Kitchen – nuntawob

November 27, 2025

Moving In – October/November 2025

Following the installation of the stainless steel backsplash in the kitchen, the house was in a state where I could move in. Obviously there was still a lot to do, but all the things I needed to function were in place. I would spend most of my time preparing for the move. This meant a ton of sorting and purging, and eventually cleaning in preparation for moving the furniture from my apartment. In this post, I do not intend to cover that part of the process. Instead I will focus on the other things I attended to in between those activities.

One of the first things I did was to acquire a vanity for the guest bathroom.

As you can see, I opted for a free standing unit. The vanity you see above is simply placed where I want it. It has not been secured in these pictures because other things in the bathroom need to be installed before I secure it (like the baseboards). I will be replacing the door handles on the vanity to match the other hardware in this room. These handles are what came with the unit.

Another thing I attended to was getting a console table for the foyer. I found something online that I thought looked pretty good, so I ordered it and assembled it.

Although I liked the style, I thought it looked a bit small for the space, so decided not to use it there. However, I got the idea that it might work well in the kitchen at the end of the island as you enter from the garage.

I was very pleased with this arrangement. I will be entering the house mainly from the garage, so when I do this will be where my keys will go, along with any other things that one typically places on the counter as you come and go. This provides a very nice landing zone, keeping the counter free.

Of course, I still needed something for the foyer. Then it occurred to me that I could use the table I’d previously used as a sofa table. I moved it into position and was immediately pleased with how it looked.

Console Table for Foyer (second attempt)

This is a bit more substantial and I like the combination of metal, wood, and glass. I added a mirror to complete it.

The screening that encloses the lanai out back was in need of replacement. A couple of the screens had been missing for some time, so I decided to attend to that. I chose to outsource this work to make it quick, but I had to prepare for that first, which meant removing the existing screening so that I could wipe down the aluminum cage, which had a lot of mold built up on it from neglect. I also pressure washed the floor, which cleaned it up, but it needs a lot more attention and I have yet to decide what I am going to do there.

Here is a shot of the lanai after the old screens had been removed.

And here is a shot from the same angle with the new screens in place.

The new screening has smaller openings than the previous screening. This is supposed to keep out the tiniest of bugs (often called “no-see-ums”). It was a bit more expensive, but I thought it was worth it. I want to be able to keep the doors from the house to the lanai open during nice weather and don’t want to have to worry about bugs getting into the house. Another thing I did along this line was to use spray foam to fill voids at the joints in the aluminum framing. Even with the previous screening in tact, the little lizards had a way of getting in. Although they are harmless, I prefer they stay outside. Since doing this, I’ve not seen a single lizard, so I think it has been a success. And what a nice view I have.

I also put up my wind chimes, which have been sitting patiently collecting dust for years.

I like the look of the chimes, but positioned them in a protected location because they can get loud and I don’t want to disturb the neighbors.

Although the guest bathroom won’t be fully functional until after I get the baseboards down (a prerequisite for the toilet and vanity installation), nothing was stopping me from getting the glass shower enclosure installed. I hired the same people that did the glass wall for the master shower. For this installation, though, I added a door, since the area is much smaller. I was happy with the result.

Another chore I attended to just before the movers arrived, was replacing the two overhead lights at the front entry to the house.

These fixtures are pretty simple. The original ones were looking a bit ragged, and I think these clean up the entryway nicely. Like the flooring in the lanai, I’ll do something with the entryway here. The bare concrete is not very nice.

The actual move took place on November 10th. The weather was perfect. The movers were great and made quick work of it, leaving me to arrange things the way I wanted them. This is what I settled on.

I was surprised with how my traditional furniture worked in this room. It was my plan to replace all this and move toward a more modern look, but after setting it up, I was pleasantly surprised with the look. I really like it, so will be keeping my existing furniture. I already intended to keep the bedroom set. I bought it ages ago and have always liked it.

Here’s the kitchen.

In my previous post, I showed a picture of the temporary rack I put in the laundry room to serve as storage until I built in cabinets and a bench. Here’s a reminder.

One evening while I was sitting peacefully in the living room, I heard a loud crash. I jumped up to investigate and discovered it was the shelf in the closet of the workshop. It came crashing down. I had been storing a lot of things on that shelf, including many clamps. I don’t have a proper picture of it, either before nor after, but here is one that will give you a small peek of it before it fell.

Fortunately, there was no real damage. I noticed a small ding in the flooring, but you had to really look to see it. After this, I decided that rather than put the shelf back up and ensure it was suitably secured, I would move the 5-tier rack from the laundry room into this space. I contemplated doing this when I first got the rack, thinking it would fit nicely here until I properly built out the closet, but decided it wasn’t needed. Ironic, eh?

5-tier Metal Rack Moved to Workshop Closet

As you can see, I have plenty of extra storage space available, so that is a nice benefit. The rack in the laundry room was replaced with a slightly smaller one since I didn’t really need all the space the larger rack provided. This one is made of plastic rather than metal, which is fine since it would not be supporting anything very heavy. Here it is loaded up with what I had before.

I am now living comfortably in my new home and am really happy about that. It’s really pleasant, which is aided by the beautiful weather we’ve had since I moved in, allowing me to keep the slider in the living room open most of the day.

There is still a lot to do. None of the trim work is done. There are no interior doors, and the crown molding in the kitchen has yet to be done. I’m contemplating hiring out some of that work, but will decide on that later. With the holidays approaching, I’ll be doing quite of bit of traveling, so until the New Year I am just going to enjoy my new home and take it easy. I’ll get back to work next year.

To end this post I’ll leave you with a picture I took the morning of November 25th from the lanai. I don’t usually get up so early, but that day I woke up as the sun was about to make an appearance, so I captured it.

Until next year…

September 29, 2025

Preparations for Moving In – August, September 2025

After returning from vacation, the plan was to turn my attention to the garage workshop. The idea was to prepare for the upcoming trim work that was facing me inside the house. A lot of thought went into it, but no real action. I was considering getting several new pieces of equipment, including an 8″ jointer, a cabinet saw, and something for dust collection. Some of these would require new 240 volt outlets. The table saw and jointer are both large machines. I have limited room in my garage so both would have to be mobile so they could be moved to the side to make room for the car. After considerable thought, I decided to not buy anything, yet. Instead I decided I would see if I could make do with what I have and only buy something when not doing so becomes painful.

While that was going on, I decided it would be best to focus on the things that would have to be ready in order for me to move in, which would be mid November. Some low hanging fruit was adding hardware to the master bathroom.

Since the towel rod is not right beside the shower, I added a hook to hold the towel while showering. I did not want to put a towel rod on the wall outside the shower because, if hung in the usual location, it would cover the switches.

Before moving in, I really needed to have the backsplash behind the cooktop installed. In the last post I mentioned that I planned to run the black granite up the wall. That was the plan, but the installers were really dragging their feet on this. I also asked them for an estimate for the vanity in the guest bathroom but, again, nothing. So while that was in limbo, I decided to have the tree in the front yard removed. It was something I figured I would do after I moved in, but given the limited activity, I decided to initiate that process. Fortunately, the company I contacted to do that was very prompt and responsive.

As you can see above, the tree was pretty ugly. Knowing it was going to be removed, I did not have it trimmed, so it was getting really crazy. It was a Live Oak, and was really not suited to this small a plot. The root system is extensive, so it would eventually mess up my driveway. Also, it sits atop the drain that leads from the house to the city sewer system, so that could be impacted too.

I will leave what you see above until the spring before sodding that area. It needs to settle for some time.

Returning to the cooktop backsplash, I contacted someone else to get an estimate, since my countertop installers still hadn’t responded. I got a much higher quote. Shortly after that, I did hear from my countertop guy, and he was expressing some concerns about the weight of the slab for the backsplash. It would be a very heavy slab. So that got me thinking of alternatives, and I decided to abandon the granite and instead opted for an embossed stainless steel backsplash with a diamond pattern. It would look really nice, be easy to clean, and would not introduce any weight issues. So I found someone to do that work and initiated the process.

While that was going on, I took care of a small but nagging issue that needed to be done before I moved in; mainly adding the remaining Ethernet keystones and faceplates. I wasn’t looking forward to this because it is fiddly work, but I was pleased to have it done. Here are some of them.

Once each of these is wired up, they have to be tested for connectivity (I have a special tool for that). If the connectivity is good, then I plug in my laptop and make sure it connects to the internet. Once that it confirmed, I insert the keystone(s) into the faceplate and attach the faceplate to the wall. After that is done, I verify again that the laptop can get online. I do this second test because, when attaching the faceplate, the keystone gets pushed into the junction box, which can disturb the connections. Fortunately, that did not happen on any of my installations.

With that done, I hooked up the washer and dryer. They certainly need to be working before I move in. I started with the dryer because it needed a couple of modifications before I could use it. The first was to simply reverse the door. In its current setup, the door would swing open toward the washing machine, making it awkward to transfer clothes from the the washer to the dryer. That was a pretty simple operation. The other thing I had to do was change the way the dryer vented. In its current configuration, it would vent to the left (toward the washer). That needed to change so it would vent out the back where it could connect up to the exterior vent. This proved to be quite an undertaking.

To move the dryer vent from the side to the back required that I disassemble the dryer (really!). I found a YouTube video that walked me through it, so that was great, but far more than I was expecting. So I moved the dryer into the living room where I had more space to work and started opening it up.

What you see above is the top and front door assembly removed. The control panel is resting on the frame and drum. That was just the start. To get access to the vent, the drum would have to be removed.

With the drum out of the way, I had access to the area where I would install the vent pipe. Below you can see it installed.

Straight run of Pipe out to the back of Dryer

Something of note here is that the pipe that was installed before (the one that vented out the side) was very poorly installed. When I pulled it out I noticed that it was not sealed with foil tape. Instead, the installers simply lined up the sections of pipe as best they could and used foil tape to keep them together. Because they did not take the dryer apart like I did, they had very limited access, so they would have simply reached in as far as the arm would allow and tape the pipe sections together as best they could. They would not have been able to wrap the foil tape fully around the pipe, which is what I saw. Having no experience with this, I was oblivious. It worked, for the most part, but would have leaked a lot, which would have heated up the room, making my A/C work extra.

