Adventures in Budget Renovations- Doors and more (part 2)

A few days ago I showed you the first parts of  us finishing up our kitchen which entailed relocating our washer and dryer, installing an on demand hot water heater on the outside of our house and adding a deck from the door to nowhere around to the existing deck. Part 2 of our seemingly never ending kitchen renovation begins with the installation of that beautiful door you see in the horrid photos below. I do apologize, but there is just no way to stage construction photos. With that fabulous new door in we could finally turn our attention to removing the large bank of cabinets that used to live over our washer and dryer. These cabinets did offer a TON of storage but at 18" deep they stuck too far out into the already limited space, so down they came!

*since these were impressively sturdy cabinets we decided to re-purpose them as garage storage*

 just look at all that visual space! 

Once the offending cabinets (shown here on the floor waiting to be carried to their new home) had come down from the wall we began planning a shallower pantry cabinet to fill this wall. After sketching and debating for several days Jess finally set to work building my pantry, eek!

At 7' tall and 5' wide this is a much more suitable fit for this space!

Here is the beginnings of the new pantry cabinet. In order to make the best use of the limited space we have in our kitchen we opted for a shallower floor to ceiling pantry. The new cabinet measures just 13" deep but with six shelves we are sure we will have ample storage for everything. Personally I find it is a lot easier to keep a shallow pantry tidy rather than the extra deep ones that things get lost in!

Here is the cabinet as of this morning. Hopefully by this weekend it will be finished and then I can fill/sand/prime and paint while Jess starts on the doors. 

We are off this weekend on a camping trip with my son's school, which is perfect timing since the sawdust and tools are really starting to get old!

I hope you also have a fabulous weekend!

& sawdust!

Wash and wear

Well hello there! I'm back and beginning the new year by finally finishing up all my half done projects. I'm not much for resolutions but I have decided that it is high time I tie up all my loose ends!Just about every room of our home has some tweak that remains to be done whether it's touching up a paint job, adding knobs to furniture, or just some serious organization. There is one really big project we are hoping to finish/open a whole new can of worms on soon.  You see, I've shown you my renovated kitchen but I've never shown you the shameful other half. 

Yes, yes that is a door with a dryer in front of it, with a hot water heater next to it, with the washer next to that! Glamorous, I know!
Yep, our laundry is in our kitchen, our already ridiculously small kitchen, and it seems that no amount of pathetically dehydrated house plants can make it look any better. I watered those right after I took that picture I swear! Why our laundry is not in our garage, which is conveniently located next to the bedrooms, I could not tell you. My best guess is that the fella that designed this house in the 50's, hated his wife and wanted her to suffer as much as possible with a terrible kitchen and laundry area. But it get's even better (or worse really)...the reason that dryer is in front of a door is because that door used to open up to a rickety 2nd story deck, that was then torn down. Now the door it just opens up to a 12  foot drop to the ground below. With 2 little ones in the house we decided that until we could afford to re-build our deck that it would be a good idea to just block it off all together.So here these have sat since we renovated the kitchen in the hopes of someday moving to their new home in the garage. Not that the garage is a much more glamorous option, but in our tiny little home there is just no room for a real laundry room. 

like this one from here, *sigh*

Currently we are in the middle of relocating the laundry out to the garage which is only a few steps down the hall from the bedrooms, and I will finally have a laundry sink (thanks, Honey!)After the washer and dryer are snug in their new home we will be removing that huge beast of a hot water heater and installing a gently used high end on demand water heater we picked up off craigslist a few months ago. The best part about our new hot water heater is that it is installed on the outside of the house. Thus eliminating the need for venting and freeing up loads of space.Next we plan to rebuild the deck just outside the door, and install a fancy new door with a large window panel in it.Since we currently have no pantry in our kitchen the plan is to remove those upper cabinets and build in a large pantry unit. We are also considering just buying a large hutch like piece of furniture and placing it there as a pantry. Honestly it's pretty hard to imagine what I'd like to do with the space so long as those hulking machines are there, but hopefully they'll be settled in to thier new home by hte end of this week. So that's what we have been up to, and will be up to for a while. What have all of you been up to?

& Perkier plant life

DIY Copper Countertops

As I mentioned in this post a few days ago and this post from a long time ago we fabricated and installed our copper counter tops ourselves. Before ordering our supplies I frequented this garden web forum. It is a long thread but if you are really considering copper surfacesI suggest you read it. There are a few really great tutorials on there and the last one is pretty much the way we did it.
The whole process is very similar to applying a regular laminate. Basically you are just taking this very thin sheet of copper and laminating it to a stronger base.
As I said previously we used 16oz copper roofing material instead of the recommended 20oz sheeting. We were just very careful not to dent or bend it and it worked out fine. we transported it from the supplier to  ourhome sandwiched flat between 2 sheets of plywood instead or the recommended method or rolling it up, cause that's just stupid!

