Ready for Normal

Phase two is supposed to start tomorrow, so I have to get a few things ready for my cabinet maker. The first thing that I’ve requested to have done is to put the dismantled bookcase back in place, so that the mountain of books in my living room have a home and that I can get into one of my closets. During Memorial Day weekend when I re-finished the vintage cabinet, I had put all the dishes, glasses, pots and pans, etc. in this bookcase temporarily, now it was time to clean up the shelves, dust off the pieces, and put them back, no small task for a distance of six feet.

I also attempted to remove the blue painters’ tape from the cabinet which protected the edges during painting, but that started to take up more time than I wanted to give. Practically brain surgery, as it was not an easy lift off because the paint formed a seal over the tape, I had to use an x-acto blade to slice the latex paint, and then tweezers to remove any small bits of tape that was stuck on. Not a good use of my time at the moment, I still had to vacuum, move more crap around, and change the outlet plate. Being normal, being functional, was right around the corner.

Phase One Complete

Believe it or not, I think I’m done with the first part of the renovation! It only took how long? Three months? Not that I’m griping, it’s done and it’s done nicely. No fear of blowing out all my fuses, no ugly wires hanging out all over the place, no game of twister to be played with plugs and outlets. And I have a brand new, shiny floor!

It didn’t occur to me that I’d have to make a decision on grout for the newly tiled floor. Luckily, my architect did in a split second. Black grout - it will minimize any flaws in the placement of the tiles, as opposed to white or grey. It made all the difference in the world. The tiles look perfectly symmetrical and even, and it tamps down the excess shine of the glazed ceramic. I love it.

Phase two - cabinet installation - should be much more expedient. It’s supposed to take a week, but where have I heard that before? At least my apartment will be returning to a somewhat normal state with more space to move and my possessions back to their normal places. As a friend said when he came by this weekend, “How can you live like this?”

Mea Culpa

Good friends keep you honest and call you on your bullshit. When your good friend is your architect, there is no escaping forgotten details. In the flurry of this renovation, and the messiness of life in general, I have failed to deal with a few things that we’ve discussed. Like getting a slab of corian on the wall next to the cooktop for resilience and heat resistance. Once my cabinet maker told me that it would probably cost $500, I sort of forgot about it, swept it under the rug. At the same time, I was waffling over the un-broom closet - which said piece would be attached, another spot of denial. Now it’s all coming together and I’m reminded - or prodded, or shamed - to deal with it.

He also wonders why I oiled the old cabinet instead of using beeswax, as he suggested. Honestly, I didn’t know how. My internet searches yielded making your own beeswax by melting a chunk with linseed oil, I really didn’t want to do that. Was Butcher’s Wax an appropriate substitute? Don’t know. So I asked my cabinet maker who knows wood and went with his suggestion. Maybe I can use a wax on top of the oil, I’ll have to find out.

Another friend, who reminded me to get my sink basket - not a terrible hardware store one, but a Kohler - has said that renovations will test you and push you to your limits. This test has unfortunately shown me that I can be negligent when I don’t want to deal. Whether it’s the devil or god in the details, it should be addressed, not ignored. Or they’ll have to answer to my architect.

As If Nothing Happened

Remarkably, a coat of paint covers up the fresh wounds of the recent “surgery” on my apartment. One would never know that the walls have been dug out, embedded with wire, and filled with concrete. I’ve been getting used to seeing my place as sadly patched up and scarred, now it’s shell as good as new. All it needs is a floor and a kitchen.

Operation: Productive

Faced with the prospect of three days at home, it was time to get cracking on the apartment. There was an endless amount work to be done, I didn’t know where and what to begin on. Friday night, I needed a sense of accomplishment so I sanded and painted the patch in my closet so that I could put back all the contents that normally live there. I even put away all the shoes that had formerly littered the floor in a feat of orderliness. Very satisfying for very little time and very little work.

Saturday was spent working on that old cabinet. Hammer, chisel, and metal spatula in hand, I chipped away at the old joint compound around the cabinet. The right tools really mad a difference, even for getting at where the crown meets, a bit of a horror show as with every dig to get the gunk out yielded the black corpses of cock roaches past. Because of the gap between the crown and the cab, I needed wood filler. Looking like the Amy Winehouse of the neighborhood - hair in a lumpy disarray, white crustiness around my nose from sanding, and the dazed look of breathing fresh air - I stocked up at the hardware store so that I could be prepared to work for the next 48 hours.

I learned with the wood filler, one needs a gentle hand, and the other is to hold a damp sponge to wipe up any excess messiness. I say this after sanding my little heart out to make my fill line less visible, after having slopped the gook on. For the first pass, I let it harden for the prescribed 30 minutes, but it was still soft, so for the next time around, I let it set overnight while I did my laundry, called my mother, moved the dishes out of the cabinet, and took out the garbage and recycling.

