Tiling Started

We have moved closer to the final phase of our kitchen renovation. Here's an update of what has been going on - the good, the bad and the ugly! I should mention that neither of us has tiling experience of this magnitude. I did the tiling for under our wood stove in our second house and my husband observed with helping a little when our brother-in-law installed the ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. So we are flying by the seat of our pants. This means the tiling process is going slow.

The fun part of any DIY project is seeing it come together. The not so fun part is the multitudes of delays (aka life) of which we have had many during our kitchen remodel. We purposely kept the tiling to the end because we knew it would be the most disruptive of all. Unlike refinishing the cabinets, the tiling means no sink until it is installed but that has to wait until the grout has cured. It means no stove because ours is a slide-in down draft stove meaning it cannot be put back into place until the grout has cured. The cure time for the grout is three days. Essentially this means no sink or stove until the tiling is complete which rather knocks out a lot of kitchen function. The dishwasher and refrigerator are still operational. I have lots of counter space and a large sink in my laundry room so have set up a make-shift kitchen. Cooking is continuing pretty much as normal with the help of gas grill/side burner, rice maker, slow cooker, countertop roaster and I have the option of cooking over an open fire.

The first step for this phase was to lift the stove out. This is no easy feat because the stove had to be disconnected from the down draft system then lifted up and over the down draft system (1) without damaging it. The second step was to remove the old sink (2) that never should have been placed that close to an electric stove. If you have followed this blog you will know we removed a built-in range top and removed the cabinet so our stove would fit. Next after careful measuring we cut a piece of exterior grade plywood (3) to go over the existing laminate countertop. Originally we were going to tile over the laminate since Home Depot said we could but after seeing the amount of repairs we decided to lay new plywood. This effectively raises the countertop ⅞ inch (5)once the tile is on. The increased height will result in less back strain when working at the counter so that will be a real plus. However, raising the height was a practical modification for the counter edge where the dishwasher is. Even with the additional height when the edging tile is in place the dishwasher door just barely clears the tile. The drains to the old sink (4) will be removed when the new sink is plumbed. The inside of the corner cabinet will see a new shelf added to give additional storage.

We used the new sink as a template for the hole (6). We decided to go with the deepest single sink we could find that would fit the spot. The old sink had the same size large sink and a smaller half sink that we wanted to put a garbage disposal in however, we cannot have one of those here so we compromised. It's been several years since I've had a single sink in the kitchen, since the turn of the century house we extensively remodeled. We ended up burning out the circular saw cutting the hole for the sink. The saw was the same one we used for all the renovations in every house we've owned. It was sad to see it go! A new shiny red Skilsaw (8) replaced it less than an hour and half later as well as a new jig saw to replace the one borrowed by one of our kids. It delayed our progress but we puttered on. The sink is going to look nice in the new location (7).

We plan on doing a fair amount of tiling in this house in addition to the kitchen so decided we really needed a wet saw. The nice thing about DIY is you can postpone things while waiting for a sale. Accumulating your materials over time by shopping the sales is one of the best ways of saving money on DIY projects. We had been checking the sales waiting for a good price when this Mastercraft wet saw (9) went on sale for $49.99. My husband picked it up the following day.

We are using SimpleSet pre-mixed thin-set mortar (10). The mixture is not as thin as it sounds so it took a little used to how to apply. A thin layer is spread using the flat part of the trowel then another layer is spread using the notched edge of the trowel. It looked too thick and sure enough the thin-set came up through the seams in several areas but we cleaned the seams out enough for the grout. We started at the window well leaving the top portion to last. Then we put down a couple of heavy towels on the bottom of the window well and put the tiles up on the top. We were going to wait to brace these tiles but an online search said they would be fine. The towels were in case they fell which they didn't!

We have five visible plugs (split receptacles) that will be tiled around. In order to work around the plugs the breaker to that plug needs to be turned off and left off until the thin-set dries. It can then be turned on until you are ready to apply the grout at which time it should be turned off again. The grout takes three days to cure and misting of the grout is required for proper curing so the power should be turned off while misting and left off until the mist dries. Use a circuit tester to be sure the power on each plug is off before doing any work around electric receptacles or switches.

It didn't take long for my husband to be cutting tile like a pro! I think he did a wonderful job of cutting the opening for the first receptacle (13). We kept the power off while working around the receptacle and for 24 hours while the thin-set was drying.

