Counter Top Kerfuffle

Dang it, dang it, double dog dang it. I just want one instance of this project to go smooth as country churned butter. Today has been a series of unfortunate events, the most frustrating of which was in counter top land.

Originally when I was contacted for the counter tops to be scheduled for install, they wanted to come today, Monday. At the time I told them it was a no go and asked if they had Tuesday available. Sure, they can work that out for me. Fast forward, or if looking at it from today, rewind; I received a call Friday with our install window, for MONDAY. Fine. I would work it out. I can manage to be home between 3-7pm, I just want them installed, and if they are coming Monday, let's get 'em in. They also informed me the dishwasher was out of level and thankfully I had a meeting set up with our general contractor. Turns out the cabinet run with the sink was a smidgen low so this morning, our contractor and I spent a little time rehanging and leveling the snot out of them. Wipe hands, walk away triumphant. Now. Today. Two o'clock, while AWAY from the house, I get calls and texts from Christopher who was supposed to be at work by 2. Guess who showed up? Come on, it is an easy one. That's correct, the counter top installers!! Sure, not a huge problem until I am told there is a nub on the back of one piece that was either measured incorrectly or something was different about the set up when it was measured. 

Yeah, that doesn't look quite right. There seems to be a little somethin' somethin' extra up top.

Ok. Breathe. I ask, can't they just cut into the drywall and slip it into place? Nope. They won't touch it. Alright. So now I am racing back to the house so Christopher can get to work, hoping I can convince them to stick around while I cut the hole or convince them to cut the nub of shame off and install it. 

Update: After dashing home from Satan's sauna, aka the subway, I get some great news. Christopher, using his wiles and charms, convinced the installer to cut the nub off without pulling the middle men into the picture. Or perhaps he threatened them that I was on my way home and wouldn't let them leave until they fixed it or I cut it off myself. Snip, snip? He was probably just sweet.

Here's a peak at the pretty new counter tops, with sink and faucet. (Come on plumbing inspection!)

New dishwasher still under wraps, just waiting for everything to get hooked up.

This beauty of a faucet was originally intended for our apartment unit. I got it at a steep discount as it is an older model and the new design lacks a very faint shell imprint on the handles. It is Kohler and super sturdy and lovely. I couldn't find anything that cost less for the upstairs rental without getting into something with plastic valves. So, we decided to use this one upstairs and spend the extra on a faucet with a polished nickel finish to match the handles and knobs in our unit. I like it equally as much, I think. I'm now doubting my choice seeing this gorgeous large gooseneck installed. 

A parting shot of Sophie Dog checking it all out. Check, check, check. Approved. She tells me I need to get to work on the backsplash. She wouldn't be wrong.

2nd Floor Rental Kitchen Progress

I ended my last post hoping to share good news. And as luck would have it, I do have some good construction news.  The cabinets are in upstairs! The rental kitchen is starting to really look like a kitchen as opposed to the bleak pit of despair it was when we originally purchased the building. Let's have a look back at what we were dealing with.

Anyone have an uncontrollable urge to scratch their eyes out? I personally have no words, just a general sense of queasiness in my stomach.  Boy howdy we've managed to come a long way. We aren't finished, but the cabinets are in:

We put doors and drawers into place:

We put the jewelry on this morning. Look at the pretties. I bought a template for $5 rather than reinvent the wheel (I have 3 more kitchens to go with our building and my parent's BedStuy property). We used two sizes of handles and we have three different drawer sizes that we were working with, so for this kitchen alone, I would have ended up making 7 different templates. No thank you. The $5 was worth it, considering the kit also came with a brand new perfectly sized drill bit. 

Doing a little tidy up work before the counter top template guy showed up. Unfortunately, he ended up leaving before completing the template as the stove was installed too close to the old chimney bump out not leaving space for the backsplash to wrap around and thus no template was made. I am in the process of contacting our contractors who installed the cabs while I was in WA, to give them the good news that they have to install a filler piece and, oh fun, move the cabinets surrounding the stove and fridge over the the right 3/4". Doh!

Tiling Progress

It has been a while since I've posted an update. We have hit another wall and are steadily breaking our way through. (Did you see what I did there? Forever clever.) Ok. Let me start again. 

