Staining the Cabinets

Tuesday, Sept 28th - Cabinet staining all day.
The workers started at 7:50am and did not finish until 7:00 pm.

They put up plastic at the kitchen wall

They covered everything in the living room
(new furniture & new tv ~ just in case)
Plastic ~ Plastic ~ Everywhere

Plastic even outside on the patio and covered about
half of the pool.

Step 1: The cabinets were conditioned on Monday to help with getting the maple cabinets a darker color.
Step 2: Apply one coat of DuraSeal Coffee Brown stain.
Step 3: Apply two coats of DuraSeal Coffee Brown Finishing Stain
Step 4: Wood putty nail holes / Sand doors
Step 5: Lacquer finish

Finished product.

Wednesday morning they will come to remove the plastic and touch up door & drawer fronts as needed.

We are off to TGI Fridays for a dinner out (and to get away from the smell)

Weekend 9/24-9/26

Friday evening:
After supper, Doug and I headed out to get rid of some of the pea rock pile, left over from the air conditioner project this summer. The rock will be going around the bridal wreath bush which is located in front of the fence by the pool equipment. So the plant was trimmed, a trench was dug, landscape edge rock was hauled and then the pea rock was hauled. Still need a few more block, but no one seems to carry this specific landscape edge blocks any longer. Guess "Inventor Doug" will have to create some.

Saturday morning:
* Home Depot - purchased a new gasket for the sink disposal unit.
* Lowes - landscape blocks to finish the rock project
* Lee Lighting/Lamps Plus/The Great Indoors - Checked out LED vs flourescent under-cabinet lighting.
* Panda Express - Lunch

Saturday afternoon:
* Online research of drawer pulls and undercabinet lighting
* Cut 20" x 20" floor tile in half (quite a trick when your tile saw table is not meant to accomodate that size)
* Pulled weeds in back yard

Saturday evening:
* The Dump delivered our armless recliner replacement.
The leather is without holes and the frame is straight, but something is still not right. Guess Mr. FixIt has another project!

Sunday morning:
* Church

Sunday afternoon:
* Watched the Dallas Cowboys defeat the Houston Texans 27-13. Yay! Now our record is 1 Win and 2 Loss....much better than being 0-3!!!
* Fixed the recliners for the sofa portion of our set. Doug used his grinder to grind down the metal tabs that were sticking out on each side, so now they should recline smoothly.

* Ordered our drawer pulls online @ DesignerKnobsandPulls.com

* Ordered our undercabinet lights online @ ElectricBargainStore.com

* Started working on making the landscaping block out of rectangle block.

Lowes - Rectangle landscape block

The finished product (reshaped).
The rectangle block above will yield 3 reshaped landscape blocks.

Pretty good imitations Doug!

COMPLETED PROJECT!!!!

Sunday evening:
Rest & Relaxation

Cabinet Stain Color Selection

The remodeling process has been going pretty smoothly, except for cabinet stain selection.
There have been many color samples. Below is our choice: Duraseal Coffee Brown

The sample piece (close-up of our 3" moulding atop our cabinets) was stained with Duraseal Coffee Brown Stain and then the 3 variations show levels of Coffee Brown Finish Stain. The left side has three layers of finish spray; the middle example has two layers of finish spray and the one on the right has one layer of finish spray.

This is the sample in natural light
This is the sample under our new flourescent lights.

Guess which one we chose?

Cabinet Installation Completed

The drywall guy was out early this morning and made fixes to the outlet boxes.

The cabinet installers were here from 10am - 2:30pm
installing our custom maple cabinetry.

Below is a view of the entire kitchen

Below is a view from the breakfast nook area.

Below is a view of our kitchen island.

Below is a view of the kitchen island showing the added storage.
Tip out sink storage & trash container storage.
Below is a closer view of our angled cabinetry.
The cabinet over the microwave is taller than the other 42" cabinets and also pushed out slightly.
The angled cabinet is also higher & pushed out
The new cabinet added over the refrigerator is really deep, pushed out and pushed up.

Granite measurement is scheduled for tomorrow.

Sofa Setback

We received our new sofa last month on August 21st. There were a couple of issues we had to call and report immediately.

Issue 1 - The armless recliner, base was welded on crooked, so that causes the armless recliner and the right arm recliner to not recline properly.

Issue 2 - The armless recliner, leather had a hole in it up on delivery.

I notified The Dump of our issues on the date of delivery (August 21st)
The Dump asked me to call US Quality Furniture to have a technician come out and inspect the piece, take photos and submit recommendations.
The technician was out on Wednesday, August 25th. He recommended a new base for the armless recliner and the right arm recliner. He recommended a new leather cover for the armless recliner. He said he would order the parts and they would be direct shipped to me in about 3-4 weeks.
Yesterday, Sept 20th - I contacted US Quality Furniture. The representative told me they don't order parts for The Dump. They simply fax over the service request to The Dump and they order there own parts. I would need to call The Dump for the update on the parts.

