Day 16: Procrastination and Cats

I had grand intentions of sanding today, but I am not looking forward to it, so am slowly inching my way through the prep.

I'm a bit worried about the "bulge" on the diningroom wall. The previous owners didn't do a great job and I'm afraid my concealing efforts will not be enough to mask the ever growing bulge. My options: break open the bulge and fill with mud or new drywall on that entire wall. Either way, my kitchen can proceed.

So far, I've gone to three separate cabinet places...all of which were closed. I would have expected to see signs saying closed for entire weekend but no such luck. I was a bit annoyed as I made my way home and decided to take a nap. Once home though, I started sealing up the kitchen for the sanding.

I bought an industrial size box of plastic sheeting and began covering up doorways, blocking off a section of the dining room, and covering pieces of furniture I would prefer not to dust should my first layer of sheeting not work for some strange reason...hmmm...Evin....





As you can imagine, Evin was enthralled. He's pierced a few holes in some of the plastic (hence dual coverage), and got completely entangled in a wad of plastic I was about to mount from the ceiling.



I still feel that nap coming on, but I still need to cover all the appliances. Sigh...what a lot of work.

Day 13: Pass the Mud Please

If you ignore the drywall mud that landed on the floor, I have spread 2o kgs of drywall mud on my kitchen and dining room walls! Most of it is in the kitchen where all the crappy texture was. But the dining room wall has its fair share to conceal the bad plaster job the previous owners did when making the openings, and the fact that my drywall installation wasn't perfect.

I don't mind spreading on the mud now that I have figured out a system, and I probably won't try to order cabinets this weekend given it is a long weekend. So, each night, I leisurely spend up to 2 hours spreading mud on the walls. At this rate, the walls should be ready for a first sanding by the weekend. I'd like to get a second sanding done and a primer coat by the end of the weekend! Can you believe it? Probably not because my plans for the kitchen have been pretty schizophrenic.

Speaking of which, I'm back to installing wainscoting. I firmly believe the "craftsmanship" will go a long way to make my kitchen look great. It will go 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up the wall...whatever takes me to the bottom of the over-the-stove cabinet which I've determined is the best spot to stop so cupboard doors don't get hindered by the moulding. That means on the other end of the cabinets I need that wine rack cubby hole thingamagig.

I am really looking forward to having a nice looking kitchen. One that not only looks good because everything is hidden behind cabinet doors, or because the walls aren't covered in crap, but because I have things hanging on the walls. I didn't bother hanging some Italian pottery pieces I have because the walls were in such rough shape up until now. And I have a huge wall in my dining room to hang things on too! I had run out of spaces to hang art so I am totally stoked!

Day 11: Another Wee Change Of Plans...

I managed to get convinced that a new layer of drywall would be a better option than floor to ceiling wainscoting. This advice came from the realtor that helped me buy the place. He wanted to come by to see what I had done and give me some pointers, even though I had changed my mind about selling. While he liked the wall colours and the work in the bathroom, I got the distinct impression he wasn't a fan of "turn of the century" wainscoting. Normally I believe in maintaining the integrity of a building's design, but this condo is devoid of character and I am not into modern design. Plus, I freshen up the wainscoting look by using simple baseboards and trim, and a light and airy paint job.

Tonight I walked in to measure up for drywall when I decided to give the skim coat technique another try. Instead of using the big huge plaster putter onner, I went with a 3-4 inch putty knife. It was much easier to handle and I could really lay the stuff on thick. I even worked the mud until it was pretty stiff and easy to smooth out. It will take days to dry, but I can boast that I have plaster walls when I am done! Sanding the stuff is going to be a real b*&^% but since I have to do the same prep work to close off the kitchen for sanding, I may as well go all the way.

I still may put up waincoting but only 2/3 or 3/4 of the way up as is the style these days. Or maybe I will do a shaker style panelling which will require I do a good sanding job but will add the architectural detail I am after.

Needless to say, the cupboard ordering is on hold. Not until my walls are paint ready can I accurately measure the space for cupboards. I do know that my kitchen is now several millimeters smaller thanks to all the mud I put on today!

Days 2 - 6: Change of Plans

Well, my plans for the condo have changed significantly, and so too have my kitchen plans.