With the new section of pipe in place, I reassembled the dryer and used a flexible foil pipe to tie it to the section of pipe in the wall that leads to the outside.

Here it is installed (sort of).

I turned it on, then went outside to verify that it was venting well, which it was. As you can see, I have kept it on the dolly. Since the dryer will have to be moved some day when I install baseboard, I decided to leave it on the dolly. A dryer doesn’t spin at a high rate of speed like a washing machine, so it doesn’t need to rest as securely on the floor. So this should be fine for the foreseeable future.

The installation of the washing machine was a much simpler matter. I did not need to make any modifications. I simply needed to remove the shipping bolts I installed before moving it from the other house, and then connected the water supply and lines put the drain pipe in place.

Unlike the dryer, I could not leave this on the dolly. It needed to be on solid ground and level. To test it, I ran the “tub clean” program, which takes more than an hour. It was a good test and the tub was in need of a good cleaning. There were no leaks and it ran smoothly.

Another thing that needed to be sorted out before I could move in was having something on which to hang my clothes. The two closets in the master bedroom were blank slates. Eventually I will create a custom solution tailored to each closet, but for now, I just needed something that would do the job and not cost too much. I found a pretty inexpensive rack online and purchased it to see if it would work.

I was very pleased with this. It was easy to assemble and very light weight, yet was strong enough to hold anything I planned to put on it. It fit nicely along the long wall in the large closet, so I decided to purchase two additional racks from the same company, but just a bit smaller. One would also go in the large closet, and the other would fit nicely in the small closet.

Look how well the smaller rack fits in the small master closet. I was pleased with that.

I also started moving some things from the apartment to the house; things that would fit in my car and would not be needed in my day to day life between now and November. One such item was a cube organizer, which fit nicely beside the piano.

Cube Organizer moved in, and a couple of Pics added.

I got a bit carried away and even hung a couple of pictures. I like the look of this room. It is aligned with the style I am after (modern or transitional). Unfortunately, the furniture from my previous house is very traditional. Although it differs from the more modern style I want, I will not entertain replacing it until after the trim work is done. So it will be with me for quite some time. Here is a glimpse of what I mean.

More Traditional furniture to Occupy Great Room for time being.

This contrast will become more pronounced once I move in.

I continued to do next to nothing with respect to construction work around the house. Instead, I just kept moving bits and pieces from the apartment to the house, sorting through boxes that had been packed for ages, and throwing out things I could no longer justify keeping. I also decided to start learning FreeCAD, which is 3D modeling software that I will use to design the various things I intend to build. I have a lot of projects I want to do around the house, such as building out the closets. Learning this software will allow me to fully flesh out the designs before I build a thing.

In the laundry room, opposite the washer/dryer, I imagine that I will introduce a “hall tree”, where there will be a bench where you can sit to put on shoes, above which will be hooks for coats and some cubbies for storage. I imagine flanking the hall tree with tall cabinets where I can store laundry supplies and an ironing board. All of that can be modeled in 3 dimensions using FreeCAD to make sure it is what I want. FreeCAD has a significant learning curve, so it’ll be a while before I am proficient, but I am on my way. In the meantime, I purchased a 5 tier rack to store laundry supplies and other such things.

To close out this post, I am pleased to show you the backsplash behind the cooktop. It was just installed today and I am very pleased with it.

June 29, 2025

Kitchen, Garage, and other bits and pieces – May and June 2025

After a really nice week away, my first task upon returning to the house was to figure out how to hook up the vent hood. Just prior to leaving on vacation, I was speaking with a metal fabricator about creating custom piping to route the vent exhaust through the limited space in the cabinet above the cooktop. The situation is like this:

The hole in the bottom of the cabinet is 7″, and the one at the top is 6″. There is little space within the cabinet, so off-the-shelf parts would not fit. Hence, the need to speak to a fabricator. After that discussion I learned that it was going to be very expensive, so I started looking for alternatives. I found a short reducer online that would reduce the 7″ exhaust port of the vent hood to 6″ and take up minimal vertical space. A 90 degree elbow would then be needed to turn in the direction of the flex pipe. I ordered both, hoping they would work. They did not. So I found another metal fabricator that claimed they could do it for far less than the first one I contacted. So I handed the job off to them. The results of that will be presented in a subsequent post.

While attending to the exhaust venting, I used some of the wait time to add a switch and 4″ recessed light in the hallway between the master bedroom and bathroom.

Above the door to the bathroom will be glass, allowing the natural light from the sun tunnel in the bathroom to extend into the hallway. By adding a recessed light, there will be no fixture to obscure it.

My piano would be arriving soon, and it would be going in the dining room. Therefore, I needed to install a light fixture there before the presence of the piano got in the way.

I really like this fixture. I stayed with the matte black with white shade theme. Like the other fixtures, I will be keeping the cellophane on to protect the shade until I move in. Once installed, I cleared the area to make room for the piano, which arrived a few days later.

I subsequently purchase a new piano bench.

When ordering the light for the dining room, I also ordered a similar but smaller one for the laundry room.

A lot of other work took place during this time. I ordered the items I’ll need for the kitchen island This included: the sink, faucet, popup outlets, and pressure switch for the garbage disposal. Those would be needed in order to know the cutouts required for the counter top. Once they arrived, I created the required sketches in SketchUp, which I’ll take to the company that will be doing the work. Here’s the one for the island.

Sketch of Island Countertop with Cutouts

I also ordered the remaining equipment for the network rack, which included a UPS (uninterruptible power supply), a 24 port switch, and some other bits and pieces. The modem and router were supplied by my internet provider. Once they arrived and the cable guy activated the connection, here’s what I ended up with.

The top two slots contain patch panels. They are used to organize the 30 different cables I have running throughout the house, each terminating at a wall jack. In some places I have two jacks at one location. Here are a couple of examples.

Below the patch panel in the rack is a switch with 24 ports. Although I have more cables run than switch ports, in practice I will not use all available lines, so a 24 port switch is sufficient. If I need to use one that is not hooked up to the switch, it is easy to swap them around.

The router connects to the switch (the yellow cable), which will distribute the connection to the other ports and, ultimately, to the jacks through the patch panel. Below that I have a gap (unused slot) followed by a power strip. Below that is my uninterruptible power supply that plugs into the wall. All power goes through it, meaning all power in the rack is backed up by a battery and surge protected. The yellow cable connects the router to the switch, and the router is connected to the modem. As previously mentioned, the router and the modem were supplied by the service provider. It is nice to have internet access in the house again.

I purchased a nice little labeling machine. It will be used to identify the jacks. I also used it to label the water lines coming out of the Manabloc.

I will have lots of opportunity to use my nice little label maker elsewhere throughout the house.

Next, I went out to select slabs for the countertops. The process involves selecting the slabs, then arranging to have the fabricator receive them and take the measurements required to do the cutting and fitting. I identified a pair of book matched slabs for the island because one slab was not long enough to cover it. The cooktop area was much smaller, so one slab would provide far more material than I needed. The slab I am showing below is for the island. It is quartzite with only faint veining.

Unlike the island, the slab I selected for the cooktop area is granite, due to its ability to withstand heat better than quartzite. It is called Black Absolute and is shown below. The image below was taken at the fabricator because they just happened to have an off-cut of Black Absolute from another job that was the right size, so I didn’t have to buy a full slab for the relatively small area that needed it. Although it looks like there are some lines in it, there are not. Those are just streaks from the cutting process that dried.

After selecting the slabs, they would have to be delivered to the fabricator and then I would have to wait until they had time in their schedule to start cutting them. In the meantime, I attended to some other things I wanted to get done before the countertops were ready for installation.

To cover and protect the some of the things at the bottom of the sink cabinet in the island, I built a box to enclose them. Here is what I was dealing with.

I wanted to create something that I could slide into place and cover the junction box, power adapter, and controller for the kick lighting, and surround the water supply lines and drain. Here is what I built.

There are various openings cut into the sides to make room for the wires and cables that enter/exit. The cutouts in the top are for the water supply lines and drain, and one for the wire to the junction box above it. Here it is installed within the sink cabinet.

This was made from some scrap pine I had, so it’s not too heavy, yet provides a solid enclosure. You just set it in place and slide it against the back of the cabinet to enclose the drain and water supply lines. It fits nicely in the space, covering exactly what I wanted. I will probably some Velcro to secure it to the back wall so I can easily remove it to gain access to the components within. I ended up increasing the width of the opening I made for the water supply lines because I needed to space them out more in order to secure them and make room for the straight stops I installed.

In the image above, I did not install the straight stop for the supply line to the dishwasher because I had yet to explore how to install the dishwasher, so I left it plugged and long.

The countertop process took longer than expected. This added a lot of down time to the renovation, and was the reason I did not finish this post in time to publish it at the end of May. I did not want to start a new project until after the kitchen was done, because none of the other projects would prevent me from moving into the house. Plus, I didn’t want to start something I might have to stop once I could move forward with the kitchen after the countertops were installed. Although not a prerequisite for moving into the house, while waiting I decided to start the process of getting the vanity mirror for the master bathroom. It will be one large mirror spanning the width of the vanity, so not something I could do myself. I had someone come out and measure and I subsequently ordered it. That too, would take some time, but another job initiated.

Eventually, I got fed up doing nothing and decided I had to start the next project. After the kitchen was done, I intended to turn my attention to the garage and setup a proper workshop, where I would be able to do the work needed to trim out the interior and, if adventurous enough, make the interior doors. This would be a big job, but one I could do in stages, so I decided to start by framing the west wall of the garage so I had a place to hang things and store long items. Here is what it looked like after I moved things out of the way.

And here it is after I framed it.

This is a twelve foot span. I did not take it all the way to the front wall of the garage because I thought I should leave some space because it can get a bit wet there if it rains. With this in place I added a high shelf from left over shelving from the closets inside the house, and several 1×6 horizontal boards to provide a place to attach various fixtures for hanging things.

