1923 Bungalow

Backsplash installed behind radiator 1

Home Depot oil-rubbed bronze metal backsplash.

Cellar overhaul

Cellar has had old paneling removed, new fangeled insulation installed, drywall installed, and paint applied.

In the 20s

Temperature is very cold outside and it is not freezing in the cellar. Progress :-)

Sears Home Services - Part 2

Today is day 5, appointment 2 of Sears bungling their service call to my house. They have the absolutely got the lock on the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Of the five scheduled appointments that I was supposed to have to get my Amana fixed, they have actually shown up for one; by my calculations, 20%. My recommendation would be to avoid Sears for home appliance purchases and, in the event you do purchase an appliance, do NOT buy any extended warranty from Sears or you will be very, very disappointed.

Update: Day 9, appointment 4 is the charm. This morning, the technician replaced the circuit board for the refrigerator and it appears to be working fine. So it took 4 months and two visits and 5 missed appointments on their part to get my refrigerator working again.

New storm door

Pella storm door from Lowes.

Sears Home Services - Part 1

In February 2007, I purchased an Amana stainless steel refrigerator from Sears. The refrigerator developed a problem last week less than two years after I bought said appliance. The bottom freezer section was working fine but the upper refrigerator was not working at all. I called last Friday, 1 August to schedule a repair. The very nice woman at Sears promises a repair technician tomorrow, 6 August. Almost a week later but it is covered under the warranty and free so that is cool.

Tonight, I get a call from Sears that they cannot make it tomorrow and rather than moving me to the head of the queue for tomorrow, their policy is when you get bumped, you get moved to the end of the line again. So now it is next Tuesday 12 August. That would be 11 days after I reported the problem. That would be slightly less than 2 weeks with no refrigeration other than a cooler. No explanation, no apology, no remorse over treating a customer that has spent over $3000 there in the last two years this poorly. My recommendation is that you do not buy any appliances at Sear and if you do, then do not waste your money on Sears not delivering service in any reasonable fashion.

Amana —

Sears extended warranties —

Update: Called Sears national customer service line. They were very sorry (first apology) but still cannot change the appointment time. If they miss your appointment, you get moved to the back of the queue. It is their policy.

the end is in sight

Eleven month after I started, I believe that I am almost done…

a working kitchen

By the end of May, I had a working kitchen. I had installed the lower cabinets, finished the drywall, installed the ceiling tiles (and painted them), had the kitchen rewired and the plumbing replumbed.

Slate sink from Sheldon Slate in mottled purple — — they rocked there. They were kind with my ignorance, provided great advice and I would highly recommend them.

Chicago Faucet hardware — — nice web site, easy to navigate, and linked to google payments for easy payment. I would highly recommend them.

The cabinets are cherry wood, the shelving and countertops are Sapele. The Sapele shelving and countertops is from Free State Timbers

the gutted room

Picture of drywall in and lamps installed.

Original Kitchen

In February 2007, I along with my contractor, began the destruction of my old kitchen. Here is what the kitchen originally looked like.

Ceramic tile, pine cabinets, and a separate cooktop and oven. All in all, an okay set-up but the room was freezing from lack of insulation, incredibly crappy windows, and no outlets.