Remodeling the Kitchen - tearing it out

When we bought our house in  Murray, KY, we knew we wanted to do some remodeling and updating. The kitchen was very dark and the cabinets were very dated plus too dark for my taste. Take a look at what we started with:

I started looking on Pinterest and Houzz for ideas. Oh my goodness, I didn't realize I was going to have so much trouble deciding on the type of doors I wanted on my cabinets. I struggled with that for several weeks. Thank goodness my cabinet maker let me put off my choice until after he had the kitchen designs drawn up. We can talk about door choices more later. Here are the cabinet maker's drawings we approved.

Let's get to the really dusty and dirty job at hand. Tearing Out the Kitchen. It was such a nasty job. In order to save some money, we decided we could tear it out. Truthfully it was mostly my husband and a friend doing all the work and wow, was it a job!

He started on the wall opposite the kitchen sink. Here's a before shot.

There were two full length cabinets and a piece of countertop installed for a desk. They needed to come out so this was his area to experiment on. The cabinets and countertop piece came out easy and the two cabinets were moved to his shop behind our house for a later installation to hold some of his hunting and fishing clothes and equipment.

Next the backsplash tile in this area needed to be removed. Again, he experimented in this area just to see how difficult it was to remove. Yes, it was just awful to remove. He used a small chisel and a hammer; some pieces of the tile came off fairly easy but other were much more stubborn and tore hunks of the drywall. Here's an aftershot.

Once the sheetrock started to weaken and holes were torn, we knew we would end up cutting out the sheetrock and replacing it with new pieces. There was additional wiring to add on this wall so the electrician told us he needed the sheetrock cut out to get to the old wiring. Oh well, guess we could have just cut out the sheetrock in the first place but my husband didn't want to take a chance of damaging the wiring. So another trip to the hardware store and he bought  a Dremel Saw Max (seen below) to cut out the sheetrock. This dandy saw came with three cutting wheels for cutting wood, plastic, metal, masonry tile and more. 

Here is a pic after the sheetrock was cut out by my husband and the electrician completed the new wiring. This area had to get done first so the wiring would be complete before a sheetrocking guy came to install new sheetrock on parts of three walls. 

That wall was the easy one. Now on to the other two walls on the sink and the stove sides. 

The upper cabinets came down pretty easy with lots of screws to remove. But then there was the soffit over the upper cabinets to remove and the hard work began. 

The soffits were covered in paneling with sheet rock underneath and it all had to come down; dust was flying everywhere. The paneling was taken down and the sheetrock beneath had been painted red. He punched holes in the red sheetrock so he could check for wiring. 

Here's a look at the soffit after the sheetrock was removed. Notice the 2x4 framing for the soffit. Yuck!!

Are you thinking "why did they want to take the soffits down and make the job so much tougher?" Well, here's my best answer. Because our ceilings are only 8 foot, I wanted to maximize my cabinet space by having cabinets all the way to the ceiling, plus I didn't realize how hard the job was going to be! 

My husband borrowed a reciprocating saw from his brother which you can see on the left edge of the picture above and the pic on the right. It does have blades to insert in the end. He used this saw to cut some of the sheetrock on the soffit plus the 2x4s that framed the soffit. There were also huge nails to be removed from the framing.  I felt bad for him and our friend, Bill, that helped 

They finished the soffit and began removing the lower cabinets which went fairly easy except for being on the floor a lot removing more screws which joined the cabinets together. My husband said he hurt all over the next couple of days. 

The old backsplash was also removed and much of the sheetrock tore and was too soft and weak to patch. New sheetrock will be installed by an installer next week.

Here's a before and after shot. 

This weekend we will take out the sink and adjoining cabinets. All the cabinet are being moved to the shop and repurposed so no sledge hammers were used to beat the cabinets apart. 

The sheetrock guy will be here Tuesday to replace sheetrock where the backsplash was previously. The new sheetrock won't have to be mudded and all that stuff because the new cabinets and backsplash will cover it. It was just too weak to adhere new backsplash tiles. 

Stay tuned for another post on our kitchen remodel. BTW, we are eating on paper plates and using the microwave, which is now located in the dining room. 

Thanks for stopping by another day of Life in Kentucky - Judy. 

Check out the rest of the remodel of our kitchen:

Remodeling the kitchen - hutch and inspiration

Remodeling the kitchen - new lighting

Remodeling the kitchen - sheet rock and a lesson learned

Remodeling the kitchen - tearing it out

Linking to:

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Mosaic Monday @ Lavendar Cottage

Show and Share @ Coastal Charm

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ StoneGable Blog

You're Gonna Love It Tuesday @ Kathe With an E

Tweak It Tuesday @ Cozy Little House

Fall into Fall @ DIY by Design

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

What Is It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Style Link Party @ The Essence of Home 

Treasure Hunt Thursday @ From My Front Porch to Yours

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Favorite Things Thursday @ Katherine's Corner

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday

Simple & Sweet Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme 

Feathered Nest Friday @ The French Country Cottage

Be Inspired Friday @ Common Ground

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Fabulously Creative Friday @ Jennifer Rizzo

Foodie Friday & Everything Else @ Rattlebridge Farm

Weekend Retreat @ AKA Design & Life

The Bouquet of Talent Party @ Life on Lakeshore Drive - Saturday

Sunny Simple Sunday @ Sunny Simple Life 

Table It Monday @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

DIY Sunday Showcase @ The Interior Frugalista