I had a similar setup in my other house, and it worked well, so I decided to duplicate it here. The high shelf allows me to store very long things up out of the way. With the horizontal boards, I have the freedom to add or move fixtures as needed. Here’s what I’ve added so far.

It’s nice to have the yard care items off the floor. I’ve positioned them near the front of the garage. Near the back I have my desktop router table hung on the wall along with several extension cords. I will leave the space under them clear so that I can move equipment there, as you can see below.

This will remain a work in progress. I intend to acquire some new equipment and replace others to better assist me with my woodworking objectives, which will be captured in future blog posts.

After getting the wall up, I decided it was time to finish the butcher block countertop. So I pulled off the plastic wrap and moved it to an area where I could apply finish to all surfaces. Up until now, that butcher block countertop had be simply sitting, unattached and wrapped in plastic, on the base cabinets for a very long time.

I also picked up a 4′ piece of Butcher Block countertop and cut it into two pieces. One will sit on the 15″ base cabinet along the back wall of the garage, and the other on the 18″ base cabinet along that same wall.

I will be adding three or four coats of a clear polyurethane; as many as I can get out of the one quart can. Between each coat I lightly sand.

While I was “fabricating” the countertops for my garage cabinets, I paid a visit to the shop where my kitchen countertops would be cut to size. It was very nice of the guys to let me see how it’s done. When I asked if I could watch, I was expecting them to decline, but to my surprise they agreed. So here is what I saw.

The Two Quartz Slabs that will make up the Island Countertop

Moving one of the Island Slabs to the Cutting Table

Rotating the Cutting Table

Cutting the Slab

Returning to my work in the garage, after adding all the finishing coats to the butcher block countertops, I was ready to attach them to the base cabinets.

Notice that I also added some open shelving above the 18″ base cabinet on the back wall. That was always my intention, but what was different was that I made use of some of the left over wire shelving I had stored away. It’s always nice to reuse things.

With all the waiting around that was required as I navigated the kitchen countertop journey, it was nice to be able to make progress in the garage, even though it was not required for moving in. Next week is the beginning of July and I am expecting the kitchen countertops to be installed. That will make for an interesting post. Until then…

April 29, 2025

Kitchen and More – April 2025

To my surprise, the extra cabinet that will go above the cooktop and the refrigerator side panel arrived early. I expected it to arrive mid month, but instead it arrived the first of April. So, my plan to install the overhead lights in the kitchen were put on hold. To prepare for the continuation of the cabinet installation along the east wall (the white cabinets), I had to go backward a bit. Having learned a few things while installing the kick lighting, I realized that I had to move the wire I had put in place for the under counter (U/C) lighting. I placed it so that it would emerge from just under one of the wall cabinets, thinking I would hard wire it to the U/C lights. Now that I know that the U/C lights will be controlled by a controller and power adapter, what I needed was an outlet (no hard wiring). Also, I wanted that outlet to be out of sight and not be a nuisance. So I decided to place it in the 12″ cabinet that will be high above the cooktop. Also, the outlet I had put in place for the vent fan would also be located in that cabinet, but it was a bit too low on the wall, so it had to be moved as well. So the first order of business was to take down the wall cabinet I already put up and start cutting into the drywall so the wires could be moved. Here was what I started with.

And here is the state of things once I opened up the wall.

The white wire you see hanging down is for the U/C lighting. To move it to where I wanted it, I had to drill a couple of holes in the framing to feed it through. The yellow wire is for the cooktop vent, which just needed to be moved up a bit higher.

With the wires in place, I replaced the insulation, patched the drywall, then taped it.

Since this area will be covered with cabinets and tile for the backsplash, the drywall patches do not need to be robust. The long vertical strip has only two screws holding it in place at the bottom. The drywall tape and mud will be all that will secure it beyond that. I really didn’t need to add this strip because it will be behind a cabinet, but I added it anyway.

While waiting for the tape to dry, I installed all my smoke/CO detectors; seven in all. Here is the one in the foyer.

It was nice to get that job out of the way while the drywall tape was setting. Once the tape was dry, I added a single cover coat to it then added a coat of primer. This area does not need to look perfect, it just needs to be reasonably flat, so that was enough. The two openings at the top provide enough space for the junction boxes to fit into as I insert them through the cabinet back.

While the primer was drying on the drywall patch, I got to work modifying the opening of the wall oven cabinet. In the image above you can see part of the result. To get it there, I had to cut away 4 1/2″ from the top, then attach 11/16″ strips on either side to create the opening required, shown below.

The oven I’ve purchased is a wall oven/microwave combo, so it is pretty big. It will fit into this space and overlap the perimeter by about 1/2″. It will also protrude a bit, making it align with the cabinet doors.

While waiting for the wall oven and vent fan, I purchased a couple of wall sconces. I will ultimately need four, but I bought two to see if I liked them. After receiving them I felt they were a bit too small for the foyer, but I liked them for the guest hallway and for the entrance to the master bedroom. I installed the first one in the guest hallway.

I think it looks good and the size is just right. I left the cellophane on the shade for now. I’ll take it off once I’m living in the house. No need to expose the fabric to dust before then.

This was a pretty easy installation, so I was expecting the same for the sconce that would go on the wall just before you enter the master bedroom. Unfortunately, I discovered a wiring problem. The switch that controls the sconce was drawing power from the neighboring switch that controls the lights in the great room, which was a 3-way switch (there are actually four different switches that can turn on the lights in the great room). That would have been fine if that switch had been the first in the chain, but it was not. This meant that it would only supply power when that switch was on, lighting the great room. When I initially installed the switch for the sconce, I tested it, and it worked. What must have happened was that I tested it while the great room lights were on, not realizing that it was due to the great room lights being on that the sconce switch seemed to be working.

I had visions of having to open the wall and run a separate power line down to the switch when it occurred to me that I could tap into a power source in the attic and feed it down the existing 12/2 wire to the switch. I could use the black wire as the power to the switch then use the white wire as the output from the switch and connect it to the black wire in a junction box I would add to feed the sconce. Normally the white wire is for neutral, so reassigning it this way requires that I mark it with black tape, both at the switch and in the junction box to make it clear that it can be “hot”. This worked. I actually had to introduce a second junction box to extend the wire in the attic I was tapping into because there was not enough slack in it to reach the junction box connecting to the sconce.

After that I installed the doorbell. I learned something while doing this. In the garage there is a thing above the hot water heater.

I never knew what this was until I was up in the attic to find the wires for the doorbell. I knew where to find them because I marked them when I removed the doorbell. At that time, I simply cut the wires and labelled them “doorbell”. When it came time to reinstall the doorbell, I had to pay attention to where to connect the wires on the small circuit board that controlled the triggering mechanism of the doorbell. One was connected to a small screw labelled “transformer” and the other to a screw labelled “front door”. There was another for “back door”, but I had no need for that one. One of the wires in the attic lead to the front of the house in the direction of the doorbell button, so that wire was the one to connect to the “front door” screw. The other wire, however, went in the direction of the garage. It was then that I realized that it lead to that thing above the hot water heater, and that it was a transformer. Mystery solved! So I was happy to learn that. I connected it all up and pressed the doorbell. I was pleased to hear it ring.

Before putting the cover over the doorbell mechanism, I spray painted it white to freshen it up. It was beginning to yellow a bit, so now it looks brand. I also decided to replace the doorbell button outside. Although the original button still worked, it had a bit of a crack in it and was showing its age. The one I replaced it with was a bit fancier, but still simple. It is illuminated by an LED light, so there will be no difficulty finding it at night.

Being pleased with my choice of sconce for the guest hallway and entrance to master, I ordered two additional sconces for the foyer, sticking with the matte black theme, but taller. They arrived after the doorbell was sorted out. Here is what I got.

I think they look great. Eventually I will hang a mirror between them, but I haven’t chosen one yet. That’s something that can wait. In the first image of the sconces above, if you look at the floor, you’ll notice I installed a door stop. This was needed so that the front door did not hit the sconce nearest it. You can get a better sense of this from the image below.

When the door is against the stop, it is just shy of the sconce shade. I couldn’t get the door to stay right against the stop when I took this picture, so you’ll have to use your imagination.

With nothing left to justify putting off the installation of the overhead lights in the kitchen, I reluctantly, I turned my attention to that. I was reluctant because I was not looking forward to using the hole saw to cut into the tongue and groove ceiling.

I would be using the same 6-3/8″ hole saw I used in the great room, shown above. When creating the holes in the great room, I remember it being quite challenging. You are working over your head with something that has a tendency to kick out if you’re not careful. After finishing the last hole in the great room ceiling, I was very relieved. And now I had to do it again, but this time it would be even more challenging because the tongue and groove ceiling is thicker than the tongue and groove in the coffers of the great room.

I originally planned to put in eight 4″ recessed lights, thinking 4″ would be sufficient. I started with the smaller hole saw, but stopped when I felt it was too dangerous. I resorted to using a jigsaw, which wasn’t much better. It certainly made a much rougher hole. I installed the 4″ light and then realized it was too small and, more importantly, I needed to install gimbal lights so I could adjust the direction of the beam to account for the sloped ceiling. Odd that I didn’t think of that ahead of time. So I ordered new lights. They arrived, and I didn’t like them. So I returned them and got on with other tasks (the things I described above). As those tasks were winding down and knowing I had to face this one, I found the lights I thought I would be suitable – 6″ and gimballed.

It was time to face the dreaded hole saw, but this time I decided to add the auxiliary handle that comes with my drill so that I could get a firm grip on it (shown attached to the drill in the image above). This made all the difference. The drill was stable and I was able to hold it securely the entire time. There were no kick back issues. This is where my lack of experience shows. I wish I had thought of this while drilling out the holes for the lights in the great room ceiling. It was still a messy job with saw dust falling in my face the entire time, but I was masked up, goggled up, and wore a hat, so it wasn’t that bad. More importantly, the holes were nice and tidy.

Below are a series of images after the installation of all eight lights.

I was both pleased and relieved to have this job done. I’m happy with the result, and it’s nice to have light in the kitchen again. Although these lights are dimmable, I did not see the need for a dimmer switch, since it is a workspace. That can always be changed if I find a need for it.

