not quite TCB kitchen upgrade
As some of you know this has been the summer of "Sean doesn't want to move and Amy wants to."
Amy had a list of complaints and one of them was the kitchen -- the kitchen sink, faucet, the bar between the breakfast nook and kitchne, the countertops, the backsplash, the floor tile, the fridge (I'm glad the list ends there).
We started with looking at countertops and backsplash designs and holy hell that stuff is expensive. We have ~95sf of countertop, so at most places that was going to be 35-50/sf ($3,325-$4,750) just for the material (sink, install sink, remove old countertop, remove old backsplash, put up new backsplash are more $$).
I looked at doing granite tile, but I'm not a fan of grout lines and materials were going to be around ~$1000 + who knows how much of my labor.
Amy saw a post on craigslist for $24/sf granite and it turns out that it was a legit deal :) They threw in a sink and in true TCB fashion I got out the sawzall and sledgehammer and got down to business.
First I had to remove the bar between the kitchen and nook:
http://mpghead.com/granite/removing_wall.jpg
The builder didn't screw the bar on. They used so many finish nails that it took the top plate of the wall out with it rather than separate!
So here's a view with the bar removed. Note the nice formica and "builders special honey oak cabinets that everyone in the world has":
http://mpghead.com/granite/full_before.jpg
Then I did my part to stimulate the local economy and had a handman come out and remove the backsplash. When you do this if the sheetrock loses it's paper you have to replace it. I'd removed a couple tiles to test and it was simply easier to cut out the old sheetrock and replace it with new. He also moved the outlet up in order to make the backsplash design not be broken up by the outlets.
http://mpghead.com/granite/backsplash_removed.jpg
For the backsplash we went to three different stores to save our pennies :) Seconds and Surplus had just the right amount of mosaics (for $2.95/sf, so dirt cheap), then Floor Expo in Plano had 4x4 tumbled tiles for $0.22 each and then HD had (retail price :() the trim piece for $4/lf. That was a fun waste of a Saturday.
We also wasted time that day going and picking out our slabs of granite (I say wasting because the pulled a slab out and said "you like?" Amy says "Yes" we paid our money and left.
So Tuesday night, I pulled all the plumbing, the sink, and the existing countertops. Minor flood from corroded water pipes, but a new valve cured that problem. We had also heard horror stories about the cabinets not being level so we made sure that they were pretty level to begin with (a couple small issues that the trusty sawzall took care of :)
Today they showed up around 10 and got to work.
http://mpghead.com/granite/full_after.jpg
The new area that used to be a crappy 9" junk holder bar that's now a useful space:
http://mpghead.com/granite/sink_after.jpg
We've still got to install the plumbing (including the RO tank), supports for the granite overhang (ebay, $15 each vs. $85 from the installer), some trim boards, and obviously the backsplash (the handyman comes back on Saturday to do that, I've laid tile before and I'll let someone else have that fun :))
So our initial cost estimates were almost 10k for all of the work. We'll have spent right around ~$4k by doing part of it ourselves.
And the most important thing? :queen: is happy and I don't have to move! ::Banana::
