Time to Git R Done!

The kitchen has taken long enough... it's definitely time to Git-R-Done!! Plus the cold weather is coming and I still have 3 radiators in there that are not hooked up so I can't fill the system right now.

Today I sanded the last of the walls. A few touch ups and they will be ready for primer. Then I'll be down to just the ceiling. Did I mention how I feel about sanding drywall?!

Next the cabinet is sanded, painted, and installed. Since I didn't install a back on it, I painted the wall first where it will hang. This would be much easier than having to tape out the entire cabinet later when I paint the walls.

I calculated the flooring and will order that maybe tomorrow. I will be going with Armstrong linoleum - willow green and soft white in a diagonal checker pattern. I'm really close to pulling the trigger on a restored O'Keefe & Merritt stove. I just have a feeling I'll regret not going old school... especially after a new one only lasts 10 years before it's junk! A restored O & M should last me a lifetime. But... my Pontiac is not too happy these days, looking like a head or intake gasket job among other issues, so I might be in the market for a replacement car. That'll be my 2nd car purchase this year, so I'm a bit hesitant to splurge on the stove. But I do have the truck so I could get the stove now and wait till spring to car shop. A new fridge will definitely have to wait. Decision... decisions

Finally the preservation award plaque is mounted under my century house plaque. I ordered a nice new mailbox to go underneath...

Back to the Kitchen

So after a concert, some serious house cleaning, and a fun drive-in adventure it was back to house work... and even more important, the kitchen project! Well after mocking up the kitchen again for a few days I couldn't deny it any more... there just wasn't enought room around the island. So now what?? I then brainstormed for a bit and decided that I could do an easy modification to the island and attach it to the wall as a base cabinet. This is where the metal hoosier was going to be. I pushed it against the wall for a few days before getting the tools out and after a few opinions I committed to the idea... and out came the tools!

To modify the island, all I had to do was remove the doors on the wall side, remove the corner trim, and knock off end block of the butcher top. Next I removed the baseboard, fastened the cabinet to the wall, then trimmed and installed the baseboard again. That's it... it was a quick fix.

Next was coming up with a wall cabinet to go above. I played around with a few ideas, then settled on using the doors I removed from the island in the new cabinet. Also I would have an open shelf on the bottom section. First thing was laying out the doors and make up a face frame.

Once this was biscuit joined, glued up, and dry I made up the sides, top, and bottom... again biscuit joined, glued and nailed.

Then add the rest of the shelves...

I mounted a ledger board on the wall that the shelf hangs from. Trial fit on the wall...

Finally I mortissed the hinges and installed the doors. Just needs a little bit of sanding and add some corner trim... then it'll be ready for paint!

Besides this modification, I also finally added the wine rack to the built in shelf. This job has been on the books for 2 months now! But I can finally check it off the list too. I have a feeling more unavoidable drywall sanding is jsut around the corner...

Some Color For the Shed

If you're reading this then you found the blog's new address. The recent local attention was getting a little too much for comfort so I changed the site. If you plan on breaking in, beware of the killer cat! Don't let the purring fool you, he has you right where he wants you!

Meanwhile, the painting is coming along on the shed.

As far as the infamous kitchen, I almost have another door finished. But, the layout might be changing to plan, um, guess I'm up to Q or R now?! I did one last mock up and it was just too tight getting around everything. But I think I have a "simple" fix. Stay tuned...

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Well I get my plaque today at the fair. The local paper did an article too. I was expecting them to just stop and take a few pics of the front, but they did inside, outside, and even an impromptu video interview. Good thing I changed out of my work clothes... but that would have certainly been more authentic!

Labor Day Laboring

A little kitchen progress is better than none at all... I finally finished the basement door, that's two doors down.


The next one is the butler stairs door which has plenty of issues. Between 100 years of use and being nailed shut when the house was divided into apartments, it's pretty well beat up. I stripped it last year and fixed the split where it was nailed to the jamb and filled a bunch of holes. The jamb has a bunch of issues, mostly where the hinges are mortissed. Not sure how, but the mortisses are much wider than the original hinges... yet the door was never changed and it's mortisses were never modified?! So I reinforced with some new wood, then filled everything in with filler. Next I traced out the correct location for the hinges, carved out a new mortiss, installed the hinges, then did a final coat of fill along the edges. Looks like most of the damage is gone.


On the door, a good chunk was missing around the knob hole... much more than the escutcheon will cover. To fix this I glued up all the loose and damaged wood, installed the lock mechanism, then applied a heavy coat of filler and sand smooth.



The shed caulking is done and looking like a nice day to get it all primed up.

Happy Labor Day!

Officially A Shed Now

The ramp is built and the doors finished. I made the doors from 7/8 plywood, then trimmed with the same pvc trim is used on the rest of the structure. I applied these with construction adhesive and screws from the back side of the doors, so these should stay strong. The ramp i raised off the ground with a 6x6 since I will eventually be adding dirt in this area to regrade this part of the yard. Now I just need to caulk up the corners and paint.