CHECK-IN: Speedin'Along SATURDAY 5/4/2019 - All are WELCOME!

zazzles, we are working on the outside, 3 doors are being replaced, wood rot being repaired, New paint. Then the kitchen and bathroom!

Wow…then your project is bigger than mine! I wish us both good luck with projects being on schedule and going well.

Thanks for the advice. I’m hoping that I don’t come up with any brainstorms while work is in progress. I did an external remodel 10 years ago and ended up adding on whole-house av/internet cabling and some electrical work. I’ve had enough “tweaks” done over the years that I really can’t think of anything else I want or need.

I had done a preliminary design for the kitchen which involved extending the wall next to the family room in order to fit everything I wanted. The designer suggested reversing the layout which ended up not requring the wall being extended, and he added a small peninsula to provide a small counter seating area that will fit two counter stools—that was unexpected and something I’m looking forward to as I will be able to sit and do sous chef tasks instead of standing all the time.

Originally I was going to keep the cooktop and put in a new below-counter oven; the designer pointed out that the new oven would cost as much as a slide-in range. I ended up deciding to do the slide-in range because it is 30” vs. the ~42” cooktop and won’t require the quartz countertop to have a cut-out. I’ve replaced the cooktop in its current location twice and found it annoying that choice was limited to what would fit in the already-cut countertop. So by using a stand-alone range replacement ecomes a snap.

I made the same decision on the microwave—no built-in. I had the designer spec an over-counter cabinet with a “hole” for an off-the-shelf microwave. I’ve replaced the current one three times and each time required paying hefty installation fees.

If I had a huge kitchen, I would love to have both a drawer microwave and a drawer refrigerator or two and a drawer freezer. I’d have the drawer refrigerator just to hold all the condiments that seem to eat up 1/2 the space in the full-sized refrigerator.

I am planning on keeping my current full-sized refrigerator, but still toying with the idea of replacing it with this model from Samsung. Since I have a large upright freezer in the garage, I don’t need a lot of freezer space in the kitchen and the ability to have expanded fresh-food storage is appealing as I never seem to have enough space for fresh produce.

Our contractor is slow as molasses in January. He is very good but we were forewarned that he was slow.  We started in March...

LOL.

If I go for a new fridge, I don’t think I’d keep the existing on in the garage. It is way to big (28 cu. ft.) to have for beverages and condiments. It also is a french door, bottom-drawer freezer and the freezer would be wasted space.

Since I bought a small 4.5 cu. ft. Frigidaire refrigerator-freezer for the upstairs to get me through the project, I might decide to put it in the garage and use it for condiments and beverages. It would be just the right size for overflow. And then I probaby would do just fine with the current refrigerator/freezer until it gives its last gasp. I’ve had no problems with it; the only GE product that has been trouble-free for me in years!

I looked at reviews of the Samsung box I provided the link to and it seems lots of people give it bad reviews because of ongoing problems with the icemaker. So it might not be a wise buy after all. I’ll have to see if Consumer Reports rates it.

When DH and I looked for a new refrigerator, we looked at a Samsung and Kenmore Elite. Both had French doors with the freezer drawer on the bottom. After looking at the configuration of both, side by side, I decided on the Kenmore. I've been very happy with it and would buy it again. I keep it filled most of the time. I also have our old style refrigerator in the garage and it keeps drinks, extra produce and over flow. It is 17 years old and my biggest complaint was it wasn't big enough for all of our condiments! LOL! I also have a large upright style freezer (in my utility room) that I bought in 1978 and it is still going strong and stays almost full year round. There are only 2 of us and it's amazing to me how we keep these filled. When the old freezer goes, I "MAY" not replace it but I'm just not sure I can do without it. If I don't replace it, I will move the garage refrigerator into the house because the summers here are very hard on appliances.