The concept called for maple cabinetry, a natural-finish floor, and some kind of wacky color scheme. The easiest colors to select were watermelon and lime. This also shows pendant lighting over the sink and dining island.
The concept also called for a laundry alcove to hide the machinery, and extra storage along what was originally a blank wall with picture window.
The dining room now contains this colorful assortment of unorganized handy food and paper goods. The former kitchen table is next to the dining room table. The wall unit has been made inaccessible. There is a microwave oven in here, somewhere. See if you can find Waldo!
The living room with the front door in the background. Obviously, we do not do much living in here. Just inside the door is, of all things, the dishwasher. We allowed homeless people to do their laundry in it during the project. It is not clear what most of this stuff was doing in the kitchen.
SW view before demolition. The 1984 combination of flowery wallpaper and brown tile are clearly seen. The fridge is on the opposite wall from the freeze.
NE view before demolition. The yellow double oven and the crenellated range hood are a throwback to 1962. Notice the absurdly large overhang on the island.
Jimmy is in the sink base preparing to remove the disposal unit. Behind him, Mike is jimmying (no pun) the gas cooktop off the island.
NE view with the appliances mostly covered as the first walls are coming off. Dust on the floor shows that the job has begun.
SE view shows the south wall and cabinetry have been removed. The cabinets were custom-built in-place, and could not be saved. The bank of cabinets next to the freezer were saved for re-use in the garage.
S view shows all cabinets and drywall removed. A curious patch was uncovered where some kind of window or exhaust vent once existed. On the ceiling, see the vent pipe for the old range hood.
W view shows former location of sink base and dishwasher. The strange vent pipes are exposed. This annoying transom window will be replaced with a double-hung vinyl insulated model.
A closer look at the range hood attachment reveals multiple layers of ceiling material: plaster, below some kind of thick acoustical tile, below drywall. A ton of stuff suspended from false joists below yet another plaster ceiling at an altitude of nine feet.
SW view from roughly the same vantage as the first photo. A blanket over the doorway is the only thing separating the warm house from the throroly-exposed kitchen. During this week the average outside temps sunk to single-digit range.
E view with the former location of the freezer and telephone table. A disused, hidden chimney stack is revealed. Near the ceiling is a round port suggesting that a coal or wood-fired stove occupied that spot. To the right, the top of the laundry chute is visible.
W view, looking up at the original ceiling and the false joists. A structural analysis revealed that the area to the left was a staircase. The load-bearing wall holding the risers was removed, enlarging the kitchen area, but leaving Sam’s bedroom and closet unsupported dead weight.
The landing behind us was never converted to any use and contained a hidden, inaccessible room, thru which the laundry chute descended.
Another shot of the mystery chimney and its round exhaust hole.
S view looking up at the weird criss-cross of electrical and heating pipes, a major piece of 60s amateur handywork.
Looking up thru the ceiling at the mystery room. It was actually the stairway landing mentioned above, with a little window--covered but intact. The laundry chute occupies this space.
With the chute removed, Sam peers down from the laundry trap door in his room's wall.
The electricians arrive to upgrade the house current from 100- to 200-Ampere service.
Meanwhile, down in the basement, they prepare to replace the main panel with a modern piece with lots of spare breakers.
Alan and Jimmy muse the anomalies of the out-of-plumb wall studs. If the angles are not all 90° then how will the cabinets fit?
S view, showing the insulated wall of the laundry alcove. The plastic vapor barrier reflects the flash.
SW view shows the freshly-taped drywall along the sink and dishwasher zone. The new double-hung vinyl window is installed. The rear Dutch door will be replaced by an insulated, all-steel model with window shade internal to the double-pane glass.
At the laundry alcove, Carlos carefully applies the plaster mud over the drywall joints.
The first few cabinets were brought inside and positioned.
Jimmy and Walter assemble the doors on a pantry unit, while Alan measures twice in the background.
Gale happily demonstrates the pantry drawer system. Each drawer automatically returns to the closed position with a gentle push start.
Dave argues with Alan about the chances for peace in the Middle East and other major issues.
Gale demonstrates carpentry techniques for Alan, so that he will know how to do it next time. This is the new dining island.
N view as Gale poses in front of the cabinets. Behind her, the location of the new cooktop and vent hood.
Meanwhile, out on the deck, Alan and Jimmy rip plywood sub-floor for the base cabinets.
N view showing the cabinets and recessed lighting. The cutout for the new microwave oven is below the cooktop.
SW view showing the island, the new cabinet location over the dishwasher, and the utility closet in the corner.
On the floor, in this E view, Bob the heat engineer stands on the patented aluminum channels in which the radiant heat tubing is being installed. The water temperature is reduced to 120° for circulation thru this system (180 in the rest of the house). There are flow-zones E and W of the island to make the entire floor temperature more uniform.
Here is a close-up of the PEX oxygen-barrier tubing in the aluminum reflectors. Altho radiant heating is a common solution, none of our contractors had previously used this particular system. It went together like building blocks and was pronounced a success in a single day.
A cold snap the next day gave the system a test run. The floor was toasty!
The next day, lots of progress in this NE view. The counter tops are installed. They are a mottled chestnut color. The renewable-resource cork floor tiles are installed. The walls and ceiling are primed. The track lights are hung.
What looks like an amoeba on the cooktop is just a bunch of plastic used by our painter A.J. during priming.
N view shows the countertop with induction range installed, and the slim-line range hood with lights and powerful exhaust fan. The range top is completely smooth and therefore simple to clean. Dave has already bonked his head on the fan, a standard Dave behavior.
To the left, the recessed light fixtures will be re-installed after the ceiling paint dries.
Walter installs the wood bi-fold doors concealing the laundry alcove.
Here is a view of the new alcove. You cannot see the washer and dryer anymore because they’re inside!
Here is our contractor Alan's son A.J., painting the soffit. We selected the deep red wall color, Benjamin Moore “Holly Berry”.
Looking S, a hint of how the red walls will look as we near completion. Right after the paint dried, the electricians came back in to install the under-cabinet xenon lighting and wire the electric range.
Here is the finished product, looking N and S in a nearly-identical perspective as the 3D virtual kitchen at the top of the page. Well, I guess the microwave is not in its hole. Truth be told, the cabinet maker made the wrong cutout--the only serious error in our project.