Garbage disposals are illegal here.....

We did the same thing, beachem...drove up to Nevada to get that great oil based paint that flows on so well. Our friends think we are nuts, but we think it's worth the four hour drive...and the nice vacation at Tahoe!

We can't get any oil paints here in Illinois either. Now I'm wondering if Wisconsin or Indiana stores still carry them...

Cabot & Rowe - would love to see pictures of your "show kitchen" with the working kitchen behind, the whole set-up sounds intriguing to me. Sort of like people's never used living rooms with family rooms and dens being the rooms where "living" actually takes place.

I'm surprised you can't get oil paint in IL these days. Here in MN we still have everything stinky and durable. I'm refinishing hardwood floors in oil in a 100 year old home and so glad it is still available because the water bourne stuff looks horrible. Maybe I'd better hurry to get the whole house done before the oil poly disappears.

The show kitchen blends into the living room which overlooks a body of water. The HO entertains dignitaries as part of their work. That room is a little over 600 sf

I did not use subway tile or carrara marble in my kitchen....

When I painted my kitchen cabinets 5 years ago almost everything I read online said you must (and I mean MUST) use oil based paint.... I went to the local paint store (no, it wasn't Lowes or HD)... And was told to use CabinetCoat and BM's Advanced paint (not oil based).. I didn't question the guy. 5 years later the paint looks the same and has held up great. I'm not trying to talk you out of oil-based. Besides, a drive to Sin City sounds fun to me. Good luck :)

For my future remodel, I dream of getting rid of the microwave, completely. I could easily live without one. Seems so taboo though...

Beachem dear, you just like to be contrary and show off that you are above the law which was obviously written for us little people who are stupid enough to be law abiding. The AQMD be damned. So west side of you! After all it's $1 million+ house, it needs the best… Yada yada yada.

Really, with your kitchen and all of the extra$$ changes, it is just good that you are getting it done.

I have a friend who drives to Nevada also for her oil based paint.

I can't get Waterlox here either. I hand painted a windowbox for my MIL and the waterproof coating available already wore off. It was only done a year ago. Our rain this year has destroyed almost all the colors.

Same thing with my wood flooring portion. I was told I have to redo it every two to three years. The 100 yr old wood floors that I refinished in another house 20 yrs ago is still going strong.

@practigal. I just don't want to climb ladders every three years to repaint the moulding in my kitchen. It's a guaranteed accident for me.

I don't think much of the CA AQMD. Their regs are written so that if you follow one, you will violate another that contradicts it. Besides, there are stupid rules such as not using your fireplace in San Francisco on Christmas Day.

@mrsshayne. I'm waiting to see on the BM paint. I repainted a dresser.

My SW enamel are peeling already after two months and since my cabinets are in SW colors, I need the oil based paint.

We can no longer buy Floetrol and mineral spirits?? Did that just happen?

I couldn't get mineral spirits as of 2014 when I needed to waterproof some rugs for outdoor. I'm not sure when they stopped selling it. I've been reusing my remaining one cup of mineral spirits over and over to clean my brushes.

I tried buying Floetrol last year when I was painting the baseboards and no dice. The paint thinner that they are selling now is crappy.

Even the Home Depot guys told me to throw away my brushes vs trying to clean them with the stuff they sell. It just doesn't work.

Floetrol is for latex-based paints. Penetrol is for oil-based paints. They are both made by Flood.

I may fly to Denver to look for a fabulous soapstone slab. That's wild and crazy in my book.

As to purchasing things in other states or even countries: why not? Some of these state laws are pretty arbitrary. Lots of folk here cross the border into Wisconsin for firecrackers on the 4th of July. People here also make regular runs to Canada for OTC medications that are prescription here. Heck, I even know people who go to Canada for toilets since they despise the low flow units.

I saw the writing on the wall years ago. I have a huge stash of incandescent light bulbs and extra fixtures and lamp rewiring kits. Bought plumbing fixtures for the bath I have stashed faucets and showerheads that still have metal instead of plastic parts and made sure flow restrictors would be easy to remove.

