Kitchen cabinet installation part 2

The cabinet installation continued on Monday, October 28th.  Bruce and Mitch returned Monday thru Wednesday this week and now we are much closer to having complete kitchen cabinets. 

The first order of business was to look into the electrical problem caused by the screw getting driven into the wiring above the refrigerator.  Mark and Bruce examined things closely and determined that the fix that we did over the weekend was going to be just fine so they moved on to the relocation of the island.  It needed to be moved over 6 inches so that the island lights would be in the proper place. I "managed the gas line" (basically held onto it so that it didn't kink) and the guys slid the island over.   Another quick fix. Whew!

The focus for the rest of Monday was getting more upper cabinets installed, hanging the doors and putting on the drawer fronts.  The southeast corner was quite the challenge.  Apparently the wall is not flat which was causing the cabinets to not be flush against the wall from top to bottom.  The remedy for this was to trim the backs of the cabinets at the high spots of the wall.  Bruce was meticulous as he shaved bit by bit off the back to get it just right. It was loud and he had to make a dusty mess (which I am still cleaning from every nook and cranny on the first floor) but he managed to get a perfect installation. The paint on the cabinets got a bit scratched up but Mitch (who previously spent 7 years as a painter with his brother's company) brought a paint sprayer on Tuesday and repainted the impacted cabinets and the end result looks terrific.

Southeast corner upper cabinets installed, repainted and doors hung

The rest of the upper cabinets now have doors on them

Buffet wall just waiting for two drawer fronts and the shelf

After the guys finished for the day on Tuesday, the kitchen was ready to have the oven installed.  It had been sitting in the garage for a month so I was quite happy to have it put in place and hooked up.  Mark, Emily and I worked quite well as a team.  Emily was happy to pitch in knowing that I would bake lasagne for dinner.  

The first step was getting the oven from the garage into the house.  Mark and I carried it while Emily guided us so we didn't crash into the doors or walls. Mark put some wood scraps on the floor so the bottom of the oven wouldn't dent the new hardwood.

Oven in the kitchen ready to have the wiring connected

Mark put on his electrician hat to wire the oven while Emily checked out the new kitchen cabinets.

Stripping the wire that comes from the electrical panel

Mark breaking his back while I stood around :-)

Emily checking out the pantry and finding a problem for the installers to fix - the upper door is colliding with the lower door when they are fully open. One more item added to the list of things left to do.

Connecting the oven wire to the house wire (while I take pictures!)

Pushing the wire into the back corner so we can push the oven into the cavity

Once the wiring was completed, I was needed again to help lift the oven into the cavity.  It was much easier than I thought it would be.  It wasn't that heavy and it fit perfectly.

one - two - three lift!

Looking to see where the wire is.  It needs to be moved over but even Mark's bony hand can't fit in there

No problem, Mark found a metal square thingy that slide in and was long enough to reach the wire.  He moved it over and we were able to push the oven in the rest of the way

Bit by bit in it went

I read the directions (I have become really good at telling Mark what to do) and he finished the installation (which was only 4 screws)

We made a Simek's boxed lasagne for dinner and it never tasted so good.  We have been without an oven since May 21 (in our old house) and since the weather has turned a bit cooler we have really been wanting to bake things.  It didn't help that we had cookie dough in the freezer courtesy of the Hopkins Volleyball fundraiser.  And yes, we made cookies after dinner.  I had to cook them on the tiny tray from the toaster oven which made me realize we need to get up to the airplane hanger to get the boxes and boxes of kitchen stuff soon!

Wednesday the guys were back bright and early to tackle the remaining pieces. Their focus once the cabinets were all in place, the doors hung and the drawer fronts in place was to put up the crown molding.  The molding is a two part process.  First MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) strips are installed at the tops of the cabinets then the specific molding, cove molding in our case, is attached to the MDF.  Bruce got started by measuring the distance from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling all the way around the room.  It was going great until he got to the top of the oven/microwave cabinet.  The ceiling in this area has a wave to it so the spacing between the top and the ceiling is 2 3/8" but the rest of the kitchen is 3".  Normally slight differences are not a big deal as the trim piece would just be cut down.  In our case the difference is too great to cut down because that big of a cut would have been into the curve of the cove molding which would look terrible when installed.  We talked it over with Bruce and determined that we need to go with a straight piece of trim which is what we wanted in the first place.  When we were working on the trim decision it seemed that it would be simpler for the installers if we selected a trim that they were more familiar with so we choose the cove option.  Oooops guess not.  I am happy that I will get what I wanted in the first place but I feel bad because they have to re-make all the trim.  Once we figured out the strategy, Bruce and Mitch got to work installing the MDF.  

Half is done

Bruce finishing the first half

 

Half to go

Bruce got a few more pieces of MDF up before he ran out of material.  Some of it was damaged so he had to reject using it. 

Somewhat usable kitchen. 

 I love the height of my island. It is 4" higher than the perimeter counters which is a more comfortable height for me.  I discovered this as a result of using my "makeshift laundry room kitchen".  My microwave balanced on two stools is exactly 40" and it was so much more comfortable of a height for me than the table next to it (which is 4" shorter than normal) so I started doing all of my food preparation on this little surface. Can't wait to have my 9' counter to work with!!

 

"Countertop" that I have been using since May

 On Monday (Nov 3rd) the hardwood floor refinishing will start and then the cabinet installers will come back to finish the top trim, put in the toe kick, and finish up the other items that are left to be done (a few doors here and there, the shelf in the buffet wall, the corner drawers, the end panels and so on).

Once the floor is done,  I will start the process of unpacking the 200+ boxes beginning with these 7 that Mark and I got out of the hanger yesterday.  I already opened one so that I could get my cookie sheets out.  I am baking cookies tonight on a real cookie sheet! I can't believe these things have been packed since July, 2013.  It will be like Christmas a bit early!

Mark and I will be working on window, door and floor trim, ordering and installing doors (I think we have about 20 to do), picking out and installing lights, installing stone around the basement fireplace (and the upper fireplace if the basement one goes well), and completing the bathroom in the basement.  Seems like we have enough to keep us busy for awhile.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween, everyone.