Fresh grout looks a lot like pancake batter

When I got home from work Thursday, the manfriend had grouted all the tile behind the cooktop and half the tile under the glass-door cabinets.

Nice.

I thought it looked pretty freaking awesome before, but with the grout it really is beautiful.




The first shot here is the dramatic night shot with the hood lights making it all pretty.

The second shot is the part of the wall that is half done.

So you can see the difference in how it looks good and how it looks great.


Then when I got home from work Friday, he had pretty much completed putting up the tile above the hood. He had left only five small pieces that required tricky cuts, but it got too dark to be outside with the tile saw.

This morning he finished those five pieces.

The photo at left shows the bottom with grout, the top without grout.

My task was to mix up another batch of grout and start putting it on the wall behind the sink.

I used a grouting bag, which just looks like a giant pastry bag like you use to decorate cakes. It seemed liked this might be a better way than using a grout float since it would put the grout just in the grout line and minimize the amount that got on the tile.

It was pretty easy except for having to hunch over under the cabinets to see what I was doing.

After the grout had a few minutes to set up a bit, MF started to smooth it out and work it a little.
Then he cleaned the tiles up with some water and a sponge.

He was working on that when I left for work today.

I think the part I will have left to finish over my weekend will be the other half of the wall under the glass-door cabinets and the part above the hood.

He said he might seal that tile today so it would be all ready to go.

Then I have to go over everything again to give the grout