New Countertop Installation!

This post is long overdue, as we've had out new counter top for about two months already. Several weeks after the template was made, the old counter was removed and the new one installed, along with the new sink and faucet!

Removal took just a few minutes:

Then the two guys brought in the new counter top. There are 2 pieces so just one seam.

IT'S SO SHINY

Once the two pieces were in place, they had to secure them, seal the seam, caulk around the underside where it meets with the cabinets, and of course seal in the under-mount sink.

Once done with all of that, they removed all their equipment and cleaned up.

We saved almost $500 on the installation cost because Nick could unhook the pipes and water lines from the sink and reattach them once they were finished. Seriously. That's all he had to do. Then because of the drying time needed to make sure the sink attached securely, we couldn't run the water for 24 hours.

Here's a close up shot of the new sink:

Love, love, love the under mount sink. And the new faucet with integrated sprayer is perfect.   

And of course here is a before shot to compare:

Old sink and faucet

Old counter top

Close up of the counter over the dishwasher, compared to the old counter length seen above:

New counter top

Original kitchen

And this is the backsplash we've picked out:

Building the Dishwasher Platform and Cabinet

Before counter top installation day, we had to build in the new dishwasher cabinet since that was going to provide support to a larger section of a much heavier counter material. This was a Nick project, though we collaborated on the best way to go about doing it.

A few months ago we cut out the end cabinet space and set the dishwasher in place, though not secured to anything. We did use it a few times, but had to be careful while loading because it was prone to tipping forward. Not a problem now that it's entirely built in.

Here's where we left off after the cabinet removal to make space for the dishwasher:

First we created a base. The floor where the cabinet was removed from was slightly lower than the tile surrounding it, so we evened that out by screwing down a thin piece of MDF board. On top of that Nick screwed down plywood to provide some height and an attachment point for the support frame.

Dishwasher fits on the plywood base, which overlaps onto the tile. Now it sits level.

In preparation for the dishwasher installation, we had to do some electrical work. We had a friend's stepdad, who is a contractor, help with this. Nick assisted so he could learn more about it as well. That project didn't really warrant its own post, but makes sense to mention it here.

The large range outlet to the right in the photo below used to be where the silver box on the lower left is, which is where the dishwasher would go. In order to get it out of the way and keep it more accessible, we moved it over about a foot to the right. The white cord with the yellow cap that's tucked into the wall above the silver box is the newly-installed direct power supply line to the dishwasher. You can see it in the photo above after the dishwasher has been hooked up. We left the cord long so we can pull out the dishwasher pretty far if we need to. 

Because this electrical work included sawing out parts of the drywall, we had to repair it. I spackled the area, but it still needs to be painted. I'm planning to do that before the end panel is secured in place. 

Now back to the dishwasher cabinet. Nick continued building what was basically a very sturdy frame,

Nick used the original counter top and a level to make sure the upper frame was flat so there wouldn't be any gaps or slanting when they set the new counter top. We were working with precise measurements, since we wanted to have a nearly seamless transition from the counter to the range, with little to no gap between the dishwasher cabinet end and the oven. Nick did a really fantastic job on this. Now that it's installed, the side edge of the new counter top and the dishwasher cabinet line up perfectly.

We still need to stain and finish the visible areas of the frame so it matches the rest of the cabinetry. Once that is done we can actually secure the dishwasher to the upper and side frame pieces with screws using the available anchoring holes.

Just about done

After all that, we'll be securing a detachable end piece in case we need to access anything back there in the future. We're also going to include a sound-muffling layer to make the dishwasher quieter.

Finally, here's a look at the entire kitchen with the new dishwasher cabinet frame in place. Next post will be about the counter top installation and finally some pictures of what it looks like now, which is absolutely stunning!

Ready for the new counter top to be installed

Chicken Coop - Final Improvements

Way back in January I first posted about the improvements we began on the chicken coop that came with the house. That weekend we cleared the run of blackberry brambles, made some small improvements to the access panel to the coop, and painted a single coat.

Now, nearly 6 months later, we've completed the rest of the improvements we planned to make and finally have chickens. Here are the rest of the coop updates we made before bringing them home:

Nick cut a new door out of plywood, which was much more sturdy that the original. This new door also includes new hinges, a bolt that secures it shut at night, and a metal hook and screw eye to hold the door open during the daytime. When I went over the entire coop with a second coat of new paint, I also painted the new door:

New chicken feeder and fount

Nick did the same for the access door to the nesting box at the back of the coop. It didn't need to be a thicker wood so we re-used the existing door, but we did add hinges. Before it was just screwed in and you pushed it aside to gain access, with no way to lock it. Like the coop door above, there's a new bolt mechanism to keep this side more secure as well.

I painted this as well. You can see how well it blends in below. 

Now at quick look at the inside:

The inside was pretty dirty, with chicken droppings and old shavings on the floor and nesting box. I swept out all of the shavings and removed the existing cloth ceiling from the top of the nesting box, replacing it with plywood. After the floor was clear, I pulled out the linoleum lining the coop and hosed it down outside. Once dry and placed back in the coop, I put a layer of fresh shavings down.