To start, the money I would need to fork over to afford another 1000+ sq foot 2-bed condo in town is about as much as my share of the exterior work required for this building. And any condo I buy would need all the work I will have just finished doing on this place. To top it off, it wouldn't be a 2-floor unit which is pretty unique. I am going to try to convince strata to put off the siding work as much as possible to see if we can outlast this construction boom. Surely downtown Victoria will run out of space for new buildings so that we can get our work done!

So, I am staying put. That means I can realize those plans I originally had for my kitchen. Despite losing the aggressive timeline imposed by hitting the late fall market, I am still planning on going ahead with my kitchen as soon as I can.

After a trip to Harbour City Kitchens (HCK), I learned that their cash and carry section is pitifully understocked, and there were no done up 'reject kitchens' that go for a rediculously affordable price of $2000 -- I guess there is a lot of construction going on. Who would have thought? So, I have about a 2-month wait from the day I order my cabinets.

I spent the week measuring and coming up with 1st choice, 2nd choice, and 3rd choice options for the cabinetry. I'll go in on Saturday to price out those options and hopefully settle on a new kitchen for no more than $3000. I wonder how realistic that budget is? If my budget is super tight (I don't think it is), I am going to have a hard time choosing between lots of drawers for the main kitchen or going simple there so I can also get a few more pieces to install above and next to my fridge which is currently all alone in a large empty corner. Anything not on the curent footprint, as well as lots of drawers are, I fear, nice to haves that I may never get.

My measurements took into consideration that I have decided to cover the walls with floor to ceiling tongue and groove waincoting...just like my bathroom. The walls are just going to take too much work to smooth out properly. If I am able to afford all the cabinets, there actually won't be that much wainscoting visible so I am not as reluctant to install so much of it. I priced out wainscoting and it went something like this:

• Finishing Store: non-pine boards that I can hand pick (read: no knots and no waste) = $800+
• Rona: pine bundles that I can't hand pick (read: lots of knots and ~10-20% waste) = $200+
• Home Depot: pine bundles that I can't hand pick (read: lots of knots and ~10-20% waste) = $260+

In addition to being the cheapest, Rona is Canadian and gives airmiles so I am stoked I won't have to succumb to the American Home Depot enterprise.

The walls and appliances will be/are white, so I don't want white cupboard doors too. The style of door I've settled on is like my bathroom (minus the cherry), is very affordable (will confirm on Sat), but doesn't have a very high-end finish. So, to spruce them up and add some colour I am going to look into getting them sprayed a light neutral colour.

In the meantime, I have finished installing the drywall over the large wall openings and have put up a very thick (read: messy) coat of drywall mud.

Stay tuned for the results of my visit to HCK.

Day 1: Dealing with the Walls

My kitchen walls were wallpapered and then covered with a fiber texture which is probably the most ugly thing I've seen because they painted it. It is not that different than when you spill paint on the carpet and it dries to a rough finish that is bad on so many levels. Imagine an entire kitchen covered in the stuff! I began to remove the paper and texture shortly after moving in but was thoroughly discouraged by the fact that it pulled off the drywall's paper finish so I now have a very paint unfriendly surface to deal with. What to do?

Originally I was going to get someone to replace all the drywall and install pocket doors while they were at it. But you try getting someone in to do the work. Then, I was going to cover up the ruined drywall with floor to ceiling wainscoting. But now, with an aggressive bee in my bonnet and a budgeted approach to this reno, I've decided to do a skim coat over top of the crappy fiber texture. It will take several coats and lots of sanding.

I've also got to patch up the large opening the previous owners created. My fridge is in front of one half of the opening, and I would like to put a large cabinet beside the fridge for more storage, so I don't need the poorly done cutouts in the wall. Fortunately I got a hold of some pieces of drywall so I don't have to deal with one large piece that I wouldn't be able to fit in my car let alone carry. I'd rather deal with an extra seam or two if it means no delivery trucks.

I ran out of 2x4's so could only put one piece up tonight. Besides, it was getting late.

I won't be able to work on my kitchen again until Sunday. I plan to mount the rest of the drywall and finish skim coating the rest of the walls minus the backsplash. I'll then do another skim coat during an evening this week and maybe even start sanding before next weekend. You saw it here...in print...lets see if my plans for the week are at all realistic.

I won't bother with skim coating the back splash as I plan to cover it up with tile or maybe even wainscoting. Besides, it is tough to get in there with the cabinets in place and I don't want to gut them until I absolutely have to.

