Laundry Area Takes Shape

We have been so busy lately, that I have not even had time to write this blog.  Our efforts, however, are starting to pay off.

Since I last wrote, we have managed to make the frame for the desk, paint the laundry area wall, varnish the cabinets for that wall, purchased plywood for the floor under the laundry units, hung the wall cabinets above the washer, made the bookshelf for above the desk, and consulted with the granite company about our countertops.

Today we cut all of the frames for the pocket door and for the kick plate in the cabinets. We are starting to see the room come together... finally.

Once this laundry area was painted to match the rest of the room,
the room started to look "whole" again.

The cabinets in this area are smaller,
but they gave us grief as we were installing them.

The cabinet construction was a priority because we needed to get them into place before we can bring the laundry upstairs, and that is our primary reason for repurposing the room.  The cabinets themselves are smaller than those on the other wall, but this wall was bulged out in the middle, thanks to the washer box in the wall, so hanging the upper cabinets was a headache.  We finally had to take the last one down and reconstruct it a bit before it would fit snugly on the wall. The base cabinet is set in place, but we have not installed it yet.  We want to get the laundry pair up and leveled before we attach the base cabinet in place.

We brought the base units up for the washer
and dryer.  We will add the drawers and get them
leveled before we bring up the machines.

Two problems arose.  The first was that we could not find anyone to carry our washer and dryer up from the basement.  The laundry pair I have are German-made Meile machines.  The washer is very heavy, and we heard that the dryer was also.  We finally talked Two Men and a Truck into doing the move for us, and they are set to be here on Monday.

However, the movers will not move either machine with the base drawers attached.  So today, Rick and I tipped the machines on their sides and took off the base drawers. We learned a couple of things: first, the dryer is not very heavy.  We think that we could move it ourselves with a good furniture dolly.  The washer is a bit heavier, so we may need the movers for that.

Our second problem occurred when we learned yesterday that our sewer line was plugged, causing our kitchen sink to back up into our laundry tubs in the basement.  Just what we needed!  More plumbing problems.  Our only solution was to call a sewer clean-out crew to come in today with a long plumbing snake to clean out the system.  Sigh.  This house is really getting revenge on us for ignoring its needs for so many years while we remodeled Gladys!

Tomorrow we will add more coats of sealants or varnish to the bookcase, the desk unit, the kick plates, and the door frames for the room.  After those elements dry, we will install them to complete the west wall of the room.

We have been working for so long on this room that we both are ready to have it done. We are happy with the results so far, but we both are ready to start to enjoy the fruits of our labors.