Kitchen Aid, Part 4

The new kitchen is taking shape.

So let’s see, where did we leave off? The kitchen is actually almost done, but so much has happened between my last post on the subject and now.

Back on Friday, June 3 we had someone come over the give us an estimate on refinishing the floor. Because our kitchen is so small, he told us it would only be worth his while if he refinished our dining room too. That was fine with us, since the price was right.

The catch was that he would not do the floor in the bathroom off the kitchen. So we would need to get new tile in there after all.

When we woke up the next day, never in a million years did I imagine I would be tearing apart the bathroom myself later in the day.

The plan was to go to Nolan’s tee ball game and then head over the floor place to pick out tile for the bathroom. They also told us that it wouldn’t be worth it to have them do such a small room (it’s only about 3 feet by 5 feet). Instead of charging us about $300 to do a tiny room, they sold us a tile remnant and some materials for about $30 and convinced us we could do it ourselves.

So over the course of the weekend I ripped out the toilet, treated the floor with this stuff to smooth it out, laid the new tile and then replaced the toilet – complete with a new wax seal. I must admit, I was quite proud of myself.

The following Thursday the floor guy came to start his work. After getting it all sanded down he called me at work to inform me he did not think the floor in the kitchen was worth saving. He was right – it was water-stained and not in good shape at all. So instead, he told me that if we wanted he could go and get the materials to put in a whole new floor.

When we started planning the kitchen and thought about what do with the floor, completely replacing it was never even considered as an option. But that’s what we wound up doing. Yeah, we’re spending more on the floor than we planned, but not a ton more. And it looks great. The floor was installed Friday, with the first coat of polyurethane put on it Saturday and second coat added yesterday. Coat number three is scheduled to go tomorrow and then it will be all done.


The nice, new hardwood loor looks great with the new cabinets.


When we started the kitchen project a lot of what was in the kitchen – like the refrigerator, other appliances, food, utensils, etc. – moved into the dining room. Now because we were refinishing the dining room too all of that stuff, plus everything that was already in the dining room – like the dining room table and chairs – had to move into the living room. That’s an awful lot of stuff in one room – the one room we use most often. It hasn’t really been fun.

But we see the light at the end of the tunnel. All of the cabinets were installed yesterday. Today we got a new door going from the kitchen to the garage. Also, our new stove and fridge arrived today.

The stove won’t go in until the counter is ready, which will probably be sometime next week. But fridge is up and running in the kitchen, which means the old one is longer in the living room.

We gave some serious consideration to keeping the old fridge in the basement or garage, but in the end we just got rid of it. Our old piece of crap stove is gone too – woohoo!

We’re also still without a sink or dishwasher. They will be the last things to go in. We’ve been washing dishes in the bathtub.

So that’s where we’re at now. Hopefully we’ll be done soon.