We started by removing all the previous plywood all the way down to the cabinets because the exsisting counter was not level and the plywood had extensive water damage. If your surface is level and in good condition you can just lay the mdf right on top of it. I have heard of people laying the copper on top of laminate but I do not recommend it because the glue is designed to soak into the mdf which it obviously could not do on laminate.

Next we cut sheets of 1/2" plywood and screwed it to the  the top of the base cabinets. On top of the plywood we placed the sheets of 3/4" mdf.   At the corner of the L shape we used  miter bolts in holes we routered out from underneath to join the 2 sections securely.

something like this

To secure the mdf to the plywood we applied construction adhesive in between the plywood layer and the mdf layer and then screwed them together from underneath (ie, inside the cabinets up into the plywood and mdf) But we did not do this until after the copper had been applied, so that we could easily slide the entire unit out to clamp the front edge. confusing I know but stick with me.

For the edges we screwed oak boards into the mdf and plywood  before applying the copper sheeting. Mdf is relatively soft and will dent easier than oak will. This is a pretty standard way of doing edges when applying regular laminate. After screwing the oak boards to the sides we then filled and sanded the holes perfectly smooth so they would not show under the thin layer of copper.

We decided to apply the copper to the sides before putting the top on to avoid having the seam on top. If you have access to or would like to make a sheet metal brake then you can just bend it to a 90 angle and glue it down. I however did not want a rounded edge, but there are a few tutorials around if that's the way you want to go.

We cut strips from our large sheets of copper with a dremel in our garage. This step takes forever but makes a perfect cut without warping the copper as shears would. Simply lay the sheet out with a board underneath to elevate it a bit. then mark your line, put goggles on, and patiently cut along your line. Cut your strip about a quarter inch wider than you need so it can be filed down to fit perfectly after it is put in place.

Prep your surfaces by lightly sanding the back of the copper and cleaning both the oak edge and the copper with rubbing alcohol.

This is the ONLY adhesive I would use, it's worth the money, cleans up with water, is VOC free and has a long working time. You can order it several places but I purchased mine and a glue roller here.

Follow the directions on the glue and apply glue to the back of the copper and oak edge and tape into place.

(See how the entire thing is scooted out a bit so we can clamp to the back edge. later we glued and screwed the mdf to the plywood.)

It is best to have a few sets of hands to quickly clamp the edge. The glue allows quite a bit of working time, but I do recommend cleaning up any that squeezes out with a damp towel while it is still wet. As you can tell we used A LOT of clamps, the more the better! We placed another board over the copper before clamping so they would not mar the copper.

Allow the edges to dry overnight before removing the clamps. Once dry, file and sand the top edge flush with the mdf layer. The copper top will go over this so it is important that it is perfectly flat and smooth.

Next we cut the sheets to just a bit larger than what we wanted our finished size to be.We used the factory edge of the copper for the front and placed our cut edge in the back, this is only important if you are doing a "L" shape or long span and have to have a seam on the top. Ideally you want to mate the 2 factory edges together to make a perfect seam. 

Notice in the picture above that we had already cut out the sink hole out of  the mdf sub-layer. Do this, but wait to cut the sink hole in the copper until after it is glued down.

Prep the back of the copper and the top of the mdf by lightly sanding the copper and cleaning both with rubbing alcohol. We had an "L" shape so we chose to lay 1 segment at a time.

Apply the glue with a roller CAFEFULLY and lay down the copper. Smooth out all air bubbles and cover with another sheet of mdf. You will do this so that the pressure from the clamps is evenly distributed and that the clamps do not mar the surface. 

Here is a general idea of how it should be laid out so that the seam will be on the edge and not on the top. Pretty snazzy sketch huh?

This ridiculous picture is because we figured that the more weight and pressure we applied the less air bubbles we might get. So we placed just about every portable heavy object in our home on top of the mdf. It worked too because there are no air pockets under the copper. Also we did not apply too much weight on top of where the sink would be to avoid denting the copper that had no mdf underneath it.

After allowing the glue to dry overnight we removed the clamps, scooted the whole shebang back and into place and glued and screwed it to the plywood layer from underneath as I discussed earlier.

