Remodelling the Kitchen

Part 2 - Rebuilding

I ran a fan in the kitchen for a few days to help it dry out. Just being downstairs with all that wet, exposed mold made my skin itch. Once dry, it was't as much of a problem. This was a good thing, because by the time the insurance company inspectors had been through a few times and we'd settled on a contractor, it was early May. (I live in a condominium complex; am its treasurer, as a matter of fact. "It's water damage from a broken pipe- call the insurance company," saved me personally, and the complex as well, a largish pile of cash)

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Next: Finishing touches

The mold abatement crew sealed off the area before starting work. There is something geekishly cool about having an airlock in one's own kitchen.
The construction crew had to replace quite a lot of wallboard and insulation, "sister" a couple of the studs, and replace about 3 feet of sill plate (that 2x4 running along the floor). I also had them add a few tiedown bolts to the sill plate they didn't have to replace, as a bit of earthquake proofing.

The new cabinets went in on 9 June 2003. It's starting to look like a kitchen again, though the gas and water won't be hooked up until after the flooring goes in.

Countertops happened on 31 July 2003, after a false start (I'd not given the installers enough information on how large I wanted the island countertop to be). I splurged and went for Corian™.

Installing the flooring was even more fun. I'd had the materials for a while, so once the cabinets were in I had to drag a package over and photograph it, "Here's what it's going to look like." When I was finally able to have the installers come in, we discovered that some of it wouldn't fit together properly. Laminate flooring is tongue and groove, and should just snap together. Some of the adhesive was dried out, too. The second batch of flooring was warped. The third batch finally just worked. (the lead installer told me that the brand I'd purchased, Mohawk, was the brand they had the most problems with. wish I'd known that when I was picking it all out)
And so, on 13 Sept 2003 I finally had a floor. I called the plumber the next day, and he was out on the 17th, just in time for me to hold a small dinner party. Almost six months to the day of "camping". Yi. Don't try this one at home, kids :P

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Next: Finishing touches

Last modified by Lee Ann Goldstein on 20