Mudroom mayhem, part 1

The old kitchen was part of the ell which extended off the back of the house. It was a fun brick red and white vintage kitchen. These are pictures from right before closing.

The room had a strange shape to it, with various bump outs and nooks.

Underneath that brick red carpet was some vinyl tile. I couldn’t bear to have carpet in the kitchen–it would be disgusting within a week–but we didn’t have time to rip everything out. So for an interim solution, Tig and I screwed sheets of luan over the carpet, put on a coat of polyurethane and called it a day.

Behind the refrigerator is a chimney with a beehive oven. Unfortunately the beehive oven was bricked in, so it was unusable.

Our old kitchen in full use.

The little alcove became a dining nook/mudroom entry way.

Our family of four used the back room plus kitchen and bathroom while Tig tore up the rest of the house. Fast forward several years later, I now had my dream kitchen in its new spot. We also finally fixed up the front hallway this spring. It was time to work on the mudroom.

Demolition time…

First Tig busted out the wall between the mudroom and bathroom (which will be converted into a pantry.) This was a vintage bathroom with beige toilet, shower/tub combo, black and gold wallpaper, Note the brown faux leather toilet seat. Then we removed all the cabinets, some of which were claimed by a friend.

See those black specks on the floor? That was all the mouse poop hidden in the walls and ceiling that came raining down. And that big hole by the bathtub drain? That’s the portal for all the mice.

The tin ceiling came down and was saved.

We had all sorts of goodies hiding in the walls.

Unfortunately, the floor underneath was not salvageable.

The electrical system was a mess. Tig said there was no ground, and you can see the backside of the wood paneling from the workshop.

There was a several week period where Tig had to sister these joists with LVL, and fix any rotted sills. Meanwhile, we could see right into Hannibal Lector’s the basement. Tig spend a good deal of time hopping from joist to joist, shoring up the structure. Only after all that was completed, then he could put on the subfloor.

The last piece of business of Part 1 was to put in a new and bigger window. With a little help from friends, it was a quick job.

And then, as things usually go, summer is when Tig gets busy with on-call work. So that means all renovations come to a halt until the fall.