Kitchen Remodel - Day 17

Exhausted now. "What the hell was I thinking?" thought Kevin as he spent the whole weekend mudding and sanding, mudding and sanding.

He did have an inspirational moment today though as he went to the 99 cent store and bought a little mixer set, cut the handle off the beater, and attached it to his drill to make a little mixer for the mud to get it nice and soft with no lumps. Pure Genius!

Today I did the final coat on the purple room. Looks good. I also sanded that nasty faux wood paneling on the den/playroom wall and did one coat of primer that is tinted to 50% of the full final colour. The whole room will be greenish, but right now it is looking yellowy beige. Too late, the paint has been purchased, there is no turning back. "Like it or shut up" I tell myself.

Madison went over to the neighbours to play, which I was not entirely comfortable with, but I really needed the time. In my opinion, she overstayed her welcome, but hopefully they didn't think so.

This feels like it will never end. I still have to paint the den, the office, the kitchen and the master bedroom and there are not enough hours in the day nor days in the week. Then when I'm done all that, I somehow have to find time to pack up the old house. Yeah right.

Here is a photo of the cheesy den wall before...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 16

Boy are we exhausted today! The work and the girls are starting to wear us down. It seems that Sydney is taking this whole "terrible twos" syndrome out for a spin. She was totally psycho today. Literally psycho. For instance, she was in the car holding a pair of sunglasses while Madison sat quietly on the other side of the car minding her own business. Sydney began to have an imaginary fight (shouting match) over the sunglasses with an imaginary person! While we were busy working, she sat right beside Madison (who seemed to take no notice) and proceeded to draw all over her body, face included, with markers. Luckily it was highly washable. Unfortunately we were too stressed out and angry to see the humour in it and so we did not think of taking a photo of this sight.



Today I finished the final coat on the part of the living room wall that previously had wallpaper on it. Then we moved to the purple room. You can't tell from the photo, but it is quite a nice muted pale purple, much darker than the photo indicates. Madison was SO excited to help paint her own room and couldn't wait to begin. Ha! We started with the brush work around the edges and after about three feet, her arm was just TOO sore to continue. She took a break. After her return, she finished one wall and then it was break time again. One final coaxing by me and she managed only another two or three feet before her arm seemed broken. It went like this, 5 minutes of painting followed by 30-60 minutes of break time! I know, I know, she is only six years old, but for some reason, maybe based on her previous enthusiasm or her continued desire to be an artist someday, I was just expecting a little bit more from her. She certainly did not inherit the work ethic of her grandfathers!



Later when she saw the roller she thought she might give that a try since it looked fun (at which time I quoted the story of the Little Red Hen), but that proved too difficult for her wee arms as well.



Meanwhile, Kevin began taping and mudding the drywall. He is very frustrated by how long it is taking and was hoping to finish it this weekend, which I knew was never going to happen!

I have also included some photos of the window grids I came up with using masking tape. Some will have four rectangles and some six depending on the window width. Sure wish I was better at math cause that job sucked!





Oh, and did I mention that Kevin hurt his back trying to get a full sheet of drywall from the garage into the kitchen? He is now seeing my chiropractor, mostly because I am always talking about how you get a 1/2 to 1 hour therapeutic massage, plus the adjustment on every visit! And it's 90% covered on our medical plan. So at least we get to be pampered a little bit.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 15

No photos today again. Not much to see really. I spent the day finishing off the painting in the living room, though one wall still needs a coat, plus the electrician keeps poking more holes and patching them which means re-painting.

I also masked off the kids room and the den so those can be painted. Only problem with the den is that nasty wall with the faux wood paneling on it. I'll have to sand the whole thing first in order to get the primer to stick. Yuck. I think I'll stall on that one.

Kevin did a wee bit more drywalling this afternoon and almost has all the holes filled so he should be able to start mudding this weekend.

