Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Kitchen Range Hood

Yes, we still have snow here. Snow and mud. You know, they say New England has four seasons - Humidity, Leaves, Snow, and Mud. A lot of this snow has melted off over the last few days since this picture was taken, but some of it will stick around until May. The last snow to melt last year was in May, and it was the stretch of ground just North of the stone wall in the house site. It gets no sun now, and very little even in late spring.
Well, the girls were gone to book club one night, and the boys had the dining room to themselves again. This room has become quite the multi-purpose room. It is totally opposite of our current garage space - this room is flat, dry, warm, and well-lit.
So we put the trailer together in the dining room. Doesn't everybody? You know, when we put this together last week, we had a really good reason for a trailer. We needed one. Like, STAT. But now? I can barely remember what the hurry was all about... But one day we'll haul stuff. While we pay strict attention to the weight limit. Until then, you can add this to the list of things the girls roll their eyes at with endearment.
The boys enjoyed wrenching, also. Benson did, at least. I'm not quite sure what Elis is up to.
Piper joined the family this week. Mindy had been looking for awhile, and she would show us lots of dogs of varying breeds. As usual, it takes four people a long time to reach consensus, but we're all really happy with our choice. She is an Airedale Terrier, about 9 months old. We have been pleasantly surprised at how mellow she is - we were a bit worried about her level of puppyness. She runs and plays with the boys, and likes to sleep next to Chris and Karen's bed.
Karen and the boys took a walk to the brook yesterday.
One of Karen's photos from yesterday. Most of the brook is quite flat on our property. It makes it fun for the kayak, but the fast-flowing whitewater at the edge of our land is pretty neat, too.We installed the ductwork for the kitchen range hood this week. The duct from the hood is 8", and goes directly out through the wall. We used an 8" 90 degree elbow, then an 8" - 6" reducer, and the outside vent is 6".
We measured, traced, and cut from the inside first. First the drywall, then the sheathing boards, then through the 4" of insulation. Once the ducting was dry fit into place, we marked and drilled a small hole at the center. The outside wall was cut with the jigsaw at about 6 1/2". Just enough to fit the duct. We used limited-expansion spray foam to seal the airspace left around the ductwork, caulked around the outside vent, then nailed and foil-taped everything into place.
Piper was well-tuckered out after running around with the boys most of the afternoon. She is accustomed to apartment life, where she was walked once a day.
The ducting is finished at this point, and we moved onto the backsplash for the stove. Now that the wall is painted, it seems time to make things official.
Backsplash in place, and the duct cover for the hood re-installed. We still need to buy a telescopic duct cover extension for the range hood, because this one was built for a flat ceiling and doesn't extend all the way up to the pitched ceiling.

Monday, March 16, 2009

The Kitchen Color

Yep. I'm a week or so late. We have had sun, though! And warmth! At least relative warmth. A few days cleared 50, and even one day hit 62 or so. Beautiful pre-spring weather for our neck of the woods.

We brought some more sheathing boards inside to dry for awhile. Once they have released a bit of moisture, we will use them up on some walls in the basement and some windowsills in the main levels. Note the wide open windows. :)
Andy has done a lot of work downstairs in the master bathroom. Drywall and more drywall, with some custom framing for a shower bench thrown in for good measure.
There is a tub to Andy's right and a shower to his left. The hardiebacker board he is putting in now is much more sturdy than even moisture-resistant drywall. This entire area will be tiled somehow - not quite sure on patterns, textures or materials quite yet.
The door to the utility room is hung now, though with the gaps all around it, the door doesn't actually hide much. The gaps in the wall will be filled in with sheathing or drywall at some point, but living areas are the focus for now.
The wall in Chris and Karen's bedroom is nearly ready for paint. A few more minutes of sanding, and everything will be all set. Then it's a simple matter of balancing precariously on a ladder perched on top of a table. Simple. Really.
The framing for the bench in Andy and Mindy's shower. I don't have a more current picture, but this entire area has been walled in at this point.
Karen likes to multi-task. Also, she is The Karen. Kind of like The Donald, but without the billions of dollars. The kitchen wall is one shade darker than the dining room wall, but the difference is more subtle than we expected.
It's not easy being green. After all the colors we went through before we made our choice, we find it very interesting that we ended up with green - a house in the brown and green woods, and we paint it brown and green. Not really camoflauge, but it's a nice way to feel connected.
Chris and Karen's bathroom is painted also. Green! More of an olive green, however, and a very different color than the kitchen and dining rooms.
Does anybody else have a tape shelf?
Drywall work in Andy and Mindy's bathroom. You'd think a 4x8 sheet would go up pretty quickly, but there is always so much fiddling to do.
Putting some hardiebacker on the bench. The supply lines and drain in the foreground will be for the sink.
The view from the bathroom into the rest of Andy and Mindy's bedroom.
We finally got around to some work on the generator. A bearing had worn out sometime last fall, and while it is still under warranty, we just had the company send us the part so we could replace it ourselves. When you don't have a shop yet, a dining room table can make a pretty decent impromptu work area.
The Southeast corner of Andy and Mindy's bedroom is framed in now, and some small bits of drywall have been added between the floor joists to bring the surface right to the ceiling.
The cherry plywood that we used for the kitchen windowsills has a beautiful grain. We used a tung oil and urethane mix to seal it. This finish is non-toxic once dry, and is just as hard as polyurethane. Plus, it's pretty. When we're done with the kitchen, all the wood will look like this.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Kitchen Door Frame

Mindy had a good time making this wall look great. This might be the first view of the finished chandelier in the dining room. The glass from the first light was broken, and this replacement piece took a long time to arrive. We all grew accustomed to three bare bulbs, but this new "finished" look is growing on us, too.
Chris and Andy finished the drywall in the kitchen and installed some of the cherry framing around the door and window. Andy spackled it in the afternoon, and we should have paint up there pretty soon. There is just one more piece to do in the kitchen now - the spot where the range hood will vent through the wall. We need to buy the vent kit and put that in before we add the drywall.
A different angle, showing the afternoon light and the window frames. The window sill is 9 1/2", and will grow by 3/4" when the trim is added to the perimeter. Plenty deep for some pretty plants or whatever somebody decides is appropriate for window sills.
New shirts for the boys on Sunday morning.
Next year's warmth.
This picture was on the camera when I pulled the latest pictures off of it, but I'm not sure who to credit for it. In any case, I think it's a great view of the ridge next to the house. The house is about 100' to the left of this angle, and the BBQ area is directly behind the photographer. The fog and snow really make it feel like spring, but we've had another foot of snow since this picture is taken, and we're beginning to think that snow may stick around for a long time yet.