A Year of Firsts: A Year in My Life - Kitchen Project

I am very pleased with the progress made last week. Besides the demolition much of the preparation for the electrician and work by the plumber has been completed. The walls have been opened up for the new electrical boxes, plus the trench for the water and drain lines has been made and the lines have been moved. In addition the new gas line has been installed.

The oven is electric but the cook top is propane gas. They are separate items - not as one range like we have. The gas bottles or "bombola" as they are called will be in an outdoor closet that is adjacent to the kitchen. I will have two bottles with a switch that will allow me to change to the second bottle when the first one is empty. Right now if the first one runs out I have to make sure I have a spare and then go into the closet (full of outdoor critters - ick!) to change the connection. Most times I call Luigi to come and change it for me.

In addition the niche has been created in the wall. This will be above the cooktop and will have a beautiful tile design. It will be the focal point of the kitchen and you will see it as you enter the house. Also the new bar area has been built. Now that was interesting to watch.

In America it would just be an extension of the marble or granite counter with possibly some braces underneath depending on how long and deep the counter is. Here they actually build a structure that the countertop (quartz - silestone) will be applied to. This structure could hold 2 men and a boy - it is built with cement block and a type of reinforced brick that creates the surface. Then it is cemented on top to encase these bricks. It was done and dried in one day. The masonry actually put all his weight on it once dried to show me how strong it was.

More pictures to document the process.