The one with the... Kitchen Makeover (Part 2 - Appliance Install)

In Part 1 of the Kitchen Makeover, we explained our grand plan for the kitchen.  And now here's Part 2-- the appliance install!  As was mentioned in the grand plan, we had decided to get 4 new appliances - 1) new cooktop, 2) replace microwave with a new range hood, 3) replace double wall oven with an Advantium oven/microwave combo and 4) a single wall oven. We decided to go with all white appliances because the refrigerator and the dishwasher we replaced recently were white.  Stainless steel appliances might look nicer and more "modern" but in my opinion they can be difficult to keep clean and usually more expensive.


Dave let me pick out the new appliances and I waited until there was a Sears Friends and Family Sale and GE rebate to place the order.  Dave also agreed to install the appliances himself instead of paying for Sears install, which would have cost around $200 per appliance (and more if it was a complicated install).  Not to mention they would have also charged us to haul away the old appliances.  So in the DIY and money saving spirit, we Dave did all the installations himself!          


Much like our other DIY projects, they always turn out to be more difficult and complicated than they initially seem.  This time, complications included having to cut the countertop and parts of the kitchen cabinets because the new appliances were slightly larger than the ones they replaced, replacing breakers in the house's electrical breaker box for safety because the new appliances take less amperage, and more!      


I've included some before and after pictures in this post, but to see detailed step-by-step  pictures and descriptions of the appliance installs, visit the full Picasa album here, where Dave has documented the whole process.   


Here are the new appliances delivered! 

We started with the cooktop, since that was the appliance that was actually broken. 

Before-- Old cooktop: 

After-- New cooktop: 

Next we moved onto the wall ovens.  

Before-- Old double wall ovens: 

I forgot to take a picture of the Advantium and wall oven install after it was completed, but here's a picture of both appliances semi installed.  Notice the gap between the Advantium on top and the single wall oven on the bottom?  The reason there is a gap is that the old double ovens combined were larger and the cavity that was there was too big for the smaller Advantium and single wall oven combined. See the detailed pictures for more descriptions of what Dave had to do to get these two suckers installed (it was A LOT of work!)  Dave also had to cut plywood and build a shelf for the Advantium because it can't just sit on top of the single oven.  In a later Kitchen Makeover post we'll show you how we fixed that large gap hole in the cabinet.    

After-- New Advantium and wall oven:

We had hoped to leave the easiest appliance install for last and finally got to removing the microwave and replacing it with a regular range hood.  Unfortunately, even this proved to be much harder than expected.

Before-- Microwave and hood combo.

I must have gotten really tired after we finished all the appliance installations in one weekend because I also don't have a picture of the new range hood! Here's a picture of the range hood from Sears.com.  Just imagine that in place of the microwave! 

  

After(sort of)-- New range hood: 

So there we have it!  All 4 appliances installed. Obviously I am oversimplifying the explanations on this post.  Dave does a MUCH better job of explaining what he had to do for each individual appliance here where he has detailed pictures and explanations.  I promise better pictures of all the appliances in subsequent Kitchen Makeover posts! 

Here are all the old appliances (including the trash compactor) ready to go out to for pick up by the County:  

Some of these appliances, especially the double wall oven, are super heavy!  Come recycle day, Dave was tired of lifting all the appliances so he hooked them up to his car and towed them out to our driveway. 

In case you were wondering what Pluto was up to while we were busy with the appliances....Pluto supervised as Dave works to connect the electrical wires for the new cooktop: 

Here he is again helping Dave figure out how to screw in the halogen lights for the range hood: 

Pluto found a piece of cardboard from the range hood packaging that came in a donut shape. I found him chewing on it (he loves chewing on paper and paper products) so I decided to put it around his head:  

That's it for Part 2 of the Kitchen Makeover!  Here's a sneak peak of Part 3-- stay tuned to see what we're up to next!