House of Eschler Frystak Kitchen Remodel

Finishing Touches

2010-05-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks for following this story.

The End.

November 13, 2009 Get Out of My House Now.

2009-11-20T06:19:00.000-08:00

We agreed that today was the final day to allow these intruders to come into our home and make stinky noisy messes. We told everyone on Monday that this Friday was the last day to work on our kitchen. There was still a lot of painting left to do. There were still cabinets to fix, hardware to install; basically a lot of little finishing. Guess what? They didn't believe us. First the painter said that he needed to come back on Monday for "just a few more hours." No. We told him we would paint whatever he didn't finish today, that we were out of time and money and that he'd done a really nice job but we want our life back and to pack up all his ladders and gear and barrel of cigarette butts and leave us a final bill.

When the cabinet guy hadn't shown up by noon I called him to see where he was. He said he couldn't make it today, that he would have to come next week. I repeated the above speech, reminding him that this was the last day and that we would do whatever he couldn't finish today. I told him I really needed him to come today to shorten a drawer that was too long. He wanted to take it back to his shop to shorten it. He would bring it back next week. I repeated the part about today being the last day. He seemed fine with it but disappeared for a while. When he came back he had a small electric saw. He put the drawer down on the floor in the middle of the kitchen. The painter had just finished the baseboards and started throwing a fit as the cabinet guy proceeded to cut the drawer, sawdust flying everywhere. I was so over this. The only thing preventing me from splattering their blood all over my new kitchen was knowing that this was the last day.

Here's the empty, peaceful kitchen. It's not perfect. But they're all gone.

Thanks for listening. xo, Lori

October 26 - 27, 2009 Stoned Love!

2009-10-27T20:51:00.000-07:00

Chris, the tile god who did the beautiful floor tile so long ago, has arrived promptly at 9 on Monday morning. He put up his groovy gridded back board and assured us that we have enough tile to do everything including the back corner of the pantry, which wasn't part of the original plan.

Ultimate Cement Board! Because the house is so old and the walls are warped, he needed lots and lots of SHIMS!

Coming home from work today, I discovered.....

Stoned Love, to be sure! Our vision is starting to materialize. Finally!

And the super eye-opening surprise was that Capitalism went my way...I bribed someone at the stone company to rush our last CaesarStone corner. They claimed at the time that it wouldn't be fare because other people were waiting. (We waited an extra 2 months, but I didn't use that as a bargaining chip) Instead, I offered a little extra cash and they finished it by 10/27/09, not 11/06/09 as projected!!!!!
Evil wins out.

Hey, I'm still a member of the Green Party.

Coming later in the week....I hope....The plumber, the electrician, the dishwasher and the refrigerator! This is the bird's egg blue on the wall in the pantry behind where the fridge will go.

This will be the primary wall color. The secondary wall color is still TBD.

Stay tuned, kiddies!

October 20th, 2009 "Hail Ceasar!!" (quoth Ellen Bloom)

2009-10-20T09:54:00.001-07:00

The CeasarStone has finally arrived! At 9am this fine day the truck pulled into the driveway and these two strapping men on the left had all the stone moved up the back stairs in a matter of minutes. They will spend the rest of the morning notching and fitting and joining everything together. So far no breaks, no drops, no chips. Fingers crossed!!

I was almost weeping when I took this picture. Oh joy!

This is Bob, the stone guy. He had to drive back to his shop (near LAX) because they forgot they had taken our sink.

I love it so much! The color is vibrant.

What a relief to finally have the counter tops here...

Whoops! The sink doesn't fit! What now?

This under the sink shot show the cabinets need to be cut away.

After a few hours of chiseling, Bob and Ricardo get a perfect fit!

Art surveys the work.

This is where my food will be stored.

09/08-09/12/09 Our Beautiful New Door (Vive La France)

2009-09-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the new door with the French window closed.

That's Art outside the dog door. He really likes it!

Here's the new door with the French window open. Lovely!

