Having remodeled hundreds of kitchens for others, Hank is now in the midst of remodeling his own kitchen. He is experiencing being the “homeowner” as well as the contractor and is journaling his experiences. His first thoughts are written in our latest newsletter:
Updates will be added to the blog for you to follow along. Here is Hank’s next journal entry:
“Remodeling the kitchen and living room is in week 2. My original schedule was rather optimistic, not accounting for carpenter doctor visits or rain. Both new windows were installed and some basic dust protection was set up.
Over the weekend Beth and I removed the contents of the kitchen cabinets. I bought brand new boxes from Morningstar Storage on Glenwood Avenue, 5 medium for pots, pans and big bowls and 5 small boxes for the heavy stuff. All 10 boxes were full in two hours with less than 50% of those worn out cabinets emptied out. I made an after-hours run for more boxes at Walmart. Another fifteen boxes and more tape was less than $45. Storing all the dishes, food, cleaning supplies, Tupperware and oddball stuff required twenty-five new boxes plus a dozen small, sturdy boxes from the ABC Store. My advice is to use smaller boxes since the big ones get too heavy to lift.
These old cabinets have been OK since we moved into this house in 2001. The drawers are cheap plywood with rinky-dink slides so the wider drawers get out of whack easily. I had new oak doors put on the old cabinet boxes but have lived without roll-out trays or any convenience features. Prior to moving in we also added new pantry cabinets with matching oak doors, which I will reuse on our screen porch just off the kitchen. All the old cabinets are weary and ready to rest in the C&D (construction and debris) landfill.”
Check back for more of Hank’s kitchen remodeling experience!