The next day my wall oven/microwave unit was to be installed and the vent hood for the cooktop would arrive. The installers got to work installing the wall oven/microwave, but when they powered it up, only the oven turned on. In the end, they removed it and took it back to figure out what went wrong.

While that was going on, I started preparing the 12″ cabinet that will go above the cooktop and will support the vent hood. This meant that I needed to cut several holes in the cabinet: one on top for the vent pipe; two on the bottom for the exhaust of the vent fan itself and an opening to feed the plug through; two holes in the back for outlets (one for the vent fan and the other for the under counter lighting); and finally, I needed two small holes on the top to feed the under counter wire for the two wall cabinets on either side. It also required that I add two 3/4″ solid wood strips at either end so the vent hood had something substantial to screw into.

With all that done, I was ready to lift it into position.

To assist with this, I screwed a ledger board to the wall so I had something to rest the cabinet on while I fiddled with the exhaust pipe and alignment. With it in position, I used the two clamps you see to hold it where I wanted it before fastening it to the wall with screws. I then added junction boxes, wired the two outlets, and screwed the face frame to the face frame of the adjoining cabinet.

Because this cabinet will be supporting the vent hood, which is not light, I added extra screws to ensure the cabinet is well secured to the wall.

Next to this cabinet I installed the other tall wall cabinet, followed by the first of two refrigerator panels.

Second Tall Wall Cabinet and First Refrigerator Panel Installed

From the above image, you can finally get a sense of the workspace around which the cooktop will be centered. To complete the cabinets along this wall, I have to add one more cabinet that will go above the refrigerator and the second refrigerator panel. To help with the installation of the cabinet, I pulled out my lazer to decide where to place the ledger board that would support it during the installation.

Lazer used to establish location of Ledger Board

The two blue tape marks on the refrigerator panel identify where the top of the refrigerator will be and where the bottom of the cabinet will be. So there is a bit of space between them, as I’d expected. I just wanted to be sure before I started installing the cabinet. I stopped work on this for the day as my wall oven/microwave combo appliance was delivered and installed. Here it is:

It fit nicely, and is the first appliance to be installed in the kitchen, so a seminal moment.

Here is a bit of the back story regarding the failed first attempt at installing the wall oven. When the installers arrived for the first time, they were expecting a different setup. What I provided was something like what you see below. I did not take a picture of the junction box in the wall oven cabinet, but it was identical to what I did in the cabinet for the cooktop, so what you see below is representative of what they found when they arrived.

The installers were expecting a metal junction box that would be surface mounted and have knockouts into which the whips (metal cased wires connected to the appliances) could be secured. Without that, they chose to simply connect the whips to the cable that extended out of the wall and leave them dangling behind the unit. Although not pretty, that should have worked. But it didn’t, so they took the appliances back to test at the store. They worked when hooked up at the store, so they sent a different fellow out to ensure my wiring was correct. It was. During that visit, I talked to him about installing a surface mounted junction box. Having witnessed the first installation attempt, I knew I had room to accommodate it, and he thought it was a good idea. So in a way, that failure was a blessing. It gave me knowledge of what was expected and the time to make the adjustment. So, making use of the off-cut from when I cut the opening for the cooktop exhaust vent, this is what I added.

Surface Mounted Junction Box in Wall Oven Cabinet

The second attempt to install the oven/microwave was successful. The person who installed it this time was the same guy who came out to check on my electrical setup. I got the impression that he was the main installer. He figured that the reason the first attempt failed was due to the wires not being stripped back enough to make a good connection (not the absence of the junction box shown above). But the presence of the junction box made for a much tidier and secure job.

The next day I got back to installing the remaining cabinet and refrigerator panel. I got some help from my friend and neighbor, Fred, who helped lift the cabinet onto the ledger board and hold it in place while I aligned it and secured it. After that I had just the second refrigerator panel to do. Since it was the end piece on this wall, the cut I made at the top to accommodate the sloped ceiling would be visible and therefore had to be clean, and it was. Here is a shot of the entire cabinetry along the east wall.

Note that I pushed the refrigerator into position, but it is not yet hooked up. I just wanted to see how it looked, and I’m happy with it. I’ll leave the protective Styrofoam on until the installation is completed. I’ve left the doors off the cabinet above the cooktop because I have some work to do there to get the venting for the cooktop exhaust fan sorted out. Here are a couple more shots.

East Wall Cabinetry Installed – view from Great Room.

With the cabinets installed, my focus turned to the cooktop exhaust venting. I was recently told that one is supposed to use rigid pipe with a smooth interior when venting the exhaust. I looked it up and that appears to be true. Oddly, the flexible pipe I installed long ago has been visible every time the inspectors came by, and they never pointed that out, so I’m not sure if this is a hard and fast rule. I won’t be able to replace the section that is above the cabinet and extends to the roof, but I would like to bring the pipe that is within the cabinet into compliance. I spent some time looking for a solution using off the shelf parts, but it is such a tight space that nothing would fit. So I think I am going to look for a fabricator to provide me with a custom solution. I’ll report on that in the next post.

Following from my experience with the wall oven installation, I decided to follow suit and add a surface mounted junction box for the cooktop. Again, I made use of some off-cuts to serve as a mounting surface, securing the junction box to it before attaching the mounting surface to the back of the cabinet.

The whip from the cooktop will secure to the right side of the junction box and, once the wires are connected, will tuck away nicely within it and be covered by the plate you see hanging down.

I will be taking a week off to visit family and friends. When I return I will start by addressing the exhaust vent ducting for the cooktop. Here endeth the post.

March 31, 2025

Flooring Continued, Kitchen Electrical Work, and Painting the Master Bedroom – March 2025

At the end of the last post, the flooring installation was paused as I waited for the extra material to arrive so they could finish the job. Before that, they finished the master bedroom, which took two days, and then started on the office. I forgot to show a picture of the master bedroom before the pause, so here it is now.

End of Day 7, Master Bedroom – from Entrance.

End of Day 7, Master Bedroom – toward Bathroom.

In the image above, notice how on the wall near the window I used two different primers, hence the color difference. I mention this because later I will show the bedroom after I painted it and it is hard to distinguish between the primer and the paint. This was just to provide evidence that the room wasn’t painted before the flooring was installed.

While I was waiting for the additional flooring to arrive, I started cleaning up and organizing the place. Now that most of the flooring was in, I could begin dusting the contents that had been moved out of the bedrooms into the great room. Most things were caked with dust from the many drywall sandings that had taken place. Since that part of the renovation was behind me, dusting the furniture and other items was no longer pointless. It would be nice to work in a relatively clean environment for a change. Also, since I had the time, I cleared the workshop of its contents and scraped the floor in preparation for the return of the installers.

Great Room, after some dusting and reorganizing.

Once the wood arrived, I notified the installers and they showed up a couple of days later to finish the office and workshop.

Notice how there is a bit of variation in the wood. The left side was done using the original order, and from about the middle of the room toward the right is where the newer flooring was introduced. This is even more evident when you look at the workshop, which was the last room they did.

End of Day 9, Workshop – toward Entrance.

The flooring in these two rooms is far more patchy than the rest of the house. This possibility was taken into account when it became clear that additional flooring would be needed, which is why I asked them to use the remaining material in the master bedroom. Under normal circumstances they would have continued from the guest bedroom and hallway into the office and then the workshop, finishing up in the master bedroom. Knowing that the new material may vary somewhat from the original, if there was going to be any variation, I wanted it to be in these two rooms.

With the flooring installed, I could start to move the things I had dusted back into the rooms, where they would remain dust free, apart from the usual dust one gets.

Guest Bedroom – adding furniture after flooring laid.

Office – returning contents after flooring laid.

Workshop – returning contents after flooring laid.

In the workshop, I decided to re-purpose the cabinet that was supposed to be placed on the far side of the refrigerator. Unfortunately, I miscalculated the room I had along the east wall of the kitchen, and this nice little cabinet would not fit. So here is its new home.

In the kitchen, this would have been great for spices, but here it will serve nicely as a place to store glues, finishes, and maybe screws and other fasteners.

Wiring the kitchen island was my next priority. After completing this I would be able to request another inspection to trigger an extension of my permit expiration date.

The island has three lines coming into it from under the slab. In the picture below, the wire on the left is tied to the general 15 amp circuit for the kitchen, and will be used for kick lighting. The one in the middle is for the 20 amp GFCI outlets. The one on the right is on a dedicated 20 amp circuit for the dishwasher.

Because these wires are located inside cabinets, they will be subject to damage as items will be moved in and out of them. Consequently, they need to be protected. This is done by using Metal Cased (MC) cable, instead of the usual Romex that is run behind the walls.

The outlet on the far left is where the power adapter for the kick lighting will plug into. The one just above it is the GFCI outlet. The in-sink garbage disposal will plug into this. It branches out on either side to the two ends of the island where counter top pop-up outlets will connect. The outlet on the right is where the dishwasher will connect. The inside of the junction box on the bottom of the cabinet looks like this inside:

Below I provide a series of pics to show how it all fits together.

Outlet in North End Cabinet to supply power for Counter top Pop-Up Outlets

An MC cable extends from the outlet shown above heading south behind where the dishwasher will go and into the sink base cabinet, connecting to the GFCI wire inside the outlet box, shown below.

At the other side of the GFCI outlet, another MC cable extends southward behind the cabinet where the garbage pales reside.

This cable terminates at the second outlet that is in the south end cabinet. It will provide power for another set of counter top pop-up outlets.

Outlet in South End Cabinet to supply power for Counter top Pop-Up Outlets

I also installed an outlet at the bottom of the pantry for the kick lighting along the east wall of cabinets.

Pantry Cabinet with new Outlet for Kick lighting.

Pantry Cabinet – new Outlet for Kick lighting, with drawers re-installed.

The inspection was performed shortly after, and it was successful. Thus, my permit expiration date is now extended to September.

Since the ends of the island cabinets do not match the color of the cabinets, a 4’x8′ sheet of 1/4″ material is provided so that it can cover those areas. So I cut and shaped it and attached it to both ends. Here is one of the ends.

