake, Mon 7/19 - Max&Ermas.

Restaurant Tally

With the kitchen getting remodeled, and no access to a stove or sink, cooking dinner is pretty much impossible. While I stocked up on frozen dinners in preparation, it's still so much easier to just go and eat out somewhere.

Obviously this could get quite expensive throughout the entire process, but somehow I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. I'll probably continue to eat out on a regular basis at a variety of restaurants.

With that, I decided to keep track of how many times and where I eat out during the entire kitchen remodeling process. So far this week, the count is four times. They tore out the kitchen on Tuesday, and that night after running errands, I stopped by Wendy's and grabbed burger and fries. Wednesday, I was off work and after golf in the morning, mowing the yard and a nap in the afternoon, I met a friend at Macaroni Grill where I treated to dinner that I owed for a favor. Thursday night I closed at work, so didn't have to worry about dinner. Friday, I opened at work and afterwards met a friend (same friend) for dinner at Red Lobster. Saturday, it was a little more economical dinner with the same friend again, and had Steak 'N Shake.

Couple of things have come up in the last few days on this whole issue. First is that I'm going to spend a lot of money on eating out the next several weeks until the kitchen is done. Second, I have really good friend who has agreed to eat out a lot lately knowing my situation. I may have to spring for another dinner as payback for being so nice. I've also decided to see how many different restaurants I can eat at during this whole ordeal. Might as well spread my money around to as many local eating establishments as possible.

Here's the tally so far:
Wendy's - 1
Macaroni Grill - 1
Red Lobster - 1
Steak 'N Shake - 1

D-Day is Here

My kitchen is now destroyed. Demolition day has arrived and has quickly passed already. The contractors, Andy and Jeff, showed up about 8:45 this morning and were out of here by 11:30. Tearing stuff up is the easy part.


My kitchen now naked. All the cabinets are gone, the countertop is gone, sink is gone, dishwasher is gone, stove is gone. Even part of the drywall is gone. All the flooring is gone now too. Once they pulled out the cabinets and left, I took out the rest of the flooring that was hidden underneath the cabinets. It is now down to the bare minimum.

The only stumble they hit was with the plumbing for the kitchen. Now I have no idea how it all works, but he had problems getting the pipes cut off and stopped. Andy commented that he hadn't run into a kitchen with a plumbing problem like that for a long time. I told him that was typical of this house. With the age of the house and some of the things done to it previously, a lot of things are odd and troublesome whenever I get stuff fixed or replaced. This was no exception. But in the end, he got it capped off and fixed.

Now it is on to the next step, the electrical work. The electrician is coming on Friday to take care of all that work. A few of the electrical outlets on the wall need to be moved slightly due to some of the changes in cabinets. All the outlets also have to be switched over to GFCI outlets for safety. Andy said today that the wiring for the stove looked a bit shaky and a little unsafe. He was going to mention it to Barry, the electrician, to look at and they would let me know if new wiring would need to be installed. If they say yes, I'll obviously do it. It may add extra cost, but we're talking about electrical wiring that could be unsafe. That's a no brainer on spending a few extra bucks.

I have a small list of a couple things to get before Friday. One being a new garbage disposal so they can have it wired and ready to go. Second is a new doorbell. The old doorbell is an old clock looking thing that was above the fridge. That has to go and wiring moved for the new one, which I have to go buy. Last is a new light. I don't think we've talked a lot about that, but I'm planning on getting a new light, so I'm going to buy one and leave it here for him to switch out. I'm sure it's a quick and easy thing to do, especially for an electrician, so I'll buy it and have them change those out.

In the meantime, my temporary kitchen has moved to the living room. A little cramped and awkward, but I have to admit, it's nice to have the big TV, couch, cabinet of snack food and fridge all in the same room. Makes things rather convenient.

The Last Supper

Well, not exactly the last supper. First of all, it was actually lunch, not supper. And there weren't 12 disciples with me, just me and my cat. But you get the idea.

With the tear out of the kitchen set for tomorrow (Tuesday), today was the last day to use the kitchen for food preparation for the next several weeks. I had to work tonight, which meant leaving for work around 1:30pm. For lunch, I made my last meal in the Old Yeller stove.

In case you can't tell exactly what this fine cuisine is that I heated up in the stove, here is a look at the fine delicacy I cooked.

As I mentioned, tomorrow is tear out day. The contractors are coming out to do the dismantling of the my current kitchen. Now the excitement is going full tilt. The one thing that I had to do on my own for tearing out is the floor. Because my house is so old, there was the worry of asbestos under the old flooring. The contractors would have to charge a ton extra, plus the burden of sealing off the kitchen for protection when they tear out the floor. If I did it myself, it would cause no problems.

Now, I know that the current floor does not pose any asbestos problems, because I put down the current floor myself about four years ago. I replaced the old junky stuff they had on the floor and put down the cheap, vinyl stick on floor tiles. So I know there is no asbestos problems under the current floor. Now, four years ago when I took out the old stuff? That's a different story. Maybe there was and I had no clue. But I'm still alive and no breathing problems, so maybe all is well.

Anyway, back to removing the floor. Peeling up the the vinyl tiles was no problem at all. Took a little hand held scraper thingy (technical tool term there), pried up around the edges of the tiles and they came right up. Easy. Removing the sticky adhesive residue left behind on the floor, not so easy. I used some chemical thing from Lowes to help loosen the adhesive. It helped a little, but not much. I then threw out the instructions, which said to dilute it one part chemical and 4 parts water. I went with 1 part chemical, 1 part water, and it worked a whole lot better. Although the aroma was much stronger. It was still a pain to get it removed and to be honest it's not perfect, but the stickiness is pretty much gone after much hard work. Hopefully it's good enough for them to put the new floor on without any problems.

