Kitchen preparations
A couple of weeks off work over the Christmas period proved an ideal opportunity to put some solid days into the renovations. My plans were roughly half the break for renovations and half the break for PlacesToLive.
As I began to cut into the kitchen wall however, it quickly became apparent that if I was going to be building a new kitchen, I was also going to be building a bunch of adjoining walls. Such is the case when you have a house with 80 years of "influence". Very rarely do you find a wall that gracefully flows on to its neighbour. Add to that the fact that there was some water damage to the roof in that part of the house, and the fact that that room has never been a kitchen before, and you have a bit more than a flat pack and assemble job.
And so it turned out, my annual leave consisted primarily of 10 to 12 hour days renovating. Fortunately, I enjoy it.
After ripping up the slate tiles a few weeks ago, I decided that the underlying masonite was in too bad condition to serve as underlay for the new flooring. There was no choice but to rip the masonite up too.
Underneath were tongue and groove floorboards, with plenty of holes, undulations and even an old fireplace slab to add character.
One of the renovating lessons I've learned is not to underestimate the amount of waste generated. The mass of the material that needed to be disposed after clearing a layer of slate tile and a layer of masonite was immense. Each week I'd test the council garbage truck by tentatively adding a bit more to the Otto bin, until one week I put the bin out for collection only to find it dragged on to the road but never up ended. Admittedly, to get the bin out to the kerb I had to launch all my (75kg) weight on to the bin handle just to rock it on to the wheels, and strained to roll it while keeping it precariously balanced. I estimate it weighed around 250kg and was surprised the wheels didn't bust off. I've since found on the council website that the maximum pick up is stated as 65kg.
Most of one day then, consisted of loading the ute with about 600kg of timber and heading out to the tip. At the tip the hardiness of those Otto bins was again demonstrated when I accidentally dropped the bin off the back of the tray and the entire 250kg weight fell upright, some 600mm on to the concrete. There was an almighty thud, but barely a whimper from the tank-like bin.
With the flooring out of the way, the next job was to cut down the low wall between the kitchen and the back room. Getting enough access resulted in carefully destroying most of the surrounding timber while managing to preserve the kitchen side of the wall.
This is where consideration for the adjoining walls became a serious factor. After a lot of head scratching, I decided to strip the left, top and right beams, as well as the beam adjoining the right wall. The mismatch of walls coverings and angles and profiles had always been a terrible eyesore, and it became obvious that this was the only sensible solution.
To restore strength and also provide a stud for the new wall, I installed two 35x70 pine lengths in a L-shape from floor to ceiling.
The top and right beams and also earned a new set of studs, albeit much shorter, forming the skeleton for the new seamless walls. And finally the new walls went up.
I took particular pleasure in redoing the wall above the washing machine - the wiring that had been installed here was atrocious. There were cables hanging out of the roof and terminations by double-adapter and all sorts of bad ideas. With the new wall in place there is just one double outlet with a light switch on it, and all the wiring is hidden behind the wall.
After a couple of applications of gyprock compound, some frustrating hours with the trowel and sander, and a couple of coats of white paint the walls are ready for final sand, a paint to match the room, and some cornice. My tragic gyprocking skills beside, I'm very happy with the result.
While a layer of compound was drying I made up the triangular supports for the new bar. Although trying to correctly measure the mitre cut lengths while dealing with the existing surface's various interpretations on "horizontal" was a foreseen challenge, the difficulty of working with the hardwood studs left in the wall was a big surprise to me: cut the timber put a worrying large load on the compound saw; screws had to be significantly predrilled or the heads would just screw off; and nails, despite being predrilled, would bend every time. This was some seriously heavy duty wood!
Nonetheless I managed four strong, level supports, that after a sand and a stain, look the part.
In the meantime, I also bit the bullet and purchased some new masonite and set about laying that. 'twas a pity to have to rip up two layers of flooring just to put two more back down, but at least I have discovered the history of the flooring in that room as well as and have the best opportunity for laying a nice new floor.
The masonite sheets were $16.50 each, so a new masonite underlay added about $100 to the cost of the new floor.
The doorways also received a new coat of paint to match the highlight colour from the exterior of the house.
With the kitchen finally physically prepared, I was able to put the finishing touches on my new kitchen plans. And so I present, rendered in 3D for your enjoyment, Heath's New Kitchen:
Now to get some quotes, finalise the materials, and actually get the thing ordered.