I Love Spending $1230

We got our new furnace installed yesterday. It took the dudes about 4 hours and it cost $1230. Not bad considering the next lowest quote was over two grand. This was just a company of two guys, lower overhead since they do all the work quoting, buying, accounting, installing, etc. They did a nice job. The installation is clean and professional.

The unit is so much smaller than our old one. It’s also a quiet. When the old one would turn on there was this huge noise and the lights upstairs would dim since they were on the same circuit. Then it was noisy while it was running. This one you can’t really even tell unless it’s dead quite in the house. We should see a pretty nice reduction in our gas and electric bill. We’re going from 50% efficient to 80% efficient, no pilot light, and no huge electric motor to spin up. Maybe it will be enough to combat the rising energy prices and we’ll just be a wash.

I need to buy some foil tape and go around and get our ductwork sealed up better. I was feeling around and pretty leaky.

I played some rat hockey last night. I wanted some time to get used to a new stick and blade I got. It’s a Warrior Dolomite shaft and a wood Fury blade with a Sakic curve. It’s pretty close to the Drury curve I like on my Mission stick. I cut a new end plug for it to the “correct length” (stick goes up to your chin when you have your skates on). This was a bit longer than what my Mission stick is so it felt kind of awkward. By the end of rat I felt more comfortable with the stick. I really like the wood blade with the composite shaft. I can take a pass better and it’s a bit beefier than the Mission blade.

We have another game on Sunday. I’m guessing attendance will be a bit on the slim side with the holiday weekend. I need to try and be a bit more confident on the ice. I kind of have that new to hockey mentality in this upper league that as soon as I get the puck I need to get rid of it. I just need to have some balls and skate with it a bit and look for the right play.

Kitchen Before and Kitchen After

You don't really realize how bad something is until you've experienced something better.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 15

I've been doing little things since day 11, but nothing really warranting a picture. I put the child locks on, filled in some areas that needed more grout on the floor, painted all the trim, and stained the transition strip that will step down from the tile to the wood floor in the dining room.

Today I started installing the trim. We're using 1X4's and quarter round. I went and got it at the new Menards that they built next to the Super Walmart in North Peoria. It's pretty huge and nice. All their good lumber is inside now, only the treated lumber is outside. I grabbed some select 1X4's and crappy prefinished quarter round which is like some sort of weird composite material but is cheap.

My reconditioned Hitachi miter saw works nice, and it was only $74 including shipping. Reconditioned tools are the way to go, 50-80% off is sweet and they work and look like new.

I just got back from drinking beer with my tattooed hockey buddies, which means we lost two in a row and are out of the tournament. I'll do a post on that tomorrow though since it's quarter to midnight and I have to work tomorrow.



I like doing trim work because it's pretty low key, and with a nice miter saw and my Dad's air nailer it goes fast.



I'm about 60% done. I need to install the transition strip after the poly coat drys and then do the trim on the walls that go from the dining room to the kitchen.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 12

My wife got all the curtains done, and I gave the final wipe down of back splash post grouting. I installed all the child locks on the cabinets. Whoever invented child locks is a sick twisted bastard. They’re awful to install. You’ve got about 1mm tolerance up and down where you need to be in order for them to close by themselves, and not open if you pull too hard on them. I did get to use my new reconditioned Makita 12V cordless though. It, unlike child locks, is a fine piece of engineering. The drill itself was made in China, something went wrong with it, it was reconditioned in the United States, and I got it, two batteries, a quick smart charger, and a case for $80. Sweet deal with a one-year warranty. It looks brand new other than a small dent in the foot of the carrying case.

I should be getting my reconditioned Hitachi miter saw today to work on the trim with. That, a bit of mudding, getting and installing switch and outlet covers, and touch up painting is all that is left.

Tonight we play our first playoff hockey game. I missed the last two games of the season due to my 11-hour days remodeling. I’m not expecting much other than drinking some beer after our second loss in the double elimination format. We peaked in the first part of the season and are shit now. Maybe, just maybe we’ll be able to squeak out one win so we get to play 3 games. Yeah, and maybe I’m a Chinese jet pilot. (A shiny nickel if you know where that’s from).

Maybe I can give some sort of rallying speech, since I’m the Captain. I’m not much for public speaking, I do better when I can type, and re-read and edit and type some more.

Even then I’m average at best.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 11

On day 10 nothing really interesting happened so I didn't post anything. I got the floor grout sealed, and took care of a few odds and ends.

Today I returned the tile saw and table saw to my friends at work. They saved me a couple hundred dollars in rental or purchase fees. I did end up deciding to invest in a good Makita drill and a Hitachi miter saw. I got them factory reconditioned for $160 for both.

