First things first; the old stuff has to come off. The old appliances are taken from their niches, with those that are being replaced disposed of according to proper guidelines. Then the cabinets and mouldings are removed, and so on down the line. The sheet of wood that can be seen in this photo is exterior grade plywood, which will be used as the sub-floor for our new tile. This is extremely important in terms of assuring a long-lasting, quality installation; plywood is far, far superior to flaky particle board.

After the appliances and the woodwork have been removed, the old wallpaper can go, as well. We've also taken down the old doors. And taken out that in-wall cupboard. As before, all old materials are disposed of according to proper guidelines and regulations. Walls are inspected for any existing problems, and if any are discovered, they are repaired right away.

Here you can see that we've begun to remove the old flooring. As mentioned above, before any new tile is put down, we'll also be putting in a new sub-floor. While we are here in the sink area, we'll also have a look at the plumbing, which, as it turns out, is in some need of attention.

This is what the plumbing under the sink looked like after close inspection. To say that these pipes were severely blocked up is quite an understatement. To make things a bit clearer to see, we've enhanced two small spots on this photo with bright yellow; these are the only open areas through which water could pass in these pipes. Everything else you see is blockage. The plumbing was cleaned up and all joints were replaced.

Here you see the new sub-floor after being put in; again, high quality exterior grade plywood to assure a quality installation. At this point, we're just about ready to start making this look like a real kitchen again...