The Remodel
We've been thinking of remodeling our kitchen/house for years. We even talked to a designer several years ago and and were ready to go at that point. Unfortunately we were held up waiting for a long long time for plans. We eventually gave up and went on with our lives.
Then our good friends, Jeff & Kris remodeled and we decided it really was time. Thanks Kris & Jeff for the motivation we needed!
We have decided to document our journey, both to keep our friends & family informed and to help others if and when they decide to take on this adventure for themselves. Hopefully there will be useful information we can pass on in return for all the help and suggestions we have received from our friends making our decisions.
Security Screen
June 10, 2009
When we were in Chino we had a metal security screen and I really like it. I was able to leave the front door open and let the fresh air in and not worry about bugs coming in or someone walking in uninvited. I had looked into getting something similar when we bought our new house in Rancho, but the people I talked to said it couldn't be done on a double door so I didn't pursue it any farther.
We were trying to decide if we should refinish our existing front doors or have them replaced. We liked the double doors and it made it really convenient when moving large objects it and out of the house, but we had security concerns. Our next door neighbor had been broken into through their double front door a couple of years ago and I had recently read of a string of other burglaries in Rancho where they were breaking down the front doors.
I saw that Costco had a new product, security doors and browsed the info online. They had some really cool designs so we had them come out and talk to us. We were really pleased with the quality and the southwest designs. They could do the double doors so we placed our order. Everything went smoothly and the doors were installed and look great!
The weather has been a bit cool to have the front doors open with all the "June gloom", but it's so nice to finally have that option we've been doing it anyway. Best of all the breeze doesn't blow all the papers off my desk like opening the front window did.
Locks & Door Hardware
March 26-28, 2009
We purchased new locks and door hardware. I found a great Internet company that I would highly recommend. The customer service has been outstanding and the prices excellent. The products were shipped right away and were very well packaged. If you need new locks or door hardware check out DoorLocksDirect.com.
I've decided to give this project a go on my own. Figured if it was over my head I could get someone to finish it. It took a bit longer than I expected and I ran into a few snags, but overall I was very pleased and got a nice feeling of satisfaction for tackling and mostly completing the job.
Most of the problems were related to the strike plates and some broken screws from the original hardware. The new stuff is all great, it's the old stuff that is caused some problems. With a drill and my trusty dremel I was able to make the necessary adjustments. The only outstanding items at this point are related to screws that either broke when I tried to remove the old strike plates or were already broken when they were originally installed. Now to figure out how to deal with those.
Cucamonga Closets
March 19, 2009
We are still on hold for the bathroom remodel. With the economy the way it is just doesn't seem wise to keep putting too much money into the house. We did however have the master closet done by Rick Nelson with Cucamonga Closets. I can't recommend him enough. He did a great job and the customer service was outstanding. He has even offered to come back when we do the bathroom remodel and take down anything necessary and put it back up when it's ready.
We are very pleased with the end result and it might make it reasonable to not try to expand the closet when we remodel the bathroom. It would be nice to have a little more room, but it's not the problem it was before. Rick also installed a retractable screen from the garage to the house. It's very nice, but we have to be careful as it's pretty invisible.
The family room construction...
Before & After
The kitchen before the official start of the demolition. It's a bit of a mess as we are in the middle of packing everything up. Jack went ahead and removed some doors and hardware while we were packing.
At this point we think we did a decent job of sorting out the stuff we want to keep and a lot of stuff that can go. We'll see how good we really did once we get to move back into the new kitchen! We probably did a good job, but I still didn't want to put a lot of the old stuff we kept back in our new kitchen! :-)
And here is after. The picture is taken from a bit farther back, as we added the nice deep pantry cabinet on the left and extended the cabinets and countertop. The photo doesn't show how much additional counter space we gained next to the sink.
