Day 27

We chose to go with most impractical backsplash on the market. It's a lovely stone weave design with a dark center cut.

As everyone woman on the face of the planet knows, this particular design will be absolutely impossible to clean. Despite sealing once a year, grime and grease will get into every nook and cranny that are sitting up exposed to the air. I am so thankful I won't be cleaning it. This tile is a beautiful nightmare.

And because it's a 3 dimensional stone weave, it will never sit flat, level or flush. There will be some countertop edges that will be slightly exposed. The good news is that I get to find new stone electric plate covers to go over the switches and outlets because the current contractor plastic covers will never sit flat.

The installer has decided it would be easier to lay the backsplash over the existing ceramic tile. I am naturally concerned about the new adhesive not holding it's integrity and our new stone weave sliding right off the wall. However, the installer assures me that this is better because there is less risk of tearing up the drywall behind if they removed the existing tile. They also did a half ass job of smoothing the floor tile transition piece. Not pleased.

The plumber did fumble his way to getting the faucet and dishwasher hooked up. At an extra charge of almost $300.00. Amazing how that works in his favor. He is still having trouble hooking up the extra hot water faucet. It leaks. I am sure this will cost us extra as well. This plumber is an incompetent boob and we are having to pay for it.

The good news is, we have an H.R. Geiger inspired faucet. It's a chrome alien of art rising up from the depths of hell. 

Stuck on food and small children with run screaming with fear as it's nozzle approaches.

Day 26

The nervous breakdown is beginning to manifest. I am so frustrated. Here it is at Day 26 and the crew is rushing around trying to get things done.

Because of all of the off days and the half days that were worked and the items that came in late or wrong, we are running behind schedule. There is absolutely no way this renovation will be done before Thanksgiving.

Lesson Learned: Post a Project Board as a GIANT calendar to make sure everyone can see where they have screwed up.

And screw up they have.


From uneven cabinet doors and drawers to ledges I could sky dive from on the floors and the granite seam. I am NOT pleased with the quality of the craftsmanship I am seeing so far.





And the plumber returned today to hook up the sink. Which, of course he couldn't do because the sink people sent the wrong drain pipe and the faucet people sent something that wouldn't screw right. This plumber has more problems than a mouse in a cat house. And, unfortunately, we keep getting charged extra for it. It may not be his fault, but I am going to blame him anyway. Just because I suspect foul play.

The backsplash hasn't even been started, the cabinets are still unfinished, the chandalier is in Italy, the dishwasher is still in the garage, there are numerous little things that need to be attended to. Would I recommend this contractor again? Not at this point. But, I am reserving judgement until completion of the project.

Day 25

Has it been 5 weeks? Has it been 5 years? I've really started to lose count.

 Eddie and his assistant today were back to finish painting the dining room and kitchen.
They did a great job considering what they had to work with. Our walls and ceilings are all textured. Which is great for hiding imperfections in older homes, but almost impossible to match when filling holes. You can't get a straight line with the cut in. And, it uses more paint and takes more time. It's easy to miss a spot here or there with textured walls. But Eddie pulled through like a champ.

And he finished before the due date. We weren't expecting the painting to be complete until next week.

The granite guys came out today to finish up as well. They cut the hole for the cooktop and laid the last of the countertops by the sink. I have to say, I am a little disappointed.

Not in the countertop. It is the most amazing piece of stone I have ever seen.

One of the installers couldn't seem to tear himself away from the phone. He got everything installed fine. (other than forgetting his caulk). But, he couldn't seem to pull himself away from his phone for very long. They all sounded like business calls, not personal calls. But, it didn't look very professional.

I also think the cut on the sink countertop was poorly placed. They all say it was the best they could do. But, to be honest, I think it was the best they would do.








That said, I did enjoy working with Frick and Frack. They aren't brothers, even though they look and act like it. They tease each other, make "yo momma" jokes, sing "Akuna Matada" and over all are very speedy workers. And one of them is nice enough to come back tomorrow on a Saturday morning to grind down the seam we don't like. Yes, we are that couple. We absolutely will want to see contractors at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning to get the job done.

Speaking of getting the job done. It's been 5 weeks. The only thing that is complete is the painting. There are tons of little things to do on the cabinets, the backsplash needs to be installed, the faucets and appliances hooked up, shelves to go up in the bar, lights to be completed, quarter round to be repaired and filled, caulking, cleaning.......
There have been several off days where other work could have been scheduled. There could have been simultaneous work going on.
Someone needs a lesson in time management. Or maybe I am just grumpy from NOT HAVING A KITCHEN FOR FIVE WEEKS!!!!

Day 24

Eddie from Eddie's Dry Wall is back to paint the kitchen and repair the holes left by the electrician.

His attention to detail and pride in his work has been unparalleled compared to some of the other contractors we have had during the construction.
I could use an entire crew of Eddies.






The granite guys were supposed to cut the granite today for the cook top, but Eddie kicked them out because they caused a lot of dust.

