Every family needs one!

A dumpster, that is, parked in front of their house!

A couple of months ago, we noticed a musty smell in the kitchen, and no, it wasn't something I had cooked.  We searched high and low, but we couldn't find the source.  The experts finally took a look, and sure enough, a slow leak behind the wall under sink had doomed the subfloor for a distance  out in to the kitchen.
Look, I love Paula, and that's been true for almost 42 years.

That is why I have decided not to have the leaking pipe checked for her DNA.  I mean, if she caused the leak just so that she can have a new kitchen...well, that's her problem.
We finally got on someone's schedule to start the renovation.  That meant moving the contents of the kitchen to other places,

and dismantling as much of the room as we could.   (Notice her big grin.  Again, I'm not sayin'...)

It's a shame to put still-functioning devices in the landfill, so we were glad to give the old things away to folks that could use them.  No, not the Miata, the refrigerator!

Pretty soon, it was as bare as we could get it, minus the island (someone's new garage table), the refrigerator, the microwave, the gas stove and some cupboards that will be used elsewhere.

Then the REAL guys came along and got to work.

The floor around the sink area, as well as the wallboard, insulation, etc. were pretty bad.  In addition, weakness elsewhere in the subfloor was clearly apparent, left over from The Great Flood of 1989.  In that one, the washer hose blew out while we were at the beach and ran for at least a day unnoticed.

 If any of you have seen The Money Pit (Tom Hanks, Shelly Long,circa 1986),

you'll remember that the time estimate on everything was "two weeks."  Until then, we'll be cooking on a borrowed hot plate, with a mini-fridge in the garage.  Mmm-mmm!  Washer-top chicken again tonight!! 

We hope that your house holds together, and that someday you get to have your own dumpster anyway.  They are soooo convenient!

Dave & Paula