Day 73: Bye Bye Crappy Kitchen

I had a flex day on Friday so decided this was to be the weekend that I would demo the rest of the kitchen and lay the tile. I was on nephew duty all day Sunday (starting at 6:00 am), so I decided early on that I wasn’t going to be laying any tiles this weekend. Besides, I was so thoroughly exhausted after Friday that I wouldn’t have had the energy to lay tiles this weekend.

I got started about 11 am on Friday and began by disconnecting the sink. The hot water supply wouldn’t completely shut off, so I had to place a bucket beneath it. I worked around the slow drip and it wasn’t long before the sink was out, the countertop off, and the base cabinets a massive pile in the middle of my kitchen.



Upon removing one section of the base cabinets I was greeted by the most hideous carpeting. Not only was it brown with a crappy “floral” pattern, I couldn’t see how it ever matched the green and gold striped wallpaper or the bright orange countertops! That must have been one butt ugly kitchen. And to think a developer would install carpeting in rental unit kitchens!



After some super tasty food from the Noodle Box, I was ready to tackle the next step – break the pieces apart, remove any screws, and start taking it downstairs to my car. I forgot I owned a power screwdriver so after removing several dozen screws, I plugged it in, put the remaining pieces aside and took up the last of the green peel and stick flooring. I have nothing against peel and stick flooring, but after a decade or so, it wears out and if it is an ugly pattern, there is just nothing positive I can say about the stuff in my place.

I filled my car with about 2/3 of the pile of junk and headed to Ellice Recycle Ltd (David St near Bay Street Bridge). It was about 4:30 so to avoid the bridge traffic, I headed down Hillside to Gorge St. Some bonehead was trying to turn left onto David St despite signs saying not to at that time of day. But when I approached David Street I saw an opening and decided to turn left…right into the open arms of the law! Curses. The cars behind me followed like lemmings and we all got pulled over. While explaining to the others why they were pulled over, I got my license and registration ready. The cop approached and I handed him my stuff at which point he jokingly told me they didn’t take Master Card. I wasn’t the least bit worried/scared/panicked, so I laughed and swapped it for my DL. Meanwhile, he hollered over to the Chief and told him that I was trying to bribe him with money. I tried to explain to the cop that I was a very good driver, had never gotten a ticket, and that I was actually doing traffic a service by making room for all the people behind me who were backed up because of that bonehead woman who was trying to turn left. He didn’t buy it, but we both got a good laugh out of it. He finished writing up the $120 ticket, said it was nice to meet me, and sent me on my way.

With 5 minutes to spare, I was happily unloading the crap…flinging pieces with gusto as I bade farewell to my crappy kitchen. I returned home and loaded up the last third. It was about 6 times as heavy though thanks to all that peel and stick flooring. The next day I took it to the dump but it was so heavy I didn’t fling it with nearly as much enthusiasm.

Since I wasn’t going to tile this weekend, and the waterproofing membrane only needs 24 hours to set, I decided to paint the walls while the kitchen was clear. It is very liberating to haul out the paint roller and just start painting without having to tape or cover up the flooring.

Next steps: Install waterproofing membrane and then the tiles.