The counters are poured concrete. We made the molds and poured the concrete ourselves.
Finally!
Lots of work space
Bonus still life for your viewing pleasure
Monday, July 1, 2013
Kitchen counters are done!
And we have 1 million grounded outlets on the counters (as opposed to the 2 possible grounded outlets we had in the cupboard, under the counter.)
The counters are poured concrete. We made the molds and poured the concrete ourselves.
The counters are poured concrete. We made the molds and poured the concrete ourselves.
New bedroom floor
The room we made into our master bedroom came with moldy blue carpet. Needless to say, we removed that immediately. The remaining floor was grimey plywood subfloor. We tolerated the subfloor since October by hiding it under a piece of carpet remnant. Back in March, I bought bamboo flooring on clearance, with the hope of installing the new floor over spring break. That didn't happen, so the bedroom floor went on the "finish before fall or bust list."
The floor installation took 3 days, plus 2 mornings later in the week to install the last board.
Saturday: demolition and prep
One of the highlights of the floor install was ripping out the base boards, that apparently were soaked in cat pee. We had never noticed the smell. Once I pried one corner off, the smell was liberated, and man was that gross. I patched all of the seams in the plywood so we could level the floor.
Sunday: floor leveling
The sub floor sagged in the middle so we applied Henry 555 self-leveling floor product. It worked just like the Internet said it would. It was critical to have 3 people. I was pouring, and Matt and a friend were measuring, mixing and washing.
Monday: floor installation
This ended up taking all day. The Roberts adhesive I bought was like alien goo. This was the first sign that we were in for something special. We glued the first row down with ease. When we went to "click" the second row into the first row, the boards wouldn't go together completely. Matt called the manufacturer to see what the problem was. In the mean time, the 4 gallon bucket of alien glue was drying a nice film on the top and the first row of boards were rapidly, permanently becoming adhered to the floor. Turns out the problem was that the flooring was last manufactured in 2002 and slightly warped. Since we had no warranty to void, we decided the best option was to remove one of the tabs on clicking tongue and groove, so it would just be tongue and groove (no more click). That meant chiseling every single floor board.
We did it with great success. You can't tell that we had to modify all of the boards to make them fit.
Here is the final product.
We will install the baseboards after we rewire the outlets.
The floor installation took 3 days, plus 2 mornings later in the week to install the last board.
Saturday: demolition and prep
One of the highlights of the floor install was ripping out the base boards, that apparently were soaked in cat pee. We had never noticed the smell. Once I pried one corner off, the smell was liberated, and man was that gross. I patched all of the seams in the plywood so we could level the floor.
With cat pee baseboards
Without cat pee baseboards
Sunday: floor leveling
The sub floor sagged in the middle so we applied Henry 555 self-leveling floor product. It worked just like the Internet said it would. It was critical to have 3 people. I was pouring, and Matt and a friend were measuring, mixing and washing.
Monday: floor installation
This ended up taking all day. The Roberts adhesive I bought was like alien goo. This was the first sign that we were in for something special. We glued the first row down with ease. When we went to "click" the second row into the first row, the boards wouldn't go together completely. Matt called the manufacturer to see what the problem was. In the mean time, the 4 gallon bucket of alien glue was drying a nice film on the top and the first row of boards were rapidly, permanently becoming adhered to the floor. Turns out the problem was that the flooring was last manufactured in 2002 and slightly warped. Since we had no warranty to void, we decided the best option was to remove one of the tabs on clicking tongue and groove, so it would just be tongue and groove (no more click). That meant chiseling every single floor board.
We did it with great success. You can't tell that we had to modify all of the boards to make them fit.
Here is the final product.
We will install the baseboards after we rewire the outlets.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Patching a ceiling in 7 photos
We have a leaky roof that damaged the sugar cane fiber board (cane-ik) in the kitchen. We hope to install a new kitchen floor in the next few months, so we decided to start at the top, by repairing and painting the ceiling. Here is the repair process:
We patched the hole with a piece of cabinet plywood that I bought from Re-Use Hawaii for $2.25. I had hoped to sand the seams a little better, but I kept grinding into the cane-ik. Cane-ik is nasty stuff, so I thought I'd let good enough be.
Other developments:
Purchased a gas power washer on super clearance so we can get ready to paint the house.
I'm primed to unload the master bedroom and install our bamboo floor (finally).
We have 4 slabs of counter in molds. We'll remove them on Friday. Hoping to install as early as Sunday!
We patched the hole with a piece of cabinet plywood that I bought from Re-Use Hawaii for $2.25. I had hoped to sand the seams a little better, but I kept grinding into the cane-ik. Cane-ik is nasty stuff, so I thought I'd let good enough be.
Other developments:
Purchased a gas power washer on super clearance so we can get ready to paint the house.
I'm primed to unload the master bedroom and install our bamboo floor (finally).
