A new kitchen

This weeks project was a new kitchen installation. My Client wanted a new kitchen installed into a rental unit , and being a busy executive, he said to me , " Just do it!" Having a free reign over design, placement and color was great! The unit is a one bedroom open plan living area, so the kitchen had to suit the  contemporary minimalist style. The space has an unusually high 2,6m stud, and great natural lighting. One wall shares services with a bathroom behind, so I decided to start on this wall with a laundry/pantry area, as the extra stud height gave me a larger area for storage space. Also, the water supply was already there. One issue that came up was the state of the old piping. Black Buteline is now outdated, and prone to pinhole leaks after time, so I took the opportunity to upgrade this to the latest standard. The pic below shows the dry wall lining removed than the new piping and a waste line for the washing machine in place.

I needed to build a recessed services box to house the hot and cold supply taps, and create an access point for the washing machine waste too. Building this into the wall saved space as it allows the cabinets and washing machine to be fitted flush with the wall, and in a shared living area, taps sticking out of the wall are not acceptable! ( Even if they are in a cupboard...)  In the picture below, the taps are not fitted yet and the outlet has not been finished. This is so that we can place the final position of these when the cabinets are installed to give the best position for screwing on the washing machine's pipes, so that they are not awkward to connect...the cabinet will have a small square cut out of the back panel to display the taps and outlet point, and thus hide the grey pipes. 

Now the dry wall lining is replaced and painted, a hole for the stove's extractor fan and sink waste is cut. The power and water supply for the sink is in place. We are ready to install the cabinets.

Because the kitchen space has a services panel bringing the top floor's services in, it creates an awkward detail in the corner to have to work around. I originally wanted to use a kit set kitchen, but the cost of getting a cut down cabinet and  bench top made by the same kit set supplier to cater for this issue was too expensive. It was actually cheaper to shop around and get a local joiner to custom build the kitchen! So don't be lured into thinking that Placemakers, Bunnings or Mitre 10 always have the best deals. In my opinion this kitchen far exceeds the quality of the kit set version. It also came with soft close doors, and the bench top was supplied in one piece, so no ugly join! Because of the extra stud height, the joiner supplied a panel to close the gap between the top of the laundry cabinet and the ceiling. A small detail but something that makes this kitchen look like a much more expensive model. You don't get any of these extras with a kit set! ( and cheaper remember!)

So this is how the cabinets look installed. The result is a naturally lit, spacious, clean and modern look! There is heaps of floor space to accommodate an island or dining table if desired. There are 4 deep drawers and 2 utensil drawers. The fridge is located in the laundry unit beside the washing machine which is behind the closed door. ( see pic below) Note the oven utensil drawer below the oven, another feature seldom found on kit set kitchens. The storage cabinet on the left of the fridge has a pressure opening door, so no handle to damage the wall it opens on to.

My client was very satisfied with the finished result, and has peace of mind that he has also upgraded the plumbing in this unit for very little cost. Since the bathroom shares the same plumbing as the kitchen, he has effectively replumbed the bathroom at no cost! - Job done!

Front yard renovation January 2011

Job 6. I got married and my wife who is an artist (visually oriented) hated the front yard ... or lack of one! I decided to completely make over the front of her new home. She loves gardening, so we planned several small and easy to keep garden spaces. I needed somewhere to park my truck and trailers, and a space to work, so we also planned a useable open space where I could 'play'! The difficulty was that the land sloped in two directions and drainage would have to be part of the project design,  as it rains a lot in Auckland.

My brother in law kindly put my ideas onto a plan so I had a guide to work from in ordering the materials. This was to be my first big landscaping project... This is what I had to start with.

I began at the front most area. I wanted some privacy to work in and less road noise too, so I took out the hedge,

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...and built a step paling fence 1.8m high and 30 m long.

The next step was to kill the lawn off to prevent regrowth

Now the fun part - digging and destruction!

In this shot I have had the timber for the retaining wall and privacy screen delivered. I have the post holes dug, and I am saving the existing path way to create an intermediate level, breaking up the sloping yard into two distinct areas, one level grassed area behind the privacy screen, and one gradient slope for the concrete parking area

 The shot above shows the 3.6m posts for the privacy screen in place, 

The drainage coil going under the path to join the lower retaining wall drainage system. This was sat on fine draining mix and covered with volcanic pebble which was laid over with weed mat to prevent silting up later.

 Top and bottom retaining walls are in and the privacy screen is up. My wife is itching to get the garden started and has the Bay trees in and some red Flax in the corner garden already!

Now I have used up the river stone from the previous path and some railway sleepers cut to form the feature garden on the old pathway. I am using the bits of concrete rubble that came out of the driveway wall as fill for the new path to make the river stones go further.

At this stage the old driveway had to go. That meant shipping it to the dump at considerable cost (concrete recyclers may not accept concrete with steel in) I had planned for this, using it as fill/ base for the free drainage parking area so we shifted it in slabs with the digger across to the right a couple of meters saving cash and putting it to good use.

Beside the concrete driveway, I wanted a free draining stone chip parking area where I could service my truck and machines without spoiling the concrete with oil spills etc. Here is the granite chip being laid over the concrete to raise the level by 400mm to meet the driveway level

Connecting the storm water channel at the bottom of the driveway to the main system via cesspit.

Concrete arrived at 6.00 am and took a morning to pour and level and expose the aggregate

The next pictures are about 18 months later. The concrete has weathered to an even tone, gardens are established and house repainted to better suit the new yard! The landscaping part of the project took about 3 months to complete.  I was doing it in my spare time before and after work and week ends, most of it on my own.

Thanks for viewing! Please feel free to make comments or ask questions.

About Stu the Handyman!

Hi! My name is Stu - I am a self taught handyman living and working on Auckland's North Shore in New Zealand. I have a passion for fixing, problem solving and learning new skills, not to mention acquiring new tools! My attitude is have the right tool ! If I don't have the tool for the job, I research carefully to find what I need, make sure its going to work, and then onto Ebay or Trademe  (our local NZ  Ebay) and "buy now"! Follow my weekly postings on what I have done at work, feel free to comment or ask questions and I will do my best to answer them. Please note that I am not a 'registered' tradesman, and anything you see me doing or advice I give may not comply with your local Health and Safety laws  (or mine!)   and as such I am not responsible for any untoward outcomes! In saying that I take all precautions I can to comply with local laws and tool and product guidelines...

First off, I have a small truck to carry most of the everyday tools I expect to use regularly. I also have a garage full of specialized tools and equipment that I load into the truck or trailer depending of the job I have at hand. With the help of a friend I recently had the truck sign written, now when I arrive at the job, everyone thinks my wife is going to be doing the work!

In planning this blog I have accumulated a couple of jobs to put up, but I hope to put about one a month where possible, and only if its going to be useful or interesting. So here goes...