Renovation Diary: Rethinking All the Appliances

I've been poring over appliances online and comparing electrical specs. I'm getting a lesson in amps, volts, watts, and jouels and honestly, it's all just little bit too math-y for this lit major. (Calling all digital entrepreneurs: Someone should launch a website that makes spec comparison easier. Can you imagine the commissions coming in from the merchant you finally send users to? Ka-ching.) But in the end my decision came down to eliminating to the heaviest energy-user, my beloved Thermador wall oven stack. Sniff sniff.

Renovation Diary: Scary Electrical Panel Nightmare

The good news: They found the old fuse box yesterday. The bad news: It's not a fuse box anymore. I seems the previous owners of our co-op apartment in Queens had some work done to the panel when they did their on-the-cheap renovation five or six years ago, and their electrician did something utterly stupid, illegal, and not up to code. He turned that old fuse box into a junction box — and then he buried it behind plaster and paint in the wall. 

Renovation Diary: The Electrical Panel Saga Continues

I’m going over my appliance specs again, looking at electrical and I don’t see how we can run all my appliances with the current power coming into this apartment. I sent the specs to my contractor’s electrician and the managing agent. Guys, something’s gotta give. A bigger worry is where the power exactly is coming in. Apparently there should be an old fuse box in addition to our breaker box. It's a mystery.

Renovation Diary: Dealing With Last-Minute Design Changes

I'm still reeling from all the renovation surprises this week. It took a day or two for it to settle in that, yes, I'm back to having a galley kitchen. But I'm surprising myself in that I'm feeling really okay with it. I count myself blessed that we can spread out the cooktop wall, get more pantry space, and place the fridge where everyone can easily get to it while we're cooking. That we can still open up the walls somewhat with a peninsula on the end is icing on the cake. And it's going to be beautiful... if I can just wrap my brain around what to do with this unexpected sink run wall. Please share your opinion  in the comments!

Renovation Diary: Kitchen Design, Take Two

When you live in a NYC co-op (similar to a condo for all of you non-New Yorkers), you go into any renovation prepared to make compromises. On sites like Brickunderground there are dozens of articles warning about what most co-op boards will just flat out say no to. You'll be shocked when I tell you what most New Yorker's can't have.
 

Renovation Diary: The Electrical Panel

Mid-day, more news from Aleks. The electrician had done his walk through and our current electrical panel — which had been installed at some point by the previous owner during a much-touted in the real-estate-listing "renovation" — is not up to code. It seems the wiring commented to the breakers in the electrical room in our building’s basement (where the power comes in) does not match what is coming into our panel. I'm told it is a common theme in these old buildings, and not as dangerous as it sounds. However, everyone is really surprised that we weren’t already experiencing breaker trips under the current situation.

They think the electrician can rectify everything pretty easily if we could just locate the old fuse box. But I've painted every inch of this home, and there is none to be seen.

Luckily, I was able to ask for info from my neighbors in our line, and someone has an unrenovated apartment that might provide a clue. Theirs is located a bit to the right of where our breaker panel is located. Could ours be buried inside the wall?

Follow the Renovation Diary:

• Our Kitchen Was Featured on Sweeten! 

• Kitchen Renovation Hack: DIY Yoga Mat Cabinet & Drawer Liners 

• Jackson Heights Kitchen Renovation: Before and After

• This Spray Paint Is a Perfect Match for Delta Champagne 

• Trouble-Shooting the Fully Integrated and Paneled Liebherr Built-In Refrigerator 

• Why I Went With Drawers in All My Base Cabinets

• IKEA + Scherr's Pantries, Toe-Kicks, and Trim 

• The Scherr's Doors + IKEA Cabinets Are Live 

• Why Liebherr Is the Only Paneled Refrigerator for Me 

• Choosing My Paonazzo Slabs 

• The Sink Run Issue 

• Why Skim Coating Is Worth the Cost 

• IKEA's Delivery Service XPO Logistics Sucks 

• Obsessed With "Hidden" Outlets 

• Restoring the Floors 

• Design Elements 

• The Exhausting Mid-Point 

• Mixing Metal Finishes in Your Kitchen

• Marble Shopping

• The Case for Choosing Appliances First

• How to Create a Lighting Plan

• Rethinking All the Appliances

• Scary Electrical Panel Nightmare

• The Electrical Panel Saga Continues

• Dealing With Last-Minute Design Changes

• Kitchen Design, Take Two

• The Electrical Panel Problem

• The Wall Can't Come Down

• The Walls Come Tumbling Down!

• Demo Day!

• Preparation

Renovation Diary: The Wall Can't Come Down

I met with the contractor this morning to see what our options are with the various pipes in the wall. It was not encouraging. First, the positives: I can swap positions of sink and dishwasher, so that we’re loading on the right (Ross and I are both right-handed), but that’s pretty much the extent of the good news today.
 

Renovation Diary: The Walls Come Tumbling Down!

Today is the day the walls come down and we finally get to see exactly what we're dealing with. I texted Aleks mid-morning to see how things were going, and he sent me six photos. My stomach dropped as I looked through them and saw that the risers are not clustered, as I’d hoped, but spread far apart — really far apart. This doesn't bode well for my open-plan dream kitchen. I expect we are going to need several feet of wall to remain standing, right in front of the sink. That means, I won't get my favorite layout:

Renovation Diary: Demo Day!

Before work this morning I met with our contractor Aleks to hand over a set of keys, and we went over the kitchen plans and the schedule of things that will take place this week. This project has for so long existed only in my head, it's exciting to know that while I'm at work all day doing my job, his crew will be here making things happen.

Renovation Diary: Preparation

It looks like moving day at our place, and in many ways it feels like it too. Today I spent most of the day hunting down boxes and packing up remaining dishes, cooking utensils, pots and pans, small appliances, and foods that we won't see again for 4-6 weeks. I emptied out every cabinet and pantry into boxes and bags and stowed it all in the spare bedroom, where last night Ross had helped me push all the dining and living room furniture.