I'd really like to cover the backsplash with wainscoting so it will tie in with my bathroom but it depends on the cupboard doors I get. I already have the kitchen version of my bathroom faucet and I will likely use the same pattern for the countertops that I did in the bathroom. I may even get the same floor tile, but will have to see how my energy goes.

OK, time for bed.

Moving on...

Well, I've finally decided it is time to get my condo ready to sell. I had been planning to do things leisurely and with extra attention to detail. Instead, I've got to keep it simple. My goal is to have it ready for sale in the new year at the latest. Though, I could wait until spring if it means getting more money.

My plans for the kitchen:

• Fix walls in kitchen instead of new drywall and pocket doors
• Replace all cupboards and counters
• Put up new light fixture instead of pot lights
• New sink and dishwasher
• New floor: lino or tile
• Backsplash...not sure what material yet

My plans for the rest of the place:

• New closet doors (x5!) -- likely bifold instead of actual doors as I had originally planned
• New flooring upstairs and on stairs. Not sure about first floor.
• Finish the grouting in the bathroom

That is a lot of projects and I am suddenly overwhelmed by it all. But, I am starting in the kitchen where all the messy projects are.

Stay tuned...

Emma Came Home!

After 9 long days, Emma came home. A miracle my Mom exclaimed.

I was sitting on my parent's porch enjoying my dinner when I heard a cat meowing. I immediately recognized the meow and said "That's Emma!". I ran down the stairs to meet her where she was just emerging from beneath a bush. I scooped her up and took her inside. I put her in my parents dining room with food, treats, and water and closed the door so she could eat in peace. After she was done, my sister took a closer look at her and noticed her eye was leaking. That is pretty normal, but one eye was infected. She had obviously lost weight, and her white paws were dirty, but otherwise she looked unharmed. We cleaned up her eye and I started brushing her. She walked away, but then I realized she was headed to her favourite brushing spot -- the ledge behind the kitchen. But, she missed the jump and that is when I knew she needed to be checked out.

It took no convincing that she needed to go to the vet but I would have paid the bill myself had there been. And there wasn't a frying pan in sight. In fact, I think my Dad was pretty pleased to see her alive. I took her out to the car so we could go to the Animal Hospital. She didn't want to go in the car, so fought back a bit -- a good sign. But, once in the car, she settled on the passenger seat. At that point, it sunk in and I began to cry. Partly out of relief for her coming home, and partly out of sadness for her having to go through this ordeal.

We got to the Animal Hospital and we checked her in. I was still a mess, but the vet techs were great. We had to sit in the waiting area but Emma didn't mind. I like to think she felt safe and knew she was in good hands. So, she calmly rested on the fleece blanket in my lap until it was time to go into an examining room. This despite a dog or two coming around. Once in the room, another several minutes passed, but she was fine to rest in the blanket on the examining table. At that time, I noticed how dirty she was. My hands were filthy from petting her. It looked like dust from a garage, so my guess is she got stuck in a garage or shed. The alternative was under a bush recuperating from being hit by a car or beat up by kids. But she would have smelled like earth and had more plant debris stuck in her fuzzy medium length fur.

The vet took a good look at her and determined she was dehydrated. He didn't think she could consume enough fluids herself to recover properly, so recommended she stay for 24-48 hours so she could get IV fluids and blood work done. He thought an x-ray would be helpful, but would leave that as an option if the fluids weren't helping or the blood work looked suspicious. I didn't like the idea of an x-ray because she would have to be sedated and the last time she was sedated she awoke with seizures.

So I paid the $690 deposit (ouch) and left her there for treatment. Mom was fine with the quote though commented how much prices had gone up since her car accident 10 years ago.

I've been dehydrated before (flu) so I know the amazing recuperative effects that fluids can have. I expect that she will look like a new kitty today. I hope to visit this afternoon.

I still can't believe she made it back in as good a condition as she was. At 15 years of age (tack on a few more years from her past injuries), you have to agree she is one tough kitty.

I didn't sleep all that well as I couldn't help but think about Emma. There were a few things that made her coming home yesterday significant. For starters, her mom (my sister Kim) was in town. Secondly, it was a blue moon yesterday. Finally, and this one is a bit of a stretch and requires that I be much more spiritual than I am -- the spirit of my brother's cat, also named Emma and was put down on Friday, helped bring this Emma home.

Regardless, we are all glad Emma is home and suspect she just used up her 8th life. Pretty good for a 15 year old (80 in people years).