I called The Dump and spoke with a very nice lady there. She states the parts cannot be ordered. The service request has been sitting pending a resolution. She will need to get a supervisor or manager review. She would call me back.

A few minutes went by and she called right back. Apparantly a supervisor/manager was listening to the call and said this needed to be resolved since it has been a month. The set is no longer available and the only part of the set they have in the store, is the armless recliner.
My options:
1) Replace the armless recliner
2) Get a store credit of the amount we paid and get a new set
3) Get a refund of our purchase price (only good for the first 30 days since purchase)

Since it's taken us over a year to finally find a set we were both happy with. I opted for the replacement of the armless recliner. It is due to be delivered on Saturday. We'll see if this one is without holes in the leather or crooked bases. If that doesn't work, we will seek a refund of our purchase and resume shopping for a new set.

I'm hoping for a setback free day today!!!

Remodeling Setbacks

Drywall gaps around the outlet boxes are too big.
The faceplates don't cover them.

Installing tile over these gaps would be very tricky.
The thinset would have nothing to set on.
Another example..there are about 5 bad ones.
The rest are marginal at best.

Doug removed the trim pieces around the back door tonight
He found that the drywall had been beaten up with a hammer
when the door was first installed by the builder 11 years ago.

More examples of poor workmanship.
Our new door is scheduled to be installed on Monday.
So looks like Doug will have some drywall repair in his future.

And then there is the door stain issue.
This is the second revision, still not happy.
We wish they would just bring a big piece of maple, stained several colors and let us choose.
It's been a little challenging for the past few days.

Anniversary Day

Today was our anniversary and we received the below bouquet from Jill & Josh.

The sweet message on the card.
In the evening, I painted the kitchen with Behr "Pecan Sandie" .
Doug removed the trim pieces around the back door and installed the new outlet fixtures.

Happy 30th Anniversary

Woo Hoo!!! It's our 30th wedding anniversary!
We have stood the test of time and reached this milestone, 30 years of marriage.

The Wedding Party
In green: my brother Garry Janssen & cousin Tammy Janssen
In yellow: Doug's cousin Larry Christiansen & my college friend Denise (Burgess) Leffelman
In peach: Bestman -Doug's cousin, Scott Ridge & Maid of Honor - my high school best friend - Sally (Mohr) Stumpf
Ringbearer: my neighbor I used to babysit, Jeff Murphy
Flower Girl: my sister Jennifer (Janssen) Swanson

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The 30th anniversary is called the Pearl anniversary. I guess for it's timeless elegance.

The flower that marks this anniversary is the lily.

Weekend Stuff

Saturday morning, we started on the kitchen floor.

Doug is shown above, using his Craftsman multi-purpose tool to cut the linoleum
into manageable pieces. I then pulled up the linoleum and cut it into smaller
pieces to fit in our trash container.
Doug is shown above, using the scraper and
Henry's EasyRelease Adhesive Remover
to get all the vinyl glue off the floor.

The kitchen side is complete.
We will wait to do the breakfast nook side until we can move
the refrigerator back to it's permanent location.

The rest of the Saturday included exchanging floor tile for the last time; installing the flourescent light from the kitchen in to the garage and fixing the plumbing at the kitchen sink.

Sunday, we went to church; watched the Cowboys lose to the Chicago Bears; removed the screen door(the new door will be installed soon); Doug used the angle grinder to grind down a high spot in the concrete of the kitchen floor; yard work (mowed yard, weed trimming, sprayed for weeds); house cleaning and laundry.

If you wonder where we put everything from our kitchen cabinets:
It is in the formal dining room!

This is where we do dishes.
Our goal has been to keep dishes to a minimum.
We are averaging about 3 dishes per meal.
Chinet plates, paper plates, styrofoam bowls and
plastic silverware have come in "VERY" handy!

Electrical & Drywall

9am - The electricians were here and removed the flourescent light and installed (5) 6" can lights. They also installed the wiring for the under cabinet lights. They finished by 10:40am.
11:40 am - The drywall guys were here and added drywall to the backsplash areas, fixed holes in the ceiling, fixed the cornerbead joint at the ceiling of the kitchen & family room. They splatter sprayed the ceiling fixes and tapped & mudded all the joints. They left at 3:40pm

Lights are wired and drywall complete.

The drywall guy came back to finish the island taping & mudding.
They forgot it and I called the project manager and he told them to come back and fix it.
Cesar came back around 5:15pm and was done and everything cleaned up by 5:45pm

Another view of the lights and drywall plus the cornerbead repair.

Garrett, our project manager dropped off one of the test doors with two stain samples
The one on the right is Antique Brown, and the one on the left is the Antique brown with a Ebony glaze mixed in with it.
Color is not quite right, so will try and get a new sample on Monday.

Our granite sample

Kitchen Demo

Well today, officially kicks off our kitchen remodel. We've spent the last few weeks deep in details but today was the first day it was put in to action.

