30. July 2008 by admin.

Its been a bit since I posted, but a lot has happened.  Katie and I installed the floor tiles and we really love it!  I still have to clean them up from thinset residue and then grout them, hopefully tomorrow.  Once that is done all of the base cabinets can be installed.

Some of the wall cabinets have already been installed.  Basically you attach this steel suspension piece to the wall and all of the cabinets hang off of that.  Its really easy.  I’ve put up most of the crown molding too.  All that is left with that is filling in the gaps and putting a final coat of paint on.

Allright time to get going, we are going to a sushi bar for KT’s B-day tonight!

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23. July 2008 by admin.

Katie’s Dad just left today after being here for 5 days and helping out immensely with the kitchen project.  Its great to see how fast things go when you have another person working on things.

We spent the last 5 days mudding/taping the drywall seams with joint compound and then sanding the final layer.  Yesterday we finished priming the ceiling and walls.  Last night I finished painting the ceiling and tonight Katie and I(Tom) finished 2 coats on the walls.

We ended up using Ace Hardware paint and I’m pretty happy with it.  Its hard to get a feel for the color, but the walls are what is called “Ripe Oats” in an eggshell finish and the ceiling is just off of white with a bit of Ripe Oats mixed in to bring it all together.  I have to paint and nail the crown molding to the ceiling over the next couple days, but the really exciting thing is that our tile is in boxes in the dining room and ALL of the IKEA cabinets are being delivered tomorrow!!!  So, hopefully I can get the floor in tomorrow.

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18. July 2008 by admin.

Well, all the walls are up now and the plywood is all down for the tile to be installed.  I had to make two enclosures for the water supply going up to the bathroom and the hot water pipes in the corner for the radiator upstairs.  As you can see, I’ve started some of the mudding of the drywall too.  Katie’s Dad is going to be here for a bit starting today to help with the project!  Full speed ahead

We also ordered the tile and the cabinets last weekened so any day now we should get those delivered.

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6. July 2008 by admin.

Today we finished putting up the sheetrock for the ceiling!  We used 5/8″ drywall for the ceiling.  As you can see from some of the pictures with Katie, I made a “T” brace to hold up one end of the sheetrock while I screwed it into the ceiling joists.  Once up, I used my dremel with a drywall attachment to make the circular cutouts for the preinstalled recessed lights

I almost have all of the OSB plywood down over the wood plank subfloor.  A product called “Ditra” which is a 1/8″ thick roll of flexible plastic will be applied to the plywood and then the tile over the Ditra.

Within the last week I was able to get new insulation stapled into the exterior walls.  Here is a picture link that describes what is going on with the long exterior wall of the kitchen before we put up the sheetrock (1/2″ thick) on the walls.  Hopefully the walls can get done this week.
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6. July 2008 by admin.

We traveled to Minnesota and Wisconsin for our summer vacation this year in June.  We started with Katie’s family in Lanesboro, MN where we biked on the trail, ate ice cream, and visited the Norwegian museum in nearby Decorah, IA.

After a few days with Katie’s family we drove over to Wisconsin to visit Tom’s parents.  We did some fishing, went to a Brewers game and saw some of Tom’s relatives.

We drove back to Minnesota for Katie’s cousin’s wedding.  The wedding reception was on a steamboat on the Mississippi River.

We ended our trip celebrating Tom’s birthday and Sarah’s baby shower.  It was a great trip and we are looking forward to being back again for Christmas.

So glad to meet you, Isaac!  Tom.

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