Kitchen Day 12: Another coat

Today Austin put on another coat of mud and did some more painting outside.  An example of the rounded edges is below.

Of course, Lincoln wanted to "help fix the kitchen," too!

Kitchen Day 11: Taping & mudding

Today Austin had to tape and mud all the drywall, including patching in gaps and installing the rounded edging.  Our house does not have trim. All the windows, doors, and doorways have rounded edges.  It is very difficult to find the pieces needed to recreate the edges.  Austin found some at Gypsum Supply in Cedar Rapids and ended up buying the entire inventory on his way to the airport a month or so ago.

Kitchen Day 10: Drywall & delivery

After moving the can light I discovered last night, Austin spent most of the day patching in with drywall, which was no small task.

The cabinets were also delivered, even though we're probably a week away from being able to install anything.  I wish I would have taken a picture or video of Lincoln.  He was such an eager helper!  He carried some envelopes of screws and a few other small boxes of parts.  He desperately wanted to help with the bigger boxes.  The dining area and garage sure got a lot smaller!

Flags and Games

The kids were all about flags today.  Emily made an impressive American flag out of yarn pieces.  She also made a 4th of July flag for next year's celebration using paper and a yard stick.  Of course, Lincoln thought he needed a flag, too.  I happened to be sorting through pictures on the computer, so he wanted one printed for his own flag.

After supper, the kids (and I) needed a diversion, so I hauled out some new lawn games.  The first was a bocce ball set we received from our wedding registry ten years ago that still had the tags and original packaging.  The kids enjoyed the game, but Lincoln has a lot to learn about strategy and technique, and Emily sort of cheated by always throwing the pallino (small target ball) super close to her end, so the games ended up being very one-sided between them.

Considering the weight of the bocce balls, this picture does not bode well.

That's better!

Next was a brand new ladder golf set purchased on sale at Target last week.  Assembly was quite tedious and included digging in the big dumpster to rescue the picture from the packaging since the directions were in black & white and very unclear.  It also took a while for the kids to get the hang of throwing the stringed balls.  There were some very interesting techniques used!  This game ended after Emily purposely threw one set of balls into the tree and I refused to attempt to get it down.

Kitchen Day 9: Big helper and a big problem

It was another big electrical day as Austin & the electrician finished running all the wires.  Lincoln was very eager to help!

It was a very positive, productive day but had a very disappointing ending.  At 10:00pm I was looking at all the can light housings that Austin had finished wiring and installing.  That's when it occurred to me that the placement of one of the holes was going to be partially covered by cabinet above the fridge because that cabinet is 24" deep rather than 12" deep.  Doh!  That meant it had to be uninstalled and re-drilled 12" over.  It was also the main junction for the other can light runs.  Thankfully, the wires were still long enough to reach.  The other major discovery was a big miscommunication between me, Austin and the electrician.  They thought I had said I wanted the kitchen can lights and island pendant light on the same switch.  I meant I wanted the switches in the same place.  That will require the electrician to return and re-run the wires.  Sigh.

Stress relief

After a super-stressful morning and a just plain awful lunch, everyone took a break for quiet hour.  That was the turnaround point of the day.  Emily & I enjoyed a competitive card game of "Trash" on the deck.  Then I took the kids swimming at the Waverly pool for the first time this summer (I know, it's pathetic).  They had a great time, and I discovered it has gotten much easier to take them.

We enjoyed a delicious grilled supper on the deck.  Then the kids had fun playing outside in the beautiful weather.  They have enjoyed using this box as a "train station" with the plasma cars.

Kitchen Day 8: Electrical = Stress

Remodeling is stressful business.  This picture sums up my feelings by noon today:

We were surprised (and thrilled) to get a phone call that the electricians would be able to come today.  They knocked on the door at 8:30am when I was the only one out of bed yet.  That meant I had to scramble and decide where to put all the recessed can lights before leaving for swimming lessons at 10:30am.  After Austin marked out floor joists and taking some advice from the electrician, I marked out the 10 holes.  When I got home from the kids' swimming lessons, Austin had hit floor joists on 3 out 4 holes he had drilled.  Doh!  With our thick plaster ceilings, a regular stud finder gives a lot of false positives.  So I had to make adjustments and he re-drilled.

Working together, Austin and the electrician solved most of the wiring mysteries.  They will end up pulling and completely re-wiring the entire kitchen.  It will require the addition of a sub-panel to our electrical box, but it will be a relief to have every appliance on its own circuit like it's supposed to be, along with properly divided outlet circuits.

Below is a picture with the ceiling holes drilled and the dangling wires gone, plus the underlayment finished.  My favorite part of this picture is the way you can see how the setting sun will shine all the way through the west picture window and light up the bar area.

My other highlight for the day was to be the one to personally hurl the detestable kitchen ceiling fan/light fixture into the dumpster.  Disgusting didn't begin to describe it.  I have been waiting for this moment for a long time!

Kitchen Day 7: Out with the old, in with the new

Austin's project for today was removing the old, original kitchen window and vent fan and putting in the new octagonal window.  It took two hours just to dislodge the fan because it was in so tight.  He got almost everything completely covered and sided outside, too.

An installer from B&J Flooring also came in the afternoon to start putting in the new underlayment.  It looks so much better after covering the old floor surfaces!

Baskets & Car seats

Emily's return has meant a return of craft projects.  With all sorts of new "material" sitting around in the basement, it was only a matter of time.  She also was thrilled to take a trip to Wal-mart where she purchased new skeens of purple & orange yarn and a large box of jumbo popsicle sticks with her own money.  This is her new line of cup baskets:

She also decided to change her store to a "General Store" rather than a "Braid Shop" because she now offers braids, knotted yarn and cup baskets.

Her other project for the day was making a car seat for her doll, Samantha.  She had been talking about making one out of wood scraps, but I convinced her that a box would be just fine.  She decorated it with scraps of wrapping paper and put up "privacy" covering.  She was especially proud of the way she used a empty tape dispenser to hook the strap.  I'm pretty sure it wouldn't pass any safety standards, but it works! ;o)  There is a video in the July play list of Emily explaining how it works.

Kitchen Day 6: Walls

We had plumbers come first thing to do some rough-in work, which included moving two air vents in the floor.  Austin spent most of the day taking out the remains of the big wall.  This included using an angle grinder on the diamond mesh surrounding all edges.  It was a horrible, dusty mess.  He also built the new knee wall that will hold up the breakfast bar.

Our friend, Kevin, returned twice to prime and paint the siding around the new deck door.  Lincoln was eager to join in and "help."

The good news of the day is that we had an electrician stop by to look things over.  They will hopefully be able to send someone over soon.  He also wired a temporary hook-up for the the range downstairs so it is useable again.  Hooray!