The Construction Zone

Oh where to begin...

It started out with a new fence.  

For Eight years we have wanted to move the fence to include the side yard in the back.

So in May, we moved/added a new fence.

The fence lead to a new back door.  

It's funny because the first time we looked at our house with our Realtor I said that changing out the solid door in our family room would be the first thing I would change, but eight years later and that ugly solid door was still there (and not even close to the first changes we made to the house). 

Well the fence people are also door people so we naturally thought that doing both at the same time was a win win and we had a full view door installed in June.

Then came the heavy rains in August and our leaky door troubles began.

And the leaky door created the ruined wood floor problem.

So after much back and forth with the door company, they installed a new door.

And the next time it rained, the new door leaked.

Making the wood floor problem worse

and making us very unhappy customers.

At one point we had the contractor we hired to install the door, the sales rep who he buys the doors from and the manufacturers rep all in our house trying to figure out what was going on with the door and who was responsible for paying for the damaged floor.

I'm still not sure how the kitchen remodel happened at the same time as everything else.  But there was an incident when the babysitters made macaroni and cheese and burnt it then set the hot mess on the laminate counter burning a ring into the laminate.

Again, we have always wanted to change the kitchen but it was not in the budget to do a complete remodel, so instead we moved the sink and added more ugly, er i mean 'matching' oak cupboards (with the hopes of refinishing them at a later date).

The Kitchen- Before

My impressive mock up of the project.

Demolition.

While the men were at work inside, Mommy and Austin went to work tearing down the deck skirt and prep it for repair.

Shopping for all the 'extras' that come with remodeling.

Narrowing the choices down to three.

Mommy's helper.

Surprise water damage under the dishwasher.

Sink pipes have been moved.

New cupboards in their new layout, but of course the one cupboard was built 4 inches too short.

So they moved it over four inches.  

(not the solution mommy was impressed with)

But they made it work.

Now lets talk about the color.

This was not even close to the same color as the existing cupboards, but some how the cupboard guy was shocked that Mommy was not satisfied with the color.  It will be another 2 weeks before he comes back to work on the kitchen. (Mom fumes for 2 weeks)

In the mean time, the hardwood floor guys come and tear out the damaged floor under the dishwasher and in front of the back door.

Next the door company comes and installs door number 3.

We were told to wait 24 hours then test it with a hose outside for leaks.

We waited several days, tested the door, .....drum roll....  IT LEAKS!

Completely stumped the door people decide to do the only thing they know, caulk.  They caulked the window they caulked the molding, they caulked the threshold, they caulked under the base boards, they caulked every square inch of the door.  Now I'm not an expert but this seems like a very big band aid vs an actual solution.  Time will tell.  The constant leaking delayed the floor repairs another 2 weeks.

In the mean time, the granite came.

Happy to see some progress.

The backsplash is chosen and goes up.

New drawer is fixed and ready to go!

The cabinet guy puts a stain on the cupboards, but once again, it is not a close enough match.  The doors clash with the cupboards, it was streaky and splotchy in areas.

After another week goes by, we have a serious heart to heart with the cabinet guy.  He comes out and sands down all the new lower cupboards and stains them to the proper color.

The family moves out and lives at Grammy's house for four days while the new floor goes in.

Finally, a finished product and usable space! 

Other than the dust left behind it's nice to have a functioning kitchen again.

Mommy quickly makes use of the three additional cupboard spaces and the new drawer, 

the rest of the family quickly makes use of the extra counter space!