Installing Ikea Countertops: Demo & Prep Work

I'm so excited to begin to share with you the fun things we have been up to in our kitchen!  As I began to write this post I was prepared to write a full installation of the ikea countertops we purchased but- as I began editing things and thinking through this I realized that would have been the longest post ever.  So I have decided to break down this whole process into several posts.  Today is all about the demo and prep work we needed to do to even begin to think about the installation.  Its not a glamorous post with beautiful before and afters but this is a big part of the diy process and something we spent an entire day doing so I hate to just skim over it.  

Before we get into the nitty gritty I feel like I should say this - 

1. We are by no means experts or professional kitchen remodelers.  This was a total diy project and we learned as we went.  But I'm hoping that through our process you can get inspiration and encouragement to tackle your own projects!

2.  Each house is really different (obviously) so what worked for us may not work for you.  We have a tiny kitchen with not a lot of special corners or pieces so this was fairly straight forward.  We do know that old houses can be a pain the the rear when it comes to getting things straight, level, etc so we feel your pain.

3.  Personally, I was not the brains behind this project - my wonderful husband was.  I was there each step of the way but mostly to lift things, hold things in place, double check measurements, say yes or no to what I wanted (be bossy) etc.  So as I'm typing this I will mostly likely leave something out or not know how to exactly explain each step.  I will do my best in hopes that it helps you visualize what all may be needed for a diy kitchen project. 

Ok, so now you know where I'm coming from so lets get to this thing.

First thing: ripping stuff out - this is when things get real.  This was actually a really exciting thing for us to do because after months of waiting we finally had some time to get started.  Back up just a bit - we are prepping to install the ikea karlby butcher black countertops in walnut finish and the domsjo farmhouse sink.  Here are the steps we took to get things out and prepped and ready:

1.  Remove all your mess from the cabinets - it will be everywhere and you won't have a clue where everything is but then you get to purge and organize everything when it goes back in!

2. Disconnect the plumbing (I'm not even going to pretend I know how to do this)

3. Remove the countertop - Our countertop was held in by a few screws/bolts underneath.  It was actually really simple to locate them, unscrew and lift off.

4. Check how level your cabinets are - (this is not really pictured) But we needed to see how level the base cabinets were before we started putting stuff back on.  Ours was surprisingly level except for the very end cabinet - we were able to just use a wood shim under the countertop to get things level on that end.

5. Remove the faux cabinet pieces (they pretty much just popped out)

After all of that was done we were left with a really crazy hodge lodge gross wall behind where the old countertop had been.  Out next step is to install a tile backsplash but we were not going to get there during this portion of the project and I really didn't want this nasty wall in the meantime.  So we set out to remove wallpaper, smooth out the wall and paint everything white.

Yay! Everything was all bright and clean and way more livable for the time being.

The final step in this whole process was the cut out the portion of the cabinet where the sink was going to fit.  We had already measured and knew this was going to be a good fit for the sink.  We just simple cut out the portion where the faux drawers used to be.  And with that we were ready to start the install process!  Tomorrow I will start sharing more of the fun part when you actually get to see our new countertops looking all pretty and fancy.  Can't wait!