# Mustang Garage kitchen remodel



## mustanggarage

ok, well this is not really garage stuff but it does lead to garage stuff so I will post some pics up.  here is a picture I took after I had pulled about half of the old cabinets out.  they actually don't look to bad in this pic but they are pretty old and messed up.  there is about 3 layers of linoleum on the floor and it needs some serious renovation.

in the beginning.


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## havasu

Your cabinets look identical to mine. I'm looking forward to this remodel and who cares when the forum name is, your remodel thread is welcome!


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## mustanggarage

thanks havasu. we finished removing the cabinets today.  the soffit above the upper cabinets will hopefully be gone tomorrow.  I also pulled the carpet up in the dining room and started knocking the dining room wall down. I plan to move it a couple feet into that small office room, making it smaller but moving the dining room table out from in front of the french doors to the deck.  this will also allow me to add another 30 inches of cabinets.  tomorrow I also need to move the door going into the mud room so that I can put cabinets along that wall.  it will make this into a galley style kitchen which is not my favorite but will work best with my space constraints.
















here are some renderings of what we hope the final result will resemble.











looking toward the dining room.  which is on the other side of the peninsula.






looking toward the kitchen from the dining room.


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## havasu

Looks like a good concept. Please tell me that is not a load bearing wall you are removing?


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## mustanggarage

no it is not a load bearing wall.  and I am not removing it anyway I am just moving it back 2 feet, but I am going to put the new stud wall in before I remove those studs anyway.    I removed the plaster so I could inspect the wiring to make sure that was not going to be an issue.  but this is a ranch style house and the trusses run parallel to that wall, not a load bearing wall.


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## havasu

I hope you keep the posts coming. I myself have done three kitchen tear downs and love the progress!


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## oldognewtrick

Kitchen remodel is planned for next winter after we rebuild the deck on the back. CAD sure is a great tool to visualize how things will look and aid in planning. Good job!


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## thomask

Hey we like building anything so keep those pictures coming!

I am sure glad you guys are catching on the drill here...A wise man knows what he does in his garage and his toy collection are directly related to the support he has from "management". You are doing a good thing for management here.

That plan looks GOOD!


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## havasu

Since I'm hoping that this thread will show the progression of the kitchen remodel, I moved the posts and made a section dedicated to it. Good luck and keep us in the loop!


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## Chris

Looking good. I will be gutting my mountain house this summer. Looking forward to it.


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## mustanggarage

thanks for moving the pics.  that will keep it from cluttering the doghouse thread.  

I had to work most of the night monday and late tuesday so I did not get much done last night.  I did however get the rest of the soffit removed and the resultant holes covered with plastic.  I found out that the rafters are not true trusses but constructed rafters and they are placed 16 inches on center so that means I am going to have to put some bridges between the rafters where I plan to move that wall in the dining room.  it won't really change anything it will just make it a little more work.  I was hoping that they would be engineered trusses on 2 foot centers.  regardless the work will continue.  If I get off work in time tonight I will maybe start on that.  this weekend my wife has decreed that we are going to oklahoma to visit my son at college so probably not going to get a lot more done until next week.


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## mustanggarage

oldognewtrick said:


> Kitchen remodel is planned for next winter after we rebuild the deck on the back. CAD sure is a great tool to visualize how things will look and aid in planning. Good job!





yes the CAD thing is great.  I went first to Lowes and then Home Depot and talked with them.  gave them the measurements for the room and we sat down and within about an hour I had an idea what it would look like.  then a bit to my surprise My wife and I had some thoughts so we went to our local lumber yard a Do it Best lumber yard and went through it with them.  they came in about a 1,000.00 less on the same cabinets with some nice additional features.  I always prefer to buy local if the prices are in the same ballpark.  and this lumber yard is usually pretty good, I would have bought local if they had been even a bit higher so it was a real nice surprise when buying local actually costs less :rockin:

anyway these are the renderings I had done at home depot and they are pretty close to the ones that I got at our local place.  I just don't have the digital copies to put up here.


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## mustanggarage

I guess since I am going to do a full build thread here I might as well set the ground work.  we had several goals in mind for this remodel.  

1.  open the space up so that it does not seem so tight.  I will try to find some before pictures (we hated the kitchen so much that we did not take any pictures on purpose)

2.  get rid of the lazy susans in the corner cabinets  my wife hates the fact that things always fall off them and get stuck back where you can't get to it.

