Cooking with Gas

The kitchen in our house is high on the priorities list of renovation projects. But the cost and duration of the project is also high, and so we’ve been lamenting for some time now.

But we got lucky earlier this year, and now we have a valid stay on our plans. Not that we intend to wait indefinitely…

One day last spring, Trissa and I were on a routine trip to 2nd Use, which is our favorite Seattle salvage yard. As is typical, I immediately headed to the back where they keep most of the good stuff. But before I was out of sight, Trissa yells “Hey look at this”, and she’s pointing at a shiny 36” Viking range near the entrance.

I came back and looked. “Whoa!”

And, the price was less than half of a new one. We stared at it awhile, and just as I was about to go in search of more great finds, I looked up and noticed something else.

“Hey! Look over there!” I exclaimed.

And, across the isle, was a shiny 48” Sub Zero. No kidding. For the same price as the range!

Now the question was “how do we get this stuff home?” And we were also curious how this stuff came to be at the salvage yard. The staff was only too happy to tell us that it had come out of a house that was for sale, in Kirkland. The owner hadn’t been getting quite the offers he’d wanted, and so had decided to “upgrade” his appliances. Well, if he can do better than these top of the line Viking and Sub-Zero appliances, then in my mind he’s welcome to try.

I do own a van, and that’s how we decided to get this stuff home. The real problem is that our house is up three flights of stairs, from the street. No big deal, except that these appliances aren’t lightweights. Suffice it to say that Trissa just about had a heart attack when it looked like me and my 3 friends wouldn’t survive the last five steps with the Sub Zero. We did, barely, and I never would do this again without paying someone else to do the lifting. Enough said.

I couldn’t wait to get all this hooked up and running, so out went the old stove, the old fridge, and a cabinet we used only for cookbooks. The old stove was electric, and the new one gas, so this posed a dilemma. After a weekend’s worth of research, I determined that I was confident enough and capable of running a new gas line a short distance to the new stove. It wasn’t hard, but I don’t recommend it to anyone who’s not 100% certain they know what they’re doing. I’ll write up the story of how my sister’s house was almost condemned last year when the house across the street BLEW UP from a natural gas explosion.

And now, we’re Cooking with Gas. And our fridge has seemingly endless amounts of room inside. We couldn’t be happier. At least, until we do the rest of the kitchen remodel.