Kitchen Update

New wall cabinet added. Floor completed. Blind replacing the curtain.

2013 Recap

Probably the most productive year of my life, 2013 saw a transformation of the shoe box we purchased in 2012 into a liveable space that we can call our own. It isn't complete yet and I wouldn't want to do it again, but it's something we can be proud of.  There are so many things too innumerable to mention on top of the major items listed here.


April

• Gutted the entire first floor of the Tucker Green Home, including the ceiling.

May

• Installed 2" rigid foam insulation in all of the stud bays for the entire first floor exterior walls. 
• Sealed all gaps and cracks with spray foam insulation.
• Installed recessed lighting throughout first level 
• Wired all lights, replaced all electrical outlets, replaced all switches
• Installed GFI outlets in kitchen
• Installed dedicated outlets to backup solar system
• Installed new drywall throughout the first level, walls and ceiling
• Roughed-in new pantry
• Built and installed new cabinet box for kitchen sink
• Installed new utility door to garage
• Planted fruit trees

Jun

• Installed load bearing columns and beams, replacing existing load bearing wall
• Replaced single-pane kitchen window with high performance window by Pella
• Box out of new beam and columns with drywall, taped, and finished
• Planted fruit trees

July 

• Taped, mudded and sanded all drywall seams
• Finished deck handrail
• Built cedar arbor
• Installed large swale in backyard
• Planted fruit trees

Aug

• Primed and painted first level walls and ceiling
• Began Geoff Lawton's PDC (permaculture design certificate course)
• Took in abandoned pit bull
• Went to Mexico
• Planted fruit trees

Sep 

• Submitted PDC design for review
• Awarded PDC Certificate from Geoff Lawton
• Planted fruit trees
• Installed 550 gallon pond

Oct

• Completed the second half of the back deck
• Built two uppers, one lower cabinet and corner cabinet 
• Completed wiring solar backup system
• Planted trees

Nov

• Installed NEST thermostat
• Installed new vent hood
• Planted blueberry bushes

Dec

• Demo'd kitchen floor
• Installed new hardwood floor in kitchen
• Repaired, sanded, and finished entire first level hardwood floor

Hardwood Flooring Update

 BEFORE..









AFTER!

Bona! Can't say enough good things about these products. Bona Amber Seal is essentially a stain that is applied before the Bona Mega, which is the clear protective finish. They are waterbourne products and contain low amounts of VOC's. Though it is pretty pungent while wet, after a day or two it is hardly noticeable.

There was a learning curve with the application. I basically ended up sanding the first application of Amber Seal off.  I left puddles and pools and it ended up looking blotchy. As long as you even it out and don't leave any pools it will come out looking good.

The Amber Seal has a very warm look and feel. I bought two gallons of the Amber Seal and three gallons of the Bona Mega. The total was less than $300. I finished around six hundred square feet and I have leftover of both products.

Renting a buffer and screening after the Amber Seal really is necessary.

Finish your floors last! This remodel would have destroyed the finish on these floors. I'm glad I waited until nearly the end to do it.

 Vi Vi did not help...

Hardwood Flooring

Time to sand the nasty floor.

I was able to get most of the bad spots out but the worst stuff in the middle was through to the sub floor. Probably dog pee.

The bad boards had to come out. It's a pain to take out single boards and not wreck the ones right beside them. You've got to saw two times along the length of each board and then chisel the rest out.

It took me all day Friday to patch up this area.













 The final result of the patchwork. Next, more sanding.

7 bundles of red oak flooring for the kitchen.

Original linoleum floor. Who came up with this crap?

Ricardo working on the old floor.

 Subfloor was in decent condition. It is 3/4" ply. But we had to remove 3/4" MDF that was laid on top of it. The linoleum was on top of that.

We took up the old roofing felt and put down red rosin paper.

In the foreground you can see where we have taken out every other board to interlace in the new flooring.

One third of the way. The pneumatic nailer is a must.

 Two thirds done

Hardwood kitchen floor installed.
The several gaps in the foreground I didn't worry about since there will be an island where they are.

Cabinets and appliances replaced.

Discovered later on that the original flooring was white oak not red oak. Doh!

Vent Hood

 The vent hood arrived yesterday.

It comes with a plug end on the power cable, so I had to wire in an outlet above ceiling.

They sent a flex duct to connect to the hood but instead I got a 6" rigid piece to exhaust to above ceiling. I will vent through roof as soon as possible

We determined 30" above the stove top was the height we liked.

It took longer to install than I anticipated, about 4 hrs.

 Here is the 6" duct roughed in.

 Installed vent hood.

I believe it is 680 cfm with 3 speeds. There are 2 LED lights and 2 removable stainless steel grease filters.

$265 from Sears.

Just makes the stove look even worse...

Decatur Makers Project: Decatur Wine Festival

Last week I helped the Decatur Makers construct a giant wine bottle display for the Decatur Wine Festival.

It was a lot of fun and ended up looking pretty cool. It was three tiered platform for supporting inflatable bottles on.

The main supports were 3"pvc and the platforms were 3/4" plywood. The top of the highest bottle was more than 13 feet tall.

The wine festival was jam packed. I saw a lot of people taking pictures in front of our display.

NEST

I received an offer from Infinite Energy to get a free NEST thermostat if I switched to their company for natural gas.

I had been already looking at the NEST for a year or so and had actually tried to purchase one one day from Lowe's but they didn't have it.

When the offer came I jumped on it. It just arrived on Friday. It literally took just a couple of minutes to install.

It is very cool. It connects via WiFi to the home network and from there I can access it from any where else with an Android app.

It gathers information so it can "learn" how you like your house temperature. It has a motion sensor and will show the settings when you walk past it. It also shows the humidity on the app.

So far the weather has been really mild and it hasn't had to utilize the air conditioner but once and I basically did that to check to see if it was installed correctly.

The NEST would normally cost $259.