We are using 2" x 2" matte finished ceramic tiles that come in a 1 - foot sheet. We are using ⅛ - inch spacers (14) to keep the lines straight. The spacers are really easy to use even though I thought they would be a bit tedious. Spacers are "X" shaped pieces of plastic made to help you keep the grout lines straight. After placing the first tile, stand spaces up along the edge then butt the next tile to it. Keep the spacers in place for about 30 minutes or until the thin-set starts setting up.

The counter edge (15) is also going to be tiled using the same tiles as they don't have a rounded edge tile to match our tiles. Originally we were going to put wood trim but both the refrigerator and dishwasher presented problems. I had thought that edging in copper would look really nice as well but then thought that might not lend itself well to the cottage feel the house has. Finally we decided on tiling it making modifications for the dishwasher. Oh and originally I thought I wanted navy blue grout to tie into the family room. After much deliberation I decided on white grout instead because at some point we will want to change the colours and/or furniture in the family room to which the only thing dividing the family room from the kitchen is the breakfast bar. Using white grout will keep the kitchen neutral enough that any colours can be used.

Pictured is how the kitchen looked Monday night after a long and sometimes frustrating day of working on it. We did not get as much done as we had hoped but what we did get done was encouraging. We are hoping to have the tiling done at the latest by Saturday. Yes that is slow but we are taking our time so it looks nice and we are working around life. If we get finished by then we will be able to get the grouting done on Sunday. Three days later we will be able apply two coats of grout sealer. The next day we will be able to mount the sink and put the stove (right foreground) into position. So I have a little over a week of a mostly non-functional kitchen.

Over top of the downdraft you can see where we broke through the wall. Behind is under the stairs, an unused space off the walk-in pantry. We are going to make a removable access panel in case we need to get to the back of the stove. We can get to the down draft through the access panel in the front of the stove where regular stoves have a drawer as well.

So that's where we are at on the kitchen renovations so far. I hope to be writing about finished results sometime next week depending on how life treats us.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Kitchen Update

We are now on our sixth week of kitchen renovations. I would love to be able to report more progress but I can't. In all honesty we likely should have gutted the kitchen but that would have affected the adjoining family room ceiling. We are now doing the work ourselves but that part you already knew if you have been following this blog.

Appliances Installed

Background: The kitchen is mainly below ground with a large window opening onto the ground and a patio door opening into the backyard facing the water. While this means good energy savings because of the extra thick walls it also means we are somewhat limited for adding on in either direction. Indoors the kitchen joins the family room so there is no room for expansion there either. Essentially that means we are working with what we have in terms of space and layout. Unfortunately the previous owners put the sink in an awkward position with the corner being only a couple of inches where the countertop range was. Some of the cabinets were damaged through neglect or using too harsh of cleaners. I decided to refinish them because they are good heavy doors and recycling what we had was the right thing to do if at all possible. So during this renovation we are reusing the cabinets, cabinet doors, cabinet handles, HVAC vent and portions of the existing countertops. We haven't decided about lighting replacement but may upgrade the existing ceiling fan. The pot light over the window works fine so doesn't need replacement.

Cabinet Doors

Pictured is how the kitchen looks right this minute. Most of the cabinet doors have been rehung. The backsplash has been removed that will give about an extra inch of counter space. We were going to leave the laminate on the walls but after finding one small area where it was lifting decided to remove it. The laminate was covering an electrical receptacle (red arrow) that we didn't know about. It was reconnected by our electrician this morning! Which leads to to make a few comments on DIY.

Any DIY project is likely going to take twice the time and cost twice the amount of money you figured it would. A fundamental mistake some DIYers make is to not ask for help or hire out when they are out of the area of ability. Not only does this end up costing both time and money but so mistakes can put their families at risk. Now both my husband and I are quite comfortable doing electrical repairs however, the wiring in this box wasn't quite familiar and the box had been covered for at least as long as the previous owner did the kitchen. We discovered the box was dead but looked to be inline with other receptacles so could easily be reconnected. In this case it was easier and safer to have our electrician stop by to check it out before we did anything.

For the most part I'm happy with how the cabinet doors and handles came out. They are cleaner and brighter looking and they match the wood ceiling better. We ordered the hinges online from MyKnobs at a cost of $1.93 per set compared to $4.39 per set here. That is quite a savings! Each set came with two hinges, the necessary screws and cabinet pads. The only problem we encountered was having to drill new holes on the door backs for the hinges as the new ones were slightly smaller than the old ones.

