Kitchen Renovation, Part 4: Ventilation and Electric (August 2008)
Before we could get to the upper cabinets, we needed to do some work on the ventilation and electrical systems. The existing range hood was not ventilated to the outside - it just circulated hot, greasy air back into the kitchen. (One contractor told us that the average kitchen outputs 1 pint of grease into the air every year; we cook more often than most people and saute a lot, so our grease-to-air output is probably even worse.) We also needed to upgrade the electrical systems to accommodate the dishwasher and new range hood/microwave, add new much-needed outlets, and split the lighting out over 3 separate switches (previously, all lights in the kitchen were on one switch).
I'm pretty willing to do as much work as possible myself (both to save money and because I think I do a better job than most people), but wiring and punching holes through exterior walls are two things that I'm not real comfortable with, so in came the outside contractors.
The new plug for the dishwasher, seen through its access hole in the cabinet under the sink. This hole will eventually have a cover.
A dishwasher's-eye view of the space behind the cabinet under the sink, where the dishwasher plugs in.
The new switch panel. Three switches offer a lot more control than the lone switch that previously controlled the lighting for the entire kitchen. Now there's a nuanced area between pitch black and clinical glare.
The new switches and one of the new outlets, along with the hole where the old switch was. There are now no fewer than 18 110V outlets in this room, along with a 220V for the oven; more than are really useful, but that's what the building code required. This means that this kitchen alone is now served with more amperage than the entire 3-bedroom unit was served with when we moved in, and in all likelihood more amperage than served this entire 3-unit, 9-bedroom building 30 years ago.
The existing range hood over the stove. On the right is the new pendant lamp; the light over the stove is the old one, which we didn't want to replace until the ductwork was done, in case it got damaged during that process.
Then, since the microwave/hood combo that will go in the place of the hood is much taller than the hood, we moved the cabinet up by several inches. This is just a temporary solution - when all the wall cabinets are replace, that'll be replaced by a much shorter cabinet that's flush with the tops of the adjacent cabinets.
Having your kitchen torn apart doesn't mean you can't eat well. Shown: quinoa-stuffed patty-pan squash, angel hair with pesto, and apple-sage vegetarian sausages.
Once the space was made for the microwave, the contractor started cutting holes for the ventilation. This is the view from outside the house into the kitchen.