The HVAC contractors, let us call them He Who Shall Not Be Named, aka Voldemort, have once again caused us some difficulties. Our plumber had called for our plumbing inspection when amazingly (sarcasm) his Expiditor discovered our boiler hadn't been permitted by Voldemort. After a bit or research and a ridiculous email from Voldemort containing a $5,000+ price tag to permit his work. Luckily our plumber called off his inspection as any unpermitted work found by an inspector could have cost us a $5,000 fine. Ouch. 

Needless to say we are trying to find ways to get the work legalized without paying Voldemort another cent. We will be taking him to small claims court as he is a liscensed contractor and we have an identical contract to my parents' property in which he DID permit his work at no additional cost because he knew National Grid wouldn't allow the work to finish without it. Unfortunately for us, we didn't have any sort if public utility involved. It was supposed to have been simpler. But at the end of the day, Voldemort is angry at me for requiring them to pay for the basement door they deatroyed in a fit of undescribable insanity. Have I told you about the door? Here is the cliff note version. ... 

Voldemort takes a saw to the edge of our basement door cutting off a wiggly line of wood from top to bottom and the door latch bolt with it. He claims it isn't his fault as he told our contractor to fix the basement door because it won't shut to lock. Thus he decides the contractor was at fault for his fit of rage. By the way, this door has never locked, there is a security gate with a keyed lock everyone knows to use and had used for months prior to the incident. Plus, I was planning on fixing the door in question it the correct way down the line, not with a sawzall while it still was hung. I never had the chance, as when I went down to take inventory of it one day, BAM, destroyed. All the evidence still scattered about on the ground. After many conversations, he decides he only is responsible for paying half the amount my contractor is charging to replace the door. So Voldemort is now aware we are taking him to small claims court and is attempting to extort additional money from us to cover his potential $3,000 loss. 

In the meantime tiling has continued. The tiler is working around the openings left for the plumbing inspection and forging ahead so that we loose as little time as possible. 

Here is the kitchen prepared for a level base layer.

Now the tile, say hello to one of the calendar boys cutting tile. 

Here is the hall bath, oops, wrong pattern. Even the best attempts at communication can go awry. 

Thankfully I was around, priming windows as usual, and was able to get it fixed. That's better...

And now for the grout!

I admit I have agonized over all the choices and grout didn't escape the clutches of my obsessive mind. It was a little easier to make the decision (after 5 hours of internet research) knowing that the first rooms to be grouted would be in the rental. While I wanted to make aure it was nice, I had a little bit of wiggle room to experiment and discover the PERFECT for me combination of grout. Obsessive? Maybe. So the winner is Platinum for the walls and penny tile, Dalorean Gray for the hex. Sigh. Another day and another decision made without complete disaster. 

Ikea Cabinets

Let the great building begin!

I thankfully labled all of the boxes months, and in some cases years, ago. I have the box labled "2nd floor knobs and pulls", "2nd floor hall bath lights", "2nd floor hall bath floor tile", and so on. In some cases I have completely forgotten what I purchased for certain rooms. Setiously, 2+ years is a long time to remember all of the details for two units and cram a good half a dozen opera scores into the remaining nooks and crannies of my addled brain. 

So yes, the sharpie is my memory and has prepared me well for the building to come. 

The workshop all set up and, ta-da!

With the magic of technology, FINISHED! 

It only took two 6 hour days, 3,589 squats, 3 fetal position breaks, 5 cups of coffee, and several cookies sent in a care package from an awesome friend (you know who you are). And after all that, I have the cabinets for our kitchen to look forward to. I even, crazy I know, offered to build the cabinets for my parents' brownstone in BedStuy. The new sektion cabinet model from ikea did seem to go together more smoothly than the last model I have dealt with. Or perhaps it just takes 5 or so to get into the ikea groove - dance steps to follow. 

In other news, Christopher is leaving town on a month long gig tonight. HE IS SINGING DON JOSE IN CARMEN AT NATCHEZ OPERA. I'm prettty proud. So with this in mind, we decided it was in our best interest to pay a tiler to get moving on the 2nd floor bathrooms while I complete tasks no one else wants to do, namely, building a sh*t ton more of Ikea cabinets.