Breakfast Island

The breakfast island has been the source of much discussion. It along with the change from carpet to ceramic tile flooring are the only things that mark the change from the family room to the kitchen. We would like to get a bit more light into the family room so the first consideration was to put frosted glass panels on both sides of the two end cupboards. Removing all the doors for refinishing showed up that this wouldn't give the effect we wanted. We knew for sure we wanted to square off the counter on the island (1) and it has now been removed. Then and we are now still discussing removing (2). Both of us agree the overall look with (2) removed would be a plus. However, my husband came up with the idea of narrowing the island by removing (3). The reasoning is the island is not used as an eating surface and in fact no one uses the island for eating even when we are entertaining. My concern is that this would be removing too much counter space something we always can use more of. I'm thinking we shouldn't narrow it because at some point we may want to use it as an eating surface and it does make a lovely serving surface as well. So I think (3) will be staying.

Tiles

Pictured is a close-up of the breakfast bar to give you a bit better idea of what we are doing. The edge (4) has already been removed. This will allow us to run the wood needed for the tile installation. Instead of doing a wood trim edging as initially planned we are now doing a ceramic tile one to match the counter. The portion in orange (5) is the portion we are debating removing. As you can see that is a substantial amount of countertop in a kitchen with little counter space so we will likely be leaving it that wide (26"). Another thing we will be fixing before tiling the wall is the switches. For some reason there's a space between the switch and plugs so we will put them together properly.

What is really exciting is seeing the tile being laid out. Now that the kitchen is in even more disarray than before and it will get worse before it's over, the tile gives a glimmer of this is going to happen. That's another side to DIY. It goes slow because life does get in the way. We don't have a week of full, non-stop time to dedicate to the project. We work when we can so the house has been in varying degrees of chaos for the past six weeks while we work time in for the kitchen around everything else.

Sink & Taps

We bought the Moen faucet (model 87444) quite some time ago. The hardware store was running a sale on Moen products. The faucet was marked down to $60 from $119.99 so imagine my surprise when I saw it was $206 on the Moen website! What appealed to us was the overall design and that Moen has a good reputation.

We ordered a Moen sink Camelot (model 22231) from HomeCenter. The regular price was $215.75 but the discounted price was $131.61! Shipping brought the total to $161.56 but considering the time and money we saved finding a sink that would exactly fit the spot the shipping costs were worth it. Notice we went with a single bowl sink. We currently have a bowl and a half sink but it won't fit the new location. The new bowl is deeper than the old larger bowl. Not only do we not have room for a double sink, we cannot have a garburator here so we decided to go with a single sink. I'm sure I will adjust.

Online shopping has become the new and environmentally friendly way to shop. You can comparison shop online saving time and money all from the comforts of home. Not only that but most shipping charges are considerably lower than what you would spend driving from store to store so not only are you saving precious gas dollars, you are also reducing your carbon footprint. One down side to online shopping is of course the shipping time. That just means you have to do a little more planning and realize that a DIY project may have to be delayed while waiting for a purchase to arrive.

The next few days should see a lot of changes so please check back for the next update.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

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

Starting to Stain

Refinishing kitchen cabinets or any other cabinet or piece of furniture is slow going. The end result always depends on the quality of the preparation work so this is one area where you should not skimp. So far I have 10 drawer fronts and 13 cabinet fronts to the completion of staining. That leaves me 10 cabinet fronts that have not been sanded yet and the cabinets themselves that have started to be sanded. I am rather pleased with the results even though it has been a lot of work. I'm hoping to have the rest of the cabinet fronts and cabinets stripped today. From there the timing becomes simply staining and finish coat time while allowing plenty of time for the stain to dry before applying the finish and allowing that to dry between coats. I hope to also have the handles spray painted today. We are replacing the hinges because some of the old ones are not really re-usable.

Composite cabinet doors are those made from particle board then covered with a thin veneer. Both aggressive cleaning with harsh chemical cleaners or neglect such as allowing water to remain on the door's bevelled edges can cause the doors to look unsightly. The problem is this tends to affect only door fronts in heavily used areas while the rest of the door fronts may look almost new. That means if you buy a new to you house you stand a good chance of running into this problem. Refinishing is likely the cheapest option for getting a renewed look but it is time consuming.

