And So It Begins

I briefly mentioned in this post that we were in the middle of dealing with an issue in our kitchen.  To make a long story short we had a couple of water issues (mini-floods) in our kitchen over the past few months.  Basically 2 different plumbers thought they fixed the problem, but never actually did.  Third time is the charm.  I can now say with confidence that the problem has been fixed.  It had something to do with a valve coming loose?  I don’t speak plumber.  Basically, when a plumber is speaking to me about a plumbing issue I can see his mouth moving but I don’t hear any words.  All I know is the mini-floods ruined my hardwood floor and some areas of the ceiling of the basement below.  The water and moisture (despite our best efforts to dry things up with towels and a dehumidifier) has caused what I call a rippling effect.  The boards are bumpy and there are large cracks between many of them.  This damage will only continue to get worse over time (so I’ve been told).  There is also some cabinet damage to the cabinet under the sink as well as damage to the floor in the adjoining family room.  The actual extent of the damage will be more evident when the floor is removed.  Needless to say we filed an insurance claim.  And so it begins.

I’ll post a pic of the bumpy floors before they rip them out.  Until then, I’ll tell you how we are making lemonade out of our kitchen lemons.

Martha Stewart

 Since we moved in last March we knew we wanted to eventually take the microwave out and replace it with a range hood.  It’s on the list along with adding a backsplash.  We figured that since we had already been saving for this and because our kitchen will be torn up due to the process of replacing the hardwood floor we might as well kill two birds with one stone.  This way when the dust clears and the contractor is gone we’ll have our dream kitchen even if we didn’t plan on getting there via an ark through a flood 🙂

I’ve had my heart set on a white subway tile backsplash for quite a while now.  I especially love Courtney’s!

 I love how the cooktop is flush with the counter.  We have a slide in gas range that has a high back that would hide my beloved backsplash.

Since we were already planning to Craig’s List the microwave because it has to go in order to install the hood, we decided to go ahead and add our gas range to the listing as well.  We also threw in the dishwasher because we thought we’d have a better chance of selling the appliances as a set.  Sunday night (right before the Super Bowl) the hubs listed all three appliances on Craig’s List.

After 1 hour from the time of listing he had already received numerous calls from interested buyers.  Monday morning a lady came to look at them and she paid us $1000 in cash for all three!  This was AWESOME!  These inherited-from-the-previous-owners appliances are about 7 years old, so this price was good for both us and her.  The bonus for us is that we have a pretty sweet connection that will enable us to save about 40% off some new appliances!  The buyer will be here tonight to take these away, and I’m praying that it doesn’t take too long for the new stuff to arrive.  Ok, actually I’m kind of excited to have a real excuse for not cooking dinner for a few nights 🙂  We haven’t ordered anything yet, but we will very soon.  We can’t live on take out forever – can we?

Can I just ask, “How did we ever live without Craig’s List?”  His List has been really good to us!  It’s actually how we found our contractor.  Funny but true story. We (Santa) got the kids an air hockey table for Christmas via good ol’ Craig and his list.  The guy we purchased it from is a contractor!  Who knew we’d end up needing him for more than a little help with our Christmas shopping?!