Rebuilding The Kitchen

Most of our time lately has been devoted to redoing our kitchen.  The floor was rotten and there were spots that you'd feel seasick if someone walked past you while you were standing there.

It has been a long and slow process.  The kitchen is a room that five other rooms are only reached through, three of them from a small hallway. Because our house is an old farm cottage that has been added on to and rearranged several times over the last 90 years, it is a bit like a rabbit warren.


One of the first things to do was to take out one of the hall cupboards and cut a doorway through the back wall to meet that other little hallway.  That was always part of the plan and it was something that needed doing first so that the toilet and bathroom were safely reachable.  Part of that little hallway is going to be the new big farm pantry.

Hall cupboards

From the other side

Doorway cut

From other side.

The dining room can be reached through the lounge, but that took some rearranging of both rooms where various kitchen stuff and removed cabinetry were being stored.

I have found it interesting that there are several places where it seems we are restoring the original design, rather than making huge changes.  When we took the wall covering (mdf not gib) off in the old small hallway, we discovered wood paneling that showed that where my new big pantry is going to be, was previously a pantry.  Old water pipes that had been left partially in place - although they were just metre long lengths sitting inside the walls - showed that we're putting the sink and taps back closer to where they were previously, Some of the power points in the house are in the old steel pipe conduits, not all of the conduit pipe was removed when power points were moved, this made it amusing to be cutting a hole in the wall for a power point and finding a conduit pipe right next to where I'm putting this one.

I think the paint missing in lines shows where pantry shelves were previously.
It's also interesting that restructuring it for food storage was at least planned.

In a pleasant change from the lounge, not all of the joists or bearers were rotten this time.  Although the outer wall is going to need a lot of work in the near future.  One window had been framed properly and done well and was structurally sound.  The other, well, an attempt had been made to do it properly, but that was as far as it went.  In all honesty, with this house, I am more surprised and disbelieving when I find something done well than I am when I find corners cut or shoddy work.

Removing the old floor

Working out the new joists

Nearly done.

Floor down

So after a week and a half, that included my housecow coming on heat and jumping a gate to run with her steer calf, the pigs becoming serial escape artists, Miss Ten going on Girl Guide Jamboree and needing to entertain my Mum who has vascular dementia while Dad and Hubby worked on the kitchen, we're close to the finish I think.  Hubby has gone back to work today and the kitchen is almost usable.

The external walls have been insulated and when I was covering them, I sealed everything that could be sealed.  Hopefully that will work to keep drafts and rodents out and warmth in.  Hot water pipes have been lagged, underfloor insulation is coming.

External walls - I hadn't removed the lining from the one on the left at this point.

Insulated wall.

Gibbed, roughly stopped, and sealed.

Painted.

The floors are in, except for a few small spots that will require some tricky bits - doorways joining to other rooms etc.  I'm looking at a laminate flooring that looks like wooden floorboards.  I found one that even with the foil underlay stuff will cost approx a third of what all others do.  It seems too good to be true though, so I will investigate further before buying it.

The stove has been moved to a more sensible position - one that will allow a rangehood.  The cabinets that we pulled out have been reconfigured and put back in.  This time, the stove and dishwasher are in line with benchtops and cupboards and are not sticking out.  No drawers are blocked from opening fully by the stove, and the dead space beside the old stove has gone.

We were going to reuse the old benchtops, rearranged somewhat to suit the new layout, but Mum and Dad offered to take me shopping for new ones, far better ones and they just asked that we keep them in meat for the year.  I didn't need to hear that offer twice, I leaped at it.  Especially as it included a new double sink and sink mixer.  They'd found some great specials that meant it cost less than half of what we'd thought when we originally looked at the possibility.

Getting the benchtops home made for a nervous drive - that was sitting almost on my shoulder.

Joining benchtops and waiting for silicon to dry.

Bench fixed in place.  Sink and mixer fitted.

Cutting and joining the benchtops was challenging, but I think we've done well.  Dad thinks that at one of our joins is less noticeable that his (professional job) at home.

Now that Hubby and Dad have gone back to work, we're down to evenings and weekends, not counting the little bits that I potter around with during the day.  The new hallway and linen cupboard is coming along and the new farm pantry is this weekend's mission.

Where we're up to with the kitchen.