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GRANITE!!!

February 3, 2012
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It’s been almost 6 years to the day since we closed on our first home.  January 30, 2006 Ryan and I signed a bazillion papers,with many dreams, and no clue of what the future held (especially since we weren’t even engaged yet!).  Today, exactly 6 years and 3 days later we have a (semi) completely renovated kitchen.  The last of many planned renovations over the past six years.  Somehow we let the kitchen be the last things on our bucket list for this house.  It’s  strange to think about it now because this is probably the room I spend the most time in.  When we looked at this house on January 8, 2006 at 9am, it was on the market for zero days.  We put an offer in at noon.  Shortly after our offer was accepted 3 contingent offers followed.

Taking a step back  in time, here are some pics of the kitchen on the day we viewed and put our offer on the house:

We put some cosmetic work into the kitchen during the first month we owned it.  We knew down the road it would have a gut job but for the time being painting the cabinets and replacing appliances would suffice.  Here are progress photos in the first year we owned our home:

That leaves us to 5 years later after the cabinets were painted, the laminate floor was updated, and we purchased new stainless appliances:

Today I am so thankful to finally write about the new granite that was installed in our kitchen on Tuesday!  I was at work when Continental Surfaces came for the install, but Ryan was able to work from home and supervise.   He totally surprised me and took a bunch of pictures of the install process, yeah!!

The 3 men installed the granite in five separate pieces.

  • a 15″ piece to the right of the stubborn oven
  • the 61″ piece over our sink area
  • a 21″ bridge behind the oven
  • a 36″ slab to the left of our fridge
  • and a 68″ piece with the corner radius
In order to get the corner radius piece seamless/level the installers used this contraption.  It held both slabs level while pulling the seam together.
When I got home from work the house smelled something awful from the caulking and who knows what else.  I was a little surprised the granite did not ‘wrap around’ the counter of the base cabinets like the laminate did.  That means an ugly 1/2″ to 1″ (depending on where you look) at the top of the cabinets was left raw and unpainted.  No biggie, I can prime and paint that, just unexpected.
Before we could touch (or do anything) in the kitchen we were told the granite must sit 24 hours to allow the caulk to dry, etc…  Last night we were finally able to move the fridge and oven out of our dining room and back into the kitchen (thank God!).  After three months of constant work on the kitchen we are finally getting back into the grove of semi normal.  Before we moved the appliances back in, I hit up that 1″ space where the granite meets the cabinets with some primer and a coat of paint.  It still needs one last coat to polish it off, but for the time being, we are back in business!!!
The pride and joy of our new kitchen, the corner radius and added countertop!
Needless to say we are very thankful that the kitchen is (mostly) finished.  I am so happy that it’s totally functioning again.  It may sound absurd, but I am can not wait to cook a meal again.  I am so sick of eating out and grabbing takeout.  I think my waistline has grown at least an inch.  Baked fish and steamed broccoli, here I come!!!
So It didn’t take us 525,600 Minutes (mentioned  here).  It officially took 116,640 Minutes from start to granite.
The list is officially getting shorter.
Still to do:
  • build upper cabinet for cabinet addition
  • finish white tile backsplash
  • nail in and putty/paint last pieces of trim
  • build cabinet doors for the bottom addition
  • decorate!
Granite is great and I am so thankful to be almost finished!  I am especially thankful for such a wonderful husband that listens to my crazy ideas and makes them come to fruition!  We may not always execute the plan as originally planned, but the dream to make this house a home has certainly been achieved….and with a lot of sweat equity.
Budget Breakdown:
  • Cabinet/countertop addition: $50
  • Floor tile: $300
  • Grout and Hardibacker$100
  • Stubborn Oven black top: $100
  • Granite $2,100
  • Total: $2,650
Not too shabby for a kitchen!
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from → Interior Renovation, Kitchen

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