kitchen reno - part 2 of 3... or 4 or 5

The second big stage of the kitchen was the installation of the appliances.  Just plug 'em in and go right?  Well, that's what we were hoping for anyway.  The appliances arrived and were taking up more than enough space in the kitchen.  The delivery gentlemen took the refrigerator out of its box and I was able to hook it up to the water line and set it in place no problem.  As for the others, I was going to need a hand.



Now, typically a dishwasher is fairly easily hooked up to the hot water line and trap underneath the sink.  The tricky part is that we had a couple cabinets in our way so we had to go down through the basement to link the two.



The tough part wasn't the idea of drilling through the floor and coming back up through the bottom of the sink cabinet.  The part that made for an interesting day and a couple trips to Menards was that they don't make connections and drain hoses long enough to reach this way.  After a final trip to Menards with Heather's dad and some jerry-rigged plumbing, we made the connection between the two.  We ran electrical to the box in the basement and hard-wired it in.

Heather likes taking these pictures of me

Connecting everything under the sink

Now the oven... Yep, we got a double oven that we had to lift off the ground and guide just perfectly into the cabinet.  Doesn't sound too bad, but when you only have about an eighth of an inch to spare on each side, it makes it difficult to do so without scratching anything.

Attempt #1:  We had the electricity run through the cabinet.  Goal: Get it on the cabinet ledge and I hold while Heather's dad connects wires to pull through to the basement.  All went well, but something was in the way and we couldn't get it all the way back.  We pull it out and reanalyze it.

Attempt #2:  It looks like wires are getting in the way in the back of the cabinet, so we cut a little more away where electricity comes through the cabinet.  I guide and push while Heather's dad pulls wires from the basement.  We get it closer, but still no dice...  Again, we pull it out and reanalyze it.

Attempt #3:  We think the wire is still getting in the way at the bottom right side of the oven and try to get it in.  We pull it out enough to take a look at some measurements.  Measure the the oven back: 23.5 inches. Measure the oven cutout depth in the cabinet: a hair over 23 inches.  If you do the math, the oven does not fit into the cabinet...

Attempt #4:  We figure out how big the back of the oven is, and cut out the back of the cabinet to get us that extra quarter to half inch.  Once again we place cabinet in, and I push and guide, while Heather's dad pulls wires through.  Finally, the oven goes in all the way!!!

Cutting out the back of the oven cabinet

Oven in and ready to cook

The microwave was a little easier.  Just use the template to put up the support bracket, hang it up, and attach through the cabinet above.

Lovely wall art to find studs and hang bracket

Fastening microwave

One last part I will add to this post is that we also put up the wine rack and cabinet to enclose the fridge.  With the help of some extra brackets and 2x4's, Heather's dad and I pieced everything together, stood it up, and fastened it to the wall.

Appliances are in.  Up next are finishing touches: hardware, counter top, and faucet.  Here's what they look like at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did have our first meal with the new appliances when we put up the fridge cabinet.  What is more fitting than having a similar meal to our first ever meal in the kitchen?

Old

New