We received several estimates for the kitchen remodel. Varying from resurfacing the cabinets, stock cabinets and custom cabinets. We decided to go the custom cabinetry route and our remodeler is DFW Improved.

To see the Before photos and the photos of Demo Day - Click here

Our wish list includes:
42" cabinets stained in a dark color with a detailed trim moulding (the cabinets are custom designed by Doug & Larry the cabinet guy)
We will bump three cabinets up tall than the rest and pushed out more than the rest.
We will be adding a cabinet over the refrigerator.
Extending the counter to the right of the sink for added counter space.
New 3 cm Granite countertops
Special Feature: Soft close drawers & soft close cabinets.
Tile backsplash (tumblestone with glass tile accents)
Tile floor (20" x 20" placed on the diagonal)

Additional storage features: adjustable shelves through-out; pull out spice cabinet; pull out narrow pan drawer; 2 banks of drawers with deep storage; trash cabinet; hinged cabinet at the sink drawer; angled cabinet in the corner upper unit and a lazy susan compartment in the corner lower unit..plus a few minor features.

We will also be adding:
Stainless steel 50/50 sink
Delta Pilar Touch faucet
New back door
Can lighting in the ceiling
Undercabinet lighting under all the upper cabinets

It will be a very busy couple of weeks. The hardest part, will be eating meals only cooked on the grill or microwave. There will be no sink to do dishes until the granite is installed.

To get you up to date this is what we've done so far:
1) Remodeling proposals.
2) Custom cabinet door designed
3) Shopped for new door - Order has been placed.
4) Shopped for new faucet - Ordered and received
5) Shopped for backsplash tile. Picked out, picked up and cut and ready for installation.
6) Shopped for floor tile. Picked out a style in 13" x 13"; returned for larger size 20" x 20"; and now we are going to return these four boxes for a different style...more on that story when Doug actually tiles.
7) Research lights for ceiling and under the cabinet. (Did you know that Congress is banning incandescent lamps by 2014? click here for the story.)
Time to stock up on your incandescent bulbs or switch to the energy efficiency of flourescent, Xexon or LED!!

Hurricane KARL forms in the Gulf of Mexico

Karl has become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico after dumping heavy rains on the Yucatan Peninsula as a tropical storm.

Karl's maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph (120 kph). The National Hurricane Center in Miami says additional strengthening is possible and Karl could approach major hurricane strength before reaching Mexico's coast.

Karl is located about 310 miles (500 kilometers) east-southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico, and is moving west near 12 mph (19 kph).

Click here for the full weather story

ALS Walk - October 30th

Only 6 1/2 more weeks until the "Walk to Defeat ALS".

Team KLM "Kuklenzs Love Maarten" will be walking on Saturday, October 30th.

Maarten was a co-worker of Doug's from DeLaRue that was diagnosed with ALS in 2005.

He and his family will be walking with us at this event.

Maarten and his motorized wheelchair will probably go faster than Dee and her rehabilitated knee. Sounds like a challenge in there somewhere!

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to this worthy cause.

Click this link: TEAM KLM

Karl & his new car

Karl was on vacation last week and spent part of his time at our house.
He is shown here giving his new car a bath.

Karl is shown here, giving his Dad a tour of his car.
Further inspection

I got a ride in Karl's car. SWEET RIDE!!!

Doug got a ride in Karl's car also and also got a chance to DRIVE it.
Guess "father" didn't drive it as smooth as the "son"did.

It's a Twister

Wednesday, September 8th

A series of tornados spawned by the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine skipped across our local area from southeast Dallas, through Love Field and up through North Dallas. Tornados were within 6 miles from us (Carrollton at the corner of Hebron & Josey Lane).

Most of the tornados formed but never, ever got to the ground. There were no immediate reports of damage. The only tornados that hit the ground were near Ferris, TX (about 15 miles south of Dallas on Hwy45) and some warehouse damage in southeast Dallas.

Dorothy...we are not in Kansas anymore!

Tropical Storm Hermine hits Dallas

Below are some radar weather shots for today.
Tropical Storm Hermine rainfalls are breaking records in Texas.

We have already had 6" of rain since yesterday morning.
More than 5" of rain is expected today.

It is going to be a "very" wet couple of days.

"No Labor" Day

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of summer.

This holiday is often recognized as a day of rest and parties.
So we decided to do just that....no hard labor anyways!

Today, we sent off Josh & Jill.
They were here as overnight guests on their last day of vacation.
They are shown here after loading up their car.

After Josh & Jill, left...we packed up the boat and headed to Lake Lewisville.
There were not many people on the lake, which was very enjoyable.
We tried the new restaurant Dinghy's Bar & Grill
After a full day of boating, and enough sun for a week.
We spent the rest of the day by the pool drinking a cool beverage.

Below is a photo of the truck & boat before a fun day on the water.
So long summer!