Tonight Madison and I went to her school to watch the Wizard of Oz on a giant blow up screen. The picture quality is good on those things believe it or not. If only the field wasn't so wet and if only it wasn't so cold. But she had never seen it before so it was fun.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 14

Didn't get much done today. We went shopping for toilets, doors and paint but came home with just the paint. I spent some time with masking tape working out the window grids we want for window replacement while Kevin did some more drywall. Still some more holes to patch before the mudding.

Tomorrow the cook top will be delivered and I hope to get some painting done, but Sydney will likely have some other ideas!

The cabinetry should arrive Monday (unassembled of course) but we won't be ready for it by a long shot!

My Girls

Just wanted to share some girl snaps.

One of Sydney who actually fell asleep on me the other week - which hasn't happened since I don't know when. I had SO much to do, but I didn't dare budge as I wanted to savor this moment as long as possible.

And of course Maddie with her Heidi hair-do.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 13

Day 13 and the walls are going back up! Kevin kicked it into high gear and did some serious drywalling today. Is that a verb? It SHOULD be as that man went so fast thanks to some wicked tools on loan to us from Martin. Now it is actually starting to look semi-inhabitable.

They discussed what to do about the nasty old telephone box at the back of the house, which Martin so kindly fiddled with and got our phone finally working. Verizon said they would charge us $85 just to send a guy out. And wouldn't you know it, not even an hour after we plugged the phone into the jack - a fucking telemarketer called! Unbelievable!

I continued painting today and almost finished the living room (and then later found Martin poking more bloody holes in it!) and the hallways are done. Next comes either the den/kids play room, or maybe the kids room - purple of course!

Kitchen Remodel - Day 12

I didn't make it over to the house at all today as I had Sydney with me, I had to shop for a baby gift, and had a hair appointment.

But, the eccentric roofer guy came by in the afternoon and used some super duper caulking to fix the little roof leak and charged $40. Kevin will have to test it tomorrow with the hose to see if it worked.

It's 8 pm and Kevin is now over there with the amazing electrician still working hard. That man Martin has a fantastic work ethic. He is there when he says he will be, and works weekends and evenings. Or maybe he just wants to stay far away from his triplets! (ha ha)

Kevin just reported in and said that the insulation is too puffy so the drywall won't screw in, so now he has to take it all out and strip a layer off! All you would-be remodellers remember that one.

Tomorrow I have no babies, so it's back to painting.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 11

Another slow day. While the kids were at school, and Kevin at work, I headed over to the house to paint. Only problem - Kev and I had switched cars and my new house keys were in the other car so Kevin had two sets and I had none. So Kevin had to come home from work pretty much as soon as he got there. I now have the keys on my keychain.

I started the first roller coat of the living room and hallways while Kevin sat on the floor shaking. We are not sure why his body was shaking but eventually it stopped. I think he needs to take a break. He helped me with some wall patches, bought more insulation and generally fiddled around in the kitchen.

Simon the plumber returned to fix a corroded pipe we found. 20 minutes. 80 dollars. Shit.

Then we explored the leak in the roof that comes down into the frame of the kitchen. I guess Kevin's attempt to seal it the other day failed and now we will have to call a roofer. Fuck. Next we'll have to fix that leaky window - the one where all the money keeps flying out.

Sydney Scott & Her Big Girl Bed

Tonight was MUCH better. How does that expression go? "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em"? So we decided to actually assemble the real bed (while keeping the crib intact just in case this experiment didn't work out). We officially introduced Sydney to her big girl bed complete with an ice cream party in the bed! And I was the first one to spill the ice cream on the sheets followed rapidly by Sydney.

We did have to get one of those plastic door knob cover thingys today so that she couldn't keep leaving the room, but it all went down smoothly without any tears shed by either girl.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 10

Today we hired a babysitter so we could get a leg up. I started to paint the living room and hallways.

Martin took the day off so he could go over to our friend's house and finish the job we stole him from. Sorry Tiffany!

