Kitchen Remodel: Day 8

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Today was another electrical work day.  Not a lot of exciting things to report on that front.  Wiring the appropriate circuits for the new clothes washer & dryer, putting the new switches into the walls, etc.

We need to decide on our counter backsplash, though, so Jen and I spent an hour at the tile shop, actually called "Tile Shop".  We hadn't really thought much about how the backsplash would look, so we were kind of starting from scratch.  Here's a few ideas that we liked.

Smaller tiles might look fancier but are multiples more expensive, and as Jen found out earlier, recycled "greener" options are double (or more) the expensive prices, so it's not so easy to go green.  We took some of these samples home and will consider it.  This place stocks most everything and seems to be where the larger contractors shop, so we feel comfortable putting off our decision for a little while.  We'll meet with the tile setter later this week to help us out with some practical issues, such as "What goes on top?"  These designs all have their own bullnose or rounded edge solutions that will have to be incorporated into the design.  Grout color, too, we'll have to pick out.

Kitchen Remodel: Days 5-6 - the first weekend

Saturday & Sunday, September 19 & 20, 2009

Well, we survived the first week intact.  Lots of destruction and noise and disruption, but really it wasn't so bad.  It was fun, in fact.  So far we're having a pretty good experience.  We really think we've chosen the right GC.  They've been quite personable and easy to work with, which, as we thought, would be pretty valuable when we are all in the same space all day long.

Now our place is a torn up mess, but thye've still kept it liveable.  I think the kids are liking the larger open space already!  We're even still eating on our dining room table, though that is going to stop now.

Countertop selection

We're going to replace our existing tile countertops, and also add a raised "bar" above the countertop along the dining room side of the new peninsula.  Our tile countertops looked great when they were new, but with the tiny tiles there is so much grout that it is impossible to keep clean in a busy kitchen.  Especially around the sink, it is now permanently moldy.  We've read that with tile counters, you should re-seal them regularly, and we think for us that probably means several times a year.  That's just not going to happen (and hasn't more than a couple times in 5.5 years) and it probably only prolongs the inevitable anyway.  The tile also has gotten chipped along the edges fairly often, so it's starting to look pretty beat up, too.  Ultimately, it's just not working for us, and as long as we'll have to get a new countertop for the new peninsula portion, we've opted to replace the whole thing rather than duplicate what we have (or have 1/3 of the counter different from the rest - ugh).