My kitchen remodel

[Burnin' oil]

Gutted a typical 1950s kitchen in a block wall house. Furred out the walls to run new wiring, re-plumbed, sealed off various ceiling openings, including a pull-down attic access (sorry, spiders), built a pantry, new floor (pine from a friend), built the counters, cut the granite counter-tops, etc. And it only took me three years!


Some before pictures. I don't have any good pics of before the demo because it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment, impulse to rip everything out.


Gross:




Furring out the walls:



Insulation on the west-facing wall:




Finishing the drywall - smooth finish walls:



Laying out the cabinets, which is a joke because this picture was taken at least 18 months before I got around to building the cabinets:



Our kitchen for many months. Nice counters, heh? It got old to me after a while, but not near as old as it did to my wife:

[Burnin' oil]

And current pictures taken by my wife, which explains the quality (how does this camera work?). I still need to adjust some of the drawers.

[GH85Carrera]

Three years of FUN!!!!

It looks nice, now that is is done.

[pete3799]

I like it. The wide floor boards and blue cabinets remind me of an old farm house.
What kind of orchard is that looking out the window?
My wife would love that stove. Two ovens?

[RWebb]

BTW - I'd advise people to avoid stainless like a plague; it is very hard to clean - enamel is lots easier.

[Seahawk]

My kind of kitchen.

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by RWebb

BTW - I'd advise people to avoid stainless like a plague; it is very hard to clean - enamel is lots easier.

When I was in the USMC on mess duty, we used Go-Jo, the mechanics waterless hand cleaner to clean stainless, it works really well.

[KarlCarrera]

That looks really nice. LOVE the stove! My kind of cooking utensil!

Since you now have the experience about how long to redo mine? :>)

Baking soda works on stainless as well

Looks great
Karl
88 Targa

[trekkor]

Very nice.


KT

[jyl]

I think you mentioned those base cabinets are actual free standing furniture pieces. Tell us more about their construction? Do they wobble or shift as you use the counters? Is there a crack between counter and wall, does it bug you? Why did you choose that method over the standard kitchen cabinet? The sink cabinet must've been a bear to move around, is it all one piece? Are they built just like dressers, with webs? Also, the drawer (?) under the sink looks tricky, is it U shaped? I guess the plumbing connections are accessible if you remove that drawer (?).

[juanbenae]

great stove!

[Jim Bremner]

Nice!

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by pete3799

I like it. The wide floor boards and blue cabinets remind me of an old farm house.
What kind of orchard is that looking out the window?
My wife would love that stove. Two ovens?

That's because it IS an old farm house. The trees are walnuts. The stove is great and there are two ovens.

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

My kind of kitchen.

That is because you are a discerning gentleman.

[VINMAN]

Nice job! How high is your hood over the range? I set mine 26 inchs over . But now I feel its too high.

[Burnin' oil]

Originally Posted by jyl

I think you mentioned those base cabinets are actual free standing furniture pieces. Tell us more about their construction? Do they wobble or shift as you use the counters? Is there a crack between counter and wall, does it bug you? Why did you choose that method over the standard kitchen cabinet? The sink cabinet must've been a bear to move around, is it all one piece? Are they built just like dressers, with webs? Also, the drawer (?) under the sink looks tricky, is it U shaped? I guess the plumbing connections are accessible if you remove that drawer (?).

The posts are 2 3/8" square Alder. The rails are 3/4" Poplar. The rail/post connections are mortise and tenon. The connections between the posts on the sides and backs are 3/4" plywood let into dados in the posts. Each cabinet has a 3/4" plywood "lid." The drawer boxes are 1/2" 7 ply with dovetailed corners. The drawer fronts are 3/4" 9 ply. The slides are Accuride full extension.

None of the units are attached to a wall. The units on both sides of the stove and the unit opposite the sink can be moved but only with some effort. None of the units rock or wobble. They are all very heavy and solid and ain't going anywhere.

The sink unit was a little tricky. The sink is a Shaws and weighs close to infinity pounds so it had to be well supported. The undersink drawer box is 8 inches deep and has a cut-out to go around the disposal and drain. The drawer does not go all the way to the wall so there is plenty of room for water supply and dishwasher plumbing.

The counters are 30" deep. the sink unit granite was cut in my shop and then caged in 2x4s for the move into the house and installation. The weak point is the narrow strip behind the sink with the plumbing cutouts. I was certain it was going to crack. It, too, weighed infinity pounds. The back splash along the sink unit is siliconed at the wall.

There are gaps between the oven units and the wall but are of no consequence. We don't even notice them.

I built them for the same reason I build all of our furniture. I wanted something solid, indestructible, high quality, and completely unique. The overall style, including the floor, the sink and the cabinet style, is somewhat English traditional country.

[Burnin' oil]

The hood is about 6 feet off the deck. I can't remember how high off the stove top.

The large drawer to the right of the sink holds a garbage can. Very handy to sweep things off the counter right into the garbage.