Resist the urge to try fixing just those damaged doors as it will be next to impossible to match the existing door fronts. Quite often these doors are heavy and still quite usable so your options become whether to stain (good option for wood finished) or paint (only real option for already painted doors). If staining do consider that you may have to use the same handles or find similar to hide any flaws from the old handles. Hinges likely should be replaced. On average, do not underestimate the amount of time this project will take. Allow for at least two weeks, start to finish.

Tips for Refinishing Composite Cabinet Doors
Note: Safety first! This project requires safety goggles and a dust mask along with proper ventilation.

1. empty cabinets
   
2. remove doors from cabinets
3. remove all hardware
   
4. wash well with TSP and allow to dry
5. decide on whether painting or sanding down to wood veneer - either way you still have to do some sanding
   
6. use a spray bomb for the finish coats if stained or the paint coats - be sure to apply in thin coats with doors laying flat
7. keep the spray bomb in motion and not too close to the surface to avoid excess pooling or uneven surfaces
   
8. Use a fine steel wool between coats and to smooth any raised edges in the raised particle board
9. Allow ample time for stain drying, drying between paint coats or finish coats

Prepped for Staining

The garage has been taken over with door and drawer fronts sitting on bins. This is where I do the staining and finishing coats for a couple of reasons. The door fronts take up a lot of space because I am doing them flat. I was going to do them outside but weather can be fickle and I need at least a 24 hour dry time for the stain followed by another 24 hours for the finish coats, likely four. Recall that I am finishing both front and back of each door so that adds another day. Time wise just in this adds up to three days. The main reason for doing the staining and finish coats in the garage aside of being able to leave them undisturbed is to keep the odours out of the house as much as possible. Using a spray bomb in the garage won't be a problem either so I will get the nice finish I want without having to worry about over spray. As you can see, only a fraction of the door fronts are ready for staining.

The Stain

I am a fan of Flecto Varathane products and use them almost exclusively for any refinishing projects. The stain performs nicely without drying too fast for good blending and the urethane gives a nice, very durable and scrubable finish. I'm using traditional cherry (# 245). What I don't like is these products are not exactly environmentally friendly although the water based ones are better than the oil based.

Staining the door fronts is really quite easy. I use a pure bristle brush to apply a generous coat of stain then let it sit 5 minutes before wiping off the excess. This ensures the stain penetrates through-out the remaining veneer for an even application. This also eliminates having to apply a second coat. Once the excess stain is removed I allow the door fronts to sit undisturbed for 12 hours then turn over and repeat the process on the back (inside of door). It is imperative that the stain be fully dried before applying the spray finish coats.

I'm using Flecto Varathane Professional Clean Finish in semi-gloss. This finish is touch dry in minutes which helps to eliminate any dust or insects settling into the finish resulting in a nice smooth finish. Anything that does settle between coats is easily removed with a light sanding using fine steel wool.

A Peek Look

Here is a peek look at what the stained door fronts will look like. This picture was taken just after applying the stain and removing the excess stain. This is a good indication of how they will look with the finish coats applied although they will not be shiny as I'm using a satin finish. Note how the original stained sides are lightened just a bit with the new stain. Also note how the shape of the original handle still shows. This is more apparent on some of the doors than others. The veneer was to thin to sand away this problem so as already mentioned I am reusing the handles. Not only is this frugal since I don't mind the handles especially after being spray painted (see tomorrow's post) but environmentally re-using instead of replacing is a good thing. The stain is not near as yellowish after it dries as you will see in tomorrow's pictures.

I've already started spraying the handles and have to say they are coming out better than expected. I will post more about them tomorrow including a little cheater trick for cleaning them before painting. So please check back tomorrow as I get one day closer to finishing our kitchen renovations.

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

This will be my third time refinishing kitchen cabinets. On the previous occasions I swore up and down I would never refinish kitchen cabinets again. The problem is mainly the disruption rather than the actual work. It ends up being a good week of chaos. Well, out of frustration I bit the bullet again. This kitchen is presenting a few problems and totally replacing the cabinets is not an option (see problems following). We have had a couple of cabinet makers give estimates and have looked at the possibility of replacing all the doors from an online source. Actually the price was not bad and if we don't get the desired look with refinishing then we will end up doing that. However, my frugal side tells me refinishing will work nicely even though I am not up to the extra work but I am insisting the cabinets are finished before installing the ceramic tile that I keep stubbing my toes on!

