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: Day 7

Monday, September 21, 2009

Today was a later start: 9am.  Thomas called in sick.  Though he was worried he would give our kids his cold, we told him it was probably more likely that our kids gave it to him.  In any case, Seth appeared in his place this morning along with the first construction visit from the electricians, headed by Jim Hiatt of Hiatt Electric.  I though this might be a dull morning, but we needed to discuss a bunch of things before they could start to make sure we were all clear.  Ideally, of course, all this would have been perfect on the plans already, and some was, but some things we decided to change later.

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.