The Kitchen: Part II - Final

I was stalled a bit on this final post because I needed to take some photos. A kitchen is rarely not in use! The last step in the remodel was installing the picture rail and baseboard trim, the new kitchen window, and countertops and tile.

I'm really happy with the counter space that we have with our new configuration. There's room for two people to be able to operate at the same time, though you might still bump into each other from time to time.

The countertops are a dark grey quartz and having had granite in the past, I prefer this for its uniformity and feel. We went with a "honed" finish, which has a subtle texture to it. I find the quartz to be warmer to the touch than granite and I also like that. The backsplash tile is handmade by a McIntyre Tile out of California. They have a portfolio of tiles that are vintage inspired and that we thought stayed within the spirit of our 30's era home. The color is intended to tie in with the tile surrounding the fireplace. We have three subtle mosaic tiles behind the range and there are some smaller mosaics about a third of the way up from the bottom row to give a bit of visual interest.

I will finish with a few notable highlights. Perhaps most life-altering is our pantry pull-out. Previously, we
had one overhead cupboard for pantry items. It was not enough space, and since we left the upper cabinets without their doors, it was unsightly. In the new kitchen, we have pantry space in the uppers to the right and left of the range as well as in the pull-out next to the refrigerator. I also really like our built-in spice rack. This feature results in a little bit of lost space in the cupboard, but it is well worth it for the functionality.

A couple things that aren't part of the remodel, but make me happy, are this banana holder (I ate the last banana today) that Nick bought for me and this triple swing-arm towel holder--both eBay finds. We just recently got the towel holder and are so happy with it! It is both novel and practical! Now we don't have towels on the oven door, which is impractical any time you need to open the oven.

The Kitchen: Part II - Texture, Flooring, and Cabinets

 After the drywall was done, Nick got out his trusty hawk and trowel and textured the arch and small portion of the wall that would not be covered by cabinets. He did an excellent job matching the texture to the original texture in the dining room. That is not an easy task and even our contractors were impressed.

We decided to do top nail oak flooring in the kitchen. The floor guy said that what we have in the house is red oak rather than white oak--I'm not so sure. Regardless, the color of the floor changes with age and it wouldn't be possible for the new floor to perfectly match the old floor, so we ran the wood the opposite direction, creating a visual separation of the space. I was impressed by the machines the floor guy brought with him. He hooked a big sanding machine up to a vacuum device and there was no dust at all!

Once the floors were finished, the cabinets were installed in just one day. It was finally starting to feel like a kitchen again!

The Kitchen: Part II - Behind the Walls

 While it's not as interesting, certainly the electrical, plumbing and insulation are worth mentioning. 

Electrical and plumbing: done

The south-facing window was removed and covered. We had matching bricks leftover from a previous project that were used on the exterior. It's not an interesting photo, but the mason did an exceptional job and you really can't tell that there was a modification.

Deleted window with fire blocker foam

We moved the sink from the south wall to the west wall and once the plumber and electrician did their jobs, I filled gaps and holes with fire blocker insulation (the orange stuff). After that, I put fiberglass insulation into the stud bays. It was especially tedious because there weren't very many standard width bays, so I had to trim the batts down to size. I always wear long sleeves, gloves, a respirator and glasses when I work with fiberglass insulation. I also run an air purifier, which you can see in the photo below. 

Insulated

The Kitchen: Part II - The Arch

 With the header in place, Nick was then able to remove the majority of the wall and open up the dining room into the kitchen. He used his trusty Milwaukee multi-tool to cut straight lines into the lathe and plaster, which enabled him to remove the wall cleanly and without cracking to the areas we wished to retain.

 

Nick's grand vision was to have the new arch mimic the existing arch in the living room. I helped him trace the curves of the existing arch onto a template that he transferred onto plywood, making the required adjustments given the larger opening. He cleverly created a decorative tie-in where the arched upper would meet the adjacent vertical wall. This was necessary because we stole about 6 inches from the dining room for our counter peninsula.

 

The laborer who installed the drywall had a difficult time with the arch, but eventually got it to Nick's satisfaction. The way to install drywall on a curve is to get it damp until it softens enough to bend. I read that it works best to use 1/4 inch drywall and install two layers, but I think our guy was working with 1/2 inch drywall.

The Kitchen: Part II - Support Header

In order to get more counter space in our small kitchen without building an addition, we had to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. This was complicated by the fact that the existing wall was load bearing and we wanted to salvage the coved ceiling in the dining room. 

Coved ceiling

Nick built a temporary wall to support the ceiling joists while we installed a header beam.