3.  update the cabinets (these cabinets were all handmade and built in out of plywood.  the construction quality was pretty good. It was some major work to get them apart and out.

4. get rid of all the multicolored vinyl on the floor and walls.  (yes there was vinyl flooring on the walls.

5.  replace the vinyl countertop with a nice solid surface.  My wife loves the granite countertops.

6.  get an undermount sink both for aesthetics and cleanliness.  (we are basically lazy when it comes to cleaning. we aren't really in to cooking and hate cleaning so ease of cleanup is going to be a major theme.  that is why we will be using a ceramic cooktop and not a gas range.)

7.  replace the floor covering in the kitchen, dining room, mud room and powder room with a uniform tile to tie the spaces together.  that is the same kind of tile in all 4 rooms.

8.  in floor heat to make the tile warm.  we will be going with a company called warmly yours.  they have the best warranty in the business and it seems amazingly affordable.

9.  open up the view from the front door so that when you come in you can see right through to the back deck through the french doors, not look right at the kitchen table.  (this is not going to be quite as good as I had hoped because the walls and windows are not going to cooperate quite as well as I had envisioned.

10.  soft close doors and drawers.


yesterday I ordered the cabinets.  the countertop will have to wait until the end.  

My wife has been looking at color swatches and everything for months.  she wants to use an antique serving platter that was her mothers as a focal point and for the color pallette.  color selection is totally not my forte' so I will leave that completely up to her.


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## mustanggarage

ok well to show the degree of need for this remodel here are a few more pics.

this is the view from the door going into my wife's garage.  looking toward the kitchen.






looking back at the garage door.











half bathroom.






now I am as big a fan of the stars and stripes as anyone, but that wall paper is ridiculous in that small space.  and the fake wainscoating is seriously dated.


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## mustanggarage

I ended up pretty well demolishing the kitchen.






you can see how I opened up that doorway to allow for the cabinets along the left wall and to improve traffic flow.






I found one tool I hope I never see again in my life.  a wallpaper steamer.  yes it worked well, but I hope to never have to do that job again.













now I am pretty much ready for the electrician to come in and do his thing.  I discovered long ago that while I can do many things.  there are definitely things I leave to the professionals.   I wired most of my garage myself, but the house for any major work I leave it to the professionals.

I also stripped most of the flooring up, I still have a lot of work to do on the floor before we can lay the tile but that is down the road a bit.  I need to pull the sink and toilet out of the half bath but I want to wait a bit because we still need that bathroom so we don't have to track too much dirt into the rest of the house.  

that is why contractors get paid the big bucks i guess,  coordinating all the subcontractors and managing the scheduling is a major headache. lol.
tomorrow I have to start scraping the texture off the ceiling so they can re-texture it once all the new light fixtures are in.


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## Chris

I hate wallpaper. Glad we don't use it much out here on the left coast. Your project is looking good. I still have a lot of unfinished projects around my place.


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## thomask

Mustanggarage:  That really did open things up there!

Hey wall paper will return just like madras shorts and wide ties!


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## MarkWood

mustanggarage said:


> I ended up pretty well demolishing the kitchen.
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> you can see how I opened up that doorway to allow for the cabinets along the left wall and to improve traffic flow.
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> I found one tool I hope I never see again in my life.  a wallpaper steamer.  yes it worked well, but I hope to never have to do that job again.
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> 
> now I am pretty much ready for the electrician to come in and do his thing.  I discovered long ago that while I can do many things.  there are definitely things I leave to the professionals.   I wired most of my garage myself, but the house for any major work I leave it to the professionals.
> 
> I also stripped most of the flooring up, I still have a lot of work to do on the floor before we can lay the tile but that is down the road a bit.  I need to pull the sink and toilet out of the half bath but I want to wait a bit because we still need that bathroom so we don't have to track too much dirt into the rest of the house.
> 
> that is why contractors get paid the big bucks i guess,  coordinating all the subcontractors and managing the scheduling is a major headache. lol.
> tomorrow I have to start scraping the texture off the ceiling so they can re-texture it once all the new light fixtures are in.



Correction that is why we should make the big bucks but that is not always the case! Lookin good so far Mustanggarage!!


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## mustanggarage

yeah I know we all think we should make more and work less.  I certainly do lol.


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## Chris

I would prefer to make more and not work at all.


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## mustanggarage

thomask said:


> Mustanggarage:
> 
> Hey wall paper will return just like madras shorts and wide ties!



say it isn't so.


