The Ongoing Kitchen Saga

Yesterday marked the three week period for the kitchen renovations. Most of the staining and finishing has been taking place in the garage. Unfortunately, weather conditions have not co-operated. We have experienced very high humidity levels followed by sever thunderstorms mixed with high temperatures that are not good conditions for staining or applying top coat. At the moment, I have 5 door fronts that need staining and top coating but again the skies are threatening some nasty weather.

We bought both the hinges and sink online. The hinges alone were $2.10 cheaper per pair than we could buy here. The hinges arrived todays so we will be able to start putting the doors back on the cabinets tonight getting the kitchen one step closer to completion. The sink was more of a matter of size than price. It should be here within the next couple of days.

We ran into a bit of a problem in that the trim between the cabinets and ceiling was looking very yellow after staining the cabinet frames. So I did a quick adjustment and decided to stain this trim as well. Now last minute changes are expected from any renovation project but as things happen this was not a huge problem to deal with.

As you can see from the picture, staining the trim got rid of some of the yellow tones. This is the cabinet over the breakfast bar. It shows how the kitchen and family room ceilings are connected. Once the stain cured for 24 hours, I applied polyurethane (satin) by brush.

Both the sanding and polyurethane created problems indoors. I really think the sanding was the main problem. Our dryer is natural gas so it stunk as did the the stove burners even though they were covered along with the oven. This is with all windows and doors open during application and curing as much as possible. Two loads of laundry seriously smelled like kerosene. To put this in perspective one load in my washer is the equivalent of three loads in a standard washer. I had to rewash twice to get rid of the smell. Talk about not being a happy camper!

Anytime we do renovations, I am the first to squirrel away things that can be re-used. This stems from trying to be environmentally friendly as well as being frugal. HVAC vents are a prime example. They are seldom in such bad condition they cannot be re-used. At the same time they can look rather tired and battered. Giving them new life is as easy as using spray paint. This is also an ideal way to get a custom matched vent colour to your decor. The choice of spray paint colours is quite extensive so you should be able to find a paint that will match. If you really want to try it (I have not) you can use a specialty spray that simulates rock or other surfaces but for easy cleaning I would recommend using a satin or gloss rust retardant paint.

Remove the vent cover. Soak in a solution of TSP to remove any grime or dirt. Brush with a brass brush then rinse well. If there is any signs of rusting on the cover, smooth with fine steel wool. Rinse and allow the cover to dry for 24 hours before proceeding. Spray with a rust retardant spray paint if the vent will be placed in a location prone to moisture or use a spray paint of your choice for other locations. I recommend using at least two coats of paint and you can cover with spray polyurethane for further protection if desired. This really isn't necessary but in high traffic areas like entrances or bathrooms you might want to.

A can of rust retardant spray paint will cost about $5. A more neutral colour will allow you to spruce up about 10 vent covers. Replacing these would cost about $4 each so for $5 you end up getting something that would cost $$40 and you are saving them from going to a landfill. If you are spraying them specifically for the decor element then of course the cost per vent will depend on the number of vents in that room. However, don't discount the fact that simply spray painting your vents can make them blend in better giving a smoother look to the room so for the price it is still worth it. Sometimes it is that little extra touch that does make a difference.

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Cabinets Continued

Please Note: I will do a post when the kitchen renovation is finished with the total cost and brand names used.

The kitchen cabinets are coming along nicely. It's been one week today since I started. I had hoped to be a bit further ahead than what I am but still things are progressing. The drawers are finished, a few of the cabinet fronts are finished while the rest are in various stages ranging from untouched to the first coats of polyurethane. Weather has been a factor as the cabinet doors are being sanded outside then stained and sealed in the garage. Unfortunately we have had a couple of rainy days where I couldn't sand outside and the moist air slowed the stain drying. Another problem has been copious amounts of small white fuzzy pollen in the air slowing down spray finishing and triggering my asthma. All things considered, I'm pretty much on schedule. I had hoped to have the cabinets completed by Saturday, just under the two week mark. That may still be possible.

Refinished vs Old

It was very important to me to get the cabinet fronts to blend in with the existing wood while keeping the cabin feel of the house. Painting the cabinets would have given the option of updating the handles but was not an option due to the design of the kitchen opening onto the family room divided only by the small breakfast bar and floor. Pictured is a refinished verses the old finish cabinet door fronts. As you can see the stain I chose is a bit closer to the wainscoting than the original finish. You can also see that marks from the original handles are still apparent. I chose a spray on satin polyurethane for the finish so even though it shows a bit of shine from the flash there really isn't much shine. The satin finish blends in nicely with the existing wood wainscoting and ceiling.

Old vs Painted Handles

I decided to work with the existing handles instead of replacing them. While this was the easiest solution to covering the marks left behind on the cabinet doors, it also ended up being a practical, money saving solution. At the same time it was an environmentally friendly solution to re-use instead of replace. Had I been replacing I would have went with something black metal and rustic.

I scrubbed the handles then dried them good. To be sure there was no water in remaining in any cracks, I sat the handles in the sun for a couple of hours. Spray painting the handles was very easy. I used Beauti-Tone Interior/Exterior Acrylic Enamel spray paint in gloss black. I lined up all the handles on a piece of cardboard then simply sprayed keeping the spray paint can in motion. This is important when using spray paint to prevent running and sagging paint. It only took about 2 minutes to spray all the handles. Preparing the handles and dry time is the time consuming part.

I'm quite pleased with the look of the handles. The before picture shows how the handles would have looked on a refinished door had I left them as is. When the handles were together there were noticeable differences in the colour of the brass ranging. There were three colours! Some were a pale yellowish brass, some were a nice medium brass and a few were an orangish brass. I suspect they were different lots but the difference could have been caused by exposure to some cleaning agent. The after picture shows a painted handle on the same door. I was quite nervous using a gloss paint as glitter and excessive shine looks a bit out of place. Still, I went ahead figuring if the shine was too much I could tone it down with a coat of the satin spray polyurethane but I liked the way they came out. The gloss is not overpowering at all.

Garden Gnome
© 2007