Next, file and sand so that the edge appears to be 1 solid piece. As I have mentioned before I'm a jeweler/ fabricator so this went fast and easy for me. Mostly you just need to make sure that the edges feel smooth and that there is no gap between the top layer and the edge, If there is then you can squish in some just for copper epoxy putty.

 I purchased mine at Ace hardware and followed the manufactures instructions for use. this is also what we used to fill the seam on the top of the counter. I simply smooshed it into the clean crack, waited for it to dry then sanded it flush.

here is what the finished edge looks like

See how it looks like 1 solid piece rather than 2 sheets butted together.

Here is the only outside corner. It looks like the corner is sharp but is is not at all sharp, it actually slightly rounded at the point. also notice the bit of oxidation on the bottom, it can easily be cleaned off with a scrubby.

Here is the only inside corner that also lines up with the only top seam. The white in the crack is a but of oxidation that I scrubbed off after I snapped this pic. 

In the end we are definitely happy with how we did the counter top but we had to do a lot of figuring and problem solving to make the other methods we had seen work best for our space. If you should choose to install a similar surface you will probably have to do a lot of your own adjusting to make it work for you.

It has been just over a year and I am happy to say that our counter still is scratch/ dent free with the exception of 1 small dent that came with the copper sheet. We have no air bubbles and still love the way it looks is our home. 

If you have any additional questions feel free to ask, I'm always glad to share and help.

Peace and a penny for your thoughts!

Adventures in budget renovations- Copper Counter tops

As I mentioned yesterday I have had A LOT of emails recently about my counter tops. So today I wanted to share a little bit about them, the up and the downs.
We did our counters all by ourselves, but I am a  Jeweler/metal worker who already has all the tools and loads of experience working with metal. Not that you have to be a metal worker to do this but knowing a lot about working with copper made this project a lot easier for us.

I chose Copper counter tops because of their unique warmth and beauty. I'm just not the granite kind of gal, I hate cleaning tile grout, and we wanted a higher end finish than laminate. My husband and I had always admired the copper counters at one of our favorite coffee shops so we decided to look into copper. I started researching, and reading forums, and calling every metal supplier in my county. Here is a list of everything I feel is important to know about copper as a  kitchen surface. If you still feel like it's the right choice for you then stick around for my tutorial.

• Copper has a "living" finish, which means that it is constantly oxidizing. Anything that comes in contact with the surface will leave it's mark. This gives the counter a mottled depth and lots of interest, it also looks kind of grungy. I love it but I also have to remove everything from the counter, scrub it down with a sponge and soapy water, and spray a light wax on it 1-2 times a week.

Here it is before I scrub and polish it, notice the "verdigris" green spots from water drops. The spots will come right off but see the ring from a glass over in the right corner, that will not polish out unless you use a heavier polish.

Here is that same spot after it has been cleaned and polished, it's really not much different except now it is shiny and the spots are gone, but all the residual marks are still there

Here is the same polished spot but shot from a different angle, see how clean and shiny it is despite that mottled surface marks

• You can seal the tops but most clear coats will just scratch and peel off in the heavy use areas.

• Copper is a soft metal so it may scratch and dent easily. Mine is still dent and scratch free but I am very careful not to drop things on it, drag things across it, etc..

• If you do get a scratch you can sand it out but depending on the gauge (thickness) of the metal you may wear down the surface.

• Copper has anti-microbial properties, which you can read more about here, which is great for a kitchen

• Copper is currently much more expensive that it has ever been. For (2) 3x5 sheets of 16oz copper we paid almost $500! This was for industrial grade copper, which means that it may not be scratch/dent free.I purchased mine from a roofing company, and the man who sold it to me told me I could not make a decent surface with it (which I just took as a challenge) and he tried very hard to talk me out of using 16oz copper.

• Ideally for a surface you would use 20 oz. Copper. All I could get a hold of was 16 oz. and my counter turned out flawless but it wasn't easy. Basically what it means it that for every square foot there is 16 oz (or 1lb.) of copper, this makes it about a 24 gauge. It is thin enough to bend with your hands but too thick to cut nicely with tin snips.

• We laminated our copper to mdf using a specialized glue called TC-20. This is the most important part and is what makes your surface feel solid. We chose to use 3/4" mdf over 1/2" plywood for the under layers of the counter. Stay tuned for a tutorial. We ordered the glue from this company, it is not expensive but you do have to order it and wait for it to come so order more than you think you need. you could use epoxy or contruction adhesive but this product is by far the easiest to work with. It is VOC free, cleans up with water, and is relatively cheap.

