Here you go folks, I've loaded all of the pictures from the kitchen remodel (well, at least all of the ones that I was able to recover after my computer decided to up and die on me) to Kodak Gallery. So, if you are bored out of your mind and want to burn a good 20 or 30 minutes, check them out at this link:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=1994rry7.1jad5fev&x=0&y=-tlq5rk
And for those of you still keeping count, I still have the downstairs half-bath and tiling the backsplash in the kitchen to finish, as well as painting the hall and stairwell. All that will probably happen after Hudson is here (heck, he may even help!).
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
I'm in the wrong line of business...
So, after months of hard work on the kitchen, the fruits of my labor ae starting to pay off. I have pretty much finished everything in the kitchen and sunroom except tiling the backsplash and hanging the remaining 3 bamboo roman shades in the sunroom. As a way to free up a little of my time (so I can start working on finishing the half bath), Suzanne convinced me to see what it would cost to have someone else come in and tile our backsplash in the kitchen. This seemed liked a logical idea, and assuming that it couldn't cost more than six or eight hundred bucks (materials & labor), I decided to check it out.
I went to a "specialty" tile store near us, armed with everything from cabinet drawer fronts and countertop samples to color swatches and floor samples from our kitchen, thinking that these "specialists" would be able to ease the pain of deciding on a tile scheme. Well, let me tell you, this was the biggest waste of time I have had so far with this project. I spent a good hour with the "designer" basically picking out my own tile with little to no help from her at all. Turns out she is new to the job, and boy was that apparent! So after my hour of doing what I could basically have done at Lowe's in 30 minutes on my own, and without an appointment, I left the store with a couple of samples for Suzanne to look at before making the final decision. We decided to go with a very simple, clean, and modern natural slate tile in a 4" x 4" dimension, laid horizontally and in straight rows (no fancy diagonals here).
The tile store was nice enough to give me a list of tile installers that they had used in the past so I called three of them to see about getting a quote for doing the install. Only one returned my call and I quickly scheduled a time to meet with him at the house. He came out, measured, showed me pictures of some of his previous work, and then gave me a quote of $1800, including materials, to do the installation. After coming to, I politely thanked him, and quickly escorted him out the front door. 18-HUNDRED-FRICKIN-DOLLARS?!?!?! Are you insane, man? I should have gone into tiling instead of engineering!! That very next weekend, I went to Lowe's and lo and behold, found a very similiar natural slate tile for half the material cost of what the "specialty" store was going to charge me...so much for the middle man!
I have now come full circle on this next task and have decided to handle the installation myself, and for a fraction of the $1800 it would have cost me to have it done "professionally." My free weekends are quickly running out so I am hoping to start next weekend and maybe have it completed before Hudson arrives. While deciding on how to handle the tile debacle, I ended up painting in the sunroom, window trim, and kitchen. I also installed the trim mouldings, as well as the new hall closet door. All that is left is to tile the backsplash and finish the half-bath downstairs. Oh yeah, we are also shuffling our office from the upstairs 3rd bedroom, down to the sunroom so that we will be able to put a futon (thanks Sandi & Ray!) in the guest room for any future guest crazy enough to stay with us! Oh yeah, and did I mention that Suzanne is due in less than 3 weeks...YIKES, I better get back work!
I went to a "specialty" tile store near us, armed with everything from cabinet drawer fronts and countertop samples to color swatches and floor samples from our kitchen, thinking that these "specialists" would be able to ease the pain of deciding on a tile scheme. Well, let me tell you, this was the biggest waste of time I have had so far with this project. I spent a good hour with the "designer" basically picking out my own tile with little to no help from her at all. Turns out she is new to the job, and boy was that apparent! So after my hour of doing what I could basically have done at Lowe's in 30 minutes on my own, and without an appointment, I left the store with a couple of samples for Suzanne to look at before making the final decision. We decided to go with a very simple, clean, and modern natural slate tile in a 4" x 4" dimension, laid horizontally and in straight rows (no fancy diagonals here).
The tile store was nice enough to give me a list of tile installers that they had used in the past so I called three of them to see about getting a quote for doing the install. Only one returned my call and I quickly scheduled a time to meet with him at the house. He came out, measured, showed me pictures of some of his previous work, and then gave me a quote of $1800, including materials, to do the installation. After coming to, I politely thanked him, and quickly escorted him out the front door. 18-HUNDRED-FRICKIN-DOLLARS?!?!?! Are you insane, man? I should have gone into tiling instead of engineering!! That very next weekend, I went to Lowe's and lo and behold, found a very similiar natural slate tile for half the material cost of what the "specialty" store was going to charge me...so much for the middle man!
I have now come full circle on this next task and have decided to handle the installation myself, and for a fraction of the $1800 it would have cost me to have it done "professionally." My free weekends are quickly running out so I am hoping to start next weekend and maybe have it completed before Hudson arrives. While deciding on how to handle the tile debacle, I ended up painting in the sunroom, window trim, and kitchen. I also installed the trim mouldings, as well as the new hall closet door. All that is left is to tile the backsplash and finish the half-bath downstairs. Oh yeah, we are also shuffling our office from the upstairs 3rd bedroom, down to the sunroom so that we will be able to put a futon (thanks Sandi & Ray!) in the guest room for any future guest crazy enough to stay with us! Oh yeah, and did I mention that Suzanne is due in less than 3 weeks...YIKES, I better get back work!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
In the short rows
With the upcoming party looming, I'm burning the midnight oil to wrap things up in the kitchen and sun room this week. This past weekend, I trimmed out the bar and cleaned out the sunroom (it had been my staging/tool storage area during the kitchen remodel). Tonight, I painted the 5 windows in the sunroom (I HATE WINDOWS) along with the wall that you can see from outside in the sun room to match the green shade in the kitchen. Tomorrow night I'm grabbing a couple of beers with a few buddies of mine at Tyler's Taproom. Wendesday night I'll knock out the rest of the wall painting in the sun room, leaving only the baseboard and shoe moulding to finish up with on Friday and early Saturday morning. By 4 PM on Saturday, the kitchen and sun room should be finished!!!! I'll probably start on finishing the hall entry way and new coat closet on Sunday.
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