While I worked on cleaning and painting, Nick focused on outer security. There were some areas that weren't as secure as we'd like, including the door to the run. The door was surprisingly wobbly at the top and bottom and had only one bolt closure in the middle. To strengthen the door, Nick reenforced it by screwing lengths of wood around the entire perimeter. No more wobbly door. He also added a second bolt closure and changed the location of the original, so now there's one down lower and one near the top.

One all the door reinforcements were added, I painted it and the frame of the roof. We also added a door handle. In addition to the door, we did some spot securing of the wire around the run. This was an incredibly well made run and coop. The wire edging was dug down into the ground at least 6-8 inches. The chickens have dug down about that far in a couple areas and the wire continues even deeper.

I also cleaned the run and coop roofs by hosing them down, removing all the leaves and gunk build up with a power wash. That was around the time I added the new and extended gutter and added rain barrel.

Ready for chickens

And the before shot:

Backyard Before and After: Part 1

The yard is still a work in progress and there will probably end up being like 30 before and after entries, but this is the first one complete right now: the southwest corner where you enter the backyard when following the sidewalk around the garage. 

This is what the area looked like when we walked into the backyard on a visit at the end of May 2013:

May 2013

I used some of these photos on a 'before and after' post last year to show how fast things grow in Portland in the spring, since it was only a month between the shots above and below.

Besides filling with weeds, this area became overgrown with the blackberry plants that were there, and all the offshoots that grew from them over the time the house was vacant. There were also about a dozen small cherry trees growing here. We assumed they popped up from birds dropping seeds from cherries picked off a neighbor's tree next door. While we'd like a cherry tree, that neighbor's tree is full-sized. A dwarf cherry variety would be a must for our yard space, so these trees had to go.

April 2013

During some of our summer visits and soon after we moved, we started clearing this area. I took down the chicken wire fencing between the wood fence and around the clothesline. I cut down the cherry trees to dry for firewood and pulled out the roots. We never figured out what the plant shown below was since we never saw it flower or fruit, so we pulled it out and removed the wooden box and trellis.

April 2013

Over the winter I cleared out remaining fence scraps, concrete blocks and other debris, pulled weeds, and tilled the area along the fence, as seen below.

January 2014 

While the blackberries were still dormant, I transplanted them. Added trellises, pulled weeds, tilled the entire area and spread grass seed once it started getting warmer. And here is what it looks like now:

June 2014

Yeah. HUGE difference.

In the earlier photos you could barely see that there were pear trees in there. Nick did a lot of pruning since they'd been neglected for so long, so they are all nicely-shaped now and all growing an incredible amount of fruit.

We definitely wanted to keep the blackberries, just a little more controlled and deliberately placed. Fortunately the main plant was already in a great location next to the clothesline, so we kept it there, just adding a trellis so we could train the branches to grow up instead of out. It looks much cleaner, takes up less space, and the berries will be more easily accessible for picking from any side.

I wanted to keep a few of the smaller blackberry offshoots as well to increase the fruit yield, so I made a plan to transplant them while still dormant to a new location along the fence, selecting the largest of the offshoot systems and composting the rest. I attached the trellises along the fence area between the two pear trees and transplanted those root systems. These trellises and the trellis attached to the clothesline we found in other areas of the yard, so those were existing. We always try to reuse or re-purpose existing items for projects before buying anything new.

As you can see below the newer plants are still fairly small, but should get bigger and bigger every year, each eventually getting as big as the mother system above. Like our other fruits and berries, I'd like to have enough blackberries to eat some from the bush, use some fresh picked for baking, some to freeze, and some to can as a compote, probably making a plum/blackberry mix to make them go further. We're really looking forward to being able to add stuff we grew ourselves to our meals year-round!

And here's another view of the same area, before and after:

May 2013

June 2014

Additions to the Family

I'm no longer the only female around! With Nick, two male cats, and a baby boy on the way, I was significantly outnumbered. Now we are even with the recent addition of 3 hens to our newly-improved coop and run! They are still too young to lay eggs, but we're happy to have gotten them at this stage so we can enjoy watching them settle into their new home and grow a bit before they begin laying. 

Chicken ladies

While my sister and niece were visiting, we arranged a trip to the 'country' with some friends who also needed to get some new chickens to add to their existing two. After some searching on Craigslist, we found people raising free range laying hens and had a large number available, since between us we needed five of them.

It was a really rainy day, so chasing hens around a muddy yard was pretty challenging and funny. It poured rain so hard right after we got there that the family invited us into the large garage nearby to wait it out. That's where they had their heat lamp and area for the young hens (pullets) that weren't yet ready to go outside. These pullets were easier to catch, and my niece was excited to get to play with and hold some of them while we waited:

After the rain let up a bit, we went back out and tried again. They had five different chicken varieties, so we had to decide what we wanted to go after them. Since they were all really good egg laying breeds, we decided to try three different kinds: a Buff Orpington, White Leghorn, and Rhode Island Red. That way we might be able to learn about differences in traits, personalities, and habits of each to take into consideration when we get more in the future, though I hope that won't be for quite awhile. As long as they stay healthy and aren't lost to predators, they should all be great layers for us for the next three years or so.

