I've haven't posted much in awhile, but I thought I'd share a recent life experience. Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from a lack of wisdom.

It started with the spousal unit saying, "Honey, we need to replace the kitchen counter." Of course, she actually meant "I" needed to replace the kitchen counter. Recognizing an exceedingly high risk of mission creep, and absolute surety that it would be a mess, I objected. She retorted, "You are so good at these sort of projects." A manipulative phrase every husband surely knows. Nevertheless, the Family Command Authority (FCA) issued its orders oblivious to the recommendations of the poor schmuck that actually had to complete the mission.

So, 6 weeks later, tonight, we are celebrating having a functional kitchen once again. If you ever wondered how those NFL running backs and wide receivers developed such keen foot work and the ability to know where their feet are, and move in amazing ways; I am pretty sure in the off season they work on remodeling kitchens. You see, all that junk that is stored in the kitchen gets moved to the living room while remodeling. Moving kitchen cabinets and counter tops through that minefield offers many opportunities to practice ones footwork all the while balancing awkward loads.

Almost everything that could have gone wrong, did. Sure, my lack of experience was a contributing factor, but broken water supply valves, broken plunge router base, dishwasher electric wires cut a foot too short by the original builder didn't help. Then there was the custom miter cut for the counter top. Easy you say. Sure, but, this counter top has an integral backsplash and nifty scroll on the front. I am pretty handy with a Skilsaw, but the blade doesn't cut deep enough to cut through the backsplash. So, the cut must be matched with a bevel cut through the backsplash. Hard to explain, but it took significant blocking and machinations to complete, all on a 10' long hunk of 25" wide 3/4" particle board, unwieldy to say the least. If you think I managed to cut the mating pieces on the first try, well....

Did I mention mission creep? Yeah, so a new counter top, new sink, new disposal, new faucet, new drywall, rebuilt stem wall, re-wired electrical later, we have a functioning kitchen. It is a nice kitchen, but somehow, I can't really enjoy it.

I made so many trips to Home Depot, I felt like Norm entering Cheers.

I did learn one thing. Jesus was a carpenter, but Lucifer was most certainly a plumber, or at least the designer of plumbing parts and fittings.

Enough rambling for now, I have to go find my happy place.

So, no pics?

All I can say is I hope she is happy.

Glad its done for you. Kitchens are a focal point in houses so they have to look good.

Just think the bathrooms next.

I can feel you pain on home projects. Remodel of a bathroom I did only means 14 trips to the supply store for the one more item needed. You are correct that Lucifer was a plumber. Buying a sink and cabinet and adding the faucet was practically a Houdini trick to make the connections while crawling into confined space.

On the plus side most of my projects involve new tools that make other projects easier.

Well this summer started last summer with “”We” need a second bathroom” in our house in Michigan that we only spend a few months in the summer at. There’s 5 of us and 3 of us are teenagers, so I’ll admit another bathroom would be nice, but not really a need.

Long story short, there’s now a second bathroom, third bedroom (for the daughter), new kitchen with a great view of the lake, and remodeled original bathroom. Naturally, since we spend a limited amount of time here, we hired a contractor to do the work over the winter and spring with the assurance everything would be finished by Memorial Day. I didn’t realize Memorial Day was the middle of July in Michigan. It’s done as of yesterday.

Now, apparently, all of the furniture "needs” replacing.

My Dad and I laugh at our HVAC guy who we also go hunting with, his wife wanted a new closet.

That project ended about a year later with half the house torn down and rebuilt along with a huge addition.

Happy wife, happy life…right?

What, no pot filler?

I feel your pain, Dr. Dan.
We are rebuilding exactly 1/2 of our house due to a flood in May of 2022.
When I say “1/2”, I mean from the four foot mark and below. House wide.
Menard’s is my store of choice. Four trips in one day is my record. So far.
The kitchen is nice.

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:
I did learn one thing. Jesus was a carpenter, but Lucifer was most certainly a plumber, or at least the designer of plumbing parts and fittings.

That's the absolute truth! How many different types of threads does one seriously need? Also, some of the mechanisms involved seem to be stuck on the plans that came over on the Mayflower.

God bless, brother!

You are a brave man for tackling that project.

Well written as well. I think it's an entirely new genre. We will call it the "Victory Rant."

Been there! I did 2 large remodels on my house in 09 and 11, and it was an education.

Oh the memories!

Wanted a bathroom in the basement but our basement was below the sewer line.


Somebody thought it would be a good idea to just cut the floor joists out to get the chimney to fit.


Quasi pre stress floor that had to be replaced because of water damage over the years.




Had 7" inches of rain the night before the garage floor tear out. Had to use a bobcat to get into the back yard to remove the old garage floor.



Tearing out kitchen cabinets and 4 layers of flooring!


Gutted the entire insides including drywall and old insulation.




Post some pictures of your project!

quote:

Originally posted by xantom:
Been there! I did 2 large remodels on my house in 09 and 11, and it was an education.

Oh the memories!

Wow! Those projects were muuuuuch bigger than mine!

quote:

Post some pictures of your project!

The only pictures I took were of details of the existing construction that I needed to remember so that I could put back things the way they were.

quote:

Quasi pre stress floor that had to be replaced because of water damage over the years.

Holy crap, how did you reinstall that floor, it must have been a heck of a project for just that!

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:
I have to go find my happy place.

I hope you find it, and that it is stocked with fine adult beverages! You've earned it.

quote:

Holy crap, how did you reinstall that floor, it must have been a heck of a project for just that!

It was originally poured in the mid 60's. You can see in the picture above where water had worked it's way to the rebar and rusted through. There was a fairly large blow out in the room below so I decided to knock it all out and have it replaced. The rear wall was also moving in. Looked to have moved inside about an inch. Instead of ripping the driveway out and redoing all that, we poured a footing and put new 10" block wall in front of the old one.







We used put 2x4 walls and then laid 2 layers of 5/8" plywood down and then put poly over that.







We used a pump truck to get the concrete over the house into the backyard. We poured the back patio and stairs, the garage floor, and put a new front lip on the driveway that day.















I waited 2 weeks if I remember right before using it. I pulled all the 2 x 4's and plywood out and then used most of that to frame and sheet the walls. It's my wood/metal shop now.





Can't believe that was 12 years ago now, seems like yesterday.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xantom,

quote:

Originally posted by DrDan:
It started with the spousal unit saying, "Honey, we need to replace the kitchen counter." Of course, she actually meant "I" needed to replace the kitchen counter. Recognizing an exceedingly high risk of mission creep, and absolute surety that it would be a mess, I objected. She retorted, "You are so good at these sort of projects." A manipulative phrase every husband surely knows. Nevertheless, the Family Command Authority (FCA) issued its orders oblivious to the recommendations of the poor schmuck that actually had to complete the mission.

What was your budget and what did it actually come out to?

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

What was your budget and what did it actually come out to?

We didn't set a budget. The total we spent came to around $2200. That did include a few tools that, technically, I didn't need, but as Rahm Imanuel said, "never waste a good crisis." The materials were probably $2K: $1600 in direct counter top and fixtures, the rest in incidentals like plumbing and electrical parts, drywall, mud, paint, sacrificial 5/8" sheet of particle board, etc.

Remodeling is really a pain, and very expensive, but it is both less painful and cheaper than a divorce!

In July 2021 our full bath flooded due to a burst pipe.

We had to go to a hotel 7 miles away to shower, since that was the only full bath in the house.

It took until November 2022 to be able to move back into the house and live in it again.

It would take 300 pages to tell you everything that happened in this epic adventure.

Needless to say, I hope I never have to go through it again.