Category: Kitchen Remodel

Needs more backhoe!

More progress in getting more dirt dug up. By the end of the day, the area for the extension of the new foundation was pretty well cleared out. Next up, as I understand it, will be getting the guys out to put in the helical piers that will keep the whole thing in place.

This week will be challenging for the project, as tomorrow we get some snow and rain in the afternoon, and temps dropping below freezing with sundown. and stays below freezing until, oh, Friday or so (with some more snow in the meantime). That won't necessarily prevent the piers being put in, or the forms being put together for the extended foundation, etc., but it will keep them from doing any concrete pouring until temps climb back up a bit — and temps don't look to be going up above 40 as far as the ten-day forecast can be counted on.

In Album Hill-Kleerup Kitchen – 2014-11-09

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Both ends of the backhoe are getting a workout — the scoop to digg for the additional foundation, and the blade to carry the dirt around to the driveway. The space is so constrained in the side yard, though, that to turn around requires going back out onto the street.

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The little excavator proving too small for the task, we got in a backhoe. Except that it was too heavy to go up the front lawn at the angle it needed to, not at all helped by the rain the previous evening (sigh).

So instead, they took it up through the front flower bed (after removing some roses and salvaging the bricks lining the edge of the grass). Problem "solved," though my front lawn is looking more and more like No Man's Land.

That does raise some interesting possibilities regarding what both the front and side yards should look like when all is said and done. Do we really want to replant grass? Alternately, if we don't, what does that mean for future projects that may involve moving heavy machinery around the house?

(Reminds self to contact lawn people to tell them we don't need them to come out any more this year.)

This was Saturday — they're going to also be working Sunday, as the weather is about to take a sudden and unfortunate turn for the worse.

In Album Hill-Kleerup Kitchen – 2014-11-08

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Today was mostly a follow-up to the previous day, only in this case with an excavator to tackle some additional space and to finish getting the hole down to the point where the additional foundation can be added.

Between the hole and the space in front of it (for patio from the walk-out), and the huge mound of dirt resulting — there's not a lot of room. The team will be back onsite tomorrow, with a proper back-hoe to be able to both dig and carry dirt away.

In Album Hill-Kleerup Kitchen – 2014-11-07

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And breaking ground it is, with a Bobcat (well, a John Deere something-or-another, but I'll call it a Bobcat as a class) moving in to remove some fence posts, smooth out some of the ground, and take out the lilac that lived right where the expansion will be.

I have to give myself a small pat on the back, as the two fence posts they had to take out to open up enough room to get the Bobcat back there were well-enough planted that they needed the tractor to help remove them. Since I'm the one that built the fence, that's kind of a nice complement.

More pictures (fair warning to all) to come.

In Album 2014-11-06

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But this is the baseline picture that was missing from the album yesterday, actually showing what's being expanded in the exterior. See that big, flat wall (with the little white stove vent)? It's going to be pulled out as far as the living room (on the left) into the side yard, and the basement below it as well, dug out another three feet down to make it a walk-out. Woot!

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The first part of the project — through the end of the year — is external. In extending out the basement, we also want to make it a walk-out, for convenience and for house value. The basement is currently about 3 feet below grade, and even though the property slopes downward that means a fair amount of excavation and shaping of the side yard.

After that, then the basement and kitchen extension above it need foundation, framing, etc. The idea is to have that pretty much all dried in before we break the walls into the existing house. That provides both security and weather protection.

So that's the first thing going on, and in prep for that we spent some hours in the back yard getting things ready:

– Picking up miscellaneous things from the ground that oughtn't be there anyway, as well as the various green men on the fences.
– Chopping back the climbing roses from the sections of fence that will need to be removed to get equipment into the back yard.
– Picking up the brick edging we had around the grass in the back yard, where it would be in the way of construction or in areas being excavated.
– Removing the memorial stones we have for cats passed on from an area that will be impacted by the construction.
– Digging up some roses and some irises that might be munched by the process.

So, some good exercise, and a bit more "Oh my God, this is actually, finally happening" reality checking.

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So the first stuff with the kitchen project kicks off next week. These are some reference exterior photos of the house. The kitchen is in the back portion of the (eastern) side of the house shown (the stove vent is the white-painted bit on the wall there). That section is going to be extended out about eight feet, as far out as the living room in the front of the house extends. The basement is being similarly extended, and will be dug out so that it's a walk-out on that side. The kitchen will have a partially vaulted roof, which will pitch up opposite the living room roof. There will be about a ten foot gap between those two extending wings.

(I realize there's one more angle I need to take a picture from tomorrow.)

Anyway, that's how it looks now … I'll be adding pictures to the album as we get towards then. (I'll also start up a new album when we start doing things inside).

In Album Hill-Kleerup Kitchen Project 2014-2015 (exterior)

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So actually some exciting news on the Kitchen Expansion / Remodel: things may actually be about to happen.

We've been finalizing the scope of work and contract for weeks now, but that finally seems ready and the plan is to sign on the dotted line on Thursday (eep!). That same day, the Contractor will be scoping out the first thing that needs to be done — properly capping off the sprinkler system in the area to be excavated (since it's going to go right through all the feed lines to the side and front of the house).

Good thing we had the sprinklers blown out yesterday.

Actually beginning that, and other excavation work … starts Monday.

Woot! Also, again, eep!

We're about to drop a substantial sum of money to redo and expand the kitchen (and the basement beneath), but when all is said and done, it will be a very, very cool thing. The project is currently scheduled to go out into February. We'll see how that looks when we get there …

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