Nick and the Rhode Island Red, which our niece named "Ashlyn"

Our coop is such a great set up. I'll have to do a post soon to show some of the details and the improvements we've made. The run fencing is thickly lined with weeds on all but the west side, which they quickly got to work on scratching and eating. In addition to those greens, they also get a lot of insects flying and crawling through the weeds and the dirt, and we're giving them select food scraps as treats. All that plus the layer feed gives them a diverse and well-balanced diet. The feed ensures they get enough calcium for egg shell production. We've only had them for a few days but are loving being chicken caretakers, and the cats are enjoying their company as well:

Update: June 30th we got our first egg!

It's now July 10th and we've gotten 6 eggs from the Buff Orpington, who is still the only one old enough to lay. The other two probably have a month or two to go, but soon we'll be getting a dozen a week or more. The shells are very thick, the yolks sit tall and firm, and they are incredibly DELICIOUS!

Rain Collection Barrel for the Chicken Coop

Our property came with a barrel to collect rain water from the large covered backyard patio/roof, which we left as-is. I think it holds 55 gallons, since that seems to be the standard barrel size. It's elevated on concrete blocks and surrounded by fence planking, making it a bit more aesthetically pleasing since it's right next to our patio hangout space:

Eventually we might do something to brighten up the planks around it or something, but it's just fine for the time being. Notice the flowering bamboo/reed-like wall of plants along the patio edge in the above photo. I'll refer back to it later.

We were interested in collecting more water, so recently I picked up a free rain barrel through Craigslist for collecting rain run-off from the covered chicken run:

The free barrel and newly cleared area to the right where it will go

The barrel itself was in fine shape, being a very heavy-duty plastic. The people were giving it away because of a broken nozzle at the end of the very short hose attachment. Regardless of the hose nozzle, I found the existing set up was not very functional because the small plastic spout wouldn't allow for more than a trickle of water no matter what. So we upgraded. Nick used a 3/4 inch hollowing bit thing to drill around the existing drain hole and we installed a regular-sized spigot with an easy half-turn knob:

Concrete blocks found around the yard now have a purpose!

For us to do this meant turning the barrel on its side and me crawling into it to hold the interior piece in place with a wrench while Nick attached and screwed on the outer piece, which must have been a funny sight as I was almost 6 months pregnant at the time, almost 7 now. This is the first mention of it on the blog, so here's a recent photo of me working in the yard, which I'm still doing for several hours a day, almost every day:

Pregnant gardening!

Oh, and check out the patio rain barrel behind my left arm and the area along the edge where those previously-mentioned yellow-flowering bamboo/reed plants used to be. After much consideration and debate about whether or not to keep them, they are now gone. That was about a 30 hour project for me, primarily because the root system was incredibly deep and dense. I added some soil, tilled along the patio edge, and am growing two rows of peas along there on a little trellis. The patio living room area feels so much more open now with a great panoramic view of the yard instead of a wall of plants, which also extended several feet out into the usable yard space. Will make a post on that sometime.

Back to the coop rain barrel. The coop roof had an existing gutter, but it was in bad shape and was set up to empty out at an area where it would be inconvenient to have a rain barrel. We'd rather it be more hidden and out of the way instead of taking up precious yard space.

Before any of our coop improvements 

After removing the old gutter, I painted the wood frame it attached to in order to weather-proof it a little and so it matched the coop, which I'd recently painted with a second coat.

I cleaned out the old gutter to reuse some of it, and picked up a new 10-foot section plus some gutter accessories for my plan. The covered area is about 12 feet long through, so there's a section without gutter. I might add to that end eventually or just leave it as is.

Nick and I attached the new gutter in such a way to fight gravity and send the rain streaming to the north end of the coop and around the corner. Since the coop/run/land is all slightly south-sloping, the gutter needed to be angled sharply in the opposite direction to get the water to run that way, but we got it to work:

Water runs through the shiny and new gutter angled along the east side of the chicken run roof

And around the corner to the back side where I re-used a section of the old, sun-faded gutter

I still need to detach the gutter on this back end and paint the plywood and the run frame like I did to the other sections. Also in the photo above you can see that just underneath the lip of the corrugated roofing we installed a metal extension. Along several sections of the roof water would drip down between the gutter and the wood frame, so we attached this curved metal to ensure any runoff gets directed into the gutter.

And into the  barrel, where I can fill my watering can

With a 10 x 8 foot collection area, we will get almost 45 gallons, or almost a full barrel, for each inch of rainfall. We'd probably get 5 times that from the patio roof. During the periods of heavy rain, we could really use a series of barrels to collect overflow since we would really like to be able to keep enough to be able to exclusively water with rainwater during the summer, but that's a project for down the line.