It feels like we’re actually closing in on getting a kitchen back.
The countertops were templated, and we went to approve the slabs, as I posted about. We are indeed getting everything we want with the counters: no seams at all, stone windowsills, and a tall backsplash up to the sills. I think it’s going to look fabulous. The lead time is about 2 weeks, and I suspect that their arrival will mark the completion of the kitchen portion of the project.
The electricians also made good progress this week. The three nickel & glass pendants, all the undercabinet lights, and the recessed fixtures are in, complete with dimmers; and the majority of the outlets are operational. Still to be done are the Tiffany lamp, fixtures for the coat closet & pantry, outlet for the stove, and (most importantly) the subpanel for the extra circuits.
The range hood is installed and wired, but needs its vent duct
installed still (it’s a chimney style, so the ducting is entirely above
it).
The cabinets are now all installed. The installers were kind enough to modify the face frame of the microwave cabinet, since just about every countertop microwave on the market is a fraction of an inch wider than the 21″ opening on this cabinet. You would think the cabinet people and the microwave people would be on the same page here. This also gave us an opportunity to try out the cabinets’ stain, which we’ll be using on the cherry door to the pantry so it matches.
The light rail is up, as is all the starter moulding that backs up the crown. So the only things left from a cabinet perspective are installing the crown, installing a filler above the fridge, adjusting the doors to line up properly, and putting on the knobs & pulls.
Finish carpentry also needs to be completed before we can declare victory. Baseboards and window & door trim will go a long way to making the room feel like a room instead of a construction zone. The “belly moulding” and corner block window & door casings were delivered this week.
On the sunroom side of the project, we have a floor! We were told to feel free to use it as a deck this weekend, and I intend to go sit out there with a magazine and a beer just as soon as I finish posting this update. We’re told that framing for the walls and roof should happen this coming week, which I’ll be sure to post about.
One setback this week on the sunroom: the revelation that we’re going to need a railing to keep people from falling out of the sliding doors that we’re using as windows. I need to discuss further with the contractor in the morning, but my feeling is we will want some sort of metal railing that looks like a balcony railing. I spent several hours today researching what’s possible relatively inexpensively with off-the-shelf parts, and the following drawing is what I came up with. I think this will look fine, maybe even appropriate to the house if we dress it up like this.