Now that the hard work of planning and administration has been done, we have started the dirty work on a large remodel project for Simone and Michelle, former clients whose house is featured as the "Portico Addition" in our Project Gallery. The house has been divided into separate first-story and second-story apartments. This project involves joining the two into one family's home, making a master suite to envy, and giving the kitchen a much-needed expansion and update.
The original kitchen, ca. 1940, featured built-in cabinets, a ribbed tile counter, and three layers of linoleum floor under a thick mud-bed tile floor.
After protecting unaffected areas of the house from dust and damage last week, Monday we donned dust masks and began disassembling the old kitchen. In this corner we are expanding the kitchen into the hallway.
Dante, the newest member of Kerby & Company, applies leverage to remove the subfloor.
Once the old subfloor was removed, we installed blocking to give the floor added rigidity (the floor joists were spaced too widely at the time of construction, so that now the kitchen floor sags in the middle somewhat -- a challenge we'll deal with later), and installed most of the new subfloor. We'll leave a hole to the underside of the house as long as possible, so the electricians and plumbers have easier access.
In the photo below, Jackson and Michelle discuss placement of the range and fridge while Simone looks on and Jeff documents Michelle's superior balance.