Now it's time to install the hardware...

Gosh, the new hardware is so beautiful. Wait, the window does not close with the hardware in place.

Oops! (Note the little white line on the frame of the French window? This is where the contractor proposed we cut out the edge of the window. He claims it is the only solution. The door company agrees. They even claim that they always cut out the window frame around the door handle, they just forgot this time!) The contractor packs up the French window to be returned to the door company for cutting. (After Rick stops him from cutting it himself with a saws-all) The contractor leaves the new door on, unlocked and with no window

Rick and I pretty much go into a coma of fatigue-anger until the weekend when we get out our measuring tape and figure out that there is actually enough clearance for a standard sized hardware kit. We race to the hardware store to buy a temporary dead-bolt to hold us tight until we find a suitable kit. We race back and call the door company to tell them we want a refund for the hardware and that they won't be cutting an arc out of our French window. They agree.

Safety at affordable prices! And the French window is saved!! Vive La France!

September 4 and 5 Cabinet doors, moulding, pantry window, and the Big Surprise!

2009-09-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

This new window replaces the sad old broken thing.

The cabinet doors are in. They match the originals! Oh joy.

The replicated moulding is finally here! We made extra for future projects. Ha ha ha. Maybe in the year 2525 we'll do another project.

Rick braved the Labor Day Weekend Friday traffic to drive out to Sun Valley and pick up our new door.

It wasn't finished when he got there. Hmmm. They said it was finished when he called. What could be the hold up? When he finally saw the door, he thought it a little strange that they hadn't put on the door handles. Stay tuned for the Big Surprise that was discovered on Monday.

August 31st Tinted Primer!

2009-09-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

Jim is tinting the primer so the final color will be true. The first color we have chosen is for the backs of the cabinets. It's called "Nervy Hue."

August 21 She Comes In Colours

2009-08-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

Rick and I have a reputation for struggling with color choices. Rick admits to putting off this part of the journey, dreading the conflict. Since the late afternoon light is so much warmer than midday, I have taken a half day off of work in order to start playing with different sample shades. Our beloved Koontz Hardware has little samplers of Benjamin Moore colors. I pick up a huge selection before coming home. I'm hoping to convince him that the stone, tiles, backsplash, and exposed Doug Fir are enough color for one room, that we should stick with neutral paint colors. I use a piece of chartreuse fabric to represent the huge amount of "Apple Martini" CaesarStone. (Imported)

August 20 Cabinet Finesse

2009-08-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Today Mesfin came to install the last two cabinets.

This one had been cut down to a 23" depth. Now we can visualize having a built-in dishwasher!

Craig and Danny leveled out the countertop.

This is the temporary cabinet which is removable. Someday if we want to rent out the duplex we will be able to put in a stacking washer/dryer.

Mesfin also put in the drawer. It was adjusted to clear the pesky breaker box.

Remember me?

Craig and Danny also filled in the gaps between the uneven ceiling and the cabinets, making this old imperfect house look level and new.

August 19 Rick's Bar

2009-08-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Because Rick goes to work much later than I do, he has the opportunity to give design input while the guys are working. For this reason we are calling this countertop "Rick's Bar."

Craig and Danny painstakingly match the new with the old.

They found a nice piece of fir so we can leave it unpainted.

Rick worked with them for two days to get this angle right.

Craig is amused by Rick's "Chinese shit." I think Rick was talking about Feng Shui.

August 19 Calendar Reality leads to Temp Door and Dump Run

2009-08-22T09:00:00.001-07:00

Well, the new door is most likely not going to be ready until after Labor Day. Today we also learn that our CaesarStone won't even be in the country (I thought it was made in Los Angeles) until September 23. It's coming from China. I have been sparing you from having to read about most of our little frustrations. This is a big one. That said, we will move forward and do what we can while we wait for the CaesarStone. Having been without a back door now for 6 days and nights (and lots of mosquito bites) we ask Craig to put a temporary door jam in so we can put our old door back.

