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Yes, that was fun. A DIY demo for the guest kitchen was organized on a random morning recently, and Brian and I enlisted the help of my brother, Ken, who was born “(my parents will agree). I had never done anything like this before and I honestly thought I would take it easy (I’m strong! I like to get my hands dirty!), which may not be as true as I think. So here’s how it went, how much it cost, how long it took, and what exactly we sacrificed.
“The Kitchen”
The kitchen was a little girly and in a very vintage condition. Everything had to go, and only floating strokes were used.
This island was actually not available and it was very easy to just throw a dumpster, but the cabinets were strong, heavy wood, and very heavy. If they weren’t covered in lead, they would make good wood. I don’t know why there were two sinks, both were very heavy and in bad shape.
During the DIY Demo:
Turns out I’m more domesticated than domesticated. I didn’t rely on slinging the sledgehammer for the number of forces needed to do the job. I was hesitant, probably because I like kinda clumsy. I am the type of person who picks up a piece of furniture without specifying the method or making sure it will fit where I intend to go. In other words, I can be kila burnulless and not very careful, so I’m afraid that if I really did it, it would be behind and bad, Brian or Ken.
Under the stairs
This area under the stairs contained a vintage hot-burning stove, cabinet, and tall hot water heater. Thank God for Ken and Brian – these things were tough and we needed big muscles.
During the DIY Demo:
Now that it’s empty, I can put in the kitchen in the right proportions. I’m playing around in spoke (a design program meant to be intuitive but powerful for people like me who don’t know autocad or sketchUp). I’ll show you what I’m working on soon – so much fun.
room to “put them in”
Previously:
This room had all aluminum cabinets from the 40s or 50s, not in the best condition. It was actually much easier to remove and lighter. Really big room with high ceiling and walls/ceiling that needs renovation (and done well).
During the DIY Demo:
We were able to get the cabinets out, and Ken or Brian could carry them – very strong men, these two. This was much easier to remove than the wooden cabinets in the other room, which were sturdy.
“The Garden Room”
This room really just needs its old floor to come out so we can start a new one – either with a flat floor or with a poured slab (depends on mocking you for plumbing reasons). More on that later. Now this part was really tough for Brian (it was too dangerous for both of us to do it – he had to fill the full 10 feet of this man. This took him a very long time, maybe two hours here.
Here’s how it all went down:
We rented a 30 yard dumpster – we thought 20 would be enough, but we have to be more strategic in how we put things because we can stick above the edges. He was right – 30 was perfect. It costs $950 + Pickup/delivery, which I think is around $1,200. They dropped it on Thursday and picked it up next week.
We were done with most of the demo in 3 hours. Ken had left in the afternoon, and Brian stayed to finish the floor, which took a long time.
I wasn’t nearly as helpful as I thought I would be. I really push things into the dumpster because I didn’t like to turn what was left as much as I thought I would. I couldn’t count on not hitting something that could have gone across the room and hurt someone. I am naturally more inclined to take care of something than to use my destructive powers to destroy it. I really enjoyed that Ken and Brian really flourished in using their energy to bring this house out – they took all kinds 🙂
Now, this demo work was easy because it didn’t need to open the walls – there is no old drywall that creates a big removal or installation. The walls are written and very good (they don’t remove) or they are already open. We’ve already removed the asbestos (except for the knob and tube wiring), so it was just some cabinets.
Wait, so you don’t open the walls at all???
If you’re already wondering how we’re going to install plumbing and electrical without opening the walls, that’s a great question. My hope is that unless the electrician is willing to turn off some of the panels and the cable for that matter, we will probably try to feed the electricity using the exposed possibilities. The UK has many excellent options for the Brass system that goes outside the wall (they have a lot of stone / plaster / brickwork, they don’t want to shout). So I looked up what is legal to use here (I found Jim Lawrence and the workshop below). We can hide the pipes as easily as we only keep them in the corner of the kitchen of the house, or feed under the house to the new bathroom. But lighting and places in stores will be more, which is an interesting challenge to solve. I’m looking at a bronze wedding or a painting, but I’d love any suggestions. Is there an American company that makes good plans? I know I can buy parts from UK companies, but their plugs and light switches are obviously not compatible with our systems, so not sure I’ll do them.
What about heat and AC?
For heating/cooling, we don’t change the extraction system. We are doing a mini mini drop (have one in our gym and we love it and we are happy that I can handle measuring each room.
Next steps?
Well, I’m preparing the foundation for the preparation set in early December, about 5-7 days of work (they announced the foundations first, they have started so, they are far away). You can do simple repairs without a permit or engineering, so that’s what they do. I’m still figuring out what permits we need (or if individual sponsors will pull them). It’s not my strength, but I have a lot of designs to show that I’m really, really happy. I’m pretty intimidated by the permitting process – I jumped at an hourly 15 minute consultation with the city where I felt like I was in trouble the whole time but I think it’s their job that they won’t use this as an untenanted adu but actually we’re not! I personally enjoyed it and because this is such a community project, we don’t do anything that can’t be considered 100% above the Board. I’m also not pressured about everything, which is lovely (again, because there’s no rush to be found).
* Beautiful photos by Kaitlin Green