• If you have an L shape or corner of length longer than the sheet in your kitchen you will have to consider how you will resolve the seam. You can have the seam braised but it may warp the the sheets and make it impossible to glue down. We chose to make our seam by laying 2 perfectly straight edges up against each other and then fill the crack with a copper epoxy. Yes you can see the seam, no it does not bother me. Truthfully I hardly even notice it, and the epoxy is holding up really well. To me it was much more important that my surface be perfectly flat and fully glued to the mdf than having an invisible seam. 

Here is the seam the day we layed the copper onto the MDF. 

Notice how "new penny" the surface looks

here is that same seam today, it is noticeable but just barely. 

Notice how "old penny" it looks now

• When you first lay the copper it will be bright and shiny like a new penny, it will quickly turn to old penny. If you do not like the way an old penny looks then this is not the surface for you. It will never stay bright and shiny and perfect looking. It is very important to understand this. If you are not sure how you would feel about it go down to the hardware store and buy a small sheet of copper from the K&S stand. Take the little sheet home wash it with soap and a scrubby and set it out in your kitchen, maybe near your sink. Rub your hands on it, put a slice of lemon on it, get it wet and do a few experiments to see how it oxidizes in your home. If after a few weeks you still like it then go for it!

• There are a lot of products you can use to clean and wax your counter tops. I tried all of them. For the first 6 months I tried something different nearly every week. To get your surface back to the bright shiny raw state it was when you laid it take half a lemon dip it in salt and rub it on the surface. It will eat away the oxidation instantly. You can then rinse it with water and bam it's brand new again. this is good to do if you get a mark that you really don't like, I do not recommended that you do this more than twice a year. If you do not wax the metal it will darken within a day or so. If you do wax it it will still darken just much slower.

•  I do not like to use heavy wax like a car wax because it leaves a buildup that you then have to scrub off, yuck! I like to clean the surface with a warm soapy sponge then I towel dry it and apply a light multi-surface wax. 

This one said it could be used on wood, granite, or stainless so I figured Copper was somewhere in between those.

I have said it a few times and I feel like I need to say it again. Copper counter tops are not for everyone! I love them and I am okay with cleaning them constantly but there are still days when I feel like we should have gone a different way. I have had a lot of really nice complements on them but I have also had a lot of negative ones, including a few from a real estate agent about the resale value of installing copper surfaces :(

This was one of our splurges in our kitchen. It is a high end finish for a reason, we were able to DIY them for about a third of the cost of having them installed but it was a ton of work and stress and problem solving.

I hope that answers a lot of your questions, and feel free to keep asking. I will try to get the tutorial up tomorrow so come on back if they are still a surface you'd be interested in.

Peace and pennies from heaven!

Sticks and Stones

 A few weeks ago I showed you all how the hubs and I made our kitchen lighting. Today I want to show you how we made our cabinet knobs, for next to nothing!

River rock cabinet knobs

we made ours out of river rocks we collected from the banks of...you guessed it, a river!

creek rocks work well too : )

each knob is unique and handmade, and if you get sick of it you can switch them out.

I love how each rock is a different size and shape, plus look how great they look with my drawer pulls

Restoration Hardware pulls I got for .50 cents each at their store closing sale!

 So do you wanna make your own?

Start with these, I think they are called machine bolts. I bought mine at ace hardware with the screws to mount them for .60 cents each, and they already have the oil rubbed bronze finish!

then I mixed my favorite 5 minute epoxy on a paper plate with a toothpick, very technical!

I applied a little epoxy to the back of the clean rock and a little to the clean flat face of the hardware

After they dried for a few minutes I turned them over so the rock was on top, I figured the weight of the little rock would help set the epoxy, I dunno I'm crazy!

when they have dried overnight they are ready to be affixed to your cabinets and adored! the best part about the machine bolts is that they are the perfect length for you to be able to get your fingers behind to open the cabinet door. We have had ours on for a long time and have never broken one.

*Before starting the process I cleaned my rocks in hot soapy water, rinsed them and let them dry for a few days. Then just before applying the epoxy I cleaned just the glue areas with rubbing alcohol. The cleaner the better!

** You want to find rocks that look like they are not made of conglomerated mud or sand as they are not strong enough. The harder the stone the better it works, a good test is to try to scratch it with a knife, if it scratches easily find a different rock.

***If you want, you can spray them with a clear coat so they look wet, We chose to leave the rocks the way they were but they do look more colorful with the wet look

**** You can do this with anything, not just rocks! I have tried tiles, glass, shells and all sorts of items your imagination is your only limit!

I'll be linking this up  in a few places later today

Sticks and stones may break my bones but Peace will never hurt me!