That looks much better. I’ll do the same for the kicks, but only after I understand how I will run the lighting for that area.

I spent some time researching how to install the kick lighting. After feeling like I understood it and deciding on the approach I would take, I ordered the various pieces. That would take some time to arrive, so I decided to clear out the contents of the great room, which had been holding the contents of the various bedrooms while the flooring was being installed. It was nice to clear that area. With the flooring in and the great room mostly cleared, it made the place look less like a constructions site.

Great Room – from Foyer, after Clearing stored Contents.

Great Room – from Guest Hallway, after Clearing stored Contents.

Great Room – from entrance to Master Bedroom, after Clearing stored Contents.

I have a number of items I no longer need and will attempt to sell. I’ve temporarily stored them in the dining room area. The keen observer will notice that I installed the ceiling fan, too. That’s the original one. I think it looks pretty good, so I might just leave it. It will depend on how I intend to decorate the place, which will be a very long way off.

While still waiting for the kick lighting parts to arrive, I painted the master bedroom. The final room to be painted. The ceiling in that room was painted long ago, but the walls had only been primed, so I would give it two coats of the same paint I used for the great room.

Master Bedroom Painting Complete – From Northwest Corner

Master Bedroom Painting Complete – From Entrance

I hope you noticed the new fan/light I installed. I was going to install the original fan, which didn’t have a light. I wanted to have an overhead light in this room, so I opted for this. I really like it. It is controlled by a remote control, which allows me to vary the fan speed and dim the light. Very nice! I may replace the others with this style, but that is a very low priority so it won’t happen anytime soon.

The parts for the kick lighting arrived around the time I finished painting the master bedroom, so I got to work on that. The first thing I did, was install the kick plates. Below I am showing the back of the island from the north side. The gap between the cabinets is where the dishwasher will go. Keep this in mind as I discuss the sequence of runs of kick lights I will install.

Kick Plates installed along Back of Island

Below I show the kick under the front of the island from the south end.

Kick Plates installed along Front of Island

The kick lighting is controlled by a switched outlet under the sink. Since the LED lights require 12 volts DC, a power adapter (the black box) is required to convert from 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC. A controller (the little white box) is plugged into the power adapter to control the LED lights, which can produce a whole spectrum of colors. This controller is WiFi enabled, so at some point I will be able to modify the colors using an app on my phone. The power adapter and controller for the kick lights will be located in the sink cabinet, which is on the back side of the island to the left of where the dishwasher will go. I ran the wires from it to the front of the cabinet and down a hole I drilled to the kick area.

Kick Lighting Power Adapter and Controller in Sink Cabinet

Closeup of Power Adapter (black) and Controller (white).

The brown wire that is connected to the controller interfaces with the LED strip under the kick, which I will show later.

The LED lights come in a roll and can be cut at designated areas where it can be terminated or connected to other runs. The light strips have an adhesive backing and are inserted into channels I attach to the underside of the kick space.

The light strip is covered by a diffuser, as shown below.

Diffuser that covers the Light Strip inside the Channel

To support these channels, small clips are used.

Mounting Clip as it appears on Front of Channel

The mounting clips for the channel can be screwed into the bottom of the cabinet wall panels, but in order to hide the channels from sight when looking at the island from north and south ends, I added blocks a few inches in from each end.

Additional Blocking for Channel Attachment

I attached these small blocks using a combination of super glue and wood glue. The wood glue provides the strongest hold, but takes some time to cure. So I used the super glue to get an immediate hold, serving as a clamp, so to speak, as the wood glue cures. Six of these blocks were required in total. Below I show one of the clips attached. I used double sided tape to put it in place before securing it with a screw. The small piece of wood you see on the floor was used as a spacer to make sure each clip was positioned the same distance from the kick plate. It was a chore installing these things. I had to use a very short screwdriver as I lay on my side trying to work the screw into the wood.

Here is the channel in place.

And below is how the lights within the channel are connected to the controller under the sink.

To add the lighting I wanted around the island would require three separate runs, each connected by wires I would feed through the cabinets connecting the runs on the back of the island to the front. The first run would start from the sink cabinet and terminate at the south end of the island. The second run would pick up from the first at the south end of the island, but on the other/front side (facing the great room) and run the entire span of the island. Below I show the wire that is connected to the end of the first run and through the back of the end cabinet.

It emerges at the back of the end cabinet at the front of the island, where it dives down into the kick area underneath and is connected to the second run in the same way the first run was connected to the controller (shown above).

The third run would be a short one, starting on the north end and terminating where the dishwasher will go. The second run is connected to the third run in the same way we connected the first and second runs. Essentially, I am wrapping around the island from one side of the dishwasher and terminating on the other side of the dishwasher.

Here are the various runs illuminated.

I think this looks pretty good. I still have some work to do to secure and protect the wiring in the cabinets. I have some ideas about how to do that, but will get to it when it suits me. Next I tackled the kick lighting under the white cabinets.

The kick lighting for the cabinets along the east wall of the kitchen was much simpler, as it consisted of only a single straight run. The power adapter and controller were placed at the bottom of the pantry cabinet.

Adapter and Controller in Pantry Cabinet – Drawer Removed

Adapter and Controller in Pantry Cabinet – Drawer Returned

Here is the final result.

Kick Lights Illuminated along East Wall Cabinets

During this time, I ordered another cabinet that will go above the cook-top and support the exhaust fan. After some thought, that seemed to be the best approach, which I’ll discuss when I show it. I also ordered an additional refrigerator side panel since that nice little cabinet I put in the workshop would not fit. Those items are supposed to arrive in mid to late April. Once they are in, I can start to take steps toward getting the counter tops. More on that in the next post.

February 28, 2025

Wood Flooring and Kitchen Cabinets – February 2025

The work I’m doing on this house requires a permit, which has an expiration date. That expiration date is pushed out by six months after each inspection that has passed. My current expiration date is April 27th, so I have to keep this in mind when deciding what to work on. My next inspection will be either an electrical inspection or a plumbing inspection in the kitchen (or both) once the cabinets are installed. In order to install the kitchen cabinets, the wood floors have to be down. So I have quite a bit or work to do before April 27th.

To speed things up, I decided to hire out the wood floor installation. An experienced crew can accomplish this in a week or so, but it would take me at least a month to do it on my own, so in this case I am willing to hire out the job. With the wood floors done in February, I would have March to work on installing the cabinets and hook up the electrical and/or plumbing. So that is why I stopped work on the guest bathroom after the tiling was completed.

To prepare for installation of the wood floors, a lot of clearing out was required. I started by pulling out and cutting up the drywall cut-offs I had stored in the garage. This was necessary to make space for the large mobile storage unit I would move into that area. I placed these at the end of the driveway along with the two toilets and utility sink, and other bits and pieces.

It’s difficult to throw out so much stuff, especially when much of it could still be of use. But I just do not have the room for it, so I had to do it.

The trash is picked up twice a week, so I placed things in the garage while waiting for the next pickup day. Notice the two cabinets to the right of the trash. Those were from the original kitchen. I added mobile bases to both of them and used them extensively inside the house to hold tools and supplies. They have now been relocated to the garage where they will continue to be useful.

Staging for the Next large Load of Trash

After the next garbage pickup I had room in the garage to store the kitchen cabinets, allowing me to clear out the great room and make it ready for the installers. Here is a “before” picture of the great room as seen from the entrance to the master bedroom:

Here it is the “after” picture:

Most of the stuff I removed was put into the garage. In the image below, the kitchen cabinets are in the foreground, but behind them you can see the wood storage rack against the wall.

The kitchen cabinets have been moved four separate times. They were originally placed in the garage when delivered. I moved them into the house and put them in the kitchen while I worked on the great room. After that I moved them to the dining room while I worked on the kitchen. I moved them a third time into the great room, as shown in the fifth picture above, in order to work on the dining room. The fourth, and final move, was to the garage, as shown above. From here I will move each of them into position once the floor is down. The reason I did not leave them in the garage all along was because I needed the space in the garage to use my power tools (i.e., band saw, planer, table saw, etc.), and I wanted to be able to pull my car in, too.

Prior to the installers arrival, I spent quite a bit of time scraping the floor to remove any bits and pieces that protruded, such as paint spills, dried thin-set from where I was mixing it, and the like. When the installers arrived they seemed fairly happy with the condition of the floor. They began by sweeping and wiping down the floor with a wet sponge to removed the dust.

They also marked out and snapped a chalk line to establish a reference line toward which they would progress. The chalk line is the faint brown line shown above, in the middle of the room. That line is determined by measuring from the long wall on both ends to the opposite wall in the kitchen. Knowing the wall is unlikely to be perfectly straight and parallel to the opposing wall, they split the difference when marking out where the chalk line should be.

Next they dry fit the boards, moving from one wall to the other. In this case, from the great wall to the dining room and the short wall separating the great room from the kitchen.

This is done to understand how the last board will look on the opposing wall. Similar to setting tiles, we want to avoid ending up with thin slivers when we reach the opposing wall. By dry fitting we can determine how much room we have left at the end of the run and compensate for that by removing some of the width of the first board they place. In this case, they found they needed to remove about an inch from the first row of boards to end up with a board that was about 4 inches wide at the opposing walls, which is pretty good.

At this point, they were ready to start setting the first boards.

The glue is applied using a 1/4″ notched trowel. The boards along the long wall had been scribed and cut back by about an inch before they were set into the glue. At this point I left them alone and returned shortly before they were done for the day. At the end of the first day, the floor looked like this:

At the end of day 2, the floor looked like this:

End of Day 2, from Entrance to Master Bedroom

On day 3 they finished the dining room and moved into the kitchen.

At the end of day 3 began the weekend, so the crew would not be back until Monday. So I used that time to caulk the guest bathroom, install the corner shelves, and seal the caulking.

The next job I have in the guest bathroom is to install the hand wand and shower head, but that required a couple of extra bits, so I had to wait until they were delivered. Since trash day was on Monday, I spent the remainder of the weekend cleaning up and preparing the trash for pickup.

