MoneyPlan SOS – Personal Financial Coach

Day 7 on 7/7: Lucky 7’s!

WOW!   What can I say except look at the pictures:

Thanks to everyone for following this project.  Feel free to leave comments!

It has been more than 2 weeks since we had any real progress on the kitchen remodel.  The replacement cabinets arrived at the last minute on Friday so we were rushed to schedule the next item on the checklist: Install the granite counter tops!

First up: The counter by the refrigerator.  This was an easy piece, just a straight rectangular hunk ‘o granite.  Looks good on these nice new cabinets!

Next: Here is the full kitchen view.  You will note the bare spot on the back wall – that is where one of the replacement cabinets will be placed.  We were just rushing to have the base cabinet installed before the granite arrived.  Wow, those are some shiny-new cabinets!

Finally: Nothing goes as perfectly as planned.  The windowsill piece of granite fell as it was setting and cracked in half.  Luckily it did not chip or scratch the sink counter top – that would have stunk!  We have plenty of granite left over from the template and they project the replacement to arrive in 48 hours, just in time for the other cabinets to be installed.  Then it’s on to Stage #3 – BACK-SPLASH.

This afternoon we visited the granite yard to select which sections of the granite slabs would be used for our countertops.  We had two full slabs of Portifino Gold selected.  They were transported to the production yard where they will be cut into the size and shape of our kitchen counters.

The pictures below (sorry for the quality, I used my camera phone because the good camera was left at home) show the slabs ready for us to position the templates over:

Then my wife took the templates and arranged them over the surface of the areas we thought looked the most attractive:

Drawing the templates on slabs

We only had one more piece to select.  It seemed to us like there will be a lot of waste from a huge slab that we will only use a 3′x3′ piece from.  The designer/salesman ensured us that the extra pieces are often used as smaller selection pieces, such as a desktop, and offered in clearance sales.  Sometimes they are even given to charities.  Hey, why not?  It has already been paid for.

Check back in about a week for more updates while we wait for the replacement cabinets to arrive and granite to be cut.

Day #03:  New cabinets are in, old countertops are back.  The majority of the cabinet installation is done (minus the two that are being re-ordered) and the old countertops repositioned temporarily.  The granite company came in the afternoon to template the shape for the new countertops.  We are looking forward to going out to the yard and positioning the cut from the templates, getting the movements of the granite into the best spot of the kitchen.  More about our two slabs of granite will come in future posts.

We are back to a 90% functional kitchen for the next week or two.  I will post more as things develop, but we are in a holding period until the granite has been cut and ready to install.  Then we look forward to the new sink, faucet, above and below cabinet lighting, and backsplash.

End of Day 01

Day #01 – STATUS UPDATE: All old cabinets are gone and wiring has been placed for new outlets that are being placed above the cabinets for lighting.  The kitchen looks bigger.  We had prepared ourselves to be without a kitchen for a few weeks but it is still WEIRD.  I keep walking into the kitchen to wash my hands in the sink or look at the clock on the microwave – not there dude!  We could still make popcorn if we wanted to plug the over-the-stove microwave in, but it’s on the dining room floor.  (That might not be such a great idea ’cause the dog would totally slobber on the glass while the bag is turning and steaming).

Day #01 – WHAT I LEARNED: The old countertop by the kitchen window was recessed into the wall.  That is to say that there was no drywall between the countertop backsplash and the 2×4 studs.  NOW I know why we just could not get rid of the winter drafts that streamed through the house.  20 years of wasted energy.  Let’s see if this makes a difference in January.

Day #01 – SETBACKS:  One of the cabinets was delivered damaged and a replacement is being ordered.  The installers are putting the cabinet up until the replacement has been delivered.  We also discovered that the cabinets against the back wall would be 3″ wider than the distance between the walls (both upper and base cabinet levels).  Those cabinets were taken back and replacement ones ordered.  So there will be a hole for a week or two.  So we have a story to tell our dinner guests.

Day #02 – New drywall has been put up where the wiring was run.  The upper level cabinet boxes have been installed.  We have an angle base cabinet in the corner with a double-layer lazy Susan.  That’s going to be nice.  Also, the 2-door cabinet above the refrigerator is DEEEEP – about twice as deep as the previous cabinet.

End of Day #02

We have started a remodel on our kitchen.  I will post updates on a daily basis as the project progresses.  Links to these updates will eventually land on my “Kitchen Remodel 2009” page, and I will post updates on Twitter as well ( @MoneyPlanSOS using #KitchenRemodel).

Here is a before picture. 

Old kitchen (before project started)

…and an “Aftermath” picture;

Aftermath