A Working Sink...Sort-Of

Bottoms are in, save for a couple drawers still needing to be put together.  Also put tile from the wall to the front of the sink, put in in the plywood and played around with some of the tiles I'll be using for the countertop (Absolute Black Granite Tile):

Yesterday the backerboard went down and I put the new sink and faucet in:

It's only in temporarily to wash dishes.  My tub is where I've been washing and it's killing my back and knees, so to give myself a break I put it in.  I have to be careful, as it's not fully attached but for washing the little things like cups and small plates it'll do.  I plan on working on the tiling this week and hope to have it all done by the weekend.  Then I can finish tiling the floor, building the other cabs and wrapping up the project.  I really thought it would take much longer, but it's been going pretty smoothly.  I just jinxed it, didn't I?

The only thing I am not happy with is the grout I'm using on the floor.  For some reason it's turning out to be very splotchy and not uniform, with parts of it being light (like it should) and other parts of it dark.  I think the mud might be causing it (I used gray), so I'm going to switch to white and see if it fixes the problem.  I have read a few posts about the grout itself and folks having the same issue when using it and I hope that's not the case.  I don't want it to look like it's been stained and abused before I even finish putting it all down.

More Ripping and Tearing

Well, got the sink half out:

Goodbye late 70's dishwasher:

Goodbye green sink and ugly laminate:

All gone...

Even though it was all very old with parts of it falling apart, it didn't come out that easy.  Fought 'til the bitter end :).  Those white 'pipes' are from when I had the whole house repiped a few years ago due to the old pipes under the foundation leaking.  It was much cheaper to do that then to keep having plumbers come out to tear up where the laundry is located (I had to do that twice).  So now that's all out of the way, the fun begins!  Tiling, putting in the cabs, I'm excited to finally being putting in instead of tearing out...at least on the sink side.

Tomorrow the sink, faucet and drain are coming (ordered from build.com), so those will be ready to go.  I also installed a new window sill:

I thought about using the same tile as my countertops, but I thought it might be too much black so I went to Lowes and picked this up.  No cutting necessary either, it fit right in!

The other thing I am wondering about is what to do with the window area:

I chose not to get the bridge thing that goes across and matches the cabs, but I'm not sure what to put there.  Maybe a shelf?  A curtain?  What would you put there?  I could use some ideas :).

The bird pics this week: a baby Grebe, Black-necked Stilt and a mix of White and Glossy Ibis:

Uppers Are Done!

Woot!  My big burly men showed up and all the upper cabinets are up, along with the new hood:

The cabinets themselves went up with no problem, but the hood took some time and it was mostly due to patching and waiting for the stuff to dry.  I did end up sealing off the vent to the outside and I will just use the fan if needed, but like I said in an earlier post I don't fry things anymore so it really made no sense to keep it open.  I am so happy everything is starting to come together and I do love those cabinets!

The foil where the door used to be is there because that door was pissing me off when I was trying to work on that side of the cabinets so I took it off.  I didn't want my cat getting in there so foil was a quick fix.  It adds character ;).

The next part of the kitchen redo is putting together the bottoms, ripping out the old, patching the walls, tiling the floor, installing the cabinets, tiling the counters, installing the sink...ugh.  I still have to pick out what sink I want (double or single?  do I go with stainless or ?), get the grout for both counter and floor, pick out a faucet, etc.  They say no project is complete without visiting the home improvement store a gazillion times and I am finding this to be very true.  Thank goodness for cash back cards!

Your bird pics for this week include a pair of Crested Caracaras and a cute little Savannah Sparrow:

More Progress!

I haven't given an update in awhile and I apologize.  I've been busy at the shelter and sadly I fell victim to a very nasty stomach bug that hit us all pretty hard.  But there has been progress made!

The other cabinet on the sink side was assembled and is now in place, the remaining cabinets on the stove side have been removed along with the range hood and it's been painted.  Three of the cabinets are put together and ready for mounting.  I also splurged and got a nice new hood, but I am still undecided whether to have it vent outside or seal up the vent and just use the fan.  I don't really fry foods anymore (darn you cholesterol!) and what I do cook isn't messy as far as splattering/smoking goes.  I'll have to read up on the pros/cons and make a decision before I install it.

One of the biggest things I keep waffling on is backsplash or no backsplash.  I see so many homes with subway tile used on the walls and I like it, but I also see some that don't and I like that too.  I don't want to use the standard 4-inches around the bottom because I think it not only looks dated but I just don't think it would good in my kitchen, especially the stove side (I have it there now, it's just hidden).  I may just do some kind of tile behind the stove, or I might just leave it alone.  Still so many decisions.

My bird pics for you are a proud Great Blue Heron with it's catch and a pair of baby Anhingas I snapped last week.