On Monday the guys returned and completed the kitchen area and laundry room.

Laundry Room, next day after Tape removed.

After that they moved onto the guest bedroom.

End of Day 5, Guest Bedroom – from Entrance.

While they were working on that, I decided to install my first kitchen cabinet; the pantry.

That red thing you see on the floor is a fish line I used to pull the wire for the kick plate lighting through to the front of the cabinet.

This cabinet, and all the others that touch the ceiling, had to be modified slightly because the distance from the finished floor to where the ceiling meets the wall is just under 8 feet (the cabinet height). Below I show the modification I made to the pantry cabinet.

This change was not visible inside the cabinet, as there is about an inch of material that can be cut away before interfering with the insides. This change is required for all adjoining cabinets so they align properly, which includes the wall cabinets.

At this point it became clear to the installers that we would not have enough flooring to finish the remainder of the house. There would only be enough to finish the master and maybe a bit more. So I had to order more wood, which would take a while before it would arrive. This meant that the installers would have to come back to finish the job. That was unfortunate, but did not slow me down since the kitchen floor was done and I could continue with the cabinets.

While the guys worked on the master bedroom, I installed the wall oven cabinet and the base cabinets along the wall. A couple of the installers helped me move the large wall oven cabinet into place, which was a big help.

At the end of this day, the installers were out of wood, so they packed up and left until the additional wood was delivered. They completed the master bedroom and made a start on the office floor. I’m not including pictures of that yet, because they are still covered in tape. I’ll reveal that once they are completely finished (next post).

The following day I installed the first wall cabinet. I used the same structure I built when installing the wall cabinets in the garage. It sits on the base cabinet and serves as a shelf. It is high enough that shims are enough to push the wall cabinet to the height that’s needed.

Structure used to Install the Wall Cabinet

Here it is after securing it to the wall.

Next to this wall cabinet will be the range hood, but I haven’t purchased one yet. Depending on what I choose, it may attach to the wall cabinets that flank it, so I stopped with the wall cabinets until I’ve selected a range hood.

I turned my attention to the kitchen island cabinets, which needed to be unboxed and moved into the kitchen. I was still a bit uncertain about the placement, so I arranged them as best I could in an effort to get a better sense of where they needed to go. It was important to ensure there was enough room to move comfortably around the island, taking into account that the counter top would overhang the cabinets.

The cabinet sticking out in the image above is the where the sink will go. Notice how, unlike the other cabinets, the sides of the cabinet are finished (dark, like the front). This is so that it can protrude out a bit. A design aesthetic. I’m not sure how far I’ll have it stick out, if at all. At the moment, the pipes are preventing it from being aligned with the others. Once I know exactly where I want it, I will cut an opening in it to accommodate the drain and water supply lines. During that time I will decide if I want it to protrude or not.

The gap between the sink cabinet and the one on the end (shown above) is where the dishwasher will go. Here are a few wide angle shots to help get a sense of the space.

Island Back from Laundry Room – Wide Angle

Before securing the island cabinets in place, I used blue tape to outline where the counter top will go. It will extend about 14″ beyond the front and far end to accommodate seating. Adding this outline was important so that I could get a real sense of the space before committing to their final location. It resulted in a small adjustment to the initial placement I showed above.

Final Location of Island, with Counter top Outlined.

The counter top at the front edge as you enter from the laundry room will be angled, as shown above, so that it is parallel with the imaginary hypotenuse line that is formed between the perpendicular walls opposite that corner of the island. This forms a small corridor, which provides proper access. It also feels right.

Final Location of Island, with Counter top Outlined – wide angle.

To secure the cabinets to the floor, I introduced a cleat that was screwed into the floor and the concrete slab.

Cleat for Securing Front Row of Cabinets

This was done for each of the four cabinets that face the great room.

With them secured to the cleats and each other, the cabinets that go on the back side benefit from this once they are screwed to these front cabinets, making the whole island secure. It’s a really big island, and once the quartz counter top is installed, this island is going no where.

Island Cabinets Secured – southeast corner.

Notice how I decided not to have the sink cabinet protrude. I pushed it all the way in because I wanted to provide as much room as possible between it and the refrigerator that will be behind you as you face the sink.

Island Cabinets Secured – southwest corner.

I unpacked the dishwasher an placed it on a dolly to make sure it fit in the opening I left. That opening is 24″, as required, so I wasn’t concerned about it not fitting, but I wanted to temporarily put it in position for verification.

Island Cabinets Secured – from laundry room.

End panels will be placed on either end of the island to match the color of the doors. The same will be true for the toe kick areas. I’ll get to that after the electrical wiring has been sorted out. Since this is the end of February, I’ll cover that and the continuation of the flooring installation in the next post.

July 17, 2024

Hot Water Tank Installation and Major Painting – June/July 2024

While waiting for the shower wall tiles and extra floor tiles to arrive, I decided it was a good time to hook up the hot water heater and install a utility sink in the garage. My original plan was to use the existing hot water heater, since it wasn’t that old. Here is the only shot of it.

This was a 50 gallon hot water heater that was in place before I started this project, when I drained and disconnected it, with the intention of reusing it. Although it was only a few years in use, I removed the pressure relief valve that is located on the side of the tank to have a look at it and replace it (something one should do from time to time). I saw quite a bit of scale on it, which caused me to rethink whether it was a good idea to reuse the tank. I did not want to go through the trouble of hooking it up only to replace it not long after. So I purchased a new one. This time I got a 40 gallon tank, since that should be plenty for my needs and those of any guests I might have. Here it is installed.

Rather than use 90 degree bends to feed the tank, I used 45 degree connectors for a straighter run. I think it looks a bit odd, but that’s okay with me. An inspection will reveal whether any changes are required. At this point it is working and I have hot water again.

In the image above, you can see that the pressure relief valve is connected to the existing pipe that takes the water outside the garage.

With that done, I installed a new utility sink beside it.

I had intended to reuse the utility sink that came with the house; the one I relocated to the guest bathroom. However, since it was my only source of water, I did not want to disconnect it without having an alternative, so I kept the existing one in place and bought a new one for the garage. I opted for a slightly smaller tub since I am limited in space between the hot water tank and the door (there is still trim to be added around the door). The existing utility sink is 20″ wide and this new one is 18″ wide.

I think the smaller size was appropriate, as it tucks in nicely without looking too crowded. Here is a shot of the hookups.

Notice how the hot and cold lines cross each other. This was a funny little mistake I made when bringing those lines through the wall into the garage. On the other side of the wall they are oriented correctly (hot on the left, cold on the right). I didn’t realize at the time that it would be backward on the other side of the wall. No big deal, and I had a chuckle over it once I realized.

The sink has not yet been fastened to the floor. As with the hot water tank, this will need to pass inspection, which I haven’t arranged yet. I don’t want to secure it to the floor in case the inspector wants me to make changes. So I’ll have to be careful not to jostle it, which can damage the drain connections. In the meantime, it is nice to have hot water and an alternate wash basin to use.

After this was completed, I contacted the place where I purchased my shower wall tiles to get an idea of when they would arrive. To my surprise, it was going to be at least another week, so change of plans. I decided to start painting the ceilings in the great room, foyer, and guest hallway.

These areas had some intricate details, so I decided to use a brush to paint them. When applying the primer, I used both a brush and small roller, but to get a consistent finish, I would use only a brush, which made it a lengthy process, especially since I applied two coats. I used a high quality latex paint with a matte finish – Behr Dynasty Ultra White.

My shower wall tiles arrived after I completed the painting of the ceilings, so I picked them up and set them aside. The master bathroom would have to wait. Having started the painting process in the great room, I decided to push on and paint the ceiling and walls in all adjoining spaces. This meant I would paint not only the great room, but also the dining room and kitchen.

The ceilings in all these spaces would be the same color (Ultra White). The walls in these areas would also be painted, but a slightly different shade of white. Originally I tried the color my designer recommended, which was a light gray – a color match of the Sherwin Williams Quick Silver. I applied it in the foyer to test it out. The next day I decided I did not like it. I expected it to be a light gray, but It had a hint of blue in it, which I did not want, Sorry, I didn’t take a picture of it. I really should have. Anyway, I considered making the walls the same color as the ceiling, but wanted some contrast, if only slight. So I opted for Behr’s White color. Not so white as Ultra White, but still white. I want the house to be bright. Here is a shot of the foyer so you can see the difference. It’s subtle, but present.

Foyer – Ceiling and Wall color contrast.

I really like this color for the walls. It just feels right.

In the kitchen I started with the ceiling (as one should). Since it is a tongue and groove ceiling, I used a brush to paint the entire ceiling. I wanted to make sure the paint was applied to all nooks and crannies. Consequently, this took a long time to apply and was not fun. I applied two coats, as usual. However, after the second coat I was not pleased with the results. You could see a lot of “roping” (i.e., brush strokes). I thought the paint would level out, but it didn’t. Here’s what I was left with after all that work.

Kitchen Ceiling – Roping after brushing on Paint.

This is all well and good if you’re going for the hand painted look, but I wanted a more polished look. So I decided to applied a third coat, but this time using a roller. Having used the brush to ensure all the seems were properly painted, all I really needed to do was smooth out the flat areas, so I figured a roller would do the trick. It did! And here’s the result.

Kitchen Ceiling – After Rolling. Much better!

That’s what I was looking for, and I was very pleased with the result. Note that I will add crown molding between the ceiling and walls, but only after the kitchen cabinets are in. They will dictate where the crown ends, so the crown molding must wait. Because I need the cabinets to be in before installing the crown, it also means the floors will be in (the cabinets will sit on top of the wood flooring), so when I come to painting the crown, drop cloths will be needed to protect them. Something I don’t have to worry about at this stage. It’s nice to be able to paint without concern about dripping paint on the floor.

Here are a couple more views of the kitchen where both the walls and ceiling are painted.

Not that it is noticeable in the pics above, but I did not paint the walls where the cabinets will go (from where the vent is hanging down and to the left of it), for obvious reasons. They were primed, but that’s all. It gives you an idea of how close the wall color I picked was to the color of the primer. There is a difference, but it is small.

