Turn to the other side

Now that we've got the hallway under control, it's time to make some decisions around the doorway into the kitchen and what to do with the fridge & that desk in the hallway. Our kitchen is small. Very small. You really can't have more than one person trying to cook at a time in there it's so small. Kelley has been wanting to open up that one wall for about 4 years now just to get the visual effect that the kitchen is bigger. Our idea was to open up the space where the fridge was, so that we could turn the fridge to face into the kitchen. Yes the kitchen is so small that there is no refrigerator in there. It won't fit.

The decision was made to slide the fridge into the hallway while we were under construction, then take down the plaster to expose the studs. After that is all open, decide how to remove studs, build a new header, and what has to remain.

We start by defining the edges of what can be removed and finding out what's behind the plaster.

Break on through to the other side!

Demolition Man - I hate demo

Ah the cloud of plaster dust - the fridge is out of the hole

 

 

Plaster is down from the kitchen side!

 These last two pictures show both sides of the same wall. Top from the hallway, you can see the corner of the fridge now in the hallway. The header above that fridge area on the right is exposed, as is the wall that was formerly hiding the fridge from the kitchen. Think we can cut down that many studs?

That's some very old linoleum in that fridge spot. I'd say it's from the 60's

Refrig Out!

Note the white paneling in the fridge surround

We opened up the space close to the cabinet too

Some of the studs are gone! So is the plaster dust cloud! So is the white paneling in the fridge area

I'm working on some electrical - details below

Electrical is frustrating

very frustrating

New header is in place!!!

The whole space is open and the new header is up!

From the hallway side - new header is 2x10's and took 2 studs on each side to support

Detail of the electrical update

Guess what was behind the fridge paneling? Nothing! New found space!

New, open spaces

That last picture: New open spaces. The bottom area (see white painted studs) is the laundry room downstairs. But above that, is nothing. It's just open space? They just framed those walls out away from the foundation for some reason. Well I can use that. Looks like new cabinet space for the tiny kitchen to me!!

Electrical: we had an electrician come in to deal with some stuff in the main breaker box so we went for some advice too. He said all of my work in the switch box was done properly and is to code, so I felt safer about that. He also said that while the drywall was down I should add more outlets. Put an outlet every 6 feet on every wall and you'll never need an extension cord. So I ended up adding 4 more outlets in the hallway. In the kitchen, we rigged a cut up extension cord to control a light over the sink when we plugged it in, and that is some ghetto shit right there. I picked up a 2-rocker switch to replace the existing switch for under-counter lights and the ghetto extension cord, and added another outlet into that junction box too. It has been incredibly useful since I finished that.

Header: I used 2x10's on the advice of a family member who is a structural engineer. I think that used to be an exterior wall, the roof trusses above did show some weight bearing but only to one side. So I braced the roof properly, pulled down the last support studs for the middle, and got the header in place with the help of Kelley and her mom. Then we got studs underneath to properly support it and removed the bracing. That was a stressful day. But everything stayed where it was supposed to!

I am not a huge fan of demolition. Really I prefer to step into a clean work area and start building. So having the majority of the demo done and all of that old stuff gone from the house is a huge relief. Framing is pretty fun but kind of tricky. Finally getting all of the plaster down and the wall removed is bringing some real relief to us.