We have 4 slabs of counter in molds. We'll remove them on Friday. Hoping to install as early as Sunday!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Kitchen work and other fun things.
With the help of the Krieglers, we painted all of the kitchen cupboards. The hinges were in sorry shape, and are irreplaceable, so I stripped all of them, and Matt spray painted them. We are continuing to work on making concrete counter tops. Our test piece comes our of the mold today.
You can see we are still enjoying our 2 kitchen electrical outlets. We are all wired for 6, count 'em SIX, new outlets once we get the counters replaced.
I explored our kitchen floor last week. It was looking really promising at first.
Then I found this.
Oh well. We are considering installing cork tiles when we get the ceiling and counters finished.
Hank is now a lanai bunny. Matt built a bunny door for the front lanai. So far, the only problem is that he thinks the lanai is for chewing. He seems to enjoy doing laps outside, and even doing laps outside to inside.
New bunny door
I am continuing to work on the yard and garden. We harvested cherry tomatoes, beans, and kabocha pumpkin (think buttercup squash relative). I have zinnia seedlings, 2 pepper plants, and lavender potted in the front yard. Hopefully I can keep the slugs off of them.
Kabocha pumpkin, no butter or sugar necessary. Sooooo tastey.
I will post photos of the counter top experiment next week.
Stay tuned!
You can see we are still enjoying our 2 kitchen electrical outlets. We are all wired for 6, count 'em SIX, new outlets once we get the counters replaced.
I explored our kitchen floor last week. It was looking really promising at first.
Then I found this.
Promising!
Not promising.
Oh well. We are considering installing cork tiles when we get the ceiling and counters finished.
Hank is now a lanai bunny. Matt built a bunny door for the front lanai. So far, the only problem is that he thinks the lanai is for chewing. He seems to enjoy doing laps outside, and even doing laps outside to inside.
New bunny door
I am continuing to work on the yard and garden. We harvested cherry tomatoes, beans, and kabocha pumpkin (think buttercup squash relative). I have zinnia seedlings, 2 pepper plants, and lavender potted in the front yard. Hopefully I can keep the slugs off of them.
Kabocha pumpkin, no butter or sugar necessary. Sooooo tastey.
I will post photos of the counter top experiment next week.
Stay tuned!
Bathroom is finished.
Should have posts this a month ago. The Stewart's helped with all the dirty work. See previous post for more info. It took me almost 6 weeks to finish the floor and ceiling molding and paint the cubbies by the toilet, but it's done! I just need to refinish the hinges on the lower cabinets and regrout the tub. Ultimately, we will tile the sink backsplash, do a final coat do paint on the walls, and replace the sink and counter.
I made curtains since the other photos were taken.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Bathroom reno
The old bathroom was ugly, no doubt.
It didn't have any serious functional issues except the toilet ran all the time and the toilet smelled bad.
When Ma and Pa Stewart visited a few weeks ago, we put them in charge of toilet replacement. We found that the stink from the toilet was actually the rotting floor boards under the toilet. This also explained why the toilet was leaning. So.... New toilet = new floor. If we were going to out in a new floor, that meant we needed to tear out the old wall paneling. All of a sudden, we were renovating the entire bathroom. Here are some more pictures.
Old floor
Messy.
New floor.
We are still finishing the moulding. Stay tuned for final photos.
I also harvests green beans from my garden.
It didn't have any serious functional issues except the toilet ran all the time and the toilet smelled bad.
When Ma and Pa Stewart visited a few weeks ago, we put them in charge of toilet replacement. We found that the stink from the toilet was actually the rotting floor boards under the toilet. This also explained why the toilet was leaning. So.... New toilet = new floor. If we were going to out in a new floor, that meant we needed to tear out the old wall paneling. All of a sudden, we were renovating the entire bathroom. Here are some more pictures.
Old floor
Messy.
New floor.
We are still finishing the moulding. Stay tuned for final photos.
I also harvests green beans from my garden.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Upstairs bathroom
What started off as let's replace the toilet has turned into a major bathroom renovation. This is what we had to work with.
After we pulled off the paneling, we found that either someone scored the wall with a fork before applying the adhesive or they let a mongoose loose. Needless to say, we had to patch and sand a lot.
The old flooring lifted up easier than expected so we ripped it out.
The stink next to the toilet wasn't actually the toilet. I was the rotting floor boards underneath. This was what was causing the toilet to lean significantly.
Matt and my dad made expert Hardie board cuts so we are ready to lay tile today. Stay tuned.
After we pulled off the paneling, we found that either someone scored the wall with a fork before applying the adhesive or they let a mongoose loose. Needless to say, we had to patch and sand a lot.
The old flooring lifted up easier than expected so we ripped it out.
The stink next to the toilet wasn't actually the toilet. I was the rotting floor boards underneath. This was what was causing the toilet to lean significantly.
Matt and my dad made expert Hardie board cuts so we are ready to lay tile today. Stay tuned.
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