Tour of Destruction It started with a leak in the hot water line under the concrete slab and snowballed into a downstairs remodel. We're still putting it back together...

Quick tour of the old kitchen...fridge is too close to the door. Good riddence to white tile and white grout and other hard-to-clean things! It's time for a change! The painted white cabinets are falling apart and don't look good anymore. Prep for wall unit cabinet lights in the family room. The family room gains some lights and loses the acoustic ceiling crud. It was like Swiss cheese around here for a while. The boxes get filled. We meet all kinds of hidden things in the house, like this 2nd story drain. Scraped and ready for patching. The bathroom lost quite a bit of wall when we replumbed the house. No more pipes in the cement underfloor means no more leaks, hopefully. Ready for patching. Doesn't look like progress, but it is. See the new patio door? After patching, wall texture is applied. Looks like a ghost house. Oops, forgot to replumb for the icemaker. Called the plumber to add this line. In the meantime, someone hit my parked car while it was in the mechanic's lot. Destructo-Guy has a go at the nasty old tiles. Demo work is satisfying. The electrician updates the kitchen wiring and preps for new lights and outlets. How's the work look, Claire? More Swiss cheese. The kitchen faces north and needed more lighting. No more working in my shadow. Outlets in better places, that's my motto! This one is outta here! M is for microwaves off the counters. Blue masking tape is a marvel. I added some recessed lights over the sink & penninsula areas. The fridge got a new shutoff valve in an easier to reach location. Upper cabinets gone & ready for the rest to go. Patching time in the kitchen now. Might as well use the new line behind the range for a new pot filler faucet. The downstairs will have a cork floor like this area in Gabriel's room. We're using lots of paper plates & bowls these days. The kitchen is now ... The Ikea cabinets are very late, but they eventually arrive on two huge pallets. The unpacked pallets fill what used to be the living room (now a storage room). Clawed de Pussey does the best he can under the circumstances in the lazy susan. The beginning of putting it all back together. Still have to seal the concrete. Not much of a temp kitchen/workbench, but it's easier than camping. View of new window/patio door. By the way, Andersen windows have gone downhill! Sneak peek of the new cabinet doors, Tidaholm oak from Ikea. Easy to clean! Sneak peak of the new kitchen table. Self-storing leaves extend to seat 10. New chairs and table are oak and also from Ikea. Sample of cork floor with sample of oak wall units for the family room. Ikea store set-up of the wall unit system I bought for our family room. I chose the chair on the right; it was more comfortable. Paint samples with garnet granite (from Gore Mountain, NY), oak, & cork f...