February 19th - Limited Hours, Limited progress
We had bought new appliances from Home Depot, thanks to their latest "no payments for six months" promotion. The delivery service called at 8:00AM to say they were on the way. I sped over to the condo to meet them and let them do their thing. Fifteen minutes and a $20 tip later, the living room had new appliances. Now, I just need to get them installed!
I couldn't stay to play, as the kids had some ball games and activities. Later that day, I came back to work on the kitchen. As I prepared to prime the kitchen cabinets, I noticed that the main base unit had a rotten lower shelf, most likely due to a leak from the sink above it.
I wasn't in the mood to deal with it, so I decided to make a trip to Lowe's and Home Depot to see how much all new cabinets would set me back. After a visit to each place and pricing the in-stock units (Yikes!) I decided to settle down and fix what I had. Home Depot sold sheets of plywood with a primed MDO (Medium Density Overlay) surface for about $30. With a sheet, some 1x3 nailing strips and drywall screws, I rebuilt the base.
The other base unit just needed a good cleaning to get it ready for the primer coat.
Hey, did you notice the nice hardwood floors in the pictures above??? If you remember, the carpet was to be installed on the 17th. Unfortunately, the installer had to reschedule. Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about spilling paint on new carpet.
I spent the rest of the afternoon priming both the base and wall cabinets with Kilz.
February 20th - one step forward..
After letting the primer dry overnight (although it only needed a few hours), I started rolling out the first color coat of paint on the cabinets. I use oil-based full gloss paint for stuff like this, as it provides the most durable and stain-resistant finish. Oil-based paint goes on different than laytex - it must be put on really thing when working on vertical surfaces, or it will sag during the long dry time. Careful as I was, I got a few runs. :( Overall, it looks pretty good.
If you look closely in the picture above, you might be able to tell that I only painted the faces of the cabinets. I plan on putting two coats on the outside, and one on the inside of all the units. I'm saving the chore of painting the inside for next time.
In the bathroom, I worked on installing the vanity/sink combination. First, I measured and installed the base trim. Since the vanity I purchased did not have clearance for base trim behind it, I filled the gap between drywall and tile with more Great Stuff.
With the vanity secured to the studs with drywall screws, I installed the faucet, pop-up drain and supply hoses on the sink. Easier to do it from above now, versus from underneath later on!!
Next, a bead of silicone caulk is run across the top of the vanity base. The caulk is what secures the sink to the base.
The sink is simply placed on top while gravity and time work their magic with the silicone. It's tempting to hook everything up now, but I don't want to knock the sink out of kilter. I'll wait until next week to finish up.
Well, that's the end of another update. Come back next week to see updates on the progress!