Chapter 22...Kitchen Install

Off Grid...Chapter 22 Going back to Thursday 8-21-08 Today was the the first day all week that it was just Mike and I. We work the best when it is just the two of us. That's how we really like it because, as you all know, we're best friends. We went down to the house and finished stubbing out the plumbing in the bathroom for the water heater. Then we were able to finish installing the smaller pieces of sheet rock in the bathroom. Mike hates installing all the smaller sections because it is very time consuming and it doesn't feel like you get anything done. After a lot of grumbling we "finally" finished the bathroom. Next we started on the kitchen wall. See now that looks like we are getting something done. After we got that wall done Mike showed me how to spackle. This is how it is done. After the sheet rock is installed on the wall studs the seams have to be taped. Then you spread the sheet rock "mud"(very smelly stuff) on the tape and scrape off the excess. You also fill in all the screw holes with mud and scrape that off. Let it all dry about 12 hours, lightly sand it all, and then repeat the whole process 2 more times. So far we haven't done any sanding which means we have a ton of finish work left. Yuk! While I was spackling, Mike was working on the transoms above the doors. We made extra work for ourselves by deciding to put the decorative glass above the doorways but I think Mike and I will be very happy with them. Mike had to cut 2x4's to make a frame for the glass and then he covered it all with sheet rock. The bathroom transom is done. The bedroom transom. Now all we have left is the other bedroom transom. That's for another day. Mike also finished working on the sheet rock for the angled wall that goes into the bedroom and we fixed the bedroom door. This is everything we did today. It was a very good day. Friday- 8-22-08 This morning we went down to the house and started the electrical wiring for the dining area. Mike likes to install wire for each room individually so that each room in the house has it's own circuit breaker. We run wire in all the outlets and switches. Then we run a wire for an overhead light in each room. After that all the wire goes back to the breaker box. The front wall of the dining area is done. Now we only have the living room to do. After the wiring, we started to sheet rock the front wall. This is Mike using a jigsaw on the sheet rock to cut out the electrical boxes. We finished most of the front wall today. We had to stop and go to town. We had to pick up more insulation and also go to our other property to mow. A few hours later we made it back home. Yeah! When we got home Mike's daughter, Nicole, stopped my with her son A.J.. She needed to borrow our compound miter saw so she could finish the trim in her bathroom. A.J. is 10 and really excited about the house. He can't wait to stay over. I briefly explained how the solar works and he was amazed and thought it was very cool that we have no electric bill. After they left, Mike and I moved the kitchen base kitchen cabinets from the 2nd bedroom back into the kitchen. Mike is "really" tired of sheet rock so he wants to do something different. It is taking a long time for the 2 of us to do the sheet rock but we are saving about $45.00( so far we have bought 65 boards) per board for a professional to come in and hang and finish sheet rock. We bought small plastic nail in protectors to put on the bottoms of my base cabinets. We are putting these on because my cabinets aren't solid wood and this will protect the bottoms in case the floor ever gets wet. We got all the cabinets lined up and ready to install tomorrow. Saturday- 8-23-08 This morning we started installing the base cabinets in the kitchen. We installed 6 base cabinets and a utility cabinet. Then we moved on to the upper cabinets. We used the top of the utility cabinet as our marker for the top cabinets. We placed a 2x4 across the top of the utility cabinet and to the corner, made sure it was level, and screwed the 2x4 into the wall. This made it much easier to lift the cabinets up to the 2x4 and screw them in place. Almost finished with the upper cabinets. Later on we finished installing 16 cabinets. We still have one more for above the refrigerator but we have to wait. Sunday- 8-24-08 It was nice walking into the house and seeing all the kitchen cabinets done. It kind of gives you a boost to see some type of finish work on the house. We started off by installing 2 small 2x4' by the corner carousel cabinet. This is in preparation for the installing the plywood on top of the base cabinets for my counter top. We used 2 sheets, 4x8, of 3/4 inch thick finished plywood. We measured the plywood and cut two pieces for each section of the counter. The plywood is now 1 1/2 inches thick and ready for tile. Some people like to use backer board for their counters but we never have and have never had any problems. As Mike likes to say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Mike started the template for my kitchen sink. He then drew it onto the counter and used a jigsaw to cut a whole for my sink. This was a very slow process. While he was doing that I did a little more spackling. Mike says I did a good job and that I seem to have a knack for it. I think he just doesn't want to do it ha, ha. Actually I like spackling. Mike says I like a lot of weird jobs when we build. It's OK at least one of us does. This is my sink and faucet installed. Of course we aren't hooked to water yet but it's in. It makes us feel better. I love it. I haven't had a big sink in years. The motor home has a double sink which I hate because I can' fit my big pans in the sink when I wash dishes. I love to cook so I use a lot of bigger pans. I also hate the single lever faucets, again in the motor home. They are a pain to clean because the connections for the levers are really hard to clean "all around them". Next we started on sheet rock again! I can't wait until we are done. At least we had a day away from doing sheet rock. We put up 4 smaller boards and called it quits. We decided to take the rest of the night off and kick some butt tomorrow. Later on we took a ride on the 4-wheeler and on our way back up we saw a raccoon eating apples in one of the apple trees. I love raccoons. They are like little burglars with their masks. A cow was right below the tree where the raccoon was in hopes of a fallen apple. We watched them for awhile. It is amazing how many animals we have on this property. Must be all the apple trees. So now I have more competition for apples. The cows are eating all the apples they can reach and the raccoons are eating the higher apples. I better hurry and start picking. That's all for now. We have a really busy week coming up. We are trying to paint the interior within a couple of weeks, get the flooring done, install the appliances, and do the counter top. We better start ordering everything. I am glad you are all enjoying the story. Have a great day. Lisa and Mike