Temporary support wall

Nick created the support beam by gluing 2 x 10" boards together with 1/2" plywood in the middle to achieve the correct depth. He cut the existing studs so that the top portions would remain in-use and the bottom portions would provide temporary support until he installed vertical support studs at each end. As I recall, Nick was able to get the beam lined up all by himself and then we worked together to wedge it into place while standing on ladders. The beam was heavy and it was quite a feat!

Header beam installed

The Kitchen: Part II - Demolition

My dear Uncle Chuck has been asking for an update on our house projects for quite some time, and writing a blog post just hasn't made it to the top of my list. I guess we've just been too busy DOING for me to get down to writing. Well, here's an update. In the spring of 2020, just as the world was sent home from work to hide from the coronavirus, Nick and I were in the midst of planning a PROPER kitchen remodel.

Over the long Memorial Day weekend, we gladly tore out those cabinets that I had striped, sanded, and repainted. We pulled up the floating cork floor and ripped out the lathe and plaster. 

We carried all of the debris out the back door and around to the front of the house using 5 gallon buckets. Since our house is up several steps from the street, if we had used a wheel barrow, we would have had to navigate those steps and then use a ramp to get it into the truck. The buckets solution was actually easier, in my opinion. It took something like four thousand trips (I don't really know how many) from the kitchen to the work truck and I definitely made more trips than Nick because he was using his muscle on some of the more difficult demolition inside.

The Samsung Repair Woman

Our washer trouble began at the end of April. It stopped mid-cycle and did not fully drain. I figured the drain line was clogged, so I manually drained what was in the drum and started peeking under the unit to see how to access the pump.

Nick questioned my logic and said that the display panel showed a "tE error". We then looked to the manual and learned that a tE error occurs when the thermistor is faulty. So, I ordered a thermistor and waited several days. It's a very simple part and all you have to do to replace it is remove the back panel and take out one screw and unplug the existing part. After swiftly making the swap I plugged in the machine and turned it on. I ran a short cycle to test and after a few minutes the machine stopped and gave the tE code. Oh no! So, I drained it AGAIN. The manual explained that if it's not the thermistor then it's probably the main control board. So, I went to the Sears Parts website and ordered a control board and waited a week.

Thermistor	Main Control Board

The control board was a more involved fix only because there are several things to unplug and plug, but it's right at the back of the machine and easy to access. Once done, I held my breath and ran another test cycle. Again, the dreaded tE error came up. NOOOO! I was completely dejected. I decided to give up and call a real repair man. I found one who had good reviews that reported how he simply explained to people what part they needed to buy and how to fix the machine. What a great guy! When I called him, I explained what steps I had already taken and he abruptly said, "You've worked on the machine already? I won't touch it." Wait. What? I hung up and messaged Nick. "YOU call the repair man. I don't want to deal with these guys." I very much believe that he was short with me because I'm female.

Exterior panels removed.

Nick set an appointment with a repair man who came out and declared that he does three or four of these fixes a week and that it's always the thermistor (note: his estimate for this 20 minute fix was $390). He confirmed that the original control board was fine and that our replacement thermistor was likely bad. He otherwise could not figure out what was wrong with the machine and didn't charge us for his time. I returned the control board and ordered yet another thermistor, which did NOT fix the problem. I found just one hint on a message board. A man going through the same issues - replacing parts multiple times. He finally decided to order a new wiring harness and redo all the wiring in the machine, which solved the problem. *sigh* That sounds hard. But, if fixing a simple thermistor is almost $400, I could spend a lot of time buying and returning parts and schlepping laundry to the coin-op laundromat before I've spent $400 or more. So, I bought the $60 wiring harness and followed along with a YouTube video on how to disassemble the machine. I had done it all before except for removing the front panel, which must be done in a certain order.

I started at one end of the harness and numbered both the plug and connection on the machine so that I wouldn't forget or get confused. I then threaded the harness through the machine and each time I unplugged the old, I plugged in the new. It was sometimes difficult to reach certain areas, but it actually wasn't technically challenging. I stopped mid-project for dinner and then set back in to finish my work at 9:30pm. It took me an hour and a half to get everything plugged in and the panels replaced. At 11:00pm, I went to bed, leaving testing for the morning. I just needed one night of hope.

First thing in the morning, I ran a short test cycle and it worked! Too afraid to declare success, I put a load of laundry in and continued to keep a close eye on the machine. No errors. It really worked! A great, heavy weight has lifted and I have reclaimed my house from the terrible dirty laundry monster.