Day 52 April 7

Ok, now it really looks like a kitchen and I am sooo giddy!!!! Today we were able to get the refrigerator panels up and all the wall cabinets! The wall cabinets seem to have really made it come to life and feel like a kitchen now. It all went pretty smooth today, or as smooth as you can expect a DIY project to go. The one issue we had we saw coming due to yesterday’s adjustments with installing the cabinets. Due to our walls not being completely flat, they had to add a gap to make the cabinets level and flush with each other. Due to this, it pushed the cabinets out about an inch. When we built the refrigerator cubby in the wall David had measured it exact, not leaving much wiggle room for possible error in the plan. After we had both panels in we unwrapped the frig and rolled it into place to see the damage. When you slide it back into the hole it’s cocked at an angle. It’s not a big issue considering it doesn’t HAVE to slide all the way back. But David is going to give it a try and attempt to shave off part of the one wall to make it fit better. He did one pass and it’s still off, so he’ll try again another day. Another spot that was effected by the gap was the half wall. Once again we measured to exact, leaving our cabinet on the other side of the range to stick out about an inch. This was easily fixable with a couple of pieces of drywall attached to the end. I screwed them in, attached the corner rods, spackled it all, and will wait so sand and mud a couple more times before it’s painted and the last cabinet is installed.

Thank you again Kyle for your Quick Grip clamps. It made installing the wall cabinets a much smoother and enjoyable process (I’m keeping tabs of all these essential tools we’re borrowing for future gifts for David ;o)). David said installing the wall cabinets was much more enjoyable than the base cabinets. Damn rolling floor! Before we installed the wall cabinets I remembered the under cab lighting I had picked up at Ikea. This was good thinking because we would have not been happy if we installed the cabinets and then remembered the lighting. There was an outlet that would be accessible in the middle cabinet for the microwave and under cab lights so we measured the box and cut the hole. We attached the lights under the cabinets and drilled holes in the backs and sides. We decided to put the main box behind the microwave so no wires would be seen and it would still be easily accessible. David wanted to attach the three cabinets together, wire it all threw and then install them on the wall. Considering there was only me to help hold the cabinets while he screwed in I opted for Plan B. We wired each individual cabinet, put the right one up, strung all wires to the microwave cabinet, installed that cabinet, then installed the last one. It was perfect!

By that time David got picked up to leave for the field for the night and next day. With my excitement about the cabinets I quickly got on the task of installing all the doors after David left. All was well until I got to one of the cabinet doors above the frig. David accidently used one of the door holes to secure the cabinet to the panel. In my attempt to fix the situation, I ended up getting the bit stuck in the hole. For fear of driving it in too far and there being no hope of recovery, I abandoned it until David returned to fix my mistake ;o) I next grabbed some tarps we were no longer using and tended to our failed bon fire. Hopefully the tarps and bricks will help to keep it dry through Spring. It should be raring to go when family and friends come to visit!!