I know, I am extremely delinquent in posting something in regards to the kitchen remodel.
Just to get everyone up to speed at what we are dealing with {and why in the world we have decided to embark on the remodel}, here is how our kitchen looked:
I am very proud of how much we have gotten done with the remodel so far. However, I didn’t want to overwhelm {myself mainly} and do one extremely LARGE post of everything done so far. Therefore, I thought I would break the updates into separate pieces of our task list……yes, we have a task list…..in Excel…..with color coding {thank you financial analyst background}.
{the beautiful drop ceiling}
The first thing that we tackled in the kitchen was the ceiling demo. We had a BEAUTIFUL drop ceiling that was covering an equally beautiful plaster ceiling. The plan was to tear it all out and replace the ceiling with bead board {painted white}.
{starting to uncover the YELLOW plaster ceiling}
We have already experienced the “oh crap, look what we have here” scenario during the studio project. This scenario is inevitable when doing any sort of update on a 100 year old home {yes, our house is THAT old}, so we were prepared knowing we would just have to figure some things out as we go. We also already knew that we were going to find knob and tube wiring {I have learned that although you cannot install new knob and tube wiring, as long as it is in good condition and treated properly during your remodel, existing K&T wiring can be left in and still be completely safe}. Again, 100 year old home. Enough said.
{the moment of truth as we begin to tear down the plaster}
I feel very fortunate to have a husband that works for the electric company doing rewire projects. Not only does he have a very good knowledge of general wiring, it is a very good knowledge of OLD wiring. He does rewire projects on old barns!
On top of that he has built a personal relationship with the state electrical inspector. So, when we had a question after tearing out the ceiling {well, rather just to confirm our plan of attack was the absolute best and safest plan} that state inspector was just a short phone call away!
Also, since we just recently finished up the project in the studio, the city inspector has also come to know DH fairly well. A quick check-in on Monday morning to inform him of our plans {just to make sure he was okay with it since he would be doing our inspections} and we were good-to-go!
As DH explained it to me {so this is VERY simple terms….I do not understand wiring}, we are going to keep using the knob and tub wiring where it is currently located, but we are going to upgrade to AFC breakers which adds an extra layer of safety to the wiring. As DH continued to explain, this is not something we NEED to do {to pass inspection, etc}, it is something we are just going to do, because we can, and it is safer for us and the future homeowners!
Okay, back to the demo……
……which involved minimal blood shed {I stepped on a nail even while being extremely careful}.
We got the drop ceiling down in a heartbeat. Then we got to take our aggressions out on the lathe and plaster ceiling. Luckily the only insulation we encountered was along the outside perimeter wall, so although the demo was a dusty mess, it could have been much worse!
{the ceiling cleared out, finally}
Once the ceiling was completely cleared out, and we could see with certainty what we were dealing with, there were just a few things we were going to have to figure out.
1. Where we would need to add extra strength to support the bathtub we eventually plan to put in upstairs {we plan to remodel an open bedroom into a bathroom on our second floor}.
2. Where we would need to install the in-floor heat for that bathroom. Up until now, the only heat that upstairs room received was from the kitchen through a vent in the floor. That vent {well, really, a decoratively covered hole in the floor} will no longer be there, so we had to add some sort of heating supply! And who wouldn’t want to step out of the shower onto a warm floor?
{the view of that beautiful, and oh-so-efficient, vent from our kitchen}
3. We need to figure out where one wire is coming from so that we can handle it appropriately {it isn’t used for the kitchen, but it comes through the wall and then back out….we believe it is for an outlet upstairs}
4. And finally, we wanted to figure out what we thought this had been {no longer connected} used for:
{we did some investigating and it looks like WAY back when, this house was lighted with gas lights!}
{only one window was harmed in the making of this ceiling demo}
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