Kitchen Remodel - Part 4

Now that everything is stripped out and cleaned up, we need to work on the rebuilding of our space.

We started by cutting a 4 foot square hole in the floor of the kitchen to give the worker access into the crawl space under the house.  This was to allow the Electrician and the plumber access to move the electrical and gas lines.  While we had the floor open, we decided to have under-the-floor insulation installed.  The temporary hole provided better access under the house then through a small opening in our master closet where we have to move all of our clothes out of the way.  I was amazed that the crew of two people could lay down a new vapor barrier and add all the insulation in 4 hours.  We finished all the activity under the house in two days, nailed the wood back in place from our access opening and then laid 1/4 inch plywood over the sub floor to give a sturdy base for the hardwood flooring.

The electrician worked for several days installing the necessary wiring and light fixtures in the walls and ceiling while our contractor fixed a construction problem with part of the ceiling that attributed to our recently removed out-of-alignment soffits.  Now our ceiling does not roll up at the outside wall.

With the plumbing and electrical completed, we had the drywall crew come in to patch the walls and ceiling then put a new layer of texture over all the repaired areas.  We quickly painted all the walls and ceiling with primer so that we would not have to paint once the new wood floor were installed.

The new hardwood wood floors were installed next in the space.  Covering the kitchen, family and breakfast area, the new oak floors now match the rest of the house.

We were very excited to have the cherry cabinets installed a few days later and they look wonderful.  The fully custom cabinets manufactured by M n' M Cabinets in Portland exceed our expectations and are beautiful.

The floor finishing came next with the required sanding and then the strong odors after the application of two coats of sealer/finisher.  We will get the final coat of finish added to the floor once all the other work is completed.

Then it was time for the appliance installation.  This was on a Monday morning and everything went very smooth until we got to the Electrolux dishwasher.  We looked at the mounting clips that come with the dishwasher and several of us could not figure out a way to make them work.  We finally found a solution and got that installed.  Now all we need is a counter top and to get the sink installed.

This is where the process came to a stop!  We knew we wanted a solid continuous surface (no more hard to clean tile and grout for us).  We visited five or more granite distributors and looked at hundreds of slabs (I have the picture on my computer to back this up), but we could not find just the right texture, pattern, and color combination.  This very frustrating time went on for several weeks while we tried to find a solution.  We had been to the big box stores and looked at their granite selection without any luck and also their man-made products, but they looked like man-made products.  My wife looked up Cambria on-line and found a local dealer that had large samples (one foot square).  We visited their showroom several times and brought home sample after sample to find the right match for our cabinets.  We settled on the Cambria Blackwood, which is similar to the granite Black Pearl, but the surface is not quite as shiny.  The Cambria product is a Natural quartz material that uses a resin as a binder.  We felt that the Cambria product has more depth and life then the natural stone.

One week later, we had our counter-tops installed along with the sink, so we now have a fully functioning kitchen.  We still have a few things to do, pantry door, back splash, fireplace and the moldings.

But now it's time to start cooking...