Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The pain is over. . . sort of

My splinter was squeezed out eventually and now typing with a non-painful, yet bandaged, finger is less of an annoyance.

The pain continues with the constant struggle for kitchen design. I pulled out my Lowe's quote and checked the date . . . February 23, 2008. Oh sweet Jesus let this be over soon. I have been thinking about cabinets for over a year. Arranging. Re-arranging. More re-arranging. Styles, counters, lighting, appliances.

I am going to investigate new cabinets this weekend. Hopefully make a decision on what to use soon enough. I also have a lead on two great re-modelers to help with installation of said cabinets and some other projects.

Realistically, we are going to be without a kitchen for about 4-5 weeks during this process. Yuck.

Do you think I can plug in the old fridge on my deck and use it out there? I can handle grilling and microwaving food for over a month - but dealing with a fridge is a little much. What about rain though? Could I tarp it in some way? I am assuming you cannot get the back of a fridge wet, correct?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't you just move the fridge into another room in the house (i.e. dining room) for the duration of the reno?

i'd be interested in your re-modeler if/when you use them....hopefully you'll post names/reviews?

Benny said...

Since we are refinishing all the floors downstairs during the kitchen reno - I have to move the fridge elsewhere. It is a huge pain in the ass.

I will be sure to post reviews of the work done! Hopefully it will be good. . .

Jamie said...

I had no kitchen for almost 9 months after I moved in to the house, but that was my own doing. I did hook up a temporary sink and whatnot, though, for washing dishes. I also used a portable induction burner for cooking. Worked out pretty well. I agree with the previous commenter... just put the fridge in the dining room or living room.

Contractors usually don't leave you sinkless for that long, the ought to take the old sink base and hook it in somewhere, e.g. in the basement.

Benny said...

Ahh... a basement. That would be life. We have lower level - but is an apartment for which we have a renter.

The only place to put the fridge would be upstairs (too much work) or outside, at least until the floors are refinished on the first floor - which should take about a week. The entire level is hardwood and we are running it into the kitchen. It should be fun to see it all stripped and re-done. Of course, I'll take pictures to share.

Maybe I will just use a cooler during that time . .

Unknown said...

Your freezer may not work if you put the refrigerator outside and it is too cold. See this article from DavesRepair.com:

Refrigerators and Unheated Rooms - Beware!
(Reprinted from The DRSNews, April 2004)
We’ve had a really cold winter here in the Northeast this year, and once the cold air arrived it stayed a while. I’ve had several folks ask why their spare refrigerator in their unheated garage wouldn’t keep frozen food, well, frozen.

So I thought I’d share this with you to save you the hassle of learning it the ‘hard way’.

The short answer to the question is that the thermostat in a modern frost-free refrig is reading the (40F) temp in the fresh food section.

In theory, that means when the ambient temp drops to 40, the t'stat no longer calls for cooling and any food stored in the freezer (0-5F) begins to thaw. In the real world, when the temp in the unheated room drops below about 55-60F, there's not enough compressor run time to keep the freezer cold enough.

You’ll want to keep this in mind if you’re using a frost-free refrigerator as a backup and it’s in an unheated garage or porch, etc. You’ll be able to store fresh food OK in the refrigerator section if you need the ‘overflow’ room, but I recommend you empty the freezer section in the Fall to prevent food loss.

Hopefully we won't have to worry about this for a while. I think winter's over here in the northeast...

Benny said...

Randall!!

You rule! Good tip!

~B

Unknown said...

We used the Kitchen and Bath Factory on Lee Hwy and were really happy with the quality of the cabinets and options available to us...

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