So, thought I'd update with some pics. Kitchen is 95% finished at this point.
TL;WR up front:
http://i.imgur.com/0xD6BIK.jpg (linked for those who don't want it spoiled)
These are the only two pictures I can find of the kitchen prior to our home improvement projects. It was disgusting. The cabinets were rotted in some places, the butcher block wasn't level. The washer and dryer were gross. The dishwasher was basically used to rinse water on things.
Tile floor with fearless pup laying on it for to get cool. Tile was cracked in several places and seemed to be missing grout in others.
The front door and coat closet. On the other side is the second bedroom. It has, in this photo, a 36 inch closet on one side, and an 80 inch wide closet on the other.
The first thing we decided was that the washer and dryer had to be moved. To the left of the coat closet is the closet with the HVAC. Between them was a vent pipe that went down to the sewer. Once we verified that the pipe could handle the discharge from the washer, it was demo time
Double layer 5/8ths gotta go. EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!!
From the other bedroom
Full props to my Brother in Law on this. I was simply going to squeeze a stackable set in there and call it a day. He had the better idea to pop out the back wall by four inches (so the new wall would be right in line with the edge of the doorknob on the door to the spare bedroom. It looks great, and doesn't take away from the room at all.
Framing and plumbing.
Drywall and mudding. The green board is the mold resistant stuff. It was on sale, but also, I figured that if there was going to be moisture, it would be a wise precaution.
Finished product. The blue tape on the right is where my wife added some shelving. Like I said, full props to my brother in law, as it gave us a ton of storage space and the closet on the other side is still 36 inches wide.
So ..... about that kitchen ....
Well, this is now useless.
You know, if we put a window in there, it would be a great place to move the sink ...
DEMO TIME MOTHERfreakERS!!!!!! DESTROY EVERYTHING!!!!!
But seriously, between wanting to move teh sink, dishwasher, and oven, and wanting to put in more lighting (I had a single 60watt bulb in there), everything had to go. Down to the studs. And then I had to add more studs.
The electric was a mess. The fridge and dishwasher weren't on their own circuit. There were no GFI outlets. And for whatever reason, the light in the kitchen was connected to the light in the dinning room ... which was also connected to the outlets in the living room. So, a lot of work had to be done on that.
So that window became knocking out the whole wall. Or the upper half. I had to run the plumbing from the ceiling, over to that little edge of the wall, down it, and through the half wall. And the electric too. The drain pipe uses the same drain as the washer used.
Got to buy one one of these
Have to practice
Now that the electric and plumbing is in, time for drywall. Pro Tip: Rent a drywall lift. It's amazeballs.
Now that the dry wall is in, time to mount some freaking cabinets
So the cabinets in, we decided to tackle the tile floor next
You're probably wondering why I started there. Well, honestly, when you walk in the door, you're going to see the entrance to the kitchen, with the tile there. And I wanted those planks to be dead center. I didn't think I would be able to do it starting at the edge, so I started at the kitchen entrance and did the floor in phases. It took longer, but, frankly, I think it was worth it.
Finished floor.
Bought a new dishwasher and installed brackets. We plan on having an overhang that acts as a breakfast bar. At 16 inches, we felt the brackets should be installed to provide support.
At this point, we've installed the baseboards and just about everything else. We're ready for grannite. However, this would prove to be challenging. Our first fabricator (who we got the cabinets from) was difficult to get to come out for measurements and kept wanting an $1800 deposit. We started shopping around and found a well known fabricator who actually got granite at a cheaper price. We ended up upgrading our granite to a higher level.
So this company, Granite Source for those in the NoVA area who want to know, came out and did measurements within two days of being contacted. Their measurements came out to 54 sqft. We picked the slab and they cut it. Except, when they came out to install it, the crew chief looked at that corner next to the dishwasher and pulled out his laser level. Too high. He said he could do it, but that they'd have to shim everywhere, which would mess up the corner piece on the other side of the stove. Also, he felt that it would be so much shimming (*giggle) that it may lead to a crack later. So I asked him to outline what needed to be done. I was left with the impression that a lot of the tops of the cabinets would have to be shaved down. It turns out that I really needed a quarter of an inch off that corner. Didn't take long, but we had to re-schedule installation.
They came by yesterday morning, installed the granite and mounted the sink. Last night and this morning, I took care of hooking up the garbage disposal, the plumbing, and the dishwasher. But it's all complete and looking .... well .... judge for yourself
Still a little bit to do. We wired the kitchen for under cabinet lighting and those still need to be installed. Also, my wife wants a backsplash. But, it's basically done and useable. It's been a long road. The kitchen itself, starting with demo, took us over 3 months. We started working on moving the washer and dryer out of kitchen last June and July. My Brother in Law helped a lot with the work, but we did a lot ourselves. A lot of blood, sweat and swearing went in to it. If you ever want to test your marriage, I invite you to remodel a kitchen by yourselves.
Also appreciate the advice I got here. Figure y'all would want to see why I've been annoying the freak out of you the past few weeks.
I think I've earned a nice, home cooked meal. Then we're going to plan a party for our friends to come and look at the thing I've been talking about for months. I figured we'd maybe even have a contest for them to vote for what backsplash they like the best.
