The upper cabinets, not to be confused with the upper room where they broke bread, were anything but a spiritual experience. What a pain! I am always learning, but this whole experience has taken it to a level that I never dreamed of or wanted! Enough already.
I began this process, with a coaching session from Jonathan, who has a vast amount of knowledge in all things home construction. He said things like "find the highest point along your floors where the cabinets will go in", and "strike lines"...huh?!? After a lot of stupid questions like "uh, how do I find the highest point on the floor?" I am sure Jonathan had no hope of me being successful, but with the greatest of patience he informed me that it was as simple as using my level to find the highest point. Duh! I knew that! I guess it was simple to see that I had become intimidated by the thought of damaging these expensive cabinets. I knew what I was doing, but my confidence was in shambles. You would think it would be high after the floors went in so well. I think it is because everyone will be focused on the cabinets. The floor is cool, but it is only window dressing compared to the cabinets.
I devised a plan! I would first start with the oven wall as it had two freestanding cabinets that would be the base for all of the other cabinets. There was a cabinet that housed a very heavy oven and microwave, than a new cabinet that was a tall pantry. But before I could implement my master plan, I would need to get the cabinets into the house. I wish each of you could have been there to see the comedy that transpired. It was like some Charlie Chaplin skit from the silent movie days! I got the brainy idea to strap the tall cabinet to a hand truck that my neighbor Dave let me borrow (thanks Dave!). The box was so big that I had to string two smaller straps together to get them to fit around and attach to the hand truck. The box was over 9 foot tall, so reaching the top of it to gain leverage was almost impossible. I finally jumped high enough (hey baby, 2 in vertical leap) to grab the box and get it tilted back toward me. Ugh! This thing weighed a ton! I maneuvered the box out of the garage and onto the side walk. For any of you that have been to the house, you will know that he sidewalk and drive way are steep! You need lamas to go get the mail! I was to the first set of steps when gravity decided to take over and the box, hand truck and all took a dump on Cassandra's rose bushes (the red ones, not the yellow...sorry Honey). In the impending struggle to get the beast off of the roses, the straps came off...I took some thorns for the team...and I just hoped that the people that were passing in their cars weren't laughing too much. I finally wrestled the box into the house, and went back for more. Thankfully the rest were a breeze!
I spent the next day off and on installing that first set of cabinets. The plans called for 3 inch spacers between the oven cabinet, the upper cabinets, and the pantry cabinet. I didn't want to install them because it would change the footprint of the original cabinets and get too close to the hallway wall. So like the intelligent person that I am (mainly a stubborn man child) I eliminated them from the plan and off I went. I installed the one spacer that was staying in the plan the upper cabinet, and then to the pantry cabinet. I got Cassandra to help me lift off the floor as one unit to install. Well, I think lift might be a little off. We grunted, and cried, and with sheer will we heaved those cabinets into the air and not so gently slid them into place. I love it when an well oiled plan comes together. It was only after we slid them into place that I realized that the cabinets came out further than the wall to the built in pantry, so I had to take off the 3 in spacer and reinstall it. What?!? No, that was absolutely a part of the plan all along! I verified the level and plum of the cabinets and attached them to the studs in the wall. I was able to attach them to the studs because I had paid attention during my coaching session and had struck a line along each of the studs. It was a simple as measuring from the edge of the cabinet to the line and then transferring that measurement to the inside to pre drill and attach the screws.
Over the next day I installed the oven cabinet. I thought it would be a good idea to install the oven before attaching it to the wall as I could get easier access to the wiring. I stood there and looked at the oven when I realized that the hole in the cabinet seemed smaller. Uh Oh. I grabbed my trusty tape measure and confirmed my suspicions by measuring the old oven cabinet that now resides in the laundry room. I would need to cut the cabinet! I measured and marked the lines for the hole in the new cabinet, and re-measured at least 5 times before putting masking tape along the lines to prevent any scratches. I then had Cassandra come down and confirm my measurements. It wasn't that I didn't trust myself, I just wanted someone else culpable in the destruction if it all went bad! I am such a giving and good husband! I pulled out the saber saw and cut out the hole. It was now time to install the beast of an oven. I put it on my furniture dolly and rolled it over by the hole. There was no way we were going to be able to lift this bad boy with any precision. It was then that I hatched a scheme. We would use the floor jack to hoist it into position. I do live in Kentucky, so this of course seems like a reasonable strategy. Plan made...action taken! We lifted the stove on the jack and Cassandra pumped the jack while I guided it into place. It was about 3 inches too low so I used brute force to get the oven into the cabinet. One huge challenge down! I secured the cabinet to the wall and viola! We could at least bake again!
The only part left to do on that wall was to install the two base cabinets and one small upper that spanned the space between the oven cabinet and the pantry cabinet. It went in very easily...a little too easily! I secured the base cabinets and was getting ready to secure the upper when I realized that there wasn't enough clearance for the doors to open. Now I understand why they wanted me to stick in those spacers I had previously deleted from the plan. I had to take down the upper; remove the base cabinets; and then take out the screws holding the oven cabinet. I attached the spacers to the upper and base cabinets, only instead of laying them with the 3 inch width exposed, I laid them on their side so the space was only 1/2 inch. This would ensure the cabinets didn't expand beyond the corner. Problem averted! I got it all put back together with only a couple of small hiccups. The last thing to do was to install and wire the under cabinet lighting. Very simple wiring system, but very challenging to work in that small area. I would pre wire the rest of the lighting before I put the cabinets up.
Over the next two evenings Cassandra and I put up the other kitchen upper cabinets. Now all that remains are the bases, and the butler's pantry cabinets (upper and lower) to be complete. Cassandra's parents are in town so that will have to be a part of the next update.
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