Kevin started to put in the insulation but he didn't wear safety goggles and he bumped his eye with the mask and now his vision is blurry in one eye. Hopefully it will be better by the morning.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 9

I am posting this entry on Day 10 as the evening of Day 9 proved to be a doozy! Sydney has finally figured out that she can climb out of her crib even when the side gate is up all the way. We put her twin mattress on the floor under it so that she would't hurt herself. This is to be the introduction to the "big girl bed". However, her antics were keeping Madison up who then got hysterical and couldn't stop crying for more than an hour. We finally caved in and put Maddie in the spare room while Sydney continued her getting out of bed antics all the way up until midnight when I put some musical/light up toys in her crib which convinced her to stay. God help me tonight...

So yesterday, Martin continued with the electrical while Kevin fixed the framing on the half wall, discovered a mouldy leak when it started to downpour, and cut holes in the kitchen and living room ceiling for the pot lights.

I bought some primer and paint and continued to mask the living room and halllways which will be the same colour while Sydney "napped" and Madison watched a movie.

Today we are actually paying a babysitter so that we can get some uninterrupted work time! Pathetic.

Kevin will be meeting Martin at Lowe's as he is being such an awesome gentleman by helping Kevin get the drywall home via his large truck. Kevin will then start the insulation / drywall by himself as he couldn't find anyone to do the drywall for a low enough price. Meanwhile, the budget continues to creep up and up.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 8

Today Martin, the British electrician came over and spent the whole day working on the wiring. He came with his own kettle for making tea of course.

I convinced our awesome friend Dominique to watch Sydney at the old house all day in exchange for using our washer/dryer (sure beats the laundromat), as well as lunch, and transportation to and from her car dealership where her car was in for service. It worked out great because then I was able to finish removing the wallpaper backing and TSP'ing the living room and kitchen walls. Now I can finally start painting! The productivity level 'without' versus 'with kids around' is astounding!

The fancy new fridge and the oven were delivered today and are waiting patiently in the middle of the living room until their new home is ready.

Kevin was only able to pop in after work today, but he still helped me move some heavy boxes and cut holes in the ceiling for the new kitchen lighting.

Tomorrow Martin comes again and I will try to do some more masking or maybe some painting. Depends on what the kids will let me do...

Kitchen Remodel - Day 7

Today was another slow day. Simon, the British plumber was getting the waterlines to the garage restored and raising the drain so we could have a utility sink in there. Great for painting clean up.

Kevin cut plywood to fill the floor gaps where the old cabinets used to be.

I took the day off because Sydney and I were so sick, but felt guilty and eventually went over and masked the living room to prep it for painting.

The flooring was delivered, and tomorrow we should get the fridge and oven.

Tomorrow our awesome super fantastic pal Dominique will be watching Sydney at the old house so that I can keep working on wall paper removal and masking. Martin, the British electrician will be over all day working on the wiring.

Kevin got busted today for not going to work and has a lunch meeting, so he may not get to the house much except to check on Martin at the end of the day.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 6

Sorry folks, no photos today as I wasn't at the house at all. Maybe I'll take a new one on the morning of Day 7 to see what work Kevin did late last night, Day 5 (more drywall).

Today I went to an early morning chiropractor appointment while Kevin dropped the kids off at school and then scooted into work. I then ran some errands and met up with Kevin at home to head to Ikea.

We spent about 4.5 hours at Ikea ordering the cabinetry (add to that the 20-30 minute travel time each way). Kevin had worked meticulously for weeks now planning the whole layout out including the product codes we needed and it STILL took that much time. Imagine if someone came in with no homework done! They only had one person running the whole kitchen department and she had to take a break a half hour into it! Ridiculous. Thank god we didn't have the kids with us.

After that we ran to the window replacement company to look at windows, then home to get Kevin's car. Kevin then went to the house to wait for the GOT JUNK guys again while I went to pick up the kids from school. I got dinner going while Kevin ran to Home Depot and as soon as Kevin got home, I ran to Maddie's school for Back To School night.

Busy day, but no big changes.

We have both been up since 4 am coughing so it's time for beddy bye....

