Now that we've taken delivery of our new sink and range hood, David could move ahead with knocking out a space in the upper part of the kitchen wall to accommodate the venting for the hood and install an electrical outlet.
While the project sounds simple in concept, in reality it would be quite an effort. The walls of our house are about eight inches thick and are made out of concrete block, which are filled with cement. And while it provides a sturdy structure, it's not like working with drywall. This requires some muscle to break through.
After marking the circumference of the vent pipe on the wall, David drilled holes -- inside and out -- around the perimeter. Then, using a hammer, chisel, and a few cuss words or two, he pounded out the eight-inch thick circle.
In order for the range hood to have an electrical source, a new outlet needed to be put in, close to the vent opening. At first, David thought he would have to chisel out a channel from the outlet for the stove (the outlet you see at the bottom). That would not have been a great way to spend the day.
Instead, he was able to access the electrical wires by tapping out the cement on a horizontal line from the vent pipe opening. From there, he could splice the lines, and chip out the space for the new outlet box.
Groovy, huh?
Here's what the vent looks like from the outside of the kitchen wall:
So at this point, everything seems pretty copacetic, huh? Well, not so much. We had a call from our cabinet contractor on Friday, and it seems there are a few not-so-little issues that need to be resolved, not the least of which is that the counters they made are too long...like by four inches (!).
I'll post all the details of what went down and where we are in getting the situation resolved. Stay tuned as the drama unfolds. In the meantime, we are taking deep, cleansing breaths and trying to be as Zen-like as possible.
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