5 Star. 6 Burners.

Remember that Shiny New-to-Us Dacor Range we bought a few months ago?

So do we. And it's a good thing we took a picture, as we no longer own it.

As you might recall, I found the range advertised on Craigslist, for a price my Inner Cheapo couldn't resist. It was offered by a Genuine Appliance Vendor, with a Genuine Appliance 1-year Warranty, so, thought I, "What's the worst that can happen?"

And at first, the Shiny New-to-Us Dacor Range seemed ok, except that the oven temperature was a bit "temperamental". Put in 375F, for example, and it heated up to 360F and dinged as though done. But still, I baked salmon, roasted veggies, and made my favorite Baby Back Ribs recipe.

But the next attempt at oven use released a strong gas odor into the house.

The Dacor was supposed to be a duel fuel range. But the broiler is gas, and apparently it kicks in when the oven is preheating.

Enter the Appliance Service Call. He came, he saw, he smelled, he called the Dacor Service center hotline and ordered a part.

One oven-free week later, the part arrived, Mr Appliance Repairman returned and installed it, the Temperamtental Temperature readings were resolved, and cooking resumed.

At least, it resumed for two more oven-related dinners.

On the third, the gas smell returned. Repeat Service Call. He came, he saw, he smelled, he replaced some fittings and declared everything OK.

Only it wasn't. And as it was a gas smell, I thought to call my friends at Puget Sound Energy to see if this was cause for concern. PSE's Service Tech came, he saw, he smelled. He hooked up a carbon monoxide meter. And then he declared my Shiny New-to-Us Dacor Range 'Dangerous' due to the > 500 PPM carbon monixide being emitted, and capped my gas line.

So....the worst that could happen? Apparently we could die.

But didn't.

And City Discount Appliance offered to replace the range, rather than trying to fix it for the rest of Eternity.

And now we have this.

Five Star. 6 Burners. Seriously Cool.

The Stove That is Spawning Scope Creep

I’m sure you realize that purchasing a sofa off of Craigslist hardly equates to a “binge”. You may have thought I indulged in a little Title inflation in last weekend’s entry about the new-to-me couch.

The truth is, there was another purchase. A large, expensive, Ballardia-changing purchase. I just didn’t want to mention it before it actually showed up on my doorstep.

I bought a new-to-me range. Yes, from Craigslist.

Let’s talk about the old range. I feel a little wasteful, getting rid of a perfectly good sort of still working range. In theory, I rather liked it, or at least I didn't hate it. The old stove was vintage 1970 Kenmore, 40” wide, with a regular oven and a small side oven, and plenty of “warming” space on top.

In practice? It had both Functional and Aesthetic issues. On the Functional side, only 3 of the 4 burners actually worked. The oven was so poorly sealed that when I used it, I had to turn the fan on to suck up the steam rising from the burners when the burners weren’t even on (on the plus side, I could generally use the 4th burner if the oven was on). That “warming” space? I’m sure it was oodles of wasted energy. The oven had different climate zones in its interior – no doubt contributing to my Gluten-free vegan baking problems. The timer didn’t work. I was scared to even try the self-cleaning feature. And at 40”, it was too large for the 36” hood above it, which can’t be changed without Cabinet Surgery.

On the Aesthetic side, well, see for yourself.


But once again, Opportunity struck and just wouldn’t be ignored. Opportunity in this case was a 2006 Dacor duel-fuel range, “gently” used, with a rather dented left panel. The gas range can take advantage of the line I drew to the stove location last year. The electric oven will prevent me from turning on the gas and sticking my head in it during periods of excessive remodeling trauma.

Yes, I Know it's a $5000 range! For which, thanks to the miracle that is Craigslist, I paid $1500. Now THAT's a binge!

A big shout-out to Ballard Natural Gas, for being responsive, careful, ethical – they came to hook up the stove same day, and when they discovered that the stove – not the new gas line- was leaking in a way they weren’t comfortable fixing, they didn’t charge me for the visit. Amazing. Ballard Natural Gas Rocks! And City Discount Appliance, the vendor who posted said stove on Craigslist, was out the next day and fixed the gas line. So now it doesn't just LOOK good, it actually works, too!

And now for the problem. I'd planned on replacing the one mismatched cabinet to the right of the stove when I got a right-sized model to replace the 40" Kenmore. I figured I could just stake out Second Use or Re-Store and find something that would work. But....I also should really get a 6" cabinet to go to the left of the range and hide that dented left panel. And there's no way I'll find a 6" cabinet from the 1960s. Which means that maybe, for the sake of consistency, I should buy two New cabinets to flank the range. And if I'm doing that, well, why not an over-the fridge cabinet? And then why not replace the cabinets over the range so everything will look consistent?

And Dorothy's vintage Nutone hood complete with June Cleaver manual? Much as I like it, it looks rather wrong above the stove.

And then there's the floor.....If I'm going to fix some cabinets, I really should replace the linoleum....

What have I done???!!!

Kitchen - the finishing touches

When I got out my Sherwin Williams Color sampler and held it up to my kitchen,it was obvious that a few gold colors made Dorothy's cabinets look great. All other colors made the cabinets look every one of their 40+ years.

Perhaps there is a lesson for my wardrobe in there somewhere.

A few weeks ago, I purchased a couple of Sherwin Williams sample paint cans in the most promising shades. I put some of the paint on the wall, lived with it for a week to make sure I liked it, solicited input from others, and this weekend, I took the Plunge.

In stage 1: crack repair, I made a startling discovery. My chosen paint color 'harvester' almost exactly matches one of the prior paint incarnations in my kitchen.

I could have just SKIPPED all of the decision-making stages.

After completing the paint job, we were Motivated. I finished grouting the kitchen backsplash, left incomplete for the past 13 months. Martin replaced the electrical outlets with bright white shiny new ones.

And I had a small epiphany.

When we moved it, we basically lived on one, somewhat tolerable floor. There was no obvious place for the kitty litter, so it wound up in a rather inappropriate place - the kitchen. Ewwwww, I hear you say.

Yes. Imagine how fun it is to host a small party and have the cat decide it's potty time in front of your guests. Very special.

But with the completion of the basement insulation and weatherstripping, we could now just leave the basement door open! And this means a whole new floor of potential Kitty Litter locations!

I chose an appropriate place under the stairs, dealt with Hissy Cat, and reclaimed my kitchen.

But this left an unoccupied region under the counter at the end of the sink, former Kitty Bathroom. This was once the location of the fridge, until I decided that 30" didn't meet our fridge needs, so I bought the 36" side-by-side model complete with water filter and ice maker, which didn't fit in the 30" fridge spot, so we jammed the new fridge in front of the back door leading to Rotting Back Steps (Safety Feature!), and in the process of last year's kitchen facelift, we extended the counter to the end of the wall to get a desk spot.

Or, at least, it would be a desk spot if it just had a chair. Specifically, a 24" barstool.

Fortunately, with one short trip to the Ballard Fred Meyer, an assemble-it-yourself barstool is had for $35. 15 minutes with Elmer's Glue and a screwdriver, and I've got an upstairs office location!

My original plan was to replace this large window with a similarly sized set of French Doors leading to an Enormous Party Deck, then wall in the existing back door/rotted back steps combo.

Sadly, the Side Sewer Adventure rather ruined the budget for any such extravagant plans. I have resigned myself to 'Plan B' - get rid of the Trusty Wood Stove, push the fridge over to the current Wood Stove Location, and rebuild Rotted Back Steps.

The full picture:

The 'before' shot can be found here.