Making a Kitchen, Part 3: What next?

In case you missed it:

Making a Kitchen, Part 1

Making a Kitchen, Part 2: A Day in the Life

The cabinets are finished! I have built every cabinet and every drawer that will go in my kitchen. At the beginning of the summer, in my naivete, I blissfully imagined that I would spend a couple of weeks building cabinets, and that we would have the old kitchen demo-ed and the new kitchen installed by the time school started. Well, it didn't quite happen that way. The cabinets took the entire summer! They say that renovations always take longer than you think they will, and I'm learning this first hand.

My thoughts now have been turned to what I should do next. I'm actually feeling a little lost. I spent so much time on those cabinets that it feels strange not to have any more building to do. Thanks to a suggestion from my sister, and a great online article about kitchen renovation, I made a detailed list of everything that needs to be done in the kitchen. Now that I have a pretty clear plan, I'm feeling much better.

My Kitchen To-Do List

Prepare for demo:

-Set up temporary kitchen

     -Move fridge, range, small oven

     -Stock up on paper dishes, plastic ware, disposable pans

     -Plan easy meals

-Box up and label everything that won't be in temporary kitchen

-Throw away what won't be kept

-Remove everything not attached

-Arrange for disposal – dumpster, pickup truck?

-Take “before” pictures

Demo kitchen:

-Shut off power

-Remove microwave

      -Disconnect and cap wires

      -Remove screws

-Remove flooring

-Shut off water

-Uninstall and remove dishwasher

-Remove sink and fittings

-Remove cabinet doors and drawers

-Disassemble and remove counter

-Remove a/c vent

-Remove base cabinets

      -Unscrew if screws were used, pry gently with pry bar if nails were used

-Remove wall cabinets

-Pull up carpet in dining room

Prep for new kitchen:

-Repair walls

-Prime and paint walls

-Locate and mark studs on floor and ceiling

-Prepare floor

      -Fill areas that are dipped, buckled, bulging

      -Fill any holes or gauges

      -Countersink any nail or screw heads that are sticking up

      -Thoroughly clean floor

Flooring:

-Rip paper into stone-looking pieces about 12 inches

-Wrinkle then smooth each piece

-Mix glue (not all at once) using 3:1 ratio of water to glue

-Glue paper to floor

      -Cover piece of paper with glue mixture

      -Press smoothly onto floor

      -Overlap pieces to allow for shrinkage

      -Edge pieces go along the edge

      -Paper yourself out of the room – don't get trapped in a corner

-Let dry

-Stain floor

      -Cut in several inches around edges

      -Open windows for ventilation

      -Mop on stain using extension pole and stain pad

      -Feather edges, mop yourself out

-Let dry 1-2 days

-Seal floor

      -1 coat water-based polyurethane, then sand when dry

      -About 12 more coats, sanding after every other one, about an hour to dry in between

-Let cure for a few days

Cabinets:

-While floor is curing, build island

-Veneer visible sides of cabinets with bead board or ¼-inch ply

-Cover floor with protective covering

-Install wall cabinets

      -Chalk line to mark position of all studs

      -Chalk line to mark top of counter

      -Chalk line 18-19 inches above previous line – bottom of wall cabinets

      -Nail temporary 1x2 ledger, top of board lines up with line, nail into studs

      -Screw into studs through cleats and bottom of back

      -Each should be attached to at least 2 studs. If not use toggle bolt as additional fastener

      -Screw adjacent units together, making faces flush

      -Recheck for level and plumb

      -Remove ledger, repair holes in wall

      -Paint wall cabinets

-Install base cabinets

      -Cut opening for a/c vent

      -Place cabinets in position, shimming as necessary

      -Screw adjacent units together, making faces flush

      -Check for plumb, shimming as necessary

      -Screw entire length of cabinets into wall through top cleat and into wall studs

      -Install toe kick and vent cover

      -Paint base cabinets

-Build, paint, and install doors and drawer fronts

-Attach door knobs and drawer pulls

-Attach island to floor with toe nails or angle brackets, making it level and plumb

-Install decorative corbels under wall cabinets

Counters:

-Cut wood to length

-Seal bottom, 2-3 coats

-Trace and cut hole for sink

-Dry fit for sink placement

-Glue and screw planks to cabinets, one at a time

      -Construction grade adhesive

      -Start with back plank

      -Glue planks to cabinets and to each other

      -Weigh down with something heavy

-Fill seams with wood filler

-Sand and smooth after filler is dry

-Stain

-7-8 coats of polyurethane

Install sink and disposal

Install dishwasher

Install range hood

Install back splash

Install range and refrigerator

Install lighting fixtures

Hmm, think I'll be a bit busy for the next little while? Yeah, pretty much. Part of me finds this list overwhelming - there's so much to be done! But mostly I'm just excited to take on the next step in this renovation process.

I feel like this post needs pictures or something. So here's a rather crooked picture of a cabinet with drawers. Just because.

Linking to: Link Party Palooza at Tatertots & Jello