Sunday was for finally sealing the cabinet in Watco oil, as recommended by my cabinet maker. I’ve been a little afraid of using Watco oil since it can spontaneously combust. I found a how-to video on wooditis.blogspot.com, and I was put at ease, if not downright excited. The reason why Watco can spontaneously combust is because it gives off heat, hence the proper disposal of rags - soaked in cold water and tossed far from my abode. Using an old sock, I rubbed the oil on the cabinet, which soaked it up beautifully, but it made apparent any light wood filler and film of old varnish that I failed to get, specifically the crown. This contrast emphasized by the Watco, reminded me that I didn’t do that good of a job of stripping. Oh well. I applied a few more coats, wiped the excess off with the other sock, and let it sit while I went to a barbecue.

The next morning, I sanded all the pale spots with the various sandpapers and aluminum oxide sponges that I had. I was worried that the vigourous rubbing of the sandpaper on the oil impregnated wood would be like striking a match - there was heat, but no combustion. The spots sanded off well without creating any bald spots like chipped nail polish, since the oil gets into the wood. I like Watco oil.

The rest of Monday was spent taping up the cabinet to prepare it for joint compound and paint, sanding and wet sanding the joint compound, and covering my stuff in plastic for when they paint tomorrow. It’s still a mess and doesn’t look all that different than it did on Friday, but I know what’s been done in three days, and that’s more than I’ve done in the past three months.

Getting Close

Could the end be near? The electricity is hooked up, the gaps are filled and the outlets are in place. It’s down to the paint and tiles before the cabinets can be installed. Given the upcoming three day holiday, maybe I can paint it myself. Nah.

I hope it’s almost done, because my apartment is a disaster. The kitchen is in the living area, as are the new cabinets, most of my books, and now half the contents of my coat closet. I can’t wait to put everything away and dust, as there is a fine layer of cement dust and sawdust everywhere. A matter of days, hopefully, not weeks.

OMG, part 2

I didn’t know what to expect when I got home after midnight last night. Given the complications of the bookcase, I would have bet on an untouched apartment. Such was not the case. The bookcase was moved, pryed off it’s base, which was held together by silicon, not nails. The crevices from yesterday were filled with wiring and cement. And new chasms were made for more BX cable. True, crazy, mad progress.

The biggest shock was having to bust into my coat closet. There’s a deadbolt on there, and they locked it to keep the door closed and dust free. Somehow, I couldn’t unlock it, so I had to unscrew it off in order to get in. Out pours a small avalanche of dust, gravel, plaster, gypsum block, everything that was in the wall, broken through from the other side. Surprise.

OMG

The tomorrow of two weeks ago is finally today - they’ve started to rip through the walls to lay down the new circuit wires. The gashes in the walls are almost like abstract expressionist installation pieces - organic in its undulations, violent in execution, intriguing to look at. Almost precarious is the hollowed area where the plumbing is, a cavity of concrete and chicken wire. It would have almost been finished today if it wasn’t for the bookcase, it’s still fixed to the wall, even though I’ve loosened the screws from where it’s attached. Another phone call, another bump in the road.

It’s Like Christmas

Except that I am my own Santa Claus.  All these new fancy boxes are presents for me and me alone.  The oven came first this morning via Urban Express.  Then my cabinetmaker made his delivery while I was at work, coming home to more surprises.  So far I’m loving it, as I peek into the doors and drawers.  I’m particularly smitten with my corner carousel, practical and so accessible.  I’m excited as I lay my arms on the top of the counter height cabinet, checking the ergonomics, pretending to cook.

I thought that I’d be living in a cabinet canyon until installation, but there’s an okay amount of room to move.  Certain passageways are narrow (to the right of the table), and some access is completely blocked (the pantry/bookshelves), but it’s not as invasive as I thought it would be.  There is more to come - the bookcases, the un-broom closet, the peninsula - but that won’t fit in the apartment until the rudimentary kitchen work is done.  Whenever that will be.

A Plan of Action

Nothing’s been done since my electrical epiphany, but I am on a course of improvement.  The book case is only attached to the wall by way of two screws on the top shelf, not difficult, certainly not as hard as the paper towel holder.  It was only a matter of moving all the books and  unscrewing it.  I couldn’t move it because it is so massive, but I am relieved to know that it won’t fall apart like my Ikea Expedit when I tried to move it.

I’ve decided to get the Ikea oven after all.  For $1300 more, I couldn’t really justify DeLonghi being that much better of a brand, a company that specializes in toaster ovens and espresso makers.  And I actually think the Ikea is cuter.  AM Royal was disappointed in my cancellation, but were nice enough to try to find me an alternative, only a GE and a Frigidaire, and they were both unfortunate looking.  

In true Ikea ill-logic, I could order the oven over the phone and it would be delivered in 2-3 weeks; or I can trek to the store, order it there, and have it in 2-3 days.  It all has to do with the delivery warehouse centers.  One would think that it would come from the closest warehouse to delivery point - but that would make too much sense and not waste enough of one’s time.  I know what I’m doing this weekend.

The cabinets are ready, but the kitchen is not.  A majority of the work is supposed to be done today - rewiring and tiling - so installation next week is very possible.  I’ll believe it when I see it.