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Trapped in the basement: week 4 of Owlface's kitchen remodel

8 years ago

I have very little of any importance to say. It's been raining for two days and we're stuck down here and my children don't remember what the sun looks like. My basement smells like taco meat and sadness. That's all. Please tell me this is all worth it.

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Comments (15)

Meris
8 years ago
I'm sleeping in my basement with my 3 kids, dog & husband all in one room crammed with stuff.

im thinking it will be. Hang in there!
anitamo
8 years ago
Taco meat and sadness! Too funny, but, yes, it's all worth it.
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i think some good ideas have been posted here for future threads. yrs ago after reading here for a few yrs I decided NOT to redo my kitchen because I didn't have the strength, energy or decision making capabilities to do so - from what I read here. I didn't want to go thru the things you all do - lol! I don't cook much anymore and I'm not in the kitchen all that much. the insides of the cabs are good, the outside is just tacky - and I only have 6 drawers (not very wide either). But I've muddled thru ok for yrs. I have planned to have 3 or 4 drawers put into 1 lower cab that's 24" wide. haven't gotten to that yet tho. I do need a new faucet and have a new/used sink to be put in... but then I think of the blah/old counter top I have and figure I should replace it at the same time. BUT, I think my first spring here I had ants attack the kitchen. they were so very, very tiny, if my counter hadn't been plain white I doubt I'd have even seen them. that made me rethink the patterned counters I'd decided on... it took me over a yr to convince myself to go for color and pattern rather than plain white or beige. and I tossed out the whole idea because of ants... that was 3 or 4 yrs ago. now I'm thinking about it again... the same with my mstr bath. it has a 5' vanity but the sink isn't aligned with the lights over it... and the under sink cabinet is very misaligned. the right door of it is under the sink and the left door of it is under the counter to the left of the sink... yikes! I could use more drawers in there too and I have the space for them. I have 3 maybe 10-12" wide drawers. and again in there, it started with the faucet not working right. it's very old and ugly. the sink is bad too so that should be replaced... so while I'm at it I should replace the cabinet... and while the cabinet's out I should replace the flooring... see what a mess I'm in? lol! I didn't even mention the light fixture and mirror need to go... I'm not sure I'd live thru the bath or kit redo. but 1 thing just leads to the next until it's way beyond what I think I can deal with. I do plan to talk to my handyman on his next trip here. bath 1st maybe... but what do people with patterned/colored counters do if they can't see the ants? isn't like these things are big enough to be easily seen (or like I have good eyesight or wear my glasses in the kit) or black or something (wearing a sign?). maybe I'm stuck with just plain beige. I think I could deal with it if it could be done in maybe a week... it's just me and I don't really have to cook and there's no kids but I don't think me would survive it! you all are so brave and gutsy! I know if any of you had a magic wand you'd share it with me - right? beachem, I hope your dad gets totally better. and sorry to hear about the slab - VG is one of my favorites, but I'd like a piece for wall art not counter! I'd never see the ants in a VG countertop!
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We've had 4 contractors...no GC. 1 plumber to move the gas line, but they didn't seem to care about building codes when they drilled though the ceiling joists and didn't listen very well when I told them where to put the gas for the range. The actual gas supply is where it needs to be but the shut off valve is *barely* not behind the adjacent cabinet. We did our own water supply. 2 drywall contractors, the first of which was recommended by neighbors and were HORRIBLE, the second were reasonably good where it counts but still haven't come back out to sand in corners near the floor so we can have straight baseboards. Good thing we're nowhere near ready for baseboards. And to be fair to them, we did have a hurricane get in the way of everything. The 4th is a very expensive electrician, who my dad has known for 20 years and does all his electric. They've been pretty good too but a lot of junction boxes are still set back to far for proper seating of covers, and we haven't even tiled the backsplash yet, which will make it even worse. Long story short, there are many out there who won't do the job you would do in your own home if you were able to. So now my regrets...we're not finished, so they haven't all come to light yet...I only have 1. I wish we had better quality cabinets. They're not terrible. They were already assembled RTA we bought off Craigslist and they saved us about $6000. The thing is, if we gotten the ones we were planning to buy (Shenandoah from Lowes) we would probably have run out of money by now. So there's that.
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sherri1058
8 years ago
My renovation has been a disaster! Delay after delay after delay. I should have been finished 6 weeks ago. Today the water and the cooktop were connected. I'm so excited! So I guess I am saying YES! it is worth it.

Hang in there....
sprtphntc7a
8 years ago
It so will be., and the best part is about 3 months after your kitchen is done, your basement woes will be a distant memory and u will have funny stories to re-tell!!! we still talk about our "food cart"!!! DH had this two tier construction cart that held all our food, dishes, utensils., UGH, it was sooooooo ugly , i had to apologize to people when they came over., so embarrassing !!!! now we laugh about it!!! its definitely worth it :)
eam44
8 years ago
Hang in there Owlie. Rain gets everyone a little down. Pull out the crayons and draw the sun. Or rifle through your inspiration pics. It'll all be worth it.
lwh02
8 years ago
Week nine here, but at least my kids are grown and the cat is staying with friends. Hang in there! When it's all over you will forget this part.
Kim Ladin
8 years ago
It will make a great story to reminisce about with your kids someday!
Lily Spider
8 years ago
We spent soooo much time in our basement. It was weird and depressing. I made so many burgers on the grill (my kitchens been done for a year) my husband STILL won't eat a burger!

Its worth it :) Hang in there!

*love "taco meat and sadness"
cat_mom
8 years ago
Seriously laughed out loud at "taco meat and sadness!" I'm so sorry to laugh, but it will be worth it when it's all done. :)
rebunky
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
"Smells like taco meat and sadness".... LOL! You poor thing. Hang in there!
mgmum
8 years ago
Soon you'll have a kitchen that smells of chocolate cake and happiness. The taco meat and sadness is a short detour to the kitchen of your dreams. Hang in there! May is around the corner so it'll be outdoors and sunshine and long naps through air guns.
llcp93
8 years ago
It will all be worth it and you will tell funny stories about taco meat and sadness.

Dec 14, we (DH, myself, 2 high schoolers and a college freshman) moved into my parents home because 2 of our three bathrooms were damaged by a water leak so we decided to remodel both plus paint our master bedroom. My brother. sis in law and nephew also were there for a week over Christmas. My mother has health issues and is on oxygen and is on oral chemo for multiple myaloma. We got 4 twin mattresses and put in living room for the kids to sleep on. 3 came down with the flu and had to be quarentined in a bedroom away from mom. DH and I took over two of the matresses in living room until brother's family left. It was wild and crazy at the time but the kids still talk about how much fun it all was, flu and all.

You will get there. Hang tight.
practigal
8 years ago
So long as they continue to make process on the house above, it's fine. If they're not really making progress, that's a problem.
CEFreeman_GW DC/MD Burbs 7b/8a
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Come on, honey.

If you can't handle 4 weeks in a basement, how are you going to survive {the Zombie Epocolypse} life in general?

You chose it, you have a goal in mind, and you agreed to it. You're paying for this experience.

Suck it up and keep your eye on the pie.

(Actually, the taco part would make me gag even under the best of circumstances, so I'm with you there.)
owlface
Original Author
8 years ago
Oh, I know. This is a first world problem if ever there was one. The three year old was crawling the walls and everyone was crying about gross basement food, so I had a moment of despair. It'll be fine. Onward!

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