Kitchen Reno Drywall & Subfloor – ORC Week Three

It’s week 3 of the Spring One Room Challenge!  I’m happy to report that things are still moving along nicely with the kitchen renovation.  Slowly, lol, but we are definitely making progress!  Here’s what you missed, if you’re just tuning in to this 8 week challenge:

• ORC Week One – My Kitchen Design Plan
• ORC Week Two – Drywall & Tile Samples

Drywall – Check!

Last week I struggled finishing up the drywall by myself, while hubby was out of town.  My arms still ache from all the sanding!  Having never taped and mudded drywall before, some of my seams are better than others and, naturally, my BEST work will be hidden by cabinets, lol.  But I’m so proud that I did it!  Getting to this point felt soooo good:

Tools That Made Drywalling Easier:

Not that I’m an expert, by ANY stretch of the imagination, but I did “splurge” on some tools that made my first attempt at drywalling much easier!  It’s funny because hubby never wants to spend any money on tools, he will make do with what we have and create amazing DIY’s, but I am always tempted by new tool or gadget.  Anything to make a DIY easier (and faster)!  Here’s what I bought for drywall work (we already had a drywall knife and this drywall screw setter):

• Drywall Insider Corner Tool (this link has an outside corner knife I wish I’d bought too)
• Drywall Taping Knives in Various Widths (I liked the more flexible ones I got)
• Drywall Mud Pan
• Drywall Sponge (ZERO dust, I loved this)
• Hand Sander with Clamp (clamp on sandpaper or drywall screens)
• Drywall Sanding Screens (didn’t clog up like sandpaper)

Walls & Ceiling Painted – Check!

After finishing up the drywall, I also got the ceiling and walls painted before hubby came home – although the ceiling will need some touch up after the electrician moves the pot lights (he’s also installing two new ones over the sink).  I didn’t want to have to paint around the new cabinetry because I am the messiest painter.  We wanted to get the window trim cut, installed, caulked and painted before the cabinetry went in – for the same reason – but we just couldn’t do it in time.

New Subfloor – Check!

Once hubby came home, we only had a couple of days before the cabinet installers came.  We ripped up the old vinyl sheet flooring and laid down a subfloor.  The hardwood flooring has always been higher than the vinyl sheet flooring in the kitchen, entry, laundry and powder room.  We are taking this opportunity to try and get them closer in height – as close as we can, anyway.

Originally the new pantry, which will be located to the left (on the wall where we had the driftwood wall hanging), was going to straddle the two floors – across the hardwood and new tile in the kitchen.  At the last minute I decided that I didn’t like that, especially because the flooring transition wasn’t even in the middle of the cabinetry – it was off centre.  That would have really bothered me, I think.

So we cut away the hardwood and asked the cabinet company to widen the kitchen a tiny bit more.

This way, the backs of the cabinets will line up with the new floor, which lines up with the bump out wall in the kitchen.  The floor won’t jog, and no cabinetry will straddle the two flooring types.  Even though I think this is a better plan it was so stressful to cut into the hardwood:

The whole project took way longer than we anticipated, so we were scrambling by the end but we managed to wrap it up at 1:30am, hours before the installers were due to arrive:

I think the slight change (widening the kitchen a bit more) means that our old kitchen stools won’t fit anymore, because they’re quite wide and lean back quite a bit.  I think that make passing between them and the dining room table/chairs a bit tight?  I wasn’t sure the turquoise color would work with the new counters anyway, so hubby’s dad (a woodworker by trade) is going to teach us, and help us, to make new solid walnut stools.  I doubt we will get to it before the end of the One Room Challenge, but I’m so excited for that!  He makes beautiful stools.  I promise I’ll share a blog post with the process.

Appliances – Not Yet Checked Off!

The fridge is supposed to come in this week, and the stove is already in stock, so hopefully those will both be delivered this week.  We have to pay for delivery ourselves, and it’s kind of expensive, so I was hoping to get all three appliances at once, but I think the dishwasher is small enough that hubby and I can bring it home ourselves, whenever it comes in stock.  I was mostly worried about the fridge and stove.  I have, in the past, managed to carry incredibly heavy things with hubby, but lately I don’t feel as strong so I’m not willing to risk damaging our appliances.  Hubby still thinks I can lift absolutely anything though, and was like, “we can do it!” lol.

Cabinet Installation Started – Check!

This week the cabinet installers are here, assembling the new cabinets.  Here’s the progress after Day One:

And here’s the progress after Day Two (today is Day Three):

I have to admit, I’m a little nervous!  It’s so weird to see the kitchen looking so different!  I am loving all of the storage, for sure – and being inside the kitchen is so spacious now.  Hubby and I will no longer bump into each other, lol.  So there’s so much I love about it already: the huge pantry, the additional cabinets, the beautiful walnut grain.  However, to be totally, 100% honest, there are already a couple of teeny things I wish I’d done differently, and a couple of things I hope they can fix, but also it just still looks so rough right now, so maybe once it’s finished some little details won’t bother me after all.  I’m not sure when the cabinets will be done, but I’m sharing daily updates in my Instagram stories!

That’s all for now – catch up with all of my kitchen renovating posts here!

My Best Renovating Tip:

I’ll wrap up this update with a hot renovating tip: if you’re ever waiting around for someone to arrive, especially if they’re going to be working on your home and need access, and they’re maybe a few hours late but you’d like them to materialize immediately, do one of two things:

1. Go to the bathroom
2. Preheat the oven for lunch

Either one of those things will ensure that folks are promptly knocking at your door, ready to work, lol.