Chapter 9: Kitchen Renovation

There is a war going on at this happy house and it’s between This Happy House vs. the garbage men. Let’s just say we never did get started on the right foot with our Wednesday garbage crew when we moved in. I feel like they disliked us from the start because the previous owners left mounds – and we mean MOUNDS – of trash on the curb for them to collect. We’re talking TV stands, furniture, etc.

So you may be wondering how the previous owner’s trash is our fault? Well, it really isn't. But we had already been living in our house for 2 weeks and the trash guys still hadn’t picked up any of the previous owners waste. We were definitely the neighborhood eye sore…and that’s a label you don't want when you’re a newbie to the street. We called countless times to check the status of the collection as did the previous owners. There was some dispute over whether or not they had to pay to have it removed.

In the end, the garbage men handled all the curbside trash. But let’s just say they were less than thrilled the following three weeks when we left our mounds of bundled carpet for them to remove. I think that’s when we officially became blacklisted.

Anything out of the ordinary that we wanted hauled away the trash guys would simply not collect from us. When we heard they still picked-up countless of random items from our neighbors we became suspicious – and slightly honked off!

Needless to say, after our kitchen demolition, we realized we needed to find another alternative to get rid of all the trash we now had lingering throughout the sun room, back yard, garage and basement…and yes, don't think we didn't realize what a trashy couple we had become.

For cabinet removal we decided to post on Craig’s List. Anyone wanting these 1965 gems could have ‘em for FREE! I believe it only took 5 minutes after the post went live before Keith’s phone started ringing off the hook. First caller wasn’t sure if she wanted them and couldn’t pick up the cabinets until the next day. We found a winner with the second caller who said, “Don’t sell them, I’ll be there today.” We were pretty darn pumped! Although we did feel bad having to gently let down the 30 additional callers we received that day.

So our buyer and his father pulled up in their beat-up truck later that afternoon. (I think the father was there only to supervise the situation and take a smoke break)

Keith and Andy both helped the buyer load the cabinets into the back of the truck seeing how his elderly father wasn’t really able to provide any assistance.

And miraculously, they fit all of our kitchen cabinets on the back of the truck and drove off into the sunset. We a good chuckle about the situation, but felt good knowing the cabinets were going to be re-used in a basement apartment the buyer was creating for his nephew.

As for the remaining “crap” we had lying around the house (tile, bulkhead, debris, etc.) we found a solution with Waste Management’s Bagster. As advertised, Bagster is essentially a dumpster in a bag. You can purchase the bag for $30 at Home Depot.

Then you simply dump all the trash that a normal collector wouldn’t accept and schedule a time for the Waste Management truck to come by and pick-up. It’s $100 for the pick-up, but the second bag is discounted at only $80. Genius!

Up next, installing the hardwood floor. Stay tuned!