Today marks the conclusion of the second week of the kitchen project. The brief status is that they’re just about done ripping out old stuff, the structural work on the old house is done, and plumbing is about 2/3 roughed in. Read on for more details.
This week Michael (the GC/carpenter) installed the support beam as I’ve already posted about, and restructured the northeast wall to correct where it had been compromised by a previous generation of plumbers. He’s using 2×6 framing in this wall, which will give us more insulation and will push things out into the room just enough that we won’t need to move a heating pipe. He also re-headered the two windows using modern methods. He alsp puzzled out a route for the range hood vent, since the most direct location would be straight through the post holding up the support beam.
Michael is on vacation next week, so he cleared the way for both plumbing and electrical to finish their rough-ins in his absence. The plumbers made excellent progress this week: they ripped out the old radiators and structure-damaging sink drain/vent, then finished the supply, drain, and vent for both sinks. Next week they need to rough in for the new radiator and kickspace heaters, and run a cold water line for the fridge.
I met with the electrician yesterday to go over the lighting and electrical plan. The current plan is for 6″ LED recessed lighting for general illumination, LED or fluorescent under-cabinet lights for task lighting, and pendant lighting in 4 separate locations. In addition there’s a dizzying array of outlets and switches required by code, appliances, and best practices. I was much relieved when, touring the kitchen, the electrician and I seemed to really be on the same page in terms of what makes sense.
In fact, so far I am impressed with the work and just plain common sense of everyone we’re working with on this project. Being able to trust the tradesmen who are doing this work goes a long way toward reducing my stress level.
The one area that is still a source of stress is that the planning for the 3-season room portion of this project is proceeding at a glacial pace. Given that we first settled on this contractor in November, the fact that we don’t have a permit for this yet is maddening. But we did receive the final plan in the mail yesterday, so I guess that will make progress soon enough.