It's toward the end of the project and we are learning some valuable lessons about contractors. One, no matter what you think you told the contractor, he heard something else. Two, the budget is flexible. Three, construction will never ever be completed on time. One delay puts everything else behind schedule. And to use the off days to make up for it or working late just isn't going to happen.
Four, make one person in the family the point person. And only one person. The contractor trying to work for two different people with different visions and timelines only serves to confuse and delay.

Day 23

Matt is home from Albany this week and can't help but get his hands into the renovation. One of the lights is flickering, so Matt is "fixing" it.

The new oven arrived today. Setzer's will be installing it in place of my "Boy in a Box" heating system. The installers have a great sense of humor. And they tolerated us hovering around them making "suggestions" very well. If you don't keep laughing through the process, you absolutely will go insane.

I would like to present to you our new wall oven.

The Viking Professional

Kneel before the Norse God of Appliances. This 30" stainless steel electric french door double oven comes with vari-speed dual flow convection cooking, concealed baking element, gourmet-glo infrared broiler, full extension rack, and coollit LED lights. It will cook your dinner and bring you salvation at 550 degrees in under an hour.

My kitchen has become Valhalla! I worship at its coils.

Day 22

I am in love!!!

Our quartzite countertops have arrived. They are a showstopper. It's almost a sin to put anything on them.

They are all natural, straight out of the mountain rock solid sexy on a stick. The veining varies between sublime and bold with combinations of rust, grey, gold, and white. There are no seams on the island or the breakfast bar. They only need to be sealed once every 15 years. I chose a half bull nose edge. A half bull nose will prevent spills from running around the edge to drip into the cabinets, but it still has a smoother edge and rounded corners.

I'm going to go roll around naked on top of our island now.....

Day 21

No one showed up today. It's national "I refuse to finish the job day".

I unfortunately didn't get the memo. 

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho, 

It's off to work I go.

Day 20

And the work continues on cabinets and electrical........

We have new under and over cabinet lighting. The under cabinet is touch activated. Everything is LED now. Fancy schmancy.

We didn't realize that when we got the new island, that the drawers and cabinets would be configured differently from the old one. As a result, we don't have the appropriate knobs and pulls for the island.

Steve just so happened to have his trusty sample kit in the truck for us to choose all new hardware.

To save a little money we plan on replacing the hardware on the island instead of all the cabinets.

Lesson Learned: Budget for unexpected miscalculations. They will happen. Also, budget for weekend trips out of town to get away from the chaos. You will need it. And that is exactly what I am doing this weekend. I'm outta here.

Day 19

Let's talk about paint.
Back in the old days, before the whole open-concept trend massacred dividing walls, color was a lot easier to pick. Room colors didn't have to match. Each room could be a different color, a different temperature, a different theme.
However, now when we are dealing with rooms that flow together with very little division, your color scheme should match, or at least be in the same family. Trouble is, like with most families, not all of them get along very well.

So when it came time to picking out colors for our kitchen-dining room, I began to freak out a little.

I knew I wanted different colors to  separate the space. The kitchen needed to be a pale color to lighten it up. But, I could go a bit darker in the dining room.

My original thought was a pale grey kitchen and a darker grey dining room. Naturally, 50 Shades of Grey came to mind. I decided it was a bit too sexy for our 100 year old colonial. Then monotone combinations of gold, yellow, or amber crossed my mind.

A traditional red dining and yellow kitchen was almost the winner. Until I watched a re-run of American Horror Story Freak Show. And I couldn't get Creepy Clown Face out of my mind. Picking a bad combination of red and yellow could drive a person homicidal.



 


Finally, I surrendered and called in an expert.

I hired a color consultant from a large corporate not-allowed-to-be named paint manufacturer with the initials of SW. She came out to the house and took pity on me. She gave me alternative options and helped me narrow down colors that match each other and will compliment our current finishings. She really helped me focus on what I like, what works together, and what will work in the space. Worth every penny!!!



Together we narrowed it down to 3 options. This weekend we are picking up samples and putting them on the wall before the painter arrives.

Meanwhile the construction continues in the kitchen.

But, we are making progress. Most of the cabinet doors are on.









The crown moulding is being repaired.

This guy arrives early every morning with a smile on his face.

And the microwave was installed. Finally, I can have popcorn!!

Day 18 or 19 or 101...It's all getting so fuzzy.

A plumber walks up to carpenter working on a minibar. He says to the carpenter, "Man, I didn't know it had to be so perfect."
That's it. No joke. Really happened in my dining room. I could only hang my head and sigh. Now I'm afraid to sit on my toilet.

Lesson Learned: you know it's time for an update when your carpenter tells you mirrored mini bars "are sooooo eighties".

And the work continues. The electrician arrived today. He's very personable and I am hoping very competent. He did figure out how to use the old cabinet fronts for scaffolding so he could move the ceiling light over the cooktop.

 

I am sufficiently impressed.


Other electrical work will include moving the disposal switch to an air button on the sink, moving two switches from the  4 switch plate in the dining room two inches to the right so they are in the kitchen, hanging pendants over the sink, adding an outlet to the island, and overall goodnatured chattiness.