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## mustanggarage

I finished scraping the texture on the ceiling last night.  the electrician has the new recessed lights installed and most of the wiring done.  the inspection is tomorrow and if all goes well I will be able to drywall this weekend.  

I certainly hope so.  my daughter has really bad allergies to dust and mold.  she has had to live with a friend for the last couple of weeks because she had such a bad reaction to the nasty stuff falling out of the attic.  once I get the drywall buttoned up she can come back home.  

I will try to get some pictures of the wiring tonight.


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## thomask

mustanggarage said:


> I finished scraping the texture on the ceiling last night.  the electrician has the new recessed lights installed and most of the wiring done.  the inspection is tomorrow and if all goes well I will be able to drywall this weekend.
> 
> I certainly hope so.  my daughter has really bad allergies to dust and mold.  she has had to live with a friend for the last couple of weeks because she had such a bad reaction to the nasty stuff falling out of the attic.  once I get the drywall buttoned up she can come back home.
> 
> I will try to get some pictures of the wiring tonight.




Hey there, I was just up in the attic running some CTV cable.  That insulation is some real nasty stuff and it was already up in the 90s in the attic for April.  My hat is off to those guys that work for a living in attics and on roofs.

Can not wait to see what you did with the can lights, it really adds to a remodel and they stay in style, better than madras and paisley.


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## mustanggarage

I agree with you on the guys that go up in attics.  fortunately we have had a bit of a cold snap here the last few days.  he waited to do the attic stuff until today because we were expecting snow.  didn't get much snow but it did stay in the mid to high 30's most of the day so it was not as bad up there as it would have been last week.  the can lights definitely open the place up some more.  the ceiling is only 8 feet high so anything that hangs down always seems to make the space seem enclosed.  the lights are installed so they put the light where we need it.  they are not placed symmetrically, and the rafters required placing them in some less than perfect places but it will provide much more light than I currently have.   I still can't find my stupid camera.  if I don't find it tonight I will take some cell phone pics tomorrow.  the plumber is coming tomorrow to talk about some of the stuff I want to do in the mud room.  the washer and dryer sit right inside the door to the garage and I do not like that so I am going to relocate them over by the bathroom and someday put in a utility sink right there inside the door.  so I need to do some plumbing re arranging.  can't wait to get the drywall going.


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## mustanggarage

ok I finally had to ask my wife where the camera was and of course she knew right where it was.  anyway I took a few pictures of the electrical progress.

first here is the only picture I could find of the kitchen before we started.  my wife does not think this is a very flattering picture of her so she would kill me if she knew I posted it, but anyway here is what the kitchen looked like after we removed all the old ugly wallpaper and border but before we started this project.





now here are some pictures of how it looks currently.


















I swapped out the old window that had those crank open windows which of course stripped out years ago.  I replaced it with just a plane casement slider.  nothing to strip out and go bad.  it also is a bit bigger than the old window.


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## mustanggarage

I took a few pics today, but I left the camera in the house so I will try and post them tomorrow.  we have about 90 percent of the drywall up on the walls. fortunately I had a friend from church come over to help me.  he is retired from the airforce.  and he was a carpenter/ do everything guy for them.  so he has been doing drywall for many years.  he made it go so much faster it was unbelievable. we still need to do some work in the little bathroom.  the plumbers had to rip some off to re-do some of the old nasty plumbing that was in there.  the pipes were completely corroded, they even found an old roll of toilet paper stuck in the wall behind the drywall.  I need to talk to the contractor to decide how to manage that room.  I pulled the sink and vanity out but I left the toilet in for now because it is convenient for the guys coming in to work.  but I need to pull it in order to finish the drywall, and it is going by by anyway.  we picked up the new sink and mighty ferguson yesterday.  we decided to go with the champion max 4.  they have been showing commercials on it on diy forever so I guess if I get the urge to flush a bucket of golf balls I am covered lol.  anyway getting the drywall up is always a major step, we can now start to see how the room is going to look.


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## havasu

Looking good MG! Do you folks have a temporary kitchen set up while the build is in progress? Or are you doing a lot of eating out?


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## mustanggarage

actually that is one of the good things about this project.  our house is an older ranch style house with a finished basement, and for some reason there is a second kitchen downstairs complete with sink, refrigerator stove and microwave.  we just moved our kitchen table down into the area that had a pool table when we bought the place.  and we are actually set up pretty well.  there is not near enough cabinetry so most of our stuff is in boxes, but the room right off the downstairs kitchen is our main foodstorage room so it actually is working out pretty easily. if it were not for all of the dust and allergens in the air we would be sitting pretty good.  we had never really used that kitchen much before except to keep pop and drinks in the fridge and occasionally to make popcorn in the microwave.  I am really not sure why it is there but we are glad for it right now.  I will post some pics of the downstairs kitchen in all of its over stuffed glory soon as well.


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## mustanggarage

ok I took some pics of the downstairs kitchen with my cell phone.  it is so much easier to use I can take the pics and upload directly to photobucket from the phone. I took pics of the kitchen progress with my regular camera it takes better pictures but I have to copy them to my computer and upload them so I don't have them yet.  anyway here is the downstairs kitchen.  it is way nicer looking than our upstairs kitchen was, just very small.










here is our food storage room with boxes of dishes and pots and pans for right now.  (this room is in desperate need of being redone some day as well but it works.


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## Chris

That is really cool. My next home I would like it to be older and have neat stuff like that. My house is a typical CA home. Not a lot of square footage and not an inch of extra space or even enough space for a normal houseful of people. I would love to have a basement.


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## mustanggarage

Chris said:


> That is really cool. My next home I would like it to be older and have neat stuff like that. My house is a typical CA home. Not a lot of square footage and not an inch of extra space or even enough space for a normal houseful of people. I would love to have a basement.



that sounds really strange to me.  we really do not care for our house much.  we bought it because it had what we wanted at a price we could afford.  it had the big back yard which is what I wanted so that I would have room for my dogs and my doghouse.  beyond that I didn't care.  in our former home we had a really nice house which was basically our dream house with vaulted ceilings a nice great room, everything we always wanted but we had to move because of financial issues.  so we bought this house because it was relatively inexpensive.  but I really do not like ranch style homes.  I let my wife choose the house and I think in retrospect all she looked at was that it had the yard I wanted and it was the least expensive home we looked at.  but neither of us like the place much.  it had 7 tiny bedrooms an outdated kitchen upstairs, the master bedroom is tiny and it has a shared master bath.  the downstairs has the kitchen, a large family room, a decent bathroom and 3 small bedrooms, plus the mechanical room and the storage room.  so we are trying to make it more like what we want.  so far we have not done much to the place because I really just live in the garage so I really don't care much what the house looks like lol.  but since I am doing this kitchen I want to make it as nice as I can without breaking the bank.


here are the latest pics.









here is the mess in the bathroom.


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## havasu

You sure have lots of power available in the new room. Great thinking!


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## Chris

Like the work.

I have two tiny bedrooms and an ok sized master. Two bathrooms a living room and kitchen, thats all besides my 3 car garage. A whopping 1500 Square feet and I paid as much for this place as most would for a six or seven bedroom home not in CA.


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## havasu

I'm looking for a two bedroom, 3 bath home, with a 5 car garage. Think I'll have any luck?


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## Chris

Only if I built it.


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## mustanggarage

havasu said:


> I'm looking for a two bedroom, 3 bath home, with a 5 car garage. Think I'll have any luck?




when I was growing up my parents always joked that someday I would live in a garage with an attached house lol.

as far as the power goes you can never have too many outlets I say, and many of these are for certain things like the microwave, the fridge, the stove has both a 220v for my stove and a 110 in case someone wants to put a gas stove in some day.  It had a gas line coming up through the floor but I capped that below floor level so it is not in the way.  it would be easy to run it back up as the ceiling under there is open in a small closet in the storage room.  also I have one box for the floor heat thermostat.  so lots of outlets are already spoken for.  

anyway it is coming along slowly but surely.


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## mustanggarage

pulled the toilet last night night and finished the drywall in that room, as well as finishing the drywall around the window.  I do not want to put any wood trim around the window, I just want to drywall with corner molding around the window so when I put my cabinets, countertop and backsplash in I don't have to mess with window trim.  besides I have always liked the look of the windows just merging in to the wall.  I will however probably add some sort of sill to it possibly, what I don't want  is to make a shelf where my wife will be sitting stuff lol.  I want to keep it clear so I may just leave it.


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## thomask

Hey looking good, first you live through the demo and then the neat new stuff starts going in.  Each board, each nail is one more part of a geat picture you are painting there. I always enjoy looking back at pictures of before and how a project seems to come together. If you built the same house five times you could fine tune it each time a little better.

I am starting soon on our guest bath and will be watching your progress here.

Some of you may have noted I am working my remodel toward the garage!


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## Chris

I just can't wait til I find the house I want to live the rest of my life in. My house now is nice but it is in a tract and will be too small with another kid.


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## mustanggarage

Chris said:


> I just can't wait til I find the house I want to live the rest of my life in. My house now is nice but it is in a tract and will be too small with another kid.



this was certainly not the house I wanted to live the rest of my life in, however sometimes you just deal with what you have.  I had a beautiful house in Utah but the job was not optimal.  I don't think you ever find the perfect place you just have to make it what you want, or at least as close as you can.  this house will never be what I wanted because I always wanted vaulted ceilings and an upstairs for the kids bedrooms not a basement.  but again you deal with what you have.  btw we are starting the mudding and taping today.  that will take a while.


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## Chris

I hate mudding and taping. I did a remodel a year or so ago and it was cheaper for me to hire it out along with the insulation then to buy the materials. I don't know how they stay in business.


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## MarkWood

They wont for very long! Those guys are what make it hard for me to find work!!


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## mustanggarage

I don't like mudding and taping either.  that is why I hired it out as well.  unfortunately the contractor who is working with me on this project has too many projects.  he is working me in as he can.  so that is why I have been waiting to get this done.  he says he will have it done by next weekend so that I can paint next weekend.  he will also be putting down the tile.  one of these days I am going to try tiling myself, but since I am putting in a heated floor and this is my wife's kitchen this is not a good time to learn.  

so basically I know how to do a lot of things, but I am old enough and wise enough now to realize that I do not have to do everything I know how to do lol.  sometimes I prefer to pay others to do the jobs I don't want to do.  mudding and taping definitely fit in that category.  

once the tile is in I will hang the cabinets myself (with a friend of course)and finish up the rest.  

like I said at the beginning, I am doing what I can on this project but I am certainly not doing all of it myself.   I wish I had that kind of time and skill.  but for the time being I will pick my battles.  one thing is certain I want my wife to be involved in this renovation as much as possible so she will realize how much goes into it and will have some "sweat equity" built up in the final result.


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## oldognewtrick

Gotta be some progress made by now.


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## mustanggarage

I think the universe is conspiring against me.  My contractor friend who is doing the mudding and taping has several other jobs he is working on so he is kind of hit or miss when he works on my stuff.  there are unfortunately not many contractors available where I live so he has more work than he can do.  I know that is a better problem to have than the alternative but it sucks for me.  also his mother has been in and out of the hospital with cancer so he has had to take care of her.  also I have been working like crazy my self so not a huge amount of progress.  the mudding and taping are nearly done however. He said it should be done tomorrow night and I plan to paint this weekend.





he is going to texture the ceiling tomorrow as well.  so theoretically we can start tiling next week.  I have 500 square feet of tile sitting on a pallet in the back of my pickup just waiting to be put down.  I also got the new mud room sink today.  bought it off ebay.  it is a really nice sink.  wish I would have found this when I was building my garage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290379466854?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 

View attachment sink.jpg


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## mustanggarage

also I had another hiccup in my electrical plan.  when I started this project I was just going to do the kitchen and maybe paint the mudroom and that little bathroom.  but then we decided to strip out the bathroom.  then when I was looking at the way the mudroom was setup I thought it was really stupid that they put the washer and dryer right up next to the wall where the door is.  it makes it really awkward getting in that door.  so I decided to move the washer and dryer over next to the bathroom.  It sounded simple when I thought of it.  and when we talked it over with the electrician he thought we could just make a longer cord for the dryer and all would be fine.  once things got to this stage however we realized that the real problem was with the 110 for the washer, we would have to run an extension cord either all the way around the dryer and up the wall by the bathroom which would look stupid as heck or run an extension cord up and plug it in the outlet over the new sink we decided to put in which would look stupid and be dangerous.  so we had to redo the wiring there which since the ceiling in the basement is finished was  a major headache.  but it is done now.  so one more hurdle out of the way.


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## mustanggarage

just a question for you guys.  what do you think it should cost to have someone mudd and tape these three rooms and texture the ceiling and walls.  I know we all think everyone else charges too much.  and I certainly am not going to dispute the cost with the guy because he does good work, but I wanted to know what other people especially wood racing would charge for this work.  I bought and installed all the drywall.  the cost of the mudd and tape are in with the labor cost.  you can see the large amount of work that was done so I expected a lot but I guess I underestimated again lol.


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## havasu

Having constructed a few rooms myself, I will tell you that I can swing a hammer, chop wood, pour concrete, do all the detail work, but I will leave the drywall to those guys who know how to tape, mud and sand, which is not me.


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## MarkWood

Probably around it$1200 for tape, sand and mud. And another $400 for texture on the ceiling. Could be more this is a rough estimate without being there in person to see it.


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## Chris

I paid about a buck a square foot last year on a job. drywall, tape, mud and texture.


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## mustanggarage

I paid 4,000.00 for the tape and texture and I will be paying another 4,000 for the tile installation.  I bought the tile and grout and he will provide the underlayment and thinset mortar.  so 8,000.00 for the total job.  he just estimated 8,000 for the job.  but I paid him 4,000 on friday for the first half of the job.

maybe some of you expert contractors ought to consider relocating to small town iowa lol.


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## Chris

How many SqFt of tile? I did tile for years and was lucky if I got 4.50 a foot for tile. Stones were a bit more.


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## mustanggarage

About 500 sg feet


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## MarkWood

mustanggarage said:


> I paid 4,000.00 for the tape and texture and I will be paying another 4,000 for the tile installation.  I bought the tile and grout and he will provide the underlayment and thinset mortar.  so 8,000.00 for the total job.  he just estimated 8,000 for the job.  but I paid him 4,000 on friday for the first half of the job.
> 
> maybe some of you expert contractors ought to consider relocating to small town iowa lol.



No way i could get that here! Is he doing it by himself or does he have a helper help doing it? 

That price I gave you would not include material but still it wouldnt be close to that!


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## mustanggarage

he has a helper.  anyway they are going to be laying the tile next weekend so I am just going to be happy to get it done.  that is one of the problems that come from small towns.  I love small towns in general but since there isn't much competition you sometimes have to just bite the bullet and pay what you have to pay.  I don't really want to think too much about it since I don't have much choice I will just choose to be happy that he does good work and is willing to work us in to get this job done.  so anyway the drywall is finished now so next step is tile.  then I will get to try hanging cabinets for the first time.  looking forward to it.


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## Chris

As long as you are happy with it, that is all that matters.


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## mustanggarage

the drywall is done, the painting is done.  the tile should go in this weekend then we can hang the cabinets.


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## oldognewtrick

mustanggarage said:


> the drywall is done, the painting is done.  the tile should go in this weekend then we can hang the cabinets.



Bet you're getting a little anxious.


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## mustanggarage

getting very anxious.  I am afraid things will not be going very fast for a while yet though.  they got the concrete board underlayment put in yesterday, and about 1/2 the tile installed.  they say they will finish the rest of it this week.  and get it grouted hopefully by Friday.   Sadly I have to go to a meeting in New Orleans this friday so I will not be able to work on the kitchen until the following week.

here is some pics of the progress.

















I will get some more pics later tonight. with my good camera if I can find it.


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## Chris

Is that an under tile heater? Or what is that green stuff under the tile?


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## mustanggarage

yes that is a product called warmly yours to heat the tile.  it was very affordable and they have an amazing warranty


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## mustanggarage

here are a couple more pictures.  the tile is started, but they will be working on it off and on while doing other projects so I don't know when it will be done.  starting to get a bit impatient.


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## Chris

Looking good!


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## mustanggarage

the tile is in, they finished grouting it last night.





now I am going to go pick out the trim I am going to use for the doors and floor trim and get started on that today so that i can have the plumber come in and finish the plumbing so we can get the bathroom and mudroom up and running.  that should hopefully be done this week.  then soon we will start hanging cabinets as soon as I can get some time off work that is.


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## oldognewtrick

Looking good mg.


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## havasu

Really coming together great!


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## mustanggarage

I don't have any pics yet but last night my wife and I finished putting the floor molding and door trim on in the mud room and the bathroom.  I also got my little office finished.  I got tired of waiting on the electrician so I went ahead and installed the plugs myself.  not a difficult job but I wasn't sure if the electrician would be annoyed with me for doing it or not.  finally I decided tough he should have come over friday like he said he was going to lol.  anyway the office is back together now and I asked the lumber yard to deliver the cabinets tuesday.  I may try to get some more of the molding in the dining room up before then because we are probably going to have to put the cabinets there while we sort them out.  the plumber was also supposed to come over friday but his wife had to have arthroscopic surgery so he could not make it.  I had hoped to have the bathroom working this weekend.  oh well slowly but surely.

on a slightly different topic however I have got to say anytime I do a project it is a good excuse to buy new tools.  well my slide compound miter saw was showing its age.  the blade shield had to be retracted manually and it was difficult to set the miters because it had no stops, it was infinitely adjustable with no stops.  so anyway I decided I wanted one of those new fancy laser miter saws.  so I did some research and decided that what I really wanted was this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AIX5OO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


with one of these

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AIX5OO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

the led light system is awesome.  no adjustment required because it is just a shadow of the blade.  it is so much easier to use than my old saw.  no I am still not getting everything done perfectly because I am still an amateur but having good tools makes even an amateur like me look good.


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## havasu

I also use the DeWalt compound miter saw, but I use the 12" one so I can cut bigger crown moldings. It doesn't have the sliding feature, no laser or LED, but other than this, I love it.


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## MarkWood

I use a dewaltv12" sliding compound miter saw on a daily basis. It is a good saw. Mine is an older model so it does not have the laser either. You will be pleased with that 10" saw unless you cut alot of big crown.


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## havasu

If i'm not mistaken, you can always purchase the laser "washer" to make it a laser guided saw.


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## mustanggarage

ok.  the tile is done.  I have been putting in some of the trim around the doors and floor in the mudroom and bathroom.  I also have most of it cut and ready to install in the dining room.  we had the cabinets delivered today.  so as soon as I get some time I will start hanging them.:rockin:


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## havasu

I like those cabinets already!


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## Chris

Me too.....


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## mustanggarage

I begged the help of a couple of strong friends to hang some cabinets today.  not finished yet but we did get quite a bit done.  more pics to come.


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## havasu

I can't wait to see the finished room!


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## oldognewtrick

havasu said:


> I can't wait to see the finished room!



Probably not as much as the MG's.


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## havasu

No doubt. That remodel/rebuild can take a toll on everyone.


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## mustanggarage

yeah we are all a little sick of the whole thing now.  but it is starting to come together so we are happier now.  the plumber hooked up the sink and the toilet in the bathroom today and the sink in the mudroom.  the electrician didn't want to do the lights in the bathroom until the sink was installed for some reason so we still don't have lights in there but at least the toilet works.  I didn't take any pictures of that yet but we did finish hanging the cabinets  My Son Bryce came home this weekend and I got him to help finish up the hanging of the cabinets.  I had to fix a couple minor booboos to make it work, but like a friend of mine said "the measure of a skilled craftsman is how well you can fix your screw ups" well  I would hope a true craftsman would have fewer screw ups but the saying does have a point lol.  here is a little peek at what they look like now.

















I still need to put the toe kick boards on and do the crown molding.  I obviously have a backing board to finish off the peninsula as well.  but I want to talk to the countertop guys about the best way to support the breakfast bar overhang before I install that.  so things are coming along.  still a lot of coordinating that needs done but we are making progress.


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## Chris

Looking good, I am a little jealous.


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## havasu

What a transformation! I'm guessing that the electrician wanted the sink mounted so he could accurately measure the true center point for mounting the fixture, which is exactly the correct thing to do. Could you imagine how lopsided it would have looked if he didn't center the fixture over the sink?


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## mustanggarage

havasu said:


> What a transformation! I'm guessing that the electrician wanted the sink mounted so he could accurately measure the true center point for mounting the fixture, which is exactly the correct thing to do. Could you imagine how lopsided it would have looked if he didn't center the fixture over the sink?



yeah, he also said that he needed to know where the mirror would be so he could know how high to mount it to prevent glare.


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## mustanggarage

Finished hanging the cabinets. The countertop guys have measured for that and it should be here in 2-3 weeks.  The electrician has finished all the wiring except for the pendant lights over the peninsula and the bathroom light.  They umber has hooked up the toilet and sink in the bathroom and mud room. Once the countertop is in he can finish his job so things are coming along.
I will post some pics later


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## mustanggarage

here are a couple pics of the bathroom.  it is a very small bathroom and it is not decorated at all yet but here is a before.





and after.


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## oldognewtrick

I like the after bath pic a LOT better. Good job!


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## havasu

I miss the vintage wallpaper myself.


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## oldognewtrick

havasu said:


> I miss the vintage wallpaper myself.



I don't know, I would get easily distracted in the before room...


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## mustanggarage

havasu said:


> I miss the vintage wallpaper myself.


hey I know where you can get some just like it.


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## Chris

I like it! Keep up the good work!