Now that he has weeks to kill while we wait for the door and stone, Craig starts thinking of other little things to do. Thankfully, a dump run is fit into the schedule. The debris pile is gone!!!

August 14 Pantry Tile Extraordinaire

2009-08-21T22:11:00.001-07:00

We are using an Italian porcelain tile in 18" squares. Chris, the tile guy comes and lays all the tile. He leaves it for the weekend to dry. Monday he returns to do the grout. He is a very skilled tile guy. It is breathtaking.

August 13th Life Without Doors

2009-08-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

08/10/09 No one shows. I call the contractor and he thinks the painter is still working. I tell him that the painter finished on the 9th. He promises to send the stone guy on 08/11/09.

08/11/09 Bob the stone guy comes to measure for the CeasarStone.
08/12/09 No one shows. I call the contractor.

He plans to come on 08/13/09 to prepare for the tile guy.

We have chosen a door that's bigger than our existing door. Since the tile has to go in before the new door, the old door had to come out.

08/13/09 The contractor cuts the hole for the new door. We come home from work with this opening in the back of our house.

August 4 through August 9 Paint Preperation

2009-08-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday August 4th. Jim, the painter starts stripping and prepping.

The old cabinet doors come off.

Jim strips the corner cabinets and finds beautifully grained old growth fir.

Very nice.

We have decided to keep it exposed and make the new small counter from fir rather than Caesarstone.

Jim decides not to prime the new wood until we know what color the cabinets will be. That way he can tint the primer for a truer color.

Where's my dog food?

Time to think about the color. The red tile will go in the pantry area, the green swatch is the Caesarstone, and the travertine bullet tiles will be the backsplash. The original doug fir door is on the right.

The debris pile continues to grow.

July 30 through August 8 The Cabinets

2009-08-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday July 30th. Mesfin drops off the cabinets. Takes long weekend.

July 31st. The sink, dishwasher, and refrigerator arrive as promised.

I wonder how long our sexy new fridge is going to wait in the garage.

Here is where the new built-in dishwasher will go. I've never had a built-in dishwasher. It's very exciting!

This one is supposed to go where the breaker box is located. How's that going to fit?

Here's the breaker box.

Monday August 3rd. Just lose the drawer and cut a hole in the back of the cabinet.

Everything looks better in the light of day.

July 17 through July 29 Electrical, Plumbing, and Drywall

2009-08-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

The new pipes.

Haunting silhouette of old chef light switch plate.

We will finally have outlets on our countertops!!!

And all new wiring for the kitchen.

The newly framed opening which will someday be a small countertop.

Reverse angle.

It's starting to feel like just one room now, instead of two.

The drywallers are here.

The new larger doorway into the pantry area.

New plumbing fixtures in case we ever want to put a washer-dryer here.

Sink area with new plumbing, electical outlets, and drywall.

Electicity for the 21st Century.

Handy shut-off valves and power for the garbage disposal.

Smooth and soft!

Last day of drywalling.

Drywall is completed on 07/29/09.

July 15 and 16 Demolition

2009-08-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Out with the old nasty ceiling tiles

Gone are those boxy cabinets.

No more countertops.

The white tiles and red stripe are gone!! Wait, they tore out the window casing?

Oops!! I guess the conversation about keeping the old moulding happened so long ago that it was forgotten.
Note to self: Recap as much as possible, whenever possible.

Moving on...

Here is the last look at the old doorway and wall.

Now doesn't this open up the room?!!!! Yippee!!

And the debris pile grows...

Before

2009-08-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

July 13th, 2009. The night before demolition starts.

The old counter tops with white tile. The first time we saw the house 13 years ago I vowed that the red stripe would be the first thing to go!

The breakfast nook and pantry with the wall dividing them. And the electrical conduit sticking out for 13 years!

The old pantry cabinets (and rock and roll fridge!) Bye.

This wall has to go! You can feel the bad feng shui just looking at the photo!