The best part of all is that he puts up with my renovation insanity.
While chatting it up about pendant location options, I tossed our favorite rubber snake at him as he was looking away. He jumped and squealed like a little girl. But, he did not run screaming for his life from the job site. He Passes!







And I have to say, Steve and his assistant are doing an outstanding job on the cabinets. The veneer is a poly-fill-mumbo-jumbo-synth-stuff Cherry. It is very low maintenance. It's not supposed to scratch, fade, or chip. Evidently, it's immortal.

Day 17

Give a man an inch and he will take 12 square feet.

We don't just have an new island, we have an entire continent. I thought we had decided to go with Design A of getting a new island but keeping the same footprint. It turns out that Matt had decided we should go with Design B of getting a new island with 1 extra square foot per side per cabinet. Plus the countertop overhang is now going to be larger.

The contractor sent Matt specs. But really, specs are just numbers on a piece of paper. This extra space has caused a little snafu in the total design. The space is pretty tight between the dishwasher and the new cabinet, only 36 inches of clearance. We will probably have to load from the side of the dishwasher instead of the front, hopefully we can open the dishwasher door without banging the cabinet or countertop. We will have to get rid of our 3 year old mobile butcher block island. And everything will be a little tighter than we anticipated. It's a good thing our new wall oven has french doors instead of pull down.
Because it's such a tight fit, the island really can't be moved in any direction. This puts the new light that Matt just installed off center. So, the contractor is having to move the light over 6 inches to get it as centered as possible over the cooktop. And that means calling out the electrician and the calling back the ceiling guys to repair and retexture the old hole. With the new island in place. That's going to be interesting to see.

Lesson Learned: Make sure the contractor provides a paper template of the new footprint! This whole debacle could have been avoided if the boys had been aware of how big the new island was really going to be when in place and what other changes would need to be made in advance.

The good news is that they have started putting on the new facade and I love it!!














Our toilet is back in place. Which I am sure makes the neighbors very happy. And he was kind enough to repair the broken flange that wasn't broken before the toilet was removed from the bathroom. Don't ask me, I just live here.

And he installed new shut off valves for the kitchen sink.

This will hopefully help him out in the unlikely event we ever have to call him back out to repair the sink. That way he wont have to shut off water to the entire house, just to the sink. At an extra cost of only $12.50 per valve. What a deal he is giving us. (insert sarcastic laugh here). I knew I was in trouble when he started calling me "Sweetheart".



Unfortunately, the plumber couldn't figure out how to bolt the bathroom sink back to the wall. Something about needing new anchors. So we are still waiting on that. He had an emergency Ale House call and had to leave before the job was completed. I'm sure the Ale House was a dire emergency and had nothing to do with Happy Hour.

Day 14 and 15 were by-days. No work, No play, No food.

Matt and I spent the weekend pointing out places where the trim guy installed the quarter-round wrong. the angles were off, there were gaps between pieces and the wall, the nail holes were not filled, some of them aren't flush and one end piece cut about an inch too long.

It just takes one sloppy worker to ruin the whole effect.

Matt installed the island light over the weekend. It's a beautiful light. Unfortunately, we didn't realize the globes were made of resin instead of glass. So we are checking with the manufacturer to see if we can use them over the cooktop. Of course, it's just another excuse for me not to cook.




Day 16

The renovation is really beginning to pick up speed. Steve and his partner from Kitchen Solutions showed up today to start on the countertops and cabinets. We decided to reface our cabinets instead of replace them. We have good solid custom wood boxes and aren't changing the layout. This makes us a perfect candidate for refacing. We will save almost 50% on cabinets and will retain the high quality of cabinets that we already have.

The first step is to remove all the doors, countertops, and appliances from the existing space.

It's a dramatic change. There is nothing like seeing the heart of your home stripped bare to the bone.







Unfortunately the quartz countertops can't be salvaged. However, we intend on donating the old appliances to HabiJax to give to families in need. All except one.

The Demon Dishwasher

This abomination has been the source of a multitude of fights, nightmares, tears, swears and sweatstains. The bottom rack regularly falls off its track when you try to push back a heavy load of filthy dishes. It takes a full 90 minutes of shaking, smoking, and screetching for it to get one load half way clean. And for some reason, it refuses to clean butter knives at all. Wont even consider it. I don't know what it has against butter knives, but they all seem to come out worse than they went in. I think it's knifist.

 

Day 13

Final step of sealing the floors today. It only takes about 30-45 minutes to dry. We finally have a floor we can walk on! Now I can finally get to the fridge again. Left over Halloween candy,  I'm coming for you.

The installer told me that we need to seal the floors twice a year instead on once. And, we can clean with a mixture of vinegar and water (1 cup to 2 gallons). But, it will likely take some of the sealer off over time. He says the best product to use is Everyday Tile Cleaner from any big box home improvement store. Travertine is the most porous of tile. And it will chip and break easily. To be honest, had I known how difficult travertine was to install and maintain, I might not have chosen it. But it is so beautiful.