The Apartments

DaMom's grandmother had two "lovely" tenants living in her apartments up until they finally got the boot last summer. The dude in the first floor apartment was a real charmer. He worked a deal where he'd fix up the apartment for her and since he was an electrician everyone figured he knew what he was doing or could at least figure it out. Well, this electrician wasn't a carpenter, or even much of an electrician from some of the things I've seen.

How bad could a tenant screw up a place?
First, he tore out the old cabinets (I never saw them) and he picked up some used ones in sorry shape.
Second, he acquired a counter top that didn't quite work with the aforementioned cabinets and didn't bother to secure it to the counter. This was actually a good thing since you had to lift the counter to open the drawers.
Third, he paneled everything. BADLY. It was nailed in some places, glued in others, held up by the force in others, and bulging everywhere.

The original plan was to fix and paint what was there but Uncle A. and I couldn't justify the time and effort it would take to fix the sins the had been laid upon this poor house and still not have it be right. We lobbied for a new kitchen. We got the cabinets quoted ( the least expensive that HD had to offer and on sale) and measured up the place for flooring.

I didn't take any pictures of the before but these which were taken in process show some of the awfulness.

 Everything came out way to easy

 

If you can't find a studfinder...

 Cabinets cleared out

Once the mess was out it was time to clean up the walls (it would have been easier to re-drywall everything), tear out the flooring and hang the new cabinets. The studs were pretty sparse so it was easier to hang them with french cleats.


In the meantime the bathroom was treated to a newly painted tub and surround while the dining room was drywalled, painted, and carpeted.

So without further ado here's the finished space.

And let's take a little video tour shall we?

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