The next step is again not in the den but still had to be accomplished at the same
time. The old laundry area in the kitchen had to be reconfigured to house the secondary
refrigerator and a pantry. Of course the old plumbing was never right and the washer
tended to overflow the drain from time-to-time. This, of course, was not good for the
sheet rock or, as it turned out, the structural wood inside the wall. Much of it had to
be repaired, patched or replaced. We also had to move the light switch which would have
been behind the refrigerator and add a convenience electrical outlet for the pantry.
Here it is just after removing the sheetrock that I was sure would be water damaged.
This is followed by a photo of the patches and repairs we felt were truly required. The
new wood is obvious. Some repairs at the far left should have been done but it was just
too difficult to get in there due to plumbing.
The next step was to remove the plumbing or at least its through-the-wall artifacts. Here
it is after that and installing some leftover scraps of insulation. I removed the faucets
and capped the pipes in the wall. The top of the washer stand pipe was a little rusty so
I didn't trust it to seal well. I cut a few inches off, down to solid metal and capped it
with a rubber plumbing cap. The other side of the wall is in the garage so perfect
insulation didn't seem really necessary. In addition to the plumbing, I moved some of the
electrical features as mentioned above. The open square box on the left was the old dryer
outlet. Rather than try to remove the wiring, I capped the wires and removed the breaker.
I will just cover the box and leave it. The metal blanking plate above the other outlet
is a junction box that will have to stay. The interior light (not the clamp light shown)
is above the door. The switch for it was where that junction box is now. Without tearing
out a lot of walls, it was not otherwise possible to move the switch to its new location.
A jumper was used instead. I also added an auxiliary outlet at the switch. The old
refrigerator will plug into the outlet where the clamp light currently is. It is now a
dedicated circuit as required by the current electrical code.
So, here it is now with the fridge in place. That thing is a lot bigger than I remembered,
and louder too. I guess we needed the size with two teenage boys growing up. All right,
that makes it about 40 years old. I guess it has a right to be a little louder than the
new ones. Having just bought a new one last year, we were told even by the sales people
that they don't last more than 7 or 8 years anymore. I guess that's the cost of importing
everything at the lowest price possible these days. You can see a shelf above the box
that was there before. A lower one had to be removed. A shorter one will be added on the
right side with a base cabinet on the floor when I get the time. The other photo is with
the louvered doors closed. I don't know why it came out so red and bright. The photos
appear a little bit distorted because I had to take them from the den, through the open
passthrough and from a slightly elevated position. The galley kitchen is narrow.
That is where we are at this time. Of course, the remaining shelves and probably a base cabinet will be added beside the refrigerator. More will be added as it is done. Meanwhile, it just seems more urgent to finish the den.