After our long weekend update post yesterday, I realized I was behind on updating you all on the kitchen progress…or lack there of…as it seems sometimes.

(My mantra lately:  It has to get worse before it gets better… we can live through this… no one is judging my messy counters and floors… it has to get worse before it gets better… we can live through this…no one is judging my messy counters and floors… it has to get worse before it gets better…)

 

In all seriousness, though, we had a busy weekend last weekend of working on the kitchen…unfortunately, a lot of the projects aren’t really great blog material. For one thing, they are specific to our house so it’s unlikely anyone would be interested in or be able to benefit from reading step  by step instructions for what we did… And, there’s not a ton of photo evidence because none of the improvements are all that “showy.”

But, for the sake of covering everything, and for using this blog as a little journal for our projects, and our life, I figured it was worth mentioning everything we tackled.

For starters, Wyatt got to work on moving the pipe vents from the kitchen sink and washing machine. They had been in the soffit so we needed to rerout them into the walls.

Because we removed the soffit, where these pipes were hidden, we needed to reroute these vents into the wall and the ceiling so they wouldn’t show. It was a lot of work because it involved working in some pretty cramped and uncomfortable quarters in the attic, but really, Wyatt said it was a simple project, although it was miserable, hot, itchy, and hot. And did I say hot? Sheesh. That man is a machine, an incredibly awesome and wonderful DIY machine.

We did have a little trouble getting the exact size pipe we needed because we got 2-inch pipe, not knowing it was nominal…so we had to return it and get 1.5-inch pipe. Ugh.

Still, after all the trouble we went through, it was a pretty successful project because Wyatt soon got the pipe all cut and fit after removing the old ones that were in the way.

Then, he glued them together…

And pretty soon, he got everything assembled back in the wall and out of the way.

Project number two was to rerout all the electrical wires from being in the ceiling, where they had previously been hidden by the soffit, to the walls, where they would be hidden behind the drywall.

This project was especially frustrating because it’s very, very time consuming to rerout all those wires at one time, not to mention confusing.

Plus, it involved more time in the attic.

We invested in a high quality mask for Wyatt to wear when he was up there to help avoid the coughing and other breathing issues that can accompany attic adventures. We don’t have major mold problems or anything like that, but we do have blown fiberglass insulation, which isn’t what you’d want to breath in for long periods of time, especially when it’s so hot.

You can see the holes where the wires used to be and how they are now moved into the wall in the picture below:

Finally, everything was put back together.

In addition, we spent some time planning what we were going to do with the air conditioner vent that also ran through the soffit. We had a hard time tracking down the right size duct to use with our existing system because it’s a pretty uncommon size and shape, but finally, after some help from a friend who’s an actual expert in that field, we were ready with a plan that will hopefully serve us well next week when we tackle that project.

Wyatt also redid the electrical over in the nook because we had to remove a junction box and add another outlet.

Then, my parents came up on Sunday to help us with the drywall on the ceiling, which was a successful project.

We started by removing the plywood that was on the ceiling underneath the soffit. It was messy because the insulation was all up there.

We were hoping to get a little bit more done (starting to mud the ceiling drywall, etc.) but we got a little sidetracked with some other issues…mainly electrical.

Wyatt added a junction box over the sink so I could have a pendant light there. (We had to take out the can light that was in the soffit.

Then, we they worked on moving the can light over the fridge because it will be in the way of the new pantry.

It was a little frustrating because we only had to move it a little ways, but sometimes, life is frustrating, huh?

It’s also frustrating because it involved more attic time…although this time, it was just Wyatt’s head.

We’re not electricians but we’re pretty certain there are some issues we need to resolve. So, those are still in progress. Luckily, we’ve got a few friends that can help with this project…but it’s frustrating that it’s taking longer than we ever expected it would.

But, every remodel is bound to have those things pop up…we just weren’t expecting this particular type of issue. But, it’s comforting to know we can call in a professional if needed.

So, we have plenty to keep working on. Meanwhile, the countdown to our cabinet delivery keeps ticking down…we’re pretty certain we won’t be ready to install them right away once they’re delivered…but we’re just going to do our best to be as ready as we can be.

Wyatt was actually gone most of last week so we didn’t get much done. I did a little mudding on the new drywall on the ceiling, but it still needs to be sanded. And probably needs several more layers and mudding and sanding…ugh. Not to mention the drywall we need to replace on the walls. Sheesh.

But, we have high hopes of having a productive week…and a productive weekend.

What are your plans for the week? Doing any electrical work? Mudding drywall as a fun datenight? No? That’s just us? Oh…