Kitchen Remodel - Day 5

The main task today was to reinforce the structure so that we could cut back the short wall dividing the kitchen area from the dining area because Kevin insisted that it HAD to be that way. I suspect he has visions of cooking something exotic and exiting over a fancy cooktop, funky background music playing, while his dinner guests, drink in hand, watch in awe and amazement. (He's going to kill me when he reads this, especially since right now, at 8:51 pm, he is still at the house working away). I was fine with leaving it the way it was and just painting over the brick. I am NOT the princess of this job.

So our contractor buddy sent two guys over (good thing we just happened to get there early enough as they didn't give us a time, only the day). I guess I shouldn't complain - at least they are actually showing up, we just never know when!
The guys went above and beyond and actually cut the wall for us. (I think they had to in order to get the beam in there anyway, but score one for us!) The beam was braced into the attic, and the structure under the house was also reinforced.

Kate used hot water, fabric softener, a paint roller, and a large putty knife to scrape wallpaper glue from the living room wall. Now that's a crappy job. Sydney entertained herself by getting into everything, and squeezing half a tube of Polysporin onto her hand. Could have been worse I guess and in her defence, she does actually have a boo boo on that hand.

Kevin was feeling overwhelmed today. Lots of tasks to do. Lots of scheduling and waiting and trying to time everything just right. We met with a plumber today. Nice chap from England. He will help with a few tasks here and there.
We also met with another window replacement company and again, it would cost about $10,000 to do the whole house. Guess we will have to live with those shotty windows for awhile!

Kevin picked up the dishwasher and is probably ripping out more drywall right now. I think he figures we should insulate the whole kitchen while we have the chance even though it means more demo, more mess and a bit more materials cost.

Tomorrow we will finally go to Ikea to buy the cabinetry. This task, even though we have it fairly well mapped out, is likely to take several hours as well as great concentration. We had to rearrange many schedules and postpone deliveries just so we would be able to go to Ikea on either a Monday or a Wednesday. Why you ask? Because those are the only two days we have full day care and there is no way we can concentrate if the kids come to the store with us. What about that great play place you might ask? Well you only get 45 lousy minutes which isn't even enough time to get through the store, then you have to add some lead time to weave your way through that frigging maze like a rat to get to them so you end up with 30 minutes!

I think some appliances, tiles and flooring arrive on Thursday and Friday.

Oh, and did I mention that we all have nasty head colds, are up all night coughing, and can barely talk? Fun fun fun.

Here is a panoramic-ish before photo of the kitchen for those of you too lazy or busy to visit our koday gallery site. We found out from a neighbour that those cabinets were the orginal 1955 ones with some refacing in the 60's - no wonder they were so yucky inside.

The Scott Girls

Well, since this is called the "scott girls" blog, I guess I should include some girly shots..

Here is Madison on the first day of grade one with Kev and Syd and then lining up with her new classmates waiting to enter the classroom for the first time. Followed by a few cute shots from September.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 4

Today was pretty uneventful. Kate hung vinyl shower curtains for window coverings. I know, but let's do the math. Custom window coverings for windows that we will likely eventually replace: $100+ per window. Buying some cheap sheet sets and having to cut and stitch them: $40/set + a pain in the @ss. Vinyl shower curtains: $2.97 each plus some scissors, tape, and a staple gun. Done! And it keeps nosey neighbours at bay. Good for the next few weeks anyway.

Kevin poked a hole in the ceiling for a support beam and removed some really scary old fluroescent fixtures.

An electrician came by and quoted about $5000 to upgrade our panel and install the kitchen and living room lights. YIKE$!

And finally some more drywall dust removal with the shop vac.

Tomorrow, we reinforce the ceiling with a beam that comes down through the attic, through the kitchen walls, through the floor and into a concrete pad under the house. We need to do this before we cut the wall back. And don't worry, we have a professional lined up for tomorrow.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 3

And on day 3, they rested! We also got a visit from the electrician and his 7-ish year old triplets who terrorized our house. Luckily, our wee ones were not present at the time but their toys were.... Later that day - more shopping.

