Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Kitchen Replacement

We are getting at least half of new kitchen cabinets and a sink. Today it is being torn up.

This is what I hope it will look like when it is put back together. I will not have the handles and knobs, though, as these things tend to catch on my clothing and rip out my pockets when I'm working. The new doors and drawers have grooves that make it possible to pull them open without handles.
The deterioration of this kitchen must have begun a number of years ago when a small leak behind the wall of the lower cabinets began. In recent years I smelled stale water and suspected the wood was becoming damp, but there was no visible leak. My son in law opened the wall behind it all and discovered that there had been a small drip due to some kind of loose bolt in the plumbing. It had dripped for years and soaked up the wood in the cabinets, until one day years later, puddles of water began appearing on the floor. I would get up in the morning and remove the old towels I had laid out the night before. It always dripped in the night, and never in the daytime. This has gone on for quite awhile and finally the cabinets were totally rotted and smelled terrible, so it is being dismantled today.
This is what it looked like recently, with trash bags taped over the open areas where there were no doors. The top is some kind of linoleum from the 1960's which I kept painting year after year and covering with with a clear waterproof sealer. The upper cabinets will not be replaced yet, but I have seen that it is some kind of "trend" to make the upper and lower cabinets unmatched. Somehow, that makes me feel better.


17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bummer that your cabinets were damaged, but YAY! that you get some new ones!! :) Your picture of how you want it to look is very pretty!

Sue said...

How nice! Please post some "after" photos when it's all done.

Ace said...

Ok, love the dream kitchen and it should be relativly easy and cheap to do (we remodel around here regularly :)

Yes, top and bottom cabinets don't have to match, it works best if they co=ordinate though. Like black bottoms and white tops with checkerboard floors and some kind of paint that pops. I think the lady at daisy cottage did it like this and in increments too. You might want to check out the nester, she did a couple of kitchen remodel posts that were mostly paint and such. Take lots of pictures and post, I can't wait to see what you do.

Oh, just make sure you get rid of all the mold, even just one piece can destroy everything.

Many Blessings :)
Ace

Misti Aldrich said...

Blessings on this evening,

I wanted to mention something about the mold as well. You had blogged regarding sinus infections, and after dealing with a similar issue I thought I'd mention our story. I have asthma and during the first year we lived in our house I continued to grow worse, frequent ER visits, every 2 weeks going to the Dr for sinus infections and asthma issues. One day our plumbing issue revealed itself and after deciding my hubby had to fix it, my daughter and I flew to a relative's to stay while the renovation was being done. I cleared up while there and when we came home to a "new" kitchen, I was cured. It's been 3 years and I've not been to the ER, asthma Dr, and have only had 3-4 sinus infections that have cleared themselves up. The only thing we can think of is since my husband had found mold and I continued to grow worse, that I was allergic to the mold and my sensitivity to it grew.

I hope your renovations go well, and you have a wonderful New Year!

Misti

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the renovation. It is too bad your cabinets had to get ruined, but hopefully your new ones will turn out well!

~ Ann

Anonymous said...

Hello!

So sorry to hear about your leaking water problem. My husband has a home maintenance and remodeling business; he runs into this kind of problem often. It is amazing how much damage a little leaking water can do!

I think your new kitchen will be just beautiful! You've shared so many creative ways to make a home beautiful here on this site that I know it will end up looking just lovely.

Take Care,

Trixie

Anonymous said...

That will be so nice!
Hope you can send more pics after it is finished.
Enjoy!!
Denise

Alexandra said...

I can't wait to see the after pictures! You are practical to go with an off-white for the cabinets(if you are painting them). We kept our 1973 cabinets because they were still in good shape, painted them white and replaced the hardware. The effect was wonderful; however, white "yellows" with age!

I've since read that a drop pf black paint in each gallon can prevent this, but I'm not sure how well this really works. I think off-white and creme are less likely to "turn" over time.

Counter tops have really come down in price since we did our remodel about eight years ago. The laminate choices have really improved! I liked granite until I looked at all you have to do to maintain it. It's also a bit pricey.

At some point we'll need to remodel again, and get updated cabinets. The old ones are very inefficient as far as storage. I really dislike my corner floor cabinet. It's like a cave, and I have to crawl on my hands and knees to find things deep within. I would love to switch to those new storage drawer systems.

Lydia said...

I'll be posting a picture of the bare spot soon. The house looks like someone came in here looking for something and could not find it! I went out this morning and got some ingredients we would not have to cook, but I did make everyone a special cappaccino: caramel apple. They will always remember the day the kitchen was torn up and I served Carmel Cappaccinos in paper cups.

There will be picturs of the cabinets soon, as my son in law will brink them home from the digital, for me to choose from.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about your kitchen, but congrats on the new look! That's always fun to do!

Just a quick question - how do you paint linoleum? I have white floors! They were installed by the original owner, and they are awful. One minute after I mop, they look grungy again. Also, some of the adhesive has seeped through and stained some areas, so it always looks dirty. I would love to replace them, but we can't afford to for awhile. But, I can buy some paint! How do you do this?

Anonymous said...

I like the look of the new design. But from a prefinishers wife don't paint the cabinets. The upkeep is not worth it. I don't care how good the paint is. And we buy the best for painted cabinets. We hate to fix.
It is a trend but most go w/stain on the bottom and painted on top. The bottom gets used more especially w/kids.
Good luck.

Lydia said...

There was a pioneer type book that showed how to take wallpaper and paste it down with clear varathane, and then paint over it, letting it dry between layers, several times--like about 10. I don't know if it is worth the aggravation and it might be better just to buy a box of self adhesive tiles every payday until you have collected enough to do it yourself. You can lay them over the previous linoleum. With the cabinet top, I painted it with some white paint we had--any kind---and then sponge painted a design, and topped it with a clear sealer called varathane. It lasts only a few years.

Lydia said...

Barbara, its true. There is no use painting cabinets. You just have to repaint them. The upper ones will not be replaced yet so they will have to be painted, but the lower ones will just be the stain that comes on them. That is fine with me, for now.

Unknown said...

Lady Lydia, my comment is completely off the subject, but just what to take this opportunity to send you warm wishes and blessings for the year 2009. Thanks for being a blessing in 2008. Good with the kitchen make over. Blessings Barbra.

*~Tamara~* said...

Lady Lydia, I had a "water disaster" in my old house a few years back...while I had out of town guests, no less. Totally destroyed all the downstairs flooring...I still remember my sister and I trying to salvage books and paperwork that had been lying on the floor while my husband and brother-in-law were herding eight confused children off to a nearby grocery store to use the restroom! Then my house was torn up for three weeks. I still groan just thinking about it.

In the end, I had lovely new carpet but oh, what a pain that was!

I look forward to seeing the end result, and I wish you a very happy new year, also.

Anonymous said...

A clear coat will look nice on the bottom. We use some really good stuff if you want to know. It is from Sherwin & Williams. I'll have to look it up.

Aelwyn said...

What an exciting start to a new year.