The Kitchen Saga - Plumbing

Now that we got all of the layers torn off the wall, we found a new surprise! We have lovingly named the mess that was in our wall Tube City.

Tube City must have started years ago when the house was built. At that time, pipes were metal (lead, steel, and cast iron.) Since the house was built, it was converted into a two-flat, then de-converted back into a single family home. Our little Tube City began to grow with each renovation. Instead of ripping down the layers on the walls to clean out the previous plumbing, the more notable urban developers in Tube City decided (in an effort to save money), they would keep building. "Progress" they called it. One Tube City engineer stated "You can just attach a PVC pipe to a cast iron pipe. If it leaks it's okay, because this is in the wall, and no one will see it."

Pipes ran up two-stories, then abruptly stopped, leading to a drastic dead-end. Some pipes connected to other pipes, but had no purpose. And, some pipes leaked, causing rotting and devastation to beautiful original wood flooring.

So, with all this progress, Tube City became one of the largest urban landscape disasters in the history of plumbing!

Tube City at it's finest!

Then, Tube City decided that it was time to modernize. The water droplets were sick of getting lost in pipes that dead-ended, or criss-crossed and curved when least expected. Every time Suzie Drip-Drop needed to get on the bus for school in the morning, Mrs. Drip-Drop would get lost, and Suzie would end up in the toilet instead. It was time for a change!

Mayor Pitter-Patter decided to bring in professionals to do the job right. He hired Dorenbos Plumbing Company for the job. Their amount of expertise and professionalism was apparent from day one. Although it took them four-days of hard work to untangle and rebuild Tube City, they finally prevailed.

The new and improved Tube City!

Now, when Suzie Drip-Drop needs to go to school, Mrs. Drip-Drop jumps straight on the Copper Express. When Mayor Pitter-Patter needs to get out of town, he hops on the PVC highway. Now Tube City is efficient, and running just as a little city should!

"Thanks Dorenbos." - Little Suzie Drip-Drop

The Kitchen Saga - Rip, Smash, Tear

Let's just say that uninstalling things can be very therapeutic!

The process begins!

Remember when I was talking about an onion?

Lots and lots of layers.

Completely clean wall... well almost :)

The Kitchen Saga - Dream

Everyone needs to work towards a goal. And, we found the perfect Cabinets for our kitchen. We worked with Builders Cabinet Supply. They manufacture the cabinets in Chicago, which saves on transportation cost and helps out the environment, by not having to use the resources to ship them. Also, since we are working directly with the manufacturer, we are getting all the options we want for much cheaper than "the other guys."

Here are the drawings they did for us.

Exterior Wall with Window

Sink with Cabinets and Dishwasher

View from Breakfast Room

Overhead View

The Kitchen Saga - Lessons

Well, I intended to get our kitchen finished within a month, and blog everything about the renovation at once. Here is what I have learned.

Lesson #1 - Renovating a kitchen takes more than a month.
Lesson #2 - A house that was built in the 1890s is like an onion. It has many layers, and some of those layers are rotting and/or asbestos. YUCK!
Lesson #3 - Budgets are meant to be broken.
Lesson #4 - Don't put off blogging until a project is completed. It jinxes the whole project. That's just bad blog karma.