Backsplash anyone?

This past weekend we picked out the tile for the backsplash (ok, my wife picked it out).

She had been to the Cancos Tile place and picked out 2 or 3 different ones she liked and brought back one for me to see. When I saw it I liked it a lot and told her to order it. Unfortunately, she wanted me to take a trip to the store with her to see the other stuff as well, and to finalize the purchase. I acquiesced and went.

She was complaining to me that the salesman she had been working with was not very good, and she had hoped that Jimmy was back, because she likes him much better.

Jimmy, was in fact back.

I can understand why she liked Jimmy and not the other guy. The other guy had the personality of wood. Jimmy on the other hand was very nice. A aging rocker type who makes his customers feel like they are making the right choices and just makes them feel comfortable. He was a very likable guy. Apparently, Jimmy had used the same tile in his house, and even showed us pictures of it. From this point, my wife was sold.

I was sold too until the price came in. All in all it wasn't bad, but I was expecting a number in the $300 range, it was about double that. In actuality the space is pretty large that it has to fill. Not a whole wall, but it's very long.

When we left I teased my wife that she was very happy her new boyfriend was back to help service her.

Granite countertops are cool

Yesterday the granite counter tops were put in. This puts us one step closer to a finished kitchen.

It is amazing how much more finished the job looks when the counters are in. The colors for the two counter areas compliment each other as well as the cabinetry and the tile floors.

We had even asked the granite place to save the piece they cut out for the big sink and they offered to cut it round so we made a lazy susan out of it and put it on the island. It really looks great.

The only thing they screwed up was my wife's desk area. Apparently they are really good at measuring everything else, but when it comes to measuring a 3x2 square they have no idea how to do it. This piece (which isn't connected to any of the other pieces) was 1/2 inch short. They offered for us to keep it, but I'm not sure what to do with a really heavy piece with a small hole in it for cables. Maybe I'll make a table, or just let them take it back.

My wife thinks this is all a tease because she can't actually use the kitchen yet. The plumber (who is on vacation this week) needs to hook up the sinks, stove top (which is still not in yet), dishwashers, garbage disposals and hot water dispenser, as well as finalize the radiant heat floor and my hookup to the BBQ outside.

The contractor needs to put in the tile backsplash (after my wife picks out the tile), do some small finish work including hooking up an electrical box and putting in drawer handles.

After that we can get the wood floors stained and sanded, and I need to do some touch-up painting.

Then I can clean up the remnants of construction. I think we're looking at about 2-3 weeks more before it's all done.

Tile and Cabinets, oh my...

In the last couple of days the workers have installed the kitchen floor, which means finalizing the cuts on the replacement wood floor area and the cabinets were delivered yesterday.

The floor looks great, a whole sight better than the mess that it was before. I could get used to a floor that isn't all cracked and wavy like a roller coaster.

The workmen were putting in the grout yesterday afternoon and they ran out of grout. I don't know how you run out of grout and not run to the store to get the rest of it, but the part that they did looks great. It will look fantastic after the polish off the film over the top, but even with the film it's leagues ahead of the last floor.

The cabinets also came in. They were delivered in big boxes except for one corner cabinet that was uncovered. They look great too. In looking at the cabinet construction it's nice to see that the semi-custom cabinets we bought are not made of particle board and crap, they are nice and sturdy wood.

The wife is now in the process of finding knobs for the cabinets. The ones she found are $5 each. At first glance that isn't a problem, but we need a lot of handles. Her job is to search out for nice handles that might be a bit cheaper.

Tile Floors

The tile floor in my current kitchen is one of the main reasons we want to redo the kitchen. As you can see from the images on the right the floor stinks. This floor was never put in correctly in the first place, but we bought it this way.

Apparently the previous owner's wife had the floor put in while the husband was away on business, and was too meek and mild mannered to complain about the shoddy workmanship. This was strange given she was always very outspoken in our dealings with her.

This floor was put in so poorly that there is mud (tile mastic) along edges of the room, big globs of it (image on the left side). The tiles were laid on an uneven surface, leading to the poor specimen on the right, where tiles crack and break. This occurs in numerous places on the floor.

Now, if the husband or relative had put in the floor and it turned out like this, I guess you pretty much live with it to keep peace in the household, but a contractor? No way. I would have been on the phone with the better business bureau before the grout had set if I couldn't get resolution.

If I could find out who these people are, I would certainly credit them for the work, but alas I don't know any more than I have said.

I've laid tile in the past, and truthfully it can be a big pain in the butt, especially cutting them for the edges. It takes a lot of work and scrubbing to make sure the tiles are clean of mastic and grout before it sets, but if you don't the tiles will look dingy and dirt will collect where you don't want it to.