We renovated bathroom and kitchen in one go. That way, we were able to use the same wall for the plumbing of both rooms. A few nasty surprises have been encountered, e.g. a complete crooked laundry floor and an unfixed white ant damage.
We knocked a few walls out in the past already. Anyway, this time the wall between laundry and kitchen
and the pantry have to go. We need more room.
and the pantry have to go. We need more room.
Not easy to get rid of all that stuff in a kitchen after many years collecting.
Could be worse.
Whoopsie - the pantry is gone!
Two hours later the laundry wall as well.
Everything ends up on our beautiful new rubbish pile...
The laundry contained the "man hole". But that's about to go, so we needed an attic ladder.
Nasty surprise one - the white ant damage. The nest got removed but the damage got never fixed.
There also used to be an air condition for which the posts got cut out without a second thought.
All this made the wall (and roof!) drop down almost 30mm as there was no support any more.
There also used to be an air condition for which the posts got cut out without a second thought.
All this made the wall (and roof!) drop down almost 30mm as there was no support any more.
Lifted back and fixed
Looks messy but the kitchen is still in working condition. The new wall is in already.
The range hood outlet
Now to insulate everything...
Bracing boards and gyprock...
Much better!
A well deserved break!
The laundry floor was completely out of whack. I tried to fix it with the glue for the tiles but it was too much. So levelling concrete
was needed to get this one straight.
was needed to get this one straight.
The old floor boards will be covered with new ones. Nina started her carpentry apprenticeship for this.
Let the wood shavings fly!
The Merbau boards separates the living area from our kitchen.
Tiles area and timber floor are flush
Almost there
We got everything properly re-wired by a really brilliant sparky. Whoever saw what's normally in an Australian attic knows what I'm talking about!
As always - it all starts with a plan.
An unpacking of stuff.
The first part of the splash-back. Beautiful "handmade" tiles from Spain.
Green behind the oven
and a few feature tiles
Range hood and oven are working. The dishwasher too. That's the important stuff.
All we need now is a kitchen! Stay tuned!
...
So, the idea was to finish the room itself and to go and buy the kitchen furniture. The front should be made from timber, the cabinets are probably made from chipboard and a granite bench top would be great, too. We didn't expect it to be cheap. But holy crap! How wrong we were. Just the naked cabinets would set us back about 15000 bucks (DIY flatpack kitchen, nothing particular). Roughly 8000 bucks for the bench top. Timber fronts extra. No corner solution either. After getting multiple offers, ranging for 6500 bucks (plastic) to 50000 bucks (at least timber), we thought "fuck it!". Lets make one ourselves. We've got those pine floor boards, 19mm thick. They are easily glued together and make nice panels to work with. It'll take a while but will only be around 3000 to 4000 bucks for timber and hardware.
The cabinets will sit on a timber frame off the floor. No kick-board
to allow for easy cleaning underneath. We also need height adjustable
furniture legs (also very expensive), so I made some from wood.
to allow for easy cleaning underneath. We also need height adjustable
furniture legs (also very expensive), so I made some from wood.
The lower part of the legs is made from 50mm round timber
The round timber gets a thread insert at one end...
...that goes onto the threaded bar.
The outer part stabilizes the legs and hides the mechanics.
There it sits, completely level.
The cabinets are made from those glued together timber floor boards.
I used 8mm dowels for the joints,
I used 8mm dowels for the joints,
We will have a stone bench to around the wet area; but for this part it's made from Merbau.
We have it on our table already and it's a very resilient timber.
We have it on our table already and it's a very resilient timber.
The drawers are made from the same floor boards. Those dove tails
are plenty of work but why should we save now?
are plenty of work but why should we save now?
Eight small drawers with a 36kg load rating and two large ones with a 100kg load rating.
That should do it.
That should do it.
The first try-on ;o)
Runs like a charm!
Runs like a charm!
There they are - out for the linseed oil to dry. Only the front to do...
Finally - all fits perfectly together. I painted the bevels green, matching the tiles from the splash-back.
A closer look
That was the first cabinet. There is still a lot more to do.
