The case of the missing trash can.

When you plan your custom cabinets you would think you would remember to include a trash receptacle of some sort. In Hawaii we had a double trash can built in and it was great. It was right next to the sink and close to the dishwasher. Ideal. Well in our first drawing of our cabinets we had one in a similar location. But when we switched cabinet makers, we didn't look closely at the new sketch and the trash cans were replaced by three drawers. To rework the drawers and put trash bins in it would have been about $450. So we tried to find room under the sink. Not sufficient. Luckily, we had the perfect place in the corner of the kitchen near the pantry.

Unluckily, building a new cabinet cost us $400. Luckily, we still have the drawer space and luckily we had some money left in the construction budget. Now we have a double bin (recycling and waste) and a junk drawer on top. The other bummer is that we have to get a top fabricated to match our countertops. All of this would have been included in our original prices had we not made this mistake, right now we have a temporary top that Ben made from a shelf that we took out of our corner cabinet and replaced with glass - to display all of our fancy glassware - haha.

Countertop Issues

Our stone countertops were installed today. But of course, nothing in construction is simple. First of all, we got a great deal. I had originally wanted quartz (manmade - Ceaserstone, Silestone, etc.) counters in the kitchen b/c I didn't want to have to worry about stone maintenance. Polished stone is pretty easy to maintain, but honed, which is the look we like, can be burdensome. We had honed black granite in Hawaii that looked like soapstone and I loved it - the look of it. Cleaning it was so hard. Every fingerprint showed and there were always streaks left behind. Hence going for the manmade, supposedly indestructible stuff.

Fast forward to a few months ago when we made the mistake of stepping into a slab yard. We instantly fell in love with at least 20 pieces of granite/limestone. We thought the cost might be prohibitive on some of our picks so we started shopping for remnant pieces. Basically we got a list of fabricators from the stone importer and started calling and visiting. We found a location that had the seagreass limestone slab that we were dead set on for our bathroom. Full price - $2400. remnant price $1200 - still too high. We continued our search. In the meantime I got quotes for an all quartz kitchen in dark gray. $7000-$8000. Wow. We started looking at other options - including formica - they have some really nice stuff out with different options for edges which look nice. Plus I thought - my 20 year old apartment has the originally formica and it looks pretty good...but I really want to be able to set hot pots on the surface.

Then after a long day of looking at stone and tile I decided to follow a sign and make one last stop while I was in Seattle. Not only did they have a remnant of the limestone we wanted. The owner said he would do our whole house in any instock stone he had for $7000. This was to include two bathrooms, the kitchen, a fireplace surround in matching limestone slab for the bathroom and two miscellaneous wall pieces. I thought this was too good to be true. Also he hadn't even seen our plans. So I sent him our plans and he came back with the same estimate in writing. I took Ben up to the yard to make sure I wasn't getting duped (he can tell you about the vibe of the place - a whole nother story) and again, same price same promise. He even offers to throw on a false edge in the two bathrooms to make the slab look thicker. Hello! He has a million chances to jack up our price - everyone else does with the nitpicky details. He refers to this offer as his "stimulus plan" and says a year ago, same deal would have been at least double.

Long story long - he comes out does the template and even offers to hook us up with a kitchen backsplash (we eventually decide on glass tile) AND he will through on a matching limestone seat in the kids bath/shower after I explain to him our difficulties trying to tile it. Still too good to be true.

Back to the slab choices. For the bathroom we got our Seagrass limestone and fireplace surround (which is actually Cafe Pinta limestone - but close enough), the kids get Lagos Azul limestone and for the kitchen we chose to do the upper island in Antique Brown (looks black) honed granite and the lower island in a Quartzite in a color called Cocoa Nova. It's the color of a light cardboard with faint faint light blue waves. Were we swayed by the beautiful slabs - absolutely. Do I have some trepidation about putting a light colored Quartzite/Sandstone in my kitchen - yes. Am I going to seal the heck out of it. Of course. Especially as I watched two teeny droplets of Dr. Pepper be sucked up instantly by the stuff.

So now to the installation issue at hand. (Sorry for all of the details but I am trying to record so I can remember down the road) We were instructed to put down plywood under the upper island piece for support - the granite we picked is super heavy and has tons of fissures through it - not an integrity issue but just in case. Our millwork guys did so - on the bathrooms as well b/c they were getting a false front. Everything gets installed beautifully. Except that the plywood layer is showing on the island. And not just if you bend over and look. Like from any angle. It looks terrible. (see picture)

We call to express our concern over the job being left like this. He says to put on a finished piece of wood to cover it. No! That would look terrrible in our house. We go back and forth with phone calls, I even went up there to talk to them about it b/c they have to have a solution for it. They do this all the time. He says that the guys who put the plywood down should have made it smaller so it wouldn't show. I say his guys should have cut it back to the right place since we weren't given any instruction about the dimensions of the plywood to be installed. He says he gave us a good deal so.... So what?! It's not a good deal if you get a subpar product. I tell him that everything else they installed looks so great but that this is a focal point and it's what people will see of his work immediately. His guys are coming on Thursday to fix it.

Untiling and ungrouting.

He we are un-tiling our master bathroom. A few tiles were just not up to par and so instead of looking at it everyday we ordered new tiles and replaced three that bothered us. This task was complicated by the radiant heat (orange cable) we had installed previously. One wrong cut or swipe of the mallet and we could ruin the whole system.

And I don't have pictures of our first attempt at grouting but it didn't go well. Technically it was fine but we didn't like the color of the grout so we took it out. It was still wet when we did so but it wasn't fun.

Garage Door Dilemma

So we decided to paint them the color of the trim. That's not the problem.

The problem is that they are the wrong doors!

I didn't even notice they weren't the ones we picked out. I also didn't notice when they sheetrocked over the only window in our bathroom so that's not saying much. Ben on the other hand notices every detail, every flaw of the build. With his eye tuned for perfection, it's good news for his current plastic surgery patients but a wonder he would have ever chosen me for a mate, but that's a topic I'll take up with my therapist.

So wrong doors, who's to blame? Unfortunately it was Bob's mistake. Which means the garage door company is not going to come exchange them gratis. In fact, it turns out that reparation comes at the price of nearly $2000. The cost of new doors. Bob says just say the word and he will take the hit and get us new doors. I think they are kinda nice. Ben hates them. Neither one of us wants Bob to have to shell out that kind of money, even if it was a dumb mistake that probably wouldn't have occurred had he not been all-consumed with finishing up his son's house.

I say WWJD?