I get my trans fat filled shortening for my icing from out of state. Now that it will be national I guess my cake decorating day are over unless the cake can be refrigerated. No more park picnic party cakes. I also had to buy my silver dragees from eBay. Even though they are NOT illegal here some crazy batshit lawyer has intimidated shops from stocking them with his lawsuits that they can't afford to fight.

Didn't know there is good paint in Nevada. I have friends there. Yay

We're doing some (actually a lot) basic remodeling before we need any inspection work done. Things that look like for like but really aren't. Inspections here are all about revenue. Few inspectors even know what they are looking at but we still will do them for structural/plumbing gas issues that effect safety.

I knew the exterior oil based paint was no longer available in Illinois - the latex paint on the front door has cracked & fallen off in chunks twice. Our interior trim was painted with oil based paint in 2014. Interior oil paint in Illinois is gone now too?

@beachem I just waterloxed my butcher block and I'm in ca. They offer a low VOC option for the same price as the regular, so it had better work just as well! We also purchased mineral spirits as part of the project.

We chose to purchase hardwood flooring from a local company that we knew was more than our budget really allowed. We saved more for it because we knew that the trees from which it came were from here in the US and milled here as well.

Putting an armoire in the kitchen to house the microwave and toaster is definitely something that isn't normally done. I couldn't afford the cabinetry for that area, so it was $100 for the armoire and it's working great so far. If I decide I don't like it anymore, I can save for cabinetry.

We did not put an overhang seating area at the island. It's just too tight near the refrigerator and I chose to eliminate it in the remodel.

Pippa.....there's oil paint in St. Louis. I know it's quite a drive from the Chicago area if that's where you are. But hey, come take in a Cardinals game! ;-)

@sarabeth gosh you found mineral spirits!!! I called every store:Ace, Lowes and HD in the OC/LA area and they all told me they hasn't carried it for a while.

Same thing with Waterlox. They didn't bring up the alternative that you used. I even called Waterlox and they told me they can't ship it to CA but I can pick up in person. LOL. I got talked into some other brand that I'll be throwing away as it didn't seem to last.

@design I love the armoire idea. Most kitchens try to fake the armoire and you went to the source.

Well, based on this discussion, the craziest thing I may do is hoard my mineral spirits to sell on the black market in a few years....buwahahahaha

All it takes for bad remodeling laws to flourish is for good remodelers to do nothing about it. (A little spin on a famous quote). Vote, Vote, Vote!! :-)

Oh, we've done a few crazy things in kitchen remodels. Like moving a sink 2 times, then blowing out the wall to the exterior for a better fridge placement.

Have you checked an art store for mineral spirits? Fine artist oil painters would need this, for sure.

Recently, DH hoisted and installed a laminated rigid beam, 15Lx 18 Dx 3W 180 LBS, with a steel saddle bracket which weighs 40LB and took 64 structural steel screws. He could have had help from 3 strapping 6 ft tall sons-in-law, but "why wait?"

I feel for you in CA and other places that have so many restrictions on products. In my area, we have some- like a tax on bags, and lawn products. In place of oil paints, have you tried acrylic paints generally used on decks. It comes in many colors now. it adheres and is waterproof.

The day before the granite was to be installed I woke up in a cold sweat. They just weren't right and I felt they were too cool for the cabinets and flooring. My husband thought I was certifiably insane! (he hates last minute changes) I called the granite shop first thing in the morning and told them I changed my mind, begged them to let me change and I promised that I would have the new slabs picked out that day. They said I had to drive to the granite yard and pick out the slabs. My husband was not only annoyed that I changed my mind, but that I would even venture to this city alone. He had to work and couldn't go with me. The granite yard was in what is voted the most dangerous city in America. Of course I got lost on the way (damn GPS), ended up on a dead and street in the middle of a housing project and was shaking. I was aware of how out of place I looked - a petite suburban woman in a Benz SUV. I finally arrived at the granite yard and I did find my new slabs and they are PERFECT! But I am never going there again!

