(Click on the pictures to see larger versions.)
 BEFORE REMODEL |
Eventually we decided to save money by being our own general contractor, doing the things we knew how do to ourselves and only contracting out the stuff we couldn't do. We saved enough on the rough work and electrical that the budget allowed for custom built cabinets.
So here is the old kitchen after removal of the
“country” cabinets. Since the old cabinets were in good
condition (just not the right style) we removed them carefully to
avoid damage and then donated them to a charity that could use
them.
Originally
there was a wall between the front door and the kitchen that ended
at the beams. The opening at the top of the wall allowed light into
the kitchen and gave it a open feeling. The previous kitchen remodel
closed off the clerestory opening isolating the kitchen and
requiring more artifical light. We decided to remove that non-load
bearing wall. This gives a lot more natural light into the kitchen
and it allows the multipurpose room to have a full view of the
courtyard. As an added bonus we did not expect, this change
brought the living room back into the house. Before it felt
very isolated.
We found that in our city we could have replaced the
existing cabinets without pulling a permit. However by opening up
the wall we expanded the project to the point that a permit was
required and that we would need to upgrade the electrical to modern
standards. Fortunately there was an unused conduit from the main
breaker box to the kitchen wall, so we could pull the new power
wires into the area easily. We even discovered that the original
telephone line was run to the island area through a conduit so we
were able to pull Ethernet network wiring to our new breakfast/bill
paying table on the end of our new island.
The big problem on electrical was the roof. We
needed to relocate the light switches and that meant changing where
the wiring dropped out of the roof. We wanted to add new lights over
the island as well. After as much procastination as possible we
finally marked off on the roof where the old wires came up and
started in with a Sawzall. A very scary thing to do. Fortunately it
all worked out and we were able to get the electrical in and
inspected and the roof repaired between rain storms. In the process
of doing the roof electrical work we discovered that we have one
inch of rigid foam insulation. That was a nice discovery.
By the way, this picture was taken when we were just getting started on the cutting and removal of the old wire. Between other wire removal and cutting trenches for the new island lights, the final cuts were about three times as long as shown here.
And once we completed the rough electrical, rough plumbing, drywall
and painting the cabinets could go in. The final measurements for
the cabinets could not be made until we had finished, so
there was some on-site fitting that was needed. Michael
Fitzgerald of Design Craft Woodworks not only helped design
a wonderful set of custom kitchen cabinets but saw to it
that the installation was exactly what we wanted
Once the cabinets and countertops were in we had more work to do: Install the appliances and all the under sink plumbing (including water filter).
We are very happy with the final results:
