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 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 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 9:

Making a mountain out of a mole hill.

The crew came back today to install the concrete board on the floor.

According to the installer, there is a mountain under our house. The floors aren't level. Three different contractors have told me the same thing. However, each of them pointed to different places where the floor rises. Evidently there is a mountain range under our Florida home. Funny thing, I never noticed any dips or raises on the kitchen floor. 

I asked the installer if the boards would make the floors level for the travertine. Travertine is a soft stone and can crack and chip easily. He said there is no way to make that floor level. And he left it there and walked away. After my initial freak out of "OMG, why are we installing travertine on a lumpy floor", he explained to me that the boards will make it flat. Which will be fine for travertine. So evidently there is a difference between flat and level in contractor language.
I asked him if the travertine needed to be sealed. He said, yes, travertine needs to be sealed initially and redone once a year forever. But, he didn't factor sealing the travertine into the estimate. WTF!!!!

Tips for Travertine: Don't drop anything heavy on it, no stilletto heels, and don't install near an airport.

These floors will be the death of me.

Day 7

I got home late from Ft. Meyers last night. The only thing I noticed before going straight to bed was a fine layer of dust on everything. The plastic is not doing it's job.

 And I got up this morning to find something missing from the bathroom.

Good thing we have a privacy fence. 

                                            

They arrived early today to work on the floors again. Chiseling, hammering, scraping, repeat. Over and over and over. All day long.
The island is gone. And so is my patience.



Lesson learned: Make sure you get a final estimate on installation BEFORE they break up your existing floor.

Day 6:

Hell Day has arrived. Deconstruction has begun. They started tearing out the tile on the floor at 8:00 am this morning. It sounds like a dentist working at 140 decibels. Drilling and hammering and drilling and hammering. Interrupted by the occasional burping and farting. Yes, burping and farting. Evidently all that chiseling loosens up body gas.

Lesson learned: tell the contractors not to eat Mexican food before chiseling out your floors. Stinky!

I'm leaving town!

Day 4:

               



Kill it. Kill it before it grows!












1982 called and they want their wallpaper back. Luckily, Pat Sullivan from Wallpaper Plus has come to my rescue. The atrocity that has plagued me with nightmares since moving in is being removed today. He says it will take a day and a half to property exorcise my kitchen of this evil print wallpaper.

 I suspect this paper will not go quietly into the night. Pat said one of the best ways to remove is stubborn wallpaper is to spray it either Downey fabric softener or vinegar. If you have paper like mine, a combination of holy water and Napalm is the better option.

Day 2:

The kitchen ceiling tile is down and Eddie from Eddies Drywall Enterprise is hard at work scraping the remains. Eddie is from Albania. I was concerned about the paint drying patchy on the dining room ceiling. Eddie says, "Don't worry".  I was concerned about the drywall mud and dust getting on my patio brick. Eddie says, "Don't worry".  I was concerned about global sea elevation rising. Eddie says, "Don't worry".  Eddie is my new zen friend.

In The Beginning

Three and a half years ago, I bought a 60s ranch style home in Beaumont Tx for $102,000 sight unseen. Mistake number 1.

I needed a house fast and trusted a realtor that came highly recommended to me to ensure the home was in good working order, all the repairs and concessions were complete. She assured me there was no need for an inspection as she knew the sellers most of her life and inspections were not required for a mortgage in Texas. So I trusted her. Mistake number 2.

She assured me this was a great deal. She said the house appraised at $105,000. I'm thinking, "yippee! I already have 3000 in equity". Mistake number 3.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike came through and ripped up my sunroom. Eek. Every penny I had in savings and what little the insurance gave me went to cover a sunroom renovation. New ceiling, roof, skirt, floor stain, doors, ceiling fan, light fixture, 3 windows. To a wonderful total of $7000. So in my head, that means with renovations and equity, house is worth $112,000. at least, right? sooo wrong!

 In 2009, Matt moved in with me. He is always in need of a project and does all the cooking. So I gave him permission to renovate the kitchen. We got a new stove, microwave/hood combination, dishwasher, disposal, countertops, sink, faucet, backsplash, lights, switches. We painted the cabinets, walls, doors, and trim work. The only thing we left untouched were the tile floors and the fridge.

The granite countertops we got from Lowes. grrr. The final product looked nothing like the sample they showed us. When we bought the granite, they suggested we drive all the way to Houston to the manufacturer on a workday to make sure it was the slab we wanted. I figured why bother, if the sample is a true sample.

Well, it wasn't. Even after the manufacturer sent us photos of another sample of the slab, which looked completely different from the sample at lowes. It still looked ok. When the slab arrived, it looked nothing like either sample we saw and was awful. To say the least we were really pissed. We based our entire kitchen design around the colors in the granite, which was the last to arrive. lowes offered some discounts on future purchases to make up for our displeasure, but wouldn't give us new granite. So our kitchen was doomed to be mismatched. Lesson #1-Don't trust granite samples, go to the manufacturer and choose the slab you want. Luckily, overall, it came out ok. I'm still not a fan of the granite, but I've learned to live with it.

Overall, I think we spent close to $6000 on the kitchen renovation. Which isn't bad. It's a good thing Matt did most of the work himself. That saved us a fortune in labor cost.

With the updated kitchen, I figured the house was now worth about $118,000. With the cost of renovations, the earlier appraisal, and the time invested in the home it seemed like a fair estimate. So, you can imagine my surprise when a realtor said he would list the home for 99,000 two weeks ago! How is that possible? It appraised for 105,000 three years ago, we did renovations, landscaping in the back yard, the school district changed to a better school. Have the home values in this area dropped that much? I can't even afford to leave it for that amount!

I'm trapped in my own home. arrgggggg.

After crunching some numbers, figuring what we have invested so far, closing cost, earlier appraisals, concessions, and mortgage payoff, 10,000 down payment for new home, I figured I would have to sell for 138,000 to walk away. We are a really long way from that. A really really long way. So the renovations continue....