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## mustanggarage

ok.  the counter tops are in finally.  I still have a few minor details to sort out, like one of the cabinet doors has a hinge that was hung wrong from the factory and they have to send me a new door, and one of the cabinets has a cracked case so they are sending me a replacement.  it is the upper one in the corner so it will be relatively straightforward to replace it, with enough help that is.  I also need to finish up the crown molding and put the knobs on.  our new table and chairs will be delivered sometime early next month, it is a glass top table with custom Amish made chairs.  we also bought matching bar stools and a different refrigerator that has heated and cooled water and is a french door design.  that will be here next week.  they will take this one down stairs and haul the old one out of the basement for us, so that is nice,oh and the electrician still needs to install the two pendent lights over the breakfast bar  but for the most part the kitchen is functional again.  yaaahoo.   

My wife is over the moon, it turned out better than she hoped.

this is Bellingham quartz.  it is a manufactured stone product.  requires no maintenance, no sealing or anything.  it is very durable and we love the way it looks.  best of all it is made in montana, by a company called cambria.  the only quartz countertop available that is made in usa.





undermount composite granite sink with a monster garbage disposal that is much quieter than our old one.  and a sensor H2O faucett that is touch activated.  my wife likes it, the plumber...not so much.




all the counter tops are in.





ok here is a quick walk through.

here is the new sink and orientation of the new door and relocation of the washer and dryer.  I still need to replace that plastic window on the washer.  I have the part I just need to get it swapped.  since this door is our main way in and out stuff tends to get piled up here before it goes into the recycling bin or the dumpster or gets put away.  I would love to be able to keep the clutter down but I suppose entropy always wins lol.










looking from the mud room toward the kitchen.





bathroom between mudroom and kitchen.






looking in from the mudroom hallway.






looking back from the dining room.





still a lot of little things to do but the end is in sight


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## havasu

Wow is all I can say!


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## mustanggarage

we started moving stuff back in this weekend.  cooked our first meal in the new kitchen yesterday.  it was great.  I also replaced the plastic panel on the washer and painted the hood on the convertible.  lots accomplished this weekend.


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## mustanggarage

I finished the last pieces of trim and crown molding the other day.  we received our new refrigerator also.  it actually fits better than the other one we had.  we moved our old one downstairs and got rid of the white one that the paint was all peeling off of.  it also had some missing shelves etc.  our new fridge is one of those french door styles with the pull out freezer on the bottom.  it also has a hot or cold water dispenser in the door.  the last thing we are waiting on is our new table and chair set.  we ordered it and it is supposed to be delivered next friday.  once that is in we will be able to hang my wifes painting that we were given when we got married.  she has a sentimental attachment to this painting and it was framed by a friend of her family for a wedding gift for us.  so anyway it is important to her so we will hang it on the far wall.  after that we are planning to have an open house/ open kitchen barbeque.  to celebrate being done.  I will try to take some final pictures when we get the table in place.  but so far the project has been a huge success.  it has accomplished all of our goals.  my wife is very pleased with how well it turned out and it is a much more fun place to be.  we are actually enjoying cooking for a change lol.


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## oldognewtrick

I love it when the plan comes together...now get out in the garage where you belong and start with some updates there...

Glad the end is in sight and I know you will really enjoy all the hard work and effort!


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## mustanggarage

Ok final installment on this project I believe














A long project but we are very happy with the results.


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## oldognewtrick

Man, I love the countertop, floor and cabinet colors. Your renovation turned out beautiful, just like everything else you've posted. Good job!


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## mustanggarage

thanks.  next year I think I will try my hand at building a deck.  our deck is really in need of replacement.  it is still functional but there is some definite rot going on in some of the supporting posts underneath.  I built a very small and very rough deck on the back of my garage but this time I plan to build something a bit fancier lol.  we will see.


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## Chris

Looks great! Can't wait to see the deck work.


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## mustanggarage

thanks the deck should be interesting.  I spent some time with some graph paper and I think I have a plan for what I want.  it won't be to exotic basically square with a one corner angled for a step, but I will do some tweaking to the plan this winter.  

on another note we had our barbeque yesterday and it went over very well.  everyone loved the new kitchen and it worked very well.  my wife who normally hates having anyone come over and never wants to have company had a ball.  so I have to say with just a little bit of pride that the project was a complete success and now it is time to repaint the jeep top and start saving up for the fuel injection conversion.


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## oldognewtrick

Well MG, if momma was happy then the whole deal was worth it.


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