But now I'm ready for tomorrow. Just waiting to see when the contractors get there and watch them start demolishing my kitchen.

The Cabinets Have Arrived

Today the kitchen cabinets arrived. They were delivered around 11am - not bad considering the 'delivery window' was between 10am and 2pm.

The three delivery guys didn't take long to unload everything. They weren't here more than 15 minutes and lifted some of those bigger boxes like they were nothing. The main guy was pretty funny, and explained in complete detail how to check off the packing slip as they brought stuff in to make sure it was all there. I didn't have the heart to tell him I check in vendors at work on a daily basis, so I know how to make sure everything is there. He also noticed my Cubs picture on the wall and Cubs pillow on the couch. He then hollered out to the other two not to unload anything else and pack it back up in the truck because they weren't allowed to deliver to Cubs fans.

All the boxes of cabinets have now taken up a majority of my living room and completely covered my awesome napping couch. I have to climb over the boxes if I want to take a nap but won't be able to watch the TV as I fall asleep. It's not supposed to be a challenge to lay on the couch and take a nap.

Shortly after the cabinets were delivered, the two installers from Lowes came by to look them over and make sure first of all that everything was there, and secondly that it was undamaged and in good condition. I have to say, I was impressed by how thorough they were. They went one box at a time, checked the label on the box, made sure what was marked was actually in there and that it was the right thing that needed to be ordered. Then they opened the box, took the cabinets out and looked it over to make sure there were no damages, scratches, or anything.

I watched and talked with them while they were doing all this and was amazed at how picky they were over some of the stuff. Not that I minded. They looked over every inch of each piece, checked all the hinges of the doors and looked inside every drawer. They found one shelf that had a scratch on the bottom side of it, and while I'm thinking oh well, it's on the bottom who's going to see it, they said they would have a new one sent to replace it. I have to admit I was impressed with how detailed they were. They looked like a couple of CSI detectives looking over a crime scene.

Oh, and all that talk about "curiosity killed the cat," and how cats are always curious and getting their nose into things to see what's going on? Yeah, not so much the case with my cat. The whole time they were delivering and the entire time the Lowes guys were checking out the cabinets, this is where my cat was and what he did throughout the entire process. Never moved an inch.

The installer, Andy, said he would contact me tomorrow about a time frame on when they could start on the tear out and get the appliances delivered. He also wanted to check with the electrician to coordinate schedules with him as well.

That also means I have work to do. Because the house is so old, they can't take out the flooring because of possible asbestos. Because I put down cheap vinyl floor tiles a couple years ago, I know that's not an issue (or at least it's not now, it may have been a couple years ago). Even still, they can't tear it out without jumping through a bunch of hoops, which means more money, so I have to tear it out myself. Pulling the tiles out is easy. Removing the sticky adhesive on the floor underneath is a different story.

Either way, the project has now officially started.

Delivery Date is Scheduled

How fast things move once you make your payments. The cabinet order was processed and made within a couple days of me making my payment and verifying the order. The company that made them had a cool website that let me followed the progress.

The request was received and confirmed on June 16. It was scheduled for production on June 29, and two days later, on July 1, the cabinets were shipped. They were received by the delivery agent on July 2, who then called me and set up a time for delivery on Tuesday, July 6. Of course, the delivery "window" is like the cable company, where they give you a four-hour time frame when the delivery will be made. Just my luck, my window is 10am to 2pm, right in the middle of the day. But at least the cabinets are on their way. That makes the whole thing seem even more exciting and me more anxious.

The next step is to get a hold of the contractor. Lowe's wants the guy doing the work to come and see the delivery and make sure that all the pieces arrived and that they arrived undamaged. In the meantime, I had to clean up the side room of my house, the one next to the kitchen, where they will store the cabinets until they are installed. This led to me cleaning out the kitchen as well. I packed away all the stuff I wouldn't be using in the next couple of weeks. I guess you could say the anticipation is creeping in and I'm doing whatever I can to have things prepared ahead of time.

I even confirmed with a friend of mine that he still wanted my old cabinets, and which ones, either part of them or all of them. I wanted to make sure I knew so when the tear out process began I could make sure to keep them.

The other interesting thing that happened last week in regards to my order was with the payment to Lowe's. For whatever reason, I sat down one day and looked through all the receipts and payments for the project. In looking at the receipt, which was at least 6-feet long, I noticed something odd. The receipt was broken down by category, with all the appliances in one group; the cabinets in one group; the countertop in one group; the installation of the cabinets in one group; and a last group for countertop installation. As I looked at it, I noticed that the group with the appliance information was on there in two places, once near the top and once near the bottom of the receipt. I studied it more and the only conclusion I came to was that I paid twice for the following items: stove, microwave, dishwasher, kitchen faucet, lighting, ceramic floor tiles and grout for the tiles. The total amount was $1775. And I paid it twice.

Needless to say I made a quick call to Lowe's to figure this out. The designer that I had been working with, Sharon, listened to my explanation and then said she would look into it and call me back. She called later that day and was just as confused as I was. The work order information was all correct, but the receipt from my payment definitely showed I paid twice for that group of stuff. She promised to take care of it and did, within a day or two actually. My account was then credited with the $1775 that I overpaid, making me a much happier camper. That lowered the balance by about half that I had put onto my credit card. Now if I could just convince them that I paid for all the cabinets twice I'd really owe a lot less. Somehow I doubt that'll happen.

But the anticipation level is definitely rising now that the first big step is here, with the cabinets set for delivery in just a couple days. Pictures of the new cabinets will be posted once they arrive.