I grouted the back splash tonight. It went pretty well. We also got some new chairs for the breakfast bar and the dinning room. My wife also returned and created some framed art on the walls.











Tomorrow I'm not doing a damn thing and going to bed early. In a couple days I'll seal the back splash grout, and when I get my saw in the mail I'll start trim work. Then it's done.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 9

I got some big ticket items done today. The light above the sink is in, the back splash is in, and the floor grout is sealed. Everything is mostly picked up. All that remains now is grouting the back splash, childproofing, and trim work. Back to the work I get paid for tomorrow. What a relaxing vacation.


The light with a box for the switch wire because I didn't want to try and fish it to the ceiling.


conduit installed and lights working.


Back splash set.





The glass tile looks nice and ties everything together.


My wife added some birds on a wire in the corner for some art.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 8

I didn't get the back splash up tonight. I'm starting to slow down after 8 days. My hands are raw. Last night I put some lotion and Aquaphor on them and put socks over them while I slept to keep them moist. It helped. There's something in tile grout that dries the hell out of them.





It's hard to get work done when a two year old is following you around wanting to do what you are.


I got a skim coat of thin set down to level the back splash area. I made it a bit wet though so it didn't dry very fast.


We got all the drawer pulls installed



And the dining room cleaned up after the carnage. My wife also got all the window and door trim touched up with white, which I hate doing so I'm glad she did.

Tomorrow I want to get the light fixture in, the back splash tile set, and the floor grout sealed. With those things done, I would just need to grout and seal the back splash and do trim work and touch up paint. Then I think it would be just about done.

Kitchen Remodel Day 7: Posted on day 8 cause I"m getting tired.

It snowed like hell yesterday in Wisconsin so my Dad stayed an extra full day. We got the kitchen back to a functional point getting the dishwasher, sink, fridge, and stove back into place. We also got the breakfast bar and the little counter top installed.


We put the old uppers in the garage.


Breakfast bar installed.


Sink, dishwasher, and garbage cabinet hardware installed.


The fridge JUST fit.


Pretty much fully functional.

Today we've cleaned up all the construction stuff on the dining room side, installed all the drawer pulls, installed new HVAC vents, and I've just started the back splash. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the night. I'll post more pictures of the work done today (day 8) tonight.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 6

Today we didn't start working until afternoon since the tile needed to fully set up before we grouted it. In the meantime we got the counters fully secured and cut a hole for the sink and installed it. The silicone sealant needed to dry before we hooked everything up so we grouted the tile.



Grouting tile is much easier than laying tile. It drys out your hands though. I'd wear gloves if I was doing it again.



Tomorrow, before my dad leaves around noon, I want to get the tile wiped again, the sink hooked up and the dishwasher back in, the breakfast bar installed, and the stove back in place.

Kitchen Remodel Day 5

Beer and painkillers are all that is allowing me to type this right now. It's 1:45 AM. We finished tiling the kitchen about an hour ago. We started laying tile at about noon. We had some other finish up sort of things to do before we laid the tile, so it was about a 16 hour day. I've put in about 33 in the past 48. My body is paying the price. It feels like there are knifes stuck in my back, my hands are skinned up from the cement board, and my feet are swollen and sore from being in boots and bending down all day. This is why people pay to have other people do their kitchen. It's looking pretty damn nice though.


Dry laying the tile to make sure it worked out on the ends.


My first patch of laid tiles ever. It's the spot under the fridge so if I messed it up it wouldn't show. It turned out pretty good.


Kitchen area all laid.


Last tile.



If anyone ever tells you laying 170 square feet of tile is easy, tell them to piss-off.

Kitchen Remodel: Day 4, Marty Shows Up

Today we continued installing the cabinets. My dad nearly killed himself when a piece of filler strip he was cutting kicked back on the table saw and sent a piece of wood flying through and shattering a bottle of torch oil and grazing his hand. Had he been standing directly behind the blade it would have done some serious damage to him. Use all of your saw guards kids, they're there for a reason. We got a lot done today.

Second upper going up.


Luckily expert cabinet installation technician Marty showed up so things went quickly.


Damn he's good.


It's like he's not even exerting himself.


A whole new wall of cabinets, much better than the microwave stand by the fridge.


Counter tops are on and the gaps are OK enough to be able to work with back splash tile and trim work. They aren't screwed on yet. My dad was done after 13 hours of work.



The corner and back of breakfast bar


The glass mosaic we'll be using for the back splash.

Tomorrow it's time to learn how to tile. That will take all day, at least we'll have to wait to do anything else for 24 hours while it dries.

Oh sweet Jesus, it's 10:20 and I have to go paint the ceiling so it's done before the tile gets put down. I just pounded some Mountain Dew so hopefully I can get it done in a couple hours.