Wednesday, December 18, 2013

All I want for Christmas is a kitchen sink...

...and it ain't gonna happen. At least not a permanent one.

We're in the process of remodeling. (For those of you who know us, I'm sure you're rolling your eyes and wondering when we have ever not been in the process of remodeling!) We needed to replace the floors in our house due to water damage. Before we bought it as a foreclosure, the house was vacant and someone had come in and ripped out the copper pipes, leading to a lot of water damage all over the old wooden floors. The damage was so bad that even companies who specialize in refinishing old floors had told us there was nothing we could do; we needed new floors. Several months went by in which we debated carpet versus hardwood and the implications of both. Carpet would be easier to lay around the radiators but was an issue with the pocket doors. Hardwood was our preference and would be easier with the doors, but would require removal and reinstallation of the hot water radiators.

We finally decided to go with our preference and put in new hardwood floors. The upstairs flooring is done and the radiators reinstalled (yay for heat!) and we've been working towards the downstairs. The problem became the kitchen.

Our kitchen layout was atrocious. Whoever had the house previously had put a 4'x5' peninsula against one wall. They installed one set of cabinets underneath and the rest was just open space. In addition, the counter was tiled with rough tile so although it was great for setting hot pots on, it was useless for a lot of kitchen prep. Our plan to replace the flooring extended into the kitchen, so we either had to floor around the current cabinets (which wouldn't have worked as it turned out) and live with the layout for a long time, or replace the cabinets now with a more functional layout but have the added cost of new cabinets.

Yep, new cabinets.

We ordered new cabinets and Mark began the process of taking out the flooring in the kitchen. This involved taking out the tile, backerboard, linoleum, OSB, and original hardwood flooring--all of which was UNDER the old cabinets. So in order to remove all of this, everything in the kitchen had to come out...including the stove, dishwasher, and sink. We switched the layout of the kitchen to move the stove to the other side, so we had a company come out to move the gas line and were able to reconnect the stove the same day on the opposite side of the kitchen. Now Mark's taken out the other side, meaning we've lost the sink and dishwasher.

Unfortunately, the plumbers can't attach the sink or dishwasher until the new countertops are in and we're waiting for the countertop people to come measure for the template. While waiting, Mark is going to cut a piece off of the old countertop and set it on the new sink base so we can temporarily attach the sink to the new plumbing. In the meantime we're washing dishes in the bathtub.

At least we have indoor plumbing and hot water!

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