Also notice how, other than the refrigerator, I had to empty the kitchen in order to paint. That was not such a big deal because of the mobile bases I added at the beginning of the year (see the post from January). So I’m glad I took the time to do that. After the painting was done in the kitchen, I moved everything back in, freeing up space in the great room for the contents of the dining room, which was the next area to be painted. The dining room was where I stored all the kitchen cabinets. You can see them in the image above. They were moved one at a time into the great room. No mobile bases for them, so that was a bit of a chore.

Here are some shots of the dining room fully painted.

In the last image above, you can see where I located the kitchen cabinets in the great room. You can also see in two of the images above that I have not yet installed a light fixture in the dining room. The wire hanging down is hooked up to the switch on the wall, so it’s ready to go, but having that light fixture in place is not really required before I move into the house. I haven’t decided on a fixture yet, so I’m inclined to put that off until I’ve moved in. By waiting until the piano is in position I’ll be able to raise the lid and see exactly how much room I have between it and the ceiling, which could impact my choice of fixture. However, with the piano in place directly under the fixture location, it will be in the way, making installation a bit tricky. Fortunately, I don’t have to make this call until closer to move-in time.

Below are some images of the other areas I painted.

Within the guest hallway you can see that the plenum on the ceiling does not have a grate yet. That is because I reduced the size of that opening to accommodate the full width of a tongue and groove board. Therefore, the original grate no longer fits. If I’m unable to find a grate to fit the space, I’ll make one myself. Either way, this is not a priority for me at the moment.

As with the dining room, I’m in no hurry to install wall sconces, so the guest hallway and foyer will remain without them until I feel inclined. I can move in without these in place, so they remain a low priority.

Great Room Painted – View from Guest Hallway

The above image of the great room is obscured by the contents I’ve left in the middle of the room. I will probably leave the cabinets and other bits and pieces right where they are until it’s time to put down the flooring. I thought I might move the cabinets back into the dining room, but I see no benefit to that at the moment. I’ll move them only when necessary.

Great Room Painted – View from Entrance to Master Bedroom

From this view, you can see how much stuff occupies the great room. The mobile wood storage cart on the left will be moved into the garage, as will the various tools, but not until I no longer need them to be handy.

I installed the switches, electrical outlets, and the face plates for the Ethernet boxes in the various rooms only after all the painting was done in these areas. While installing the switches in the kitchen, I ran into some issues. The kitchen has two 3-gang boxes to control the ceiling lights, under counter lights, and kick plate lights. Each 3-gang box has three 3-way switches, so these lights can be turned on and off from either location. You can see them in the image of the kitchen (Northern View) above. Here it is again for your convenience.

On the wall near the laundry room you can see that there are three switches installed (with no face plate). On the wall near the great room you can see the 3-gang box with no switches installed; just wires exposed. When I started hooking up the switches in these boxes, I began with the box near the laundry room. I pulled out the existing switches in the 3-gang box (what you can see above) and discovered that the wires within that box were very short. Also, the box itself was not very well supported. So I had some work to do to put in new switches and it was going to be tricky getting the switches to align. But what bothered me most was why it was in this condition.

That wall had been completely pulled apart and a new 3-gang box installed, all done by me. Not only that, but the three switches were also installed. So the question I had for myself was, why did I do that? Those three switches weren’t controlling anything, so why did I install them? They would only get in the way (as they did) when it came time to putting up and finishing the drywall. Fortunately I have a BLOG, so I went back and looked for the post when I did that work and found it in the post of March 2021. During that time I had not done any drywall, so I didn’t understand the benefit to keeping the boxes free of switches and well aligned and secured. I also was trying to figure out the wiring for these switches, so I wanted to install them and verify they worked, thinking it wouldn’t be long before I’d be installing the kitchen cabinets. Of course, after all that was done, and many moons later, I reconfigured the kitchen, resulting in my having to undo the electrical work on the wall by the great room. However, during that time, I did not touch the electrical on the wall by the laundry room and just forgot about the state it was in.

In that time, I’d done a lot of drywall work and therefore gained an understanding of the importance of securing the electrical boxes properly and keeping the wiring out of the way. So when I finally turned my attention to the wiring of these two boxes in the kitchen, I was most surprised by how short the wires were inside the box by the laundry room. Installing new switches was going to be very tricky because I had almost no length to work with. What I think happened was that I was trying to minimize the length of wire to reduce the amount of crowding within the box. With three switches in a single box, plus the wires heading out to the lights, it can get pretty congested. That was a mistake. So in order to fix it, I had to splice in some extra wire to give me the length I needed to install new switches without having to resort to wiring gymnastics.

Although it is not clear in the image above, you can see plastic connectors with orange tabs. These are call WAGO connectors. They come in different sizes, allowing one to connect multiple wires together easily. They also have a nice “inline” connector, shown below.

This connector makes it easy to extend a wire with minimal space impact. If you look closely in the image of the 3-gang box above, I have used several of these in the back of the box to splice in new wires to give me the length I needed to add the new switches with far less difficulty.

Here is an image of the other 3-gang box. The one on the wall near the great room.

This is how it’s suppose to be. Plenty of wire for me to work with. In this image you see that I have hooked up the 3-way switch for the overhead lights to make sure this switch works in concert with the one on the other wall to control the overhead lights. I then did the same with the other switches. Note that I swapped out the yellow wire nuts you see above with WAGO connectors when putting the other switches in. It made it much easier.

What all this shows, is that nothing beats experience; something I am gaining with every new task. My next task is certainly new; tiling the shower wall in the master bathroom. With the painting of the main areas of the house complete, I’ll be returning to the master bathroom to pick up from where I left off. That will be the subject of the next post.

December 13, 2023

Kitchen and Great Room Prepping and Priming – November/December 2023

Having completed the long process of preparing the drywall in the kitchen, great room, and adjoining areas for priming, I was ready to put up crown molding in the foyer and entrance to master bedroom. Crown will also be added in the kitchen, but that will be done sometime down the road. The crown in the foyer and entrance to master matches that used in the coffered ceiling (the crown in the kitchen would not be so large). I started with the foyer.

What I thought was going to be a relatively simple task turned into a much longer one. It started out well enough. I ran my first piece along the wall above where the sconces will be (left wall in image below). I then put up the shorter piece facing the great room, followed by the next long span that ends at the front door. When I was installing that piece, it didn’t quite line up with my marks on the wall and ceiling. Here is the crown after three runs were fastened (before filling gaps), viewed from the front door.

The image below shows the span of crown on the left side as you face the front door and where it misses the marks on the wall. It was also taken after I decided how to remedy the problem that ensued, which is why you see the blocking at the end (discussed in a moment).

A closer look at where it missed the mark

I was happy with how it fit against the adjoining piece, but to get it to hit my marks on the wall would have pulled it way off the ceiling. So I pushed it into place where it wanted to go, leaving a half inch short of my wall mark, and a half inch long of my ceiling mark. But it looked good in this position, so I secured it. Something about the wall/ceiling along this span must have been off.

When I started on the final piece above the front door, it proved to be a real issue. I eventually realized that by missing my marks on the wall and ceiling, I’d changed the spring angle for the crown in that corner. Consequently, I had a spring angle of 45 degrees in the corner where I started (as it should be), and something around 50 degrees in the other corner. So I had to cut one end of the crown the usual way, and mess around with the saw to try and find a combination of settings that would give me a good fit on the other end. After too many attempts I quit for the day without success.

That night I decided to do something different. I was not convinced that I would be able to fit a piece of crown to pieces with differing spring angles, so I decided to introduce corner blocks in those two corners. Corner blocks would allow me to simply cut the crown at 90 degrees and butt it up against the corner blocks, thereby avoiding any need to align it with the neighboring piece of crown.

To prepare for this, I had to cut of the mitered end, making it straight, and install some blocking to fasten the corner block to. In the image below you can see both of these things. Also notice the pencil marks on the ceiling showing the difference from where I originally expected the crown to be and where it ended up. The distance between those two lines is approximately 1/2″.

Of course I had to make the corner blocks too. Here is one of them.

Creating this took some fiddling, but I managed it and it installed nicely. I started with the right corner as you face the from door. A pretty good fit, with just some minor gaps to fill.

With both corner blocks installed, it was relatively easy to fit the final piece of crown between them.

Final Piece of Crown Installed between Corner Blocks

Here are some pics after I did the prep work for painting.

I then added crown to the entrance to the master bedroom. This was the last bit of crown needed to complete the areas adjacent to the coffered ceiling. This image below is before it was prepped for painting.

With that done, I prepped it for painting and then proceeded to caulk the seems between the coffered ceiling and the walls – the area where I used the tear-away beads. With that done, I was ready to apply primer to all the walls and ceilings in the great room and adjacent areas.

However, before I started that I took some time to so some housekeeping, which involved some cleanup and organizing of the many cutoff pieces lying around, and the adding mobile bases to some of the cabinets I was using for tool and supply storage. The cabinets I’m referring to were from the original kitchen. They were well loaded with stuff, so moving them was a nuisance. Since I would have to move them into the kitchen to get at the ceiling in the great room, and then back again to get to the kitchen ceiling, taking the time to outfit them with custom mobile bases was well worth it. I was subsequently able to move them, fully loaded, with ease. So I proceeded with the priming.

For all the priming I decided to use a brush and roller. I originally thought I would use a sprayer, but the priming in the dining room went well using the old fashioned way, so I figured I’d continue that way. Also, the enormous amount of work required to mask everything off for spraying did not appeal to me, so I thought I’d stick with the brush and roller, at least for the priming. I may change my mind when applying the finish coats (stay tuned).

I started with the Foyer, both ceiling and walls.

After the foyer, I primed the guest hallway ceiling and walls.

Guest Hallway Primed – View from Great Room

Guest Hallway Primed – View toward Great Room

From there I started priming the ceiling in the great room. This took several days, after which I did the walls.

Great Room Primed – View from Guest Hallway

Great Room Primed – View from Entrance to Master

Great Room Primed – North West view from Kitchen

Great Room Primed – View from Dining Room

Following that, I shifted all the furniture from the kitchen back to the great room so I could start priming the kitchen ceiling and walls. Sure glad I added the mobile bases. Here are some shots of the kitchen after priming.

That’s the refrigerator in the middle. No mobile base for it, so I worked around it.

I think the ceiling looks great. I’m haven’t decided on the final color, but I suspect it will be just white, much like what you see here. The great room ceiling, however, will probably not be basic white. I will probably do something a little off white, like eggshell. But I haven’t decided yet.

Note that because I have not yet added the crown to the kitchen ceiling, there are still gaps between the ceiling and walls. I’m not sure when I’ll get to that. It’s not a big priority, so I’ll get to it when I feel inclined.

In addition for the need for another inspection, as mentioned in a previous post, another reason I chose to continue working on the kitchen and great room rather than return to the work I was doing in the master bathroom was the psychological boost it would provide. That is, now that the great room and kitchen are looking close to what they will be when finished, it pleases me every time I enter the house. I can now better see what it will be, which enhances motivation.

With that same spirit in mind, my next task will be to finish the drywall in the front two bedrooms, one of which I refer to as the workshop, and the other as the office. Both these rooms contain a lot of items that will have to be shifted before I can get access to the walls and ceiling, so some work will have to be done to make it easier for me to move things in and out. I will begin with the workshop and discuss that effort in the next post. However, before ending this post and my work at the house for 2023, I started preparing for the work in the workshop by adding a mobile base to a chest of drawers I use within it. Since I neglected to show my work on the mobile bases I mentioned above, I’m adding some pics of the mobile base for that chest of drawers to make up for it.

Note that, as with the other mobile bases I created, this is made using only off-cuts and scrap wood. It’s really great when I can make use of wood that might otherwise go to waste. Here it is mounted underneath the chest of drawers. A custom fit.

Mobile Base mounted underneath Chest of Drawers

On top of these drawers I have a couple of shelving units I’ve had from since I was in university. They’ve worked so well that I intend to keep them, so I added some reinforcement to the back to help them sit solidly on top of the chest of drawers and then fastened them together to make them a single unit (although detachable if needed).

Reinforcement added to back of Shelving Unit

Since the shelving units extend past the edge of the top of the chest of drawers, the reinforcement (made for scrap) provides the needed support.

Attached Shelving Units on top of Chest of Drawers

Above I’m showing both shelving units fastened together. They just sit on top of the chest and will not be fastened to it. Both will be pushed against the wall, so it will be secure as is. Following is a closeup of how I fastened the two shelving units.

Here endeth the post.

November 12, 2023

Kitchen and Great Room Drywall Finishing – October/November 2023

With the drywall hung (by the chimney with care) in the kitchen, great room, and adjoining areas, it was time to get busy finishing it. The first step, as usual, is to prefill, followed immediately by taping the joints. I started with the kitchen.

Taping – East and North Walls in Kitchen

Taping – North and West Walls in Kitchen

Taping – Bulkhead in Kitchen and South Wall in Great Room

I didn’t strictly tape the kitchen first, then move onto the great room and such. Instead, I focused first on vertical flats, then horizontal flats, and then inside and outside corners. I do this because I want to have the tape ends covered by successive taping so there are no dangling tape ends. That is, after doing the vertical flats, the ends of the tape will be covered by the runs of horizontal flats. The ends of the horizontal flats will be covered by the inside or outside corner beads. The ends of the corner beads will be covered by trim (either baseboard, crown, or something else). This isn’t really that important because it all gets covered during the coating phases, but I like overlapping the tape ends this way. So, even though I present the pictures by room, it wasn’t done in that order. Here are the other areas I taped.

Taping – East and South Walls of Great Room

Note that in the images above, the top edge of all the walls that adjoin the coffered ceiling still have gaps. This area is addressed using a tear-away bead, which I mentioned in a previous post. Here are some images after the tear-away bead was installed.

Tear-away Bead – West Wall of Great Room

Tear-away Bead – Bulkhead adjoining Dining Room

Notice how the gaps are now closed. Here are some closeups along the bulkhead adjoining the dining room

The tear-away beads are both glued and stapled. The glue is sprayed onto both the vinyl bead and the drywall. After you give it a bit of time to get tacky, you press it in place. Whether the staples are necessary is questionable, as the glue is very strong, but I did it just to be safe. Here is the same image I showed in a previous post of how tear-away beads work.

Drywall mud is used to cover the bead, using the little lip under the tear-away strip as a surface to guide the drywall knife as if the knife were a screed. Once the bead is sufficiently coated, the tear-away strip is pulled off (shown above) to leave a crisp straight edge along the adjoining surface. At least that is how it’s supposed to work. What’s important is that once the tear-away strip is removed, the gap between the wall and ceiling should be very small, and easily filled using caulk. I like the idea of having the two surfaces (drywall and wood) neatly interface without the need for trim. Using this approach still leaves me the option of using trim if it doesn’t turn out the way I’d like. However, at this stage I was optimistic about this approach.

With the taping done, I moved on to cover coating. I applied two cover coats over the tape and the tear-away beads. For cover coating in general, I use lightweight mud for both coats. However, for the first cover coat of the tear-away beads, I used all-purpose mud. This was to ensure the vinyl strip was well adhered and covered. I used the lightweight mud in this area for the second cover coat. Here are the images.

Second Cover Coat – East and North walls in Kitchen

Second Cover Coat – South wall in Kitchen

Second Cover Coat – West wall in Great Room

You can also see in the last three images above that I added junction boxes for the sconces: two in the foyer, one in the guest hallway, and one in the entrance to the master bedroom.

I then proceeded to skim coat all the surfaces. The first skim coat was a thicker one than the second. After each skim coat, I sanded. After the first skim coat, I sanded using my sanding poll with some hand sanding. After the second skim coat (a tight skim), the sanding was done strictly by hand and with an inspection light to make sure it was just right. So this took a long time. The pictures below only show the final result because it would not add a lot of value to show intermediate stages, which I’ve done before. Although it looks like the walls are painted, they are not. Priming and painting will be the next stage in finishing the walls.

Second Skim Coat – East and North walls of Kitchen

In the image above, I did not skim coat the area where the cabinets will go. No point skimming a wall that will be covered by cabinets.

Second Skim Coat – Entrance to Dining Room from Kitchen

Second Skim Coat – South Wall in Kitchen

After the second skim coat, I pulled off the “tear-away” part of the tear-away beads. Here is a closeup of that.

Removal of Tear Away Bead after Second Skim Coat

I was very pleased with how that went. It left a nice line between the drywall and the wood of the coffered ceiling. I will fill the small gap with caulk in preparation for painting. I think it will look very seamless once I’m done. In all images that follow, the tear-away beads have been removed.

Second Skim Coat – North Wall in Great Room and into Guest Hallway

Second Skim Coat – West Wall in Great Room

Second Skim Coat – South Wall in Great Room and Entrance to Master

Second Skim Coat – Wall Between Great Room and Kitchen

With the walls skimmed out, the next job is to put up crown molding in the foyer, entrance to master, and in the kitchen. Then it will be time to do any additional prep work before I start priming the ceiling and walls in these areas. That will be covered in the next post.

September 30, 2023

Kitchen – September 2023

After finishing the work I wanted to do in the dining room, I had to do something that would trigger another inspection. My permit was due to expire October 8th and I needed to do something that would get the date extended. Whenever you get something inspected and checked off, it adds another six months to your expiration date. I could have returned to the master bathroom and started working on the shower pan, which would require an inspection, but that would be new work for me and I wasn’t sure how long it would take. So I decided to finish up the electrical and plumbing work in the kitchen, which I am comfortable with, wouldn’t take too long, and would culminate in an inspection. Once the inspection was completed (approved), I would be free to hang drywall.

That decision also had me thinking about postponing the work on the master bathroom until I have finished all the drywall in the kitchen and great room (and adjoining areas). With that done, the place would look almost livable. At least it would look less like a construction site, which would be kind of nice. I decided I’d make that call after I’d finished hanging the drywall in the kitchen. However, before I could start on any work in the kitchen, I first had to move the boxed cabinets out of the way. Hmm, where could they go? I know, how about the dining room!

Cabinets temporarily store in Dining Room

With the kitchen space freed up, the first thing I did was install the ice maker outlet box for the refrigerator.

You can see from the water on the ground that I tested it. Zooming in a bit, you can see how the water line was secured. I added a piece of blocking between the studs to which I attached the 90 degree bracket.

Ice Maker outlet box – secured to stud and blocking.

And for good measure, here’s a closeup. I know I’ve overdone the pics on this simple task, but I took three, so I might as well show them.

After that I got busy installing new junction boxes for the wall oven/microwave combo unit, the cook-top, and the range hood. I also added blocking for the cabinets so that fastening the cabinets to the wall would be easier. Without the blocking, I’d be limited to fastening the cabinets to the studs, which offered a much smaller target. Here’s the result of the work.

Blocking and Electrical on East Wall of Kitchen

This was inspected and approved, so my permit date was extended and I was free to enclose the kitchen walls with drywall. So I filled the spaces with insulation.

This wall gets the morning sun, so that should keep the cool in during the hottest months.

Then came the drywall. You’ll notice in the images below that the drywall is purple-ish. This is due to a mistake when I purchased it. I was buying eight 4×8 sheets, so I asked the staff pull it and load it on the truck I rented. Consequently, I did not actually take the product to the cashier, who entered something different from what I intended. I discovered the mistake when it was being loaded, but since the price difference was almost none, I decided not to exchange it. So my kitchen has moisture resistant drywall instead of the usual, which is fine by me.

North Wall and Part of Wall Separating Kitchen from Great Room

Of course, I did the other side of this wall too.

With the drywall hung, it was time for another inspection, which went without issue. So I was cleared to start finishing the drywall. At the end of this stage I decided I would tackle all the drywall in the kitchen, great room, foyer, and guest hallway. So it’s going to be all about drywall for many weeks to come. This time, rather than providing the details of the process, as I did when showing the work in the dining room, I’m only going to show summary shots of the various stages. I’ll do that in the next post.