The kitchen is officially functional

Our stainless hood duct cover is designed in two halves, one inside the other, so that it can telescope to the correct length. However, both halves were too long for our ceiling, so we decided to cut one of them down (and not use the other one).

One place wanted $150 to make the cut, which I considered totally ridiculous. We located a second place much closer to us (Starman Metal Fab), and they cut it down for $45 (1/2-hour labor minimum charge). We cheerfully went home to install the cover and finish up one more job.

Not surprisingly, this seemingly simple task managed to complicate itself. Despite the installation guide's vague assertion that you don't have to use both halves of the cover, it became immediately apparent that you cannot install it in a single piece. So, back to Starman we went (albeit a few weeks later).

This time we had both halves cut down, and installation was a snap.



We also finally ran the electrical to the island and plumbed the dishwasher. There was an existing 12/4 cable under the house that carried two circuits for the disposal and dishwasher. I ran this to a j-box in the crawlspace and connected it to two 12/2 cables in metal conduit running up to a j-box below the sink.

From there, I ran some stranded appliance cable to the disposal (switched) and to the dishwasher (not switched). Generally, you'd put the dishwasher on its own circuit, but I read that it's okay to put the disposal on that circuit, too. It's a 20-amp circuit, and the total load doesn't exceed that. I hope the inspector agrees because I'm reserving the other circuit for the island outlets. Running three circuits to the island just seems excessive, but, then again, so do a lot of the code requirements.



The dishwasher is just sitting in position right now. There's no point in attaching it to the temporary plywood countertops since we'll be building the concrete countertops in the next couple weeks. We've run several loads, though, and everything's working just fine (no leaks!).



My dad is coming back tomorrow for a final three week push to finish everything up. On the one hand, I get satisfaction from doing this stuff myself, but, on the other hand, it takes forever when I can only devote a couple hours a day on it. At this point, we both just want everything done so we can have the house back together.