Wanting to save $800 on our sink choice, I bid on a sink on ebay. We were going to drive to TN to pick it up. Luckily, we found one of those mailbox stores that would pick up and ship. It is now safely in our garage.

Caroline Hamilton - For heaven's sake. Give me a break.

There are definitely areas in our city where my dh would not want me to go without him.

This was in Camden, NJ. Not somewhere you want to get lost or really go alone when you are unfamiliar with the streets. The post was trying to be funny, the lengths we will go to for our "vision"

Our final electric inspection was scheduled to take place before our island, which had just been constructed, was fitted with outlets. The island is only about 26"x54" and sits on bun feet which weren't affixed to the floor yet as it had just been finished, and the top hadn't been installed either. Knowing the island was required to have outlets (and not quite sure how the scheduling worked out the way it did) I made my husband carry the island with me to another room and hide it before the inspector arrived! The inspector probably thought the two pendants hanging conspicuously in the middle of the kitchen were odd, but he didn't say anything and we passed the inspection. Maybe because our two toddlers were there with us we didn't look like the criminals we are.

@giroux that's absolutely hilarious.

@caroline yikes. That's not a fun experience. I got lost once in Watts on my way home from a client.

I was driving down these streets in Watts at sunset looking for a gas station. A patrol saw me and pulled me over since I was in a Toyota and business suit and stood out like a sore thumb.

They escorted me out of the area to make sure I didn't get mugged or killed.

I had to look up Watts when I got home. I was too clueless at the time to be scared.

@Design, I used an armoire in the breakfast nook of our last (small) kitchen. It held the TV and microwave.

@Caroline, I did the same thing when I went to look at limestone slabs by myself, but I had no idea it was that bad. Map wasn't good - told me to turn right but it was a gas station. So I turned around quickly and went back a few blocks where I saw a Sheriff protecting a water company truck and workmen. At least it was the right street. He told me to go three blocks (through houses) and turn right... and he told me not to stop at the stop signs. I got a lot of looks that day.

Caroline, I've driven the outskirts of Camden and I agree with you, I wouldn't want to go there. Scary is right.

So...watchmelol...where do you live? Not that I'm interested in your bulbs or anything....

Just wondering....

Caroline, I "knew" what city you were talking about when you said which one it was.

So...watchmelol...where do you live? Not that I'm interested in your bulbs or anything....

California (SF Bay Area) of course, land of big government and nanny mentality. Born and raised here. My dad would be flipping around in his grave (if he had one) at the over-regulated state we have become. I grew up around lead paint, asbestos and dad tearing out and rebuilding stuff without a thought to so much as plastic sheeting. LOL. Hell don't think they made it then. You used the same huge canvass tarp for everything. My brain hasn't succumbed to lead, my lungs are clear and I'm not damaged from swimming in creeks, breathing pesticides and drinking from the water hose.

Of course the light bulb thing is everywhere. But do you know that online stores are afraid to ship licorice to California now? Yes. the candy. Has to have a everything may cause cancer (prop. 65) label on it. Even old stable remodeled buildings that have been cleaned of all possible hazards still have to comply with the ridiculous warning.. The historical Wells Fargo bank in the financial district in San Francisco has little brass warning plates alluding to possible carcinogenics on some hallway walls. It's like a mental illness.

Don't know if this counts or not - We gutted our house and moved out for 6 months into a smaller house and at the time our youngest son was living in Japan teaching skiing. With the demands of all of the decisions that the renovation required and our smaller living accommodations, I have to admit that my poor DH was getting on my nerves so I sent him to Japan for 2 1/2 weeks to visit our son. I got so much done when he was away.

Watchmelol, but don't you know "it takes a village?" Lol.

When I was researching rain barrels, I saw that Colorado residents were not allowed to collect rain water.

Mind blowing.

My contractor told me today that in a recent job, he carefully removed all the old cabinets and everything that could possibly be recycled and took them to a Habitat for Humanity reuse store. Then the city this remodel was in fined him $1500 because the weight of the debris from the demo was less than they calculated it should be. Didn't matter that the stuff was reused instead of put in a landfill. Didn't matter that it was documented. SF Bay Area, of course.

