Kitchen Remodel, Week 5

 

The boys are so pleased to have their bedroom back.  They are usually hiding under the bed.  

Where there was carpeting, they had to lay plywood to bring the floor up to meet the hardwood in the hallways and tile in the bathrooms.  

Couldn't be happier with the new flooring.  The thin strips of hardwood were so formal and so not my style.  These planks are various widths, lengths and tones.  AND they are waterproof and cat barf proof, a necessary feature in our house.

On Monday the appliances (double oven and cooktop) arrived.  Oven outer width is 30".  Hole is 30", supposed to be 28 1/2".  Shon gets on the phone with the cabinet people.  My designer is no longer with the company.  Great, "Now I want to speak with Michael (the owner)!"  When Michael is finished with his customer he calls me right back.  "Oh," he says, "Eric must not have installed the spacers.  And Fergal (contractor) doesn't want anything installed until after the granite comes."  Wish Fergal had shared that with me and I would not have scheduled it for Monday this week.  Michael:  "So if the appliance installers want to charge you an additional fee to return, just give me the bill and I'll cover it."  THAT put a stop to my irritation immediately.  So here sits my beautiful new double oven with bread proof top and bottom ... in the garage.  So sad.

I get a call from the granite people.  "Would you like to stop by tomorrow to inspect the layout of your slab?"  ABSOLUTELY!  The next morning finds me at the granite place at 8:30 IN THE MORNING!  I'm even bright and chipper.  Here comes the guy who will actually cut it.  We measure, I assure him I want it cut from the bottom UP, not from the top DOWN.  The slab looks like a map with a very large island in it.  I want all of the island preserved.  It's going to be spectacular.  There is an additional two feet left (it's only 4.5 feet wide, but 10 feet long, there are two inches to spare on each end).  They will cut me a pastry board out of the smaller island in the upper part with some blue in it.  I have felt feet so I can move it without scratching anything.  Granite, quartz and glass backsplash are supposed to be installed on Wednesday, but if not, definitely by Thursday.  I'm hoping for Wednesday!

Meanwhile the electricians arrive to complete all the lower plugs.  We are off to Jan and Rogers for dinner (can't thank them enough for their generosity in feeding the kitchen orphans).  So we leave the electricians to continue their work and we go off to deliciousness land.  

Next morning it's still dark when I stumble out of bed.  As I enter the living room to turn on the coffee I notice a particularly dark shadow in the walkway.  Something told me not to nudge it with my toes and I lean over to turn on a light.  It's a mousetrap with a dead mouse in it.  (No I didn't take a picture of it)

Why in the wide world would Gary put a mousetrap in the living room without telling me?  I wait for him to get up.  "Carful of the dead mouse." I tell him as he not looking down when he finally comes in for coffee.  "Why in the heck did you put a mousetrap in the living room without telling me?" I ask in a not so pleasant tone.

"I didn't do it!  The only place I EVER put mousetraps is in the dirt room."  Good grief!  Electrician must have not completely closed the dirt room door when he was working on the panel.  I go downstairs.  Dirt room door is wide open.  Inside I see several tubs of Christmas ornaments overturned.  Mikey!

Mikey must have found the mouse and brought it upstairs for show and tell.  Will have discussion with electricians when they next arrive.

The next day I get home from Mahjong to discover that the boys had finished the baseboards in my sewing room closet.  Yippee, I go downstairs to inspect.  There is a very cold draft downstairs.  I'm not liking this one bit.  In the sewing room my glass AND screen sliders are wide open and two cats are on the deck looking over the edge at the birdies.  I yowl at them and Harvey scampers in, Tommy was unsure so he hunkered down until I approached, then he dashed inside with me scolding the entire time.  Mikey, a good boy for once, sat inside watching (and gloating) the entire time.  I shoot off a text to Fergal, rather tersely worded.  He has assured me that it will NEVER happen again.  Right answer.

Meanwhile John has  been hard at work  Dining room shot toward Enty.

Kitchen between window and island.

Entry toward dining room.  

John determined that there is not enough flooring to complete the office so it will be put off until they can order more.

Mikey is exhausted after supervising the entire week.  I had just turned off the fireplace and it was warm.  He passed out immediately.

Next week should really step things up.  Once granite is installed the cabinet doors and drawers will be installed!  Then appliances.  Flooring should be finished (except for office) by Friday and then the painter will arrive.  Stay tuned for more adventures in a kitchen remodel.