The former owners put this kitchen in on the lower level (mostly under ground). The patio door open onto a covered patio with a lovely expanse of park like setting leading to the water. At the time they likely spent close to twenty thousand for the kitchen alone but it is obvious the family room, stairwell and rest of the lower level was completed at the same time. They did beautiful work with the exception of the actual design of the kitchen but that is something we can work with to keep the cottage feel.

Problems

One of the biggest problems with this kitchen make-over is the ceiling (1,4) and matching wainscoting. It is all tongue and groove with the kitchen flowing into the family room. The kitchen cabinets were put in to look like they are built-ins. Evidence indicates at some time there was a re-staining of at least the cabinets themselves but not the door fronts. The doors are quite heavy with outdated hardware (2) and are of composite construction of veneer over particle board. About 6 of them show quite a bit of signs of damage (3) while the rest look brand new. So for refinishing this presents a bit of a problem as it is impossible to fix just the damaged door fronts so they look like the undamaged ones due to factory finish and aging. That means I am sanding all the doors down, restaining and applying a few coats of urethane in a satin finish. The lovely green countertop and walls (5) will soon be sporting ceramic tile. I'm not sure whether I will put the hot sauce rack back up or not. A cookbook shelve would be nice there but it's over the stove so perhaps not.

Sanding

When sanding composite doors you really have to be careful because that layer of veneer is quite thin. I'm using a Jobmate detail sander with orbital action at 13,000 OPM. It is imperative that the sander be in motion at all times when on the veneer and not be allowed to stop in one spot. With a constant motion and light touch, I basically removed the original finish from the raised and recessed flat portions. With the finish removed the doors look rather odd with the darker stain on the raised portions but restaining will tie everything together to make them look nice. A bit of hand sanding is required in the corners and a steak knife, a trick I learned long ago with refinishing furniture, helps clean out cracks.

What quickly became apparent is I am going to be forced into using the existing hardware. The veneer is too thin to get the marks out from the old handles. So what I'm going to do is clean the handles well and spray paint them black. Sanding will also not get every single variation or stain out. Luckily there is very little in the way of stains and the stain I chose will give a uniform look with a bit of character to match the house. In other words I don't want them to look exactly brand new but at the same time I want them to look a heck of a lot better than they do now.

One mistake folks often make when refinishing or painting cabinet doors is to not finish the inside. This is one of my pet peeves! So I am sanding the backs of each door and refinishing them as well. The inside of my cabinets are in pretty good condition so I will be painting the back walls only and leaving the shelves in the wood finish. I will also be attaching lace to the shelves to give a bit of country whimsy when the cabinet doors are open. Four door fronts over the breakfast bar are designed so the recessed portion can be replaced with glass so I think I may do that as it will allow more light into the family room.

Choosing a Stain

I used a door that had been removed when we put the stove in as my stain tester. The toss-up ended between traditional cherrywood (# 245) and light cherrywood (#239) in Varathane Preminum Wood Stain. I went with the traditional that was a slightly better match. A second coat of stain gave a nicer depth and when sprayed with clear satin urethane the match to the ceiling and wainscoting is quite acceptable.

Last night I was really down because not only was my kitchen being torn apart, the sanded doors really don't really give you a good idea of what they will look like finished. Seeing the sample with the stain then with top coat was a very uplifting. I know I'm on the right track and just know the cabinets are going to come out looking great.

Tomorrow I will post so of my tips for refinishing composite style cabinet doors along with a couple of progress pictures.

Garden Gnome
© 2007

Kitchen Reno Has Begun

First, my apologies for not having a graphic or photo for you today. I promise I will have some for you tomorrow. Our much awaited for kitchen renovations have begun somewhat out of frustration. We are just back from our vacation in Las Vegas so even though I am tired, I decided to take the bull by the horn. The ceramic tile for the countertops has been sitting in my way since before Christmas. The problem with tearing apart the kitchen is trying to get it back in order for entertaining. Then we had this little cabinet problem and after talking to several people I decided last night to haul out the sander and do it my self! This will be the third time I have refinished kitchen cabinets and each time I swore I would never do it again. But I'm frustrated and want the kitchen done, period. So I spent the afternoon and early evening sanding cabinet doors. Please check tomorrow as I will go into greater detail. At the moment, I'm exhausted and heading to bed.

Garden Gnome
© 2007