The Cabinets Are In!

I woke up and immediately sanded the patched drywall and then gave it a coat of paint.  I REALLY wanted to get these cabinets back in today!  It's not as smooth as I would like for it to be, but again, it's behind a cabinet.  And it's so much better.  By the time it dries, it should be cabinet time!

A fresh new coat!

Thankfully, my brother volunteered to come by again and help!  So he and I headed to the crawlspace to "shore up" the floorboards that Dad and I had installed yesterday.  He measured the pieces while I ran back and forth upstairs to cut.  It was pretty simple but necessary work.  And I was able to test out my "new" chop-saw that I had purchased a few weeks ago!  I paid $40 for this saw, and I am in love with it!  I mean, this takes all the guesswork out of cuts!  Your cut is straight every time!  As I told Dad, "I don't know how I lived this long without having one!"  Seriously, what a great tool.

So the cuts went quick, and if a piece was too long by just a bit (it happened), I just zipped a blade-length off.  Easy!  Little by little, the support structure was coming together.  Of course, a cabinet and dishwasher are going to be on top of this area of the floor, so it's not much weight.  But a job worth doing is worth doing right.

Securing the new floorboards.

Dad pulled up more staples while we worked in the crawlspace.  (I don't think he was complaining one bit about having my brother help me down there!).

Well, the support boards were installed, and I then secured the floorboards to them.  We have an official subfloor ready for cabinets!!!

The new floor is officially ready!

Ready for a dishwasher and cabinet!

I filled in the gaps in the floorboards (and the rest of the house!).  I had purchased some gap filler sealant, and so I started closing off the numerous air gaps in the house!  And I have many!  If you put up your hand to the recently-installed doors, you could feel quite a bit of air coming through.  It's pretty frustrating knowing they were just installed, but what are you going to do.  So I sealed them off!  I sealed off the gaps in the floors where you could see into the crawlspace!  I sealed off any and all holes and cracks that I could see!  I'm sick and tired of this house being so cold!!!

No more drafts, please!

Stop those leaks!

I just kept on going until my bottle ran out!

Of course, we still had a quite a bit of work to do before installing the cabinets back in.  As you may recall, the cabinets were installed after the original floors were installed.  So the rest of the cabinets in this row sit on top of linoleum which sits on top of 1/4"-inch luan.  So Dad and I had to then install both of those pieces in order to make sure the countertop rested evenly on top!

So we cut out a piece of luan and debated as to whether to put in the obscene amount of staples required.  The luan board itself shows you where to mount the staples, and I counted 70 X's...and that didn't even include the recommended staples along the edge!  Absolutely absurd.  We went a different route and just mounted the piece down with nails.  Lots and lots of nails.

The new luan ready for linoleum.

I cut out a piece of scrap linoleum I had been saving (for such a time as this!), and we had a new floor ready for a dishwasher and cabinet!

We pushed the dishwasher back in, and it fit perfectly onto the new floor.  I put it all back together, and I was nervous about leaks, but we ran a cycle, and the floor was dry!  Woo hoo!  What a relief!  I noticed that my soap dispenser lid is broken, but the unit runs and cleans.  We then installed our renovated cabinet back into place, and it also fit perfectly!  I was even able to line up the long mounting screws back into their original holes!  We done good, Pa!

The cabinets are officially in!

Look at that kitchen!

Our fixed cabinet went right back in!

The dishwasher works great!  The bottom is still off to check for leaks.

Wow, what a relief!!!  Today marks the official turning point.  The house is going back together.  I feel like I have been taking apart for so long.  But with the cabinets back in place, I can move forward with getting this kitchen back in order!  If I still had my job, I would say let's get floors installed!  But that is going to have to wait for now.

But what an exciting day!  This has been a rough week of hard work!  I mean, we literally had to jack up the walls of my house to install new floors!  Oh!  Speaking of which, my brother and I thoroughly inspected the work of my contractor from down below in the crawlspace, and I've never been more excited to report that he did good work!  He didn't take a shortcut like I had thought!  He replaced the floorboards that needed to be replaced, and unlike the area where I was working, he didn't have the extensive water damage extend to below the walls.  Actually, in one small corner area, he did, but he built that area back up from below, and it's not a big deal.  But where he didn't go underneath the walls like I mentioned yesterday, it's because he didn't have to!  The walls are standing on six inches of solid wood!

Oh, what a huge relief that was!  As I told my brother, "I no longer hate him."  ha!  Seriously, though, even this morning my brother was stating that we needed to do in the other areas what we did yesterday...raise the walls and insert good wood under.  And knowing what we went through yesterday, that sounded absolutely awful.  So I am happy we don't have to do that!  And happy that the house is standing on solid wood everywhere now!

With the cabinets back in place, I asked Dad to help me move the dining room table back to the center of the dining room area.  Hey, this is a kitchen!  Let's make it look like one!  It's a small step, but it's time to get it organized!

The dining room table back in place.

The kitchen is coming back together!

Seriously, what a great day.  I'm so happy I get to keep the cabinets.  I'm happy the dishwasher works.  I'm happy that the floor is fixed properly...both by us and by my contractor.  I'm happy the house is finally going back together!  It's been a long time coming.



I even cleaned a bit to make it look kitchen-y!

After Dad left, Mom came over after work to check on the progress.  She could only stay for a short time, but she ended up polishing up the sink in that time!  I was disappointed I didn't get a "Before" picture as the sink was nothing but paint!  But it looks great!

Oh, so fresh and clean!  This was blue 20 minutes ago!!!

After she left, I decided I needed to start making this kitchen pop even more!  So I pulled out the cabinet knobs I had purchased over a month ago and started updating the cabinets!  It's such a small change, but it shows me that this kitchen is ready to move forward!  Out with the old, in with the new!

The old knobs.

The old and new.

All new!

Gorgeous oak cabinets with new, shiny knobs!

Of course, always lingering over my head (quite literally) is the water leak in the ceiling.  I'm still very eager and anxious about that, but I'm pretty sure it's from the roof...a whole other project.  But that will be down the road.

Please tell me, Mr. Ceiling Leak...where do you come from?

It's coming together!  I have a kitchen again!!!  It's so good.  I seriously feel a turning point here.  The house IS going back together.  I know I still have no floors...and a patio door that is going to be an expensive project...but the house is finally being CON-structed instead of DE-structed.

Thanks for all of the help, y'all!!!  We have a kitchen again!!!