A Halfway Kitchen (for a Halfway House)

Some of you may remember my post about that simple kitchen project I was looking forward to. With the very able assistance of one Mr. Mike Barnhart, that project took a giant leap forward this past week. Here's a brief photo update:



Plumbing in the new drain. Dad's trying out his old-timey serious pose.


The PEX water lines, which will feed the kitchen sink and dishwasher.


And here they are, stubbed up through the floor.


We had to remove some drywall in order to run new electrical lines for the countertop outlets.


More wiring. For those of you interested, we added six circuits: two dedicated GFCI receptacle circuits, one dedicated refrigerator circuit, one dedicated dishwasher circuit, one dedicated garbage disposal circuit, and one 220V range circuit (in case I decide to switch from gas range to electric range in the future). You could power a bingo parlor off this kitchen without tripping a breaker.


Closing the drywall back up.


The lower (base) cabinets are just sitting in place here. I still need to mud the drywall joints before I can install these, but Dad and I wanted to see what they'd look like sitting in the new kitchen. I think they look pretty good.

The floor beneath the floor

Spurious comments regarding my criminal activity notwithstanding, I'm glad to see that my posting privileges to Barnhart Central have not been revoked. And I suspect you'll be glad too (at least in an empathetic sort of way) when you see the photos of my weekend's work. I decided to use Lisa and Ann's upcoming visit as a good excuse to refinish my living room and dining room floor, and here's a brief photo journey along the way.

The drum sander (with 12-grit sandpaper), about to make the first pass (Friday night).

What 12-grit sandpaper hath wrought.

Another photo of the living room after the 12-grit pass (Saturday evening).

After a pass with 36-grit sandpaper, I found myself needing to fill a few gouges and cracks. Thanks for the wood glue/sawdust tip, Steve. That's worked well for me.

Au revoir, purple paint (Saturday evening).

The living room floor after passing over with a 50-grit sandpaper (Sunday morning).

Winter sunlight shining on a smooth, "nearly-new" floor.

The dining room floor, ready for a final screening and the first coat of polyurethane (Sunday afternoon).

The hard work's done. Applying the polyurethane should be much easier and quicker. The hardest part is just waiting till its fully dried. But I should have a newly-refinished floor by the time Lisa and Ann get here Saturday evening. Which reminds me, Lisa, do you still wear golf cleats indoors? I might need you to take those off at the door.

Update from Wednesday evening:

I applied the final coat of polyurethane this morning, letting the floors dry while I was at work. Here are a couple pictures of the finished living and dining room floor. Now they just have to dry for a few days before I can move furniture into these rooms.

Tomato Report #1

What do they say about new homeowners and their gardens? Something tiresome I'm sure.

Maybe this picture doesn't appeal to anyone who didn't just move into a house two months ago, but I'm pretty proud of this tomato (one of about a dozen growing currently). I got a late start on a garden this year, and I'm not sure whether or not these tomatoes will ripen before frost comes, but it's good to see them trying. I'll be sure to keep you all up-to-date with the tomato reports.