My story doesn't really count, as we built a new house, not a kitchen reno, but we do have a story. My wife says I need to write a book!

For those that don't know me, we designed and built our own house on rural land in SC. Over 4 years ago, I quit my job (that's sketchy right there) and started hacking a hole in the woods. I lived in an elderly pop-up camper while I built the barn. I then moved into the barn while I built the house. It got more interesting about two years in when my wife landed a job here, and we sold our house in FL. Although you're not supposed to, we moved into the basement of our unfinished house. I rigged up a temporary bathroom, and that first winter we nearly froze to death trying to keep warm with a space heater. Our electrical 'service' consisted of a single 20 amp extension cord. You could run ONE major electrical device at a time; toaster oven, hot plate, tiny water heater. You had to time everything just right.

It really got interesting when we had inspections, which are required every 6 months. We moved everything out of the house that might suggest 'occupancy', from furniture to kitchen stuff to taking down the TV antenna. The temporary bathroom was dismantled. The dog and cat were banished to the barn during the inspections. We kept this up until we finally got that precious Certificate of Occupancy last fall. All of this sounds like a great adventure, and it was, but bear in mind that we are in our sixties! I now sometimes think about what would have happened if I had gotten hurt, or had a serious illness. I never let my thoughts go there during our build!

Wow Mushcreek. I think you win the best post award on this thread.

I agree Mushcreek has the best one so far! We are just starting the process, so far I've flown over 2400 miles to look at appliances.

When we first remodeled countertops a decade ago, I refused to put in an air gap hole on my countertop against state code once we removed the original. There were no electrical or plumbing changes so no inspection and I've lived since without contamination of dishes in the DW and much happier not having to clean that disgusting thing. If the contractor says they have to put one in for the new remodel, I will put in a "fake" and later change the hole out to a soap dispenser. A high loop under the counter accomplishes the purpose of the air gap without the mess.

I have yet to see any documentation that oil based paints are superior to modern latex coatings.

We used all Benjamin Moore Advance throughout the house for cabinets and trim. Time will tell; so far, so good. We did use Waterlox Original on the floors- you could smell it for months. I better stockpile mineral spirits while I can; I use it for a lot more than thinning paint and cleaning brushes.

Oil paint is still sold in Illinois but only in quarts, not gallons. For most projects, it would be cheaper to buy the quarts as sold rather than drive out of state to buy the desired item. The paint store sells gallons of oil primer and poly finishes but I buy a professional floor finish which is sold 16 quart envelopes in a bucket. The packaging actually works quite well as it is easy to judge how much material is used. We often buy the chip brushes and toss them rather than clean them.

I am pretty sure you can get oil based paints in MI yet so for the Illinois folks especially if you are around Chicago you don't really have to travel all that far to get them.

Oh mush your wife is a saint. You had me walking at 'nearly froze to death with space heater' but it gets really cold here. I suppose cuddling is mandatory though - and that is not always all bad, ha.

I had cut each tile to make my herringbone backsplash....which is not shiny subway tile or white!

My kitchen remodel fits In the everyone thinks I'm nuts category. Virtually every item in the room is salvaged. The cabinets, granite and fridge came from a demolition sale, the dishwasher, sink and faucet were installed in the old kitchen by the previous owner, and the light fixtures are from ReStore.

The kitchen floor was the most work and it is fabulous. We removed it from a century old house being torn down, pulled all the old nails, racked it, bundled it with shrink wrap and stored it for a few years (even before we had bought the house!). Then we installed this floor in my remodel so that every piece of visible wood is one continuous piece. The short pieces down the center are over 6 feet, there's a section just over 8 feet and 2 boards across the stairway landing are 12 feet long. It is a mix of rift sawn and quarter sawn oak. I don't have any photos yet which do justice to the floor but it is stunning.

I have my cooktop turned 90 degrees to gain 2,75" on the wall side.