Renovation Diary: Why Skim Coating Is Worth the Cost

—Original old world plaster walls—

When we got the bids on this job, one area where they varied was in the treatment of the walls, and the difference came down to skim coat. You may be asking yourself is skim coat even necessary or worth the added cost? It is if you're blending old and new — and the old walls are 1946 plaster. Here's why.

Renovation Diary: IKEA's Delivery Service XPO Logistics Sucks

IKEA outsources their delivery needs to a company called XPO Logistics, and that's a terrible business mistake for a company that prides itself on high quality products and customer experience. We are now on our fourth delivery attempt, scheduled for Monday.

Renovation Diary: Obsessed With "Hidden" Outlets

 
I woke up early with the nagging worry that we probably forgot to put outlets back on the living room side of the wall that we’d torn down then put back up again. Sure, I made myself try to sleep (or at least rest) until 5am, then I gave up, got up, and started brewing the morning coffee. I took mine through the zip wall to take a look at the work that had been done yesterday in the light of day. I was so relieved. Not only had Aleks remembered to put back the outlet, he’d given me an extra one exactly where my reading lamp will go. Bless him. A good contractor who is forward-thinking is worth his fee.

Renovation Diary: Restoring the Floors

Aleks texted from a flooring store where he’s picking up red oak slats for the section of floor that used to be the galley kitchen but is now down to it’s subfloors. I had hoped originally to find that underneath the porcelain tile we’d find the same hardwood floors that are in the rest of the rooms, but nope, just subfloor. It’s too bad to lose the old slats from the dining area, but they were all one length, not feathered. To make the two sides, old galley kitchen and old dining area, match, Aleks’s floor guy will have to re-do both rooms in the same material, feather the slats of various sizes, and stain them the same natural stain as the rest of the house.

Renovation Diary: Design Elements

—Remodelista—

I woke up this morning before the alarm went off with a dreadful feeling that I’m making a mistake with the lighting over the sideboard — specifically the plan to use the extra pendant there. I’d purchased four to go over the island, when it was an island, but now I’m only using three since the wall became partially closed again. They’re custom, and can’t be returned, hence the idea to use the extra one over the sideboard. I thought perhaps it would  tie in the design of the two rooms. But I woke up realizing that it will hang too low and will obscure the artwork that I plan to hang there. Also, it’s a downlight that won't illuminate the sculpture that I’m going to put on the sideboard either. What I really need there is a "wall wash."

Renovation Diary: The Exhausting Mid-Point

Today begins Week 3. In my experience, the rough-ins period is the toughest for the homeowner in any kitchen renovation. With parts of walls and ceilings down everywhere we turn, the rough-ins for plumbing, gas, and electrical have been underway since last week, and we’ve been living with holes and plaster dust everywhere. This is the phase when the excitement of finally getting your project underway has worn off, and you just can’t escape the fact that you’re living in a construction zone.

Renovation Diary: Mixing Metal Finishes in My Kitchen

The pure white field and deep navy vein of the paonazzo marble we saw yesterday is sparking all kinds of design and decor choices in my mind. I drafted a new mood board. So much has changed since I drafted my original mood board that I thought it would be painful to compare them, but it isn't, because I love the new design even more.

Renovation Diary: Marble Shopping

—Paonazzo marble, Elizabeth Roberts Architecture—

Our home is a construction zone on the other side of the zip wall and there's a distinctly alkaline note of lime dust in my coffee this morning, so it was a real relief to spend the day marble shopping with Ross at Bas Stone in Long Island City. This stone yard — operated by two sisters — is like no other stone yard I've ever visited. We saw so many beautiful marble slabs, and one that I think may be The One.

Renovation Diary: The Case for Choosing Appliances First

This morning I'm trading Craigslist emails with people who want to buy my Thermador oven stack — that's right, the same oven stack I was so excited to find at a good price myself just a few months back on CL. The one I went to great lengths to arrange delivery for. The wall oven that completed my "dream kitchen." Though it would not have helped my particular situation, based on this experience I advise anyone planning a kitchen to choose your appliances first.

Renovation Diary: How to Create a Lighting Plan

I met with Alex this morning to go over my lighting plan. If you've never done one, it's a map showing where you want your lights to go and indicating, with dotted lines, where those lights should have switches located. You also indicate where outlets should go. When I was a renovation newbee on my first kitchen, I neglected to do this and I ended up with a gorgeous kitchen that was not well-lit. I also ended up with cutouts for outlets interrupting the flow of my expensive slate backsplash. This time I was prepared.
 

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.