Here is a video clip from Day 2 that I just learned how to upload:

Kitchen Remodel - Day 2

Well, we have slept on it, and realized it's not as bad as it seemed last night, but now we have a shit load more work to do. So today (Saturday, September 15th) begins with Kevin up bright and early heading over to "finish" off the demo. All the cabinets get ripped out, sink, garbage disposal, and finally most of the drywall down to the studs. Messy, dusty back-breaking work. A few minor scrapes and a large pile of junk later, it's done-ish. In the meantime, Kate and Madison tackle the removal of the wallpaper from the walls that still stand. Suck-fest!

Finally, at the end of the day (which is around 5:00 since the power was shut off by the hydro company and we will soon be running out of light) - (that, and we are so frigging sore and tired), we get a visit from 1-800-GOT-JUNK. We are not sure what they will take and how it will go, but these two guys come in, and take EVERYTHING! The garage that was full of nasty cabinetry is clear, and these guys shoveled and scooped all the drywall from the kitchen floor like gang busters, and they even swept up!! Fan-bloody-tastic! I highly recommend these guys!

Time to feed and bathe the babies, to eat some food and to hit that bottle of Advil! Tomorrow - cutting the ceiling to move the hood ventilation and hopefully a visit from the electrician....

The Kitchen Remodelling Story

So today, September 14th is the first full day of owning our new (second) home. This is also Day 1 of our kitchen remodelling project. We have worked hard for weeks now researching, shopping, comparing prices, making sketches on graph paper, using fancy computer programs - all to map out our new kitchen. We don't need to hire a designer. We've got it all planned out. Right?


























Well, Day 1 begins with Kevin and his absolutely super frigging fantastic friend - Dominique removing the upper cabinetry, some of the lower cabinetry, the tile counter tops, the tile backsplash, and the appliances. Pretty frigging unbelievable for one day I think.

After a long day, Kevin comes home to shower, unwind, and hopefully have a nice dinner. But at 5:00 pm, (before dinner is served), our contractor/acquaintance calls and he is ready to come over and have a look at the job site to give us some tips and analysis. Our assumption is that he will think we are utter geniuses - what a great job we have done mapping it all out. We'll just get the permits and carry right on....

Well, as it turns out, the job is much more complicated and costly than expected. To begin with, we've already violated the permits by beginning the demo without the permits. Next, if we try to get permits, they will want asbestos testing, will require all fluorescent lighting (fuck no!), and the wall we wanted to take out can only be partially removed (so back to the fancy graph paper to rework the cabinetry - (good thing we haven't bought it yet!). The walls behind the cabinets are bad so we will have to rip most of it out down to the studs (at least we can add some bloody insulation). There are multiple layers of linoleum under the current linoleum. Finally, the electrical panel will need to be upgraded now that the stove will no longer be gas and it will cost a few grand to do that. We are also advised not to get a junk bin as this will tip off the neighbours, and any inspectors that might stop by.

Shit.

We didn't sleep very well that night.

The New House

So, did I happen to mention that we bought a house? You can see all the photos on our Kodak Easy Share Gallery website. Go to www.kodakgallery.com You all know the email and password. I'm not posting that on the web!

We have our current rental until the end of October and plan to remodel the kitchen before we move in. It's just under 2 miles south of where we currently live, but in the city of Torrance. Our new address at the end of October will be: 20034 Grevillea Ave., Torrance CA, 90503.

It's a really solid house, has had only one owner, and is on a nice, quiet, flat street. It has almost all the features we were looking for except that it's in a different school district. That is a whole other story, but for at least this year, Madison will remain at her same old school in Redondo Beach.

It needs new windows, two bath remodels, but mostly needs a new kitchen, so since that adds the most value, we will begin there.

Wish us luck, and if you have any remodeling advice, please pass it along!

Kate, Kevin, Madison & Sydney XO