Kitchen: Day 12

The base cabinets were set, and the granite people come Saturday. The plumbing problem set me back two days, which is not as bad as I expected.

Looks like I cannot put a door on the small cabinet next to the stove for various reasons, which is fine. I had to come home early yesterday because I forgot to unlock the gate and my kitchen guy couldn't leave through the front door since he didn't have a key to lock up behind him. I was beyond annoyed about it . . . so was he. So, when I saw the little cabinet I said my inside conversation outside:

Me: Um...what am I suppose to do with that? I can't put wine in there since it's right next to the stove.

Kitchen guy: Put mail in there?

Me: No.

Kitchen guy: Some people put little figurines in there?

Me: Do I look like the type of person who collects figurines and displays them in tiny cabinets?

Kitchen guy: No. No you don't.

Me: I'll figure it out.


So, yeah, a little testy. I also hope he didn't go home and dust his shelf of tiny figurines cursing my name.

Kitchen: Day 11 . . .more plumbing work

There were two problems with the water main valve: It would not turn properly, and we could not locate the street site to shut it off from there. I found all my neighbors though.. . . yay? I waited for the plumber to show up and fretted about how much this was going to cost. His phone estimate was $450. Yikes. But, isn't it always just a little more than they say on the phone?

Once he showed up he went right to work. Turns out the knob was the problem and in 10 minutes he had the water off. So, it was only $150 for the service call. That made my morning a little more pleasant, but I'm still grumpy about the delay. I hope I can get the kitchen guys back ASAP so we can get things rolling again.

It was all going too easy. . .wasn't it?

Kitchen: Day 10

I was ready by 7am. Because I am good like that. At 7:20am my contractor called to say they were running behind. No biggie. But, I had to hang around until 9:15 while he wrote up all the changes we had discussed so I could sign off. Still OK. Just as I was leaving he asked where the water main shut off was. I had do idea. We searched, and searched. I frantically got in contact with my tenant so we could look in his place. Thankfully it was in there. But, we couldn't get the valve to close. Which means, no sink plumbing could be moved, the lower cabinets could not be set and I had to move my granite people. In other words, project halted until I can get a plumber out there to fix it. Grrrrr.

I finally found a plumber who could come out Wednesday morning. Let's hope he can fix it. I'm sure it won't be cheap. It also means another day of having to be in the tenants place, which just feels invasive -- but it has to be done.

I came home and was not too impressed with the work that had been done. I guess I was hoping more would be accomplished, though I know a lot of time was spent trying to find the water main.

Lastly, we have been trying to find the switch for the flood light in the backyard. I came home today and it's on. Now I can't turn it off.

Here are today's pics (see the kitteh?):

Kitchen: Day 9 - the cabinets start!

Another morning greeting contractors at 7am. I have to say, I was a little more nervous about this one. There are a lot of moving parts in putting this kitchen together and I need to articulate every one of them . . . at 7am. They showed up on time and seemed ready to go. I was not. A little groggy and a little under-primped, I did my best to review all the pieces for the next hour.

Then, I left them to do what they needed to do and went to the office.

I came home and was pleasantly surprised to see this:



But, there was still plenty of boxes. . .



Tomorrow should show great things!

Kitchen: Day 7 & 8

The good news was that all our deliveries were coming before noon, leaving the later half of the day for running errands. The bad news was they were starting at 8:30am, which meant I had to get up early. But, in doing so, I took a better picture of the floor:




I also worked on cleaning up the front yard and considering it took 3 hours, it was a good project to do while I waited. . . and waited.

The cabinets arrived first (this only shows about 1/3 of the boxes):



Then, the appliances:

Having a fridge again has taken a little stress off since I don't have to head to the store everyday for groceries and ice. The new floors made the delivery a little anxiety provoking though as I waited for one false move and a huge scratch to ruin my week.

After all the deliveries we headed out to Lowes to buy the tiles, crown moulding, shelving materials, and some electrical fixtures. By the time we came back to the house and settled in I was exhausted.

Sunday I had a lot to accomplish so I headed out for Home Depot at 8am to pick up some mulch, flowers, paint, and a miter saw to finish the baseboards. Dan mowed the yard and we cleaned up the deck and patio which had been covered in saw dust from all the demo and floor work. We finally moved some furniture back into the living room which made it seem a little more "normal" on the first floor again.

After a few more errands, the weekend was over. . .and Monday was upon us. The cabinet guys were coming and the real work was to begin.

Kitchen: Day 6

After three days the floors would finally be completed today. The guys showed up around 7am and told me they would be done by 1pm or so. I had to run home from work at lunch to approve the floors and give them the final check. With my seal of approval...the floors were finished.

Kitchen: Day 5

When I greeted the floor guys in the morning they informed me they would stain the floor by the end of the day, would put the finish on Wednesday. It was pretty satisfying to know that my floors would have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to set before the delivery of the appliances and cabinets came on Saturday.

I came home to a pungent smell and lovely stained floors, though still rough without the polyurethane on them.

It was hard to get a photo that showed the floor without being too dark due to the flash. Here is the one that showed the floor the best: