I just destroyed my kitchen.
Well ...how does that song go again? You know the one that goes: "Oops I did it again". Well, guess what? I did it again. Allegedly there's a lot of evidence pointing to this not being the "first time".
You might remember an earlier post where I shared photos of our kitchen? Well ...it doesn't look like this anymore.
It looks like this now.
I've been putting off getting a new stove for over a year. It's a big decision when you spend so much time using it. I wanted the perfect one. I decided to keep using the one we had until we found the perfect model. Well, the one we had was a bit "sketchy" and it decided to die last week.
Forced into action, I decided to order the one that best matched our criteria. Its a 100% off grid model which is great for us. It's also big! 6" bigger than the existing stove. The kitchen is a simple design, nothing fancy and I was sure we could just "slide those cabinets over in a jiffy". So I ordered a 36" stove!
The cabinets did not "slide right over". :(
In fact, they were built in a manner that required the entire cabinet to be disassembled bit by bit. No amount of reefing, pulling or prying made these cabinets budge. When We got down to the very last board, it became obvious why. FIVE massive nails were used to anchor the base to the wall. We don't get earth quakes here. We don't even get earth burps. A single screw would have been overkill.
The base was anchored to the log home walls and then the cabinet was built layer by layer on top of the base, making it impossible to remove.
Let's just say that the carpentry was not done with love and pride. It was done with a kazillion huge nails, various screws and a staple gun. Dismantling this cabinet was exhausting.
So, basically they built the cabinets and laid the flooring after. The cabinets being "immovable" they just laid the floor around them. To deal with the floor being too low where the stove goes ...they laid cement ontop of the concrete slab. So now there's this hunk of cement to deal with as well. Sorry this photo looks so gross.
I am having buyers remorse ++. My husband is reminding me that this is "what I do". What he means is that I create chaos. Which is true. I then fix the chaos and make things better than ever. So ...its a bad but also good-ish character trait depending on the moment. Sort of. Maybe? Maybe not.
I think I might have gone slightly nutty this morning. I can hardly believe I went from cleaning out the cupboards to grunting and sweating while prying massive nails out of the log walls. It all happened so quickly!
There's no going back now though. Kitchen reno here I come.
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Stove photos Unique Offgrid
Oh noooooo!! I feel so bad for you! We did a totally unplanned, whole bathroom reno this summer because a tiny pipe joint gave out and caused tons of water damage. As a result I can totally relate to your surprises like the unmoveable cabinets and bonus cement on the floor...hooray for "growth work"!!
I think that new stove will be worth it, though, because it looks awesome! I felt all covetous when I saw it, hehe.
I am going to hack away at that cement tomorrow and will be sure to remind myself that it's "growth work". Love that term its far more polite than what I was thinking earlier!!
I am quite excited about the stove, I've never had anything like it before. My husband asked me earlier "what if they can't get it through the door". I'm pretty sure he was joking but ...wouldn't that be funny.
Well, we had to take all the wood trim off a doorframe in order to remove the old hot water heater from a closet that had been built around the heater....so it's entirely possible haha!
Remodels are SO much fun! Even simple ones.
First abandon the notion that anything will be square or plumb.
Next assume that whoever did the work before you had no skills and be very surprised if they did.
Third, dispatch with any ideas you might have that resembles a schedule.
Follow those simple rules and you'll be fine!
Two essential tools for any remodel is a reciprocating saw (i.e. sawzall) and a good oscillating saw. The latter being more handy than a shirt with pockets. Have both metal and wood cutting blades for each.
Thanks for the pointers. I will keep all of that in mind! I love your second point. That has been 100% the case in my experience.
I believe that stove will be worth it! Don't lose heart! Press on!!!:)
Thank you for the encouragement - I need it right now :) I can't wait to be cooking again (my husband can't wait either). Food hasn't been as good as he is used to with a broken stove!
Ooooo I feel your pain! We recently redid our kitchen, from the subflooring up, and found all the shortcuts the builders took in building our home. It was a MESS and a HUGE JOB, but it finally got done, and you'd better believe it is done right now!
That new stove looks awesome!!! I bet you cant wait to have it in and use it!
That's my issue right now, I want to do it right. Which means, the other cabinets have to come out and then I've got to get rid of that darn cement pad they made for the stove area. That will be fun (lol). Thanks for the encouragement :) Tomorrow it will all seem less shocking to me.
Yes, after some sleep and time it will seem a little more manageable. :)
Hopefully the floor was made well so you only have to redo that one section instead of the whole thing. Since these cabinets have to be dismantled and tore out, Im guessing you are putting in new ones? Or reconstructing the original ones?
yeah, it's already seeming not such a big deal. We've dealt with worse. Our last house was constant reno and repair.
The cupboards are basically scrap wood - we'll have to do new ones. I'll have to think about the design a bit. This means that the counters will need to be replaced because they are warped and terrible and ...well the sink is gross so ...that too. I really got myself into it this time!!
I've also got to find some more slate tiles to finish the flooring properly, and figure out how to remove that 1" thick chunk of cement they laid down. That will be my first job tomorrow.
LOL! Sounds about right! For that stove, bye bye kitchen! Im a doing things on a whim kinda girl myself. The best comes out of it but man the journey through it can be quite the mess! :D Congrats on the beautiful stove and good luck on the renovation, may it go quick and smooth!
thank you! Glad it's not just me that does things on a whim. I like renos, this one was just completely unplanned. I was telling everyone "yeah, will just take a few minutes" haha. I should know better :)
Lol good luck with the reno! The stove looks awesome :)
Thank you :)
Why did you destroyed your kitchen?
good question. I'm not quite sure. :)
Any chance of an update? Since the last comment was four years ago, I hope you got them nails out! Me and my husband are renovating our kitchen right now and had been leaning towards some of the modern ones in this blog, but seeing the simple beauty of your layout has made me think again. Would love to see it with that gorgeous oven in place.
Well, ya gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, right?
I love how you think! You always make me smile with your words.
Oh no! Those kind of home discoveries are the worst. Your husband sounds like he has faith in your make things better abilities though.
Is that a Unique Off Grid stove? Looks like a beauty! We also have a Unique range but much smaller and I quite like it. Will be looking forward to seeing how the kitchen Reno goes.
-Aimee
I woke up with a more optimistic perspective today! We always knew the kitchen would need doing over, the stove has just forced the issue :)
Yes, it is the Unique Off Grid model. I procrastinated on it for over a year because there were so few reviews. I am very hopeful that it meets my expectations and glad to read that you like yours. The stove is a workhorse around here with all the canning etc so I wanted something that could really handle a heavy workload.