Part 9 Kitchen

Log 9 – Furnishing a House

Before you try to finish and furnish a house, you need a great workshop, and a people who know how to do the job.
So here’s a look at the workshop Ed created:

First thing needed is a whole lot of shelf space to hold all the stuff we’re going to need to do this job.

A ton of tools of all kinds. We were starting out with some really bare minimum hand tools and a few power tools we could have from the boat, but we had to start buying, ordering on line and scraping up supplies from what we could get around here. So, we needed everything.

Ed built a hell of a table saw, to go through some of the ‘big stuff’ that needed to be cut. The Spanish guys working on the property named it El Tigre. When Ed started it up they would run away.
We also needed to store and dry out all the lumber that was coming in. So Ed built a huge wood rack out over the mangroves and under the upper deck to keep it dry.
Some rolling tool racks for storage and convenience, and inside storage for little stuff. This is a real workshop!
And here are some random shots of just what kind of activity was happening for a good 3 or 4 years!






Now that we have seen how useful the workshop was, the first most important room to get to became the kitchen. We already had a mattress on the floor, and a toilet downstairs.

These photos range from the start of the project in Sept 2016 through many transformations, to final finish a year and a half later. (During this time we were also working on other rooms and projects, but I think this is the least confusing way to describe the project….one room at a time)

We moved our meager possessions, and started out with some random tables to hold food and essentials. And a sink with running water! Stainless rusts terribly here, so Ed ordered a fiberglass sink and a high-grade stainless faucet from the US. At least now we could make our own food. Sort of.

A very important thing was to get basic appliances – fridge and stove. Shopping for that here on Roatan was really hopeless with a small selection and sky-high prices. I wanted a dishwasher – a small one, stainless front. The furniture stores here told us to go to La Ceiba on the mainland because they have a much bigger selection than the single large-size white-front one offered here.
We did make the trip by ferry and taxi, it is an all day affair, running all over La Ceiba. No dishwashers there either – they told us to try Roatan because there are so many gringos there Here on the mainland, dishwashers just don’t sell, because, well, that’s what women are for.
Finally settling on a fridge, stove, microwave and even a computer chair, we returned to Roatan and waited for the delivery. This had to be picked up at the port, and transported to Oakridge by truck, then by boat to the house. TieTie helped us unload and place the appliances.




So now we were not only able to wash dishes, we could store and cook stuff too!

We’re into November now, and a good time for the workshop downstairs, nicely out of the rain, to get busy making cabinetry. The first corner section was put together, and finished in a nice white paint job. Ed was ready to make traditional wood cabinets, but was outvoted, in favour of a nice bright look.

A side bank of cabinets was next. The countertops are just bare plywood so far, so we just put towels and stuff on top for now. It’s good to get ‘stuff’ put away out of sight.

This pantry was a large project, lasting into December and what a wonderful addition! So much storage!
And, on the other side Ed made a broom closet, and a place for the microwave and coffee section. A small deep freezer so we can hoard food in case of hurricanes or other calamities.

Here’s a look at the process in the shop on building the uppers……many many doors!

The tops of the cabinets kind of needed some crown molding, so Ed researched how to do it, and got the needed tools to do the job. The curved part was made using the table saw and a special blade/jig. It takes surprisingly lot of wood to make a section of crown molding!



And now for the last and final step – countertops to replace the plywood ones we have been using all this time. We’re into June 2017 now and this has been a long, long project!
Some beautiful Rosewood has been sitting in the drying rack for years now. It is one of the 10 hardest woods in the world. We ordered it in from the mainland, delivered by old-fashioned ‘craft’ -large motorized canoe, along with a couple of other nice Honduran hardwoods. which we had ordered. It was rough-cut in squared-off logs and so it would take a lot of milling and finishing to convert it to a good-looking product.




The pieces all had to be glued together sanded, sanded and sanded some more, and cut to size. Finally the day came we could start moving the planks to the kitchen!

A hole had to be carefully cut in the countertop for the sink. Don’t want to measure wrong!After the tops were in place, a bull-nose was made to fit the front edge of everything. And finally, several coats of shiny glossy varnish. What a beautiful job even if we do say so ourselves!