Kitchen Remodel 2005: Weeks 3 and 4

Between 6/20 and 6/28, our black slate tiles were installed and grouted, and the granite was cut and shaped. The tiling went well. The installers were amazing. All three rooms (entry, kitchen, laundry) were tiled in 1 day! Never seen tilers work so fast. They came back about 2 days later and grouted, then on the 21st to seal them. During this time, Andy built the low-voltage control center which will power some undercabinet puck lights and two circuits of Tech monorail (dining room and kitchen). Tiles installed in the entry - like our bridge? Tiles in the kitchen and in the laundry room Tiles get installed - 1 Tiles get installed - 2 Tiles get installed - 3 Tiles get installed - 24 Tiles get installed - 25 Tiles get installed - 26 Grout - 4 Grout - 5 Grout - 6 Grout - 7 Grout - 8 Grout - 9 Grout - 10 Kitties inspect the grout Andy's low voltage nerve center - to be installed later.
   
On 6/29, the granite was installed. The granite, 13 separate pieces, went reasonably well. The single-piece counter for the stove-top was successfully installed. Holes were drilled in the other counter for the sink et.al. The only issue: would the stove-top and downdraft clear? The downdraft sits behind the stovetop, flush with the counter, and rises up about 16" at the touch of a button. It did not look like it would; the nose of the shelf had more of an overhang than we thought. We delayed cutting the hole for the stovetop until Thursday when the granite fabricators would be there with our main contractor. Will it fit??? Will we have to recut the overhang??? Stay tuned! Biggest granite counter - all one piece It's in! Rough-in of the other counter. Leveling is going to be a problem here. The floor in the kitchen is not exactly level... PJ removes some plywood to get level. Lots of goop to bring the sink side up to level About 250 pounds of granite into the dining room. It's level! Next piece... ... a little fancy footwork to get it to meet the adjacent slab And some elbow grease Stovetop backsplash, one of two. Sink-side nearly done Drilling the holes for the sink, etc. Nearly 8PM. All of the holes for the plumbing done. Granite installed Granite installed Granite installed The wall between the sink and the dining room turned out very nice. The black hole. Little silver bits in the center. Problem! It does not look like the downdraft will clear the nose of the upper shelf. We'll wait until tomorrow.
   
On the 30th, we had a big pow-wow with the contractor and the granite fabricators, Milo and Arnoldo. It was decided to cut the hole for the stovetop, and rough-in the stovetop and downdraft to see how far off we were. About 1/16" - might as well be infinity. We were right up against the front of the cabinet structure.

There was much worrying. Clearly, we did not want to have to have this piece recut - it would be tricky, messy, and might not look too good. After more discussion, it looked like we could shave a little off the cabinetry. It worked! Crisis averted. Everyone was happy. And it looks like we can make a table out of the piece that was in the stovetop.

Later in the day, the faucet (Bach) and support hardware were installed. We went with a counter-mounted air switch for the disposal.

Milo, Arnoldo, and PJ cut the stovetop. Dust everywhere. The hole prior to shaving the cabinet. Later, the Bach faucet was in. Sink and all the doo-dads. Left of the faucet is an air switch to control the disposal.


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