Kitchen Counter Tops

The counter tops were made by gluing the 2" X 12" boards together with clamps. It was a process of measuring several times then cutting. We put the board in place to make sure they fit properly. Above was the dry run, below is the glue and clamping. As you can see the boards were warped so we had to muscle them into position as best as possible knowing that we would have to sand them smooth.
 

Here is the corner piece sanded and sealed!

We then had to make adjustments to the wood where the sink will be placed. I made a template and had to account for the depth of the sink where the side drains slope into the sink. It had been made to sit on a metal cupboard.

Richard made cuts with his hand held saw very close together so he could chisel out the wood easily.

Above is the counter top in place ready to seal.

Here is the sink in the position it needed to be so I could measure it. I had to think upside down and backwards!

 

We knew once it was in place we would not be able to get it out easily. We put 2"X4" on the counter between the counter and the sink so our figers would not get squished. A strong friend helped us put it in place and it worked!!!

Now we have a kitchen WOW!!!!

So our time for the next few months will be getting everything out of storage and in place, along with taking care of animals and selling what we no longer want or need and because we are not building a house, what we do not have room for! It will be an adventure to unbox things we have not seen or remembered in nine years!

The center Island

We got this cabinet from a house that was being remodeled. It is 2 ft by 9 ft and fit perfect in the kitchen.

We striped it all down , patched it and painted it to match the other cupboards.

We added the same type of boards that we used on the walls and sealed it with the same finish.

Now all we need to do is add the granite slab!

THE NEW BARKER CABINETS ARRIVE!!!!

We received the BARKER CABINETS about 5 weeks after we ordered them. This is how we got them, very well packed and the carrier loaded them onto our trailer so we could take them all  the way to the main house building.

Each cabinet was packed in a bundle so all the pieces were together.

All the pieces were numbered so we would not be guessing as to what went with which cabinet.

The boxes were pre-assembled with dovetail joints and pre drilled holes for the screws.

 All the parts were well marked and organized.

 BARKER CABINETS has exceptional how to videos on their website  http://www.barkercabinets.com

Richard and I put together 10 cabinets in about 5 hours!

IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE RTA CABINETS !!!!!! RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS

It is the hardest thing to be scammed by a tricky SCAM ARTIST!!!

And that is what happened to us with the cabinets. I did search the internet about any information on "In-Stock-Cabinets.com" and I could not find anything on them so I thought they were real. At the time  (April 2014) I talked to "Frank Lamark" and he was such a smooth talker that he explained to me that the cabinets were on back order and the next shipment was due the end of May and who ever ordered and paid for the cabinets first would get them the soonest. He went on to say that they don't take Credit cards because of the fees. So I called my CC holder and they told me that a funds transfer was the same as a CC charge and I would get our money back if there were problems.
I would call "In-Stock-Cabinets.com" and be told the cabinets would be here soon, I called about every two weeks and was given the same story ....then I did my research.... I called the BBB and this company was not even listed but 3 others were, all owned by Frank Lamark: "ShopRTAcabinets.com" "WorldCraftCabintry.com" and "CabinetsDirectRTA" .

The one we ordered from was too new!!!

Once I  found his name, I googled Frank Lamark and came up with 

http://www.peopleferret.com/frank-lamark-research.htm

This guy did so much research to uncover the scams Frank Lamark has been running. It appears he sets up a company web site with fake testimonials, delivers some cabinets and scams the rest. When he gets an F rating from the BBB he starts another one.

So I emailed "In-Stock-Cabinets.com"and told them to cancel our order and return our money, they e-mailed back saying they would cancel our order and the check would be in the mail in 2 weeks. No surprise we have not seen it.

I called the CC Company and they told me because it was a funds transfer they could do nothing and this is after talking to 3 CC representatives that there would be no problem in getting our money if it came to that!

LESSONS LEARNED!!!! NEVER BUY SOMETHING OVER THE INTERNET UNLESS YOU USE A CREDIT CARD.

DIG REALLY DEEP ON RESEARCHING A PURCHASE , FIND OUT THE PERSON BEHIND THE COMPANY AND HIS TRACK RECORD!

I am posting this so as to alert others about this scam, I wish I had seen a post like this before we made this mistake.

RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS RTA CABINETS

The main house inside window trim

 Trimming out the Windows and the door finished out the room. We used the same trim so as to tie it all together since it is one big room. Richard started with the window sill and built the side trim to that.

 You can see the difference between the far windows that have the trim and the one closer that has no trim.

 The window trim finished and  painted.

 All the windows trimmed and painted

 For the door, Richard is filling in the space that was created by the metal perlins to make it level.

 He is building up the side to create depth.

 Richard placed trim on top of trim to give it a layered look.

 The trim work done....

 The painting begins... We used Behr exterior Satin Pure white from Home depot.

 The first coat.....

 DONE!

Starting the floor trim. We pre-painted the base boards which saves the knees and post cleanup!

This took 4 weeks to complete.

Insulating the Bathhouse ceiling.

 We got this Styrofoam insulation (30 to 40 R-Value) for free from our recycle guy about 8 years ago and have had it in storage under a vinyl tarp ever since . The rats/coons/??? have had a wonderful home to live in . There are chewed in tunnels, insulation rearranged into blankets and alot of poop, really gross!
So we ended up throwing away the fiberglass insulation and bleaching the Styrofoam to get it clean.

 This is how much it will take to do the job......

 Here is the well room done.....

 I cut it by measuring the space and subtracting 1/2 for ease of fit.

 There were places I had to make grove cuts for the conduit that was not placed high enough.

 This is the Composing toilet room Done.....What a difference in Temperature!!!!

I found it the easiest to divide the run into 3 sections, each end : because they had a ledge to fit the insulation piece into , and the middle :which would just fit straight up.

 We insulated the front porch with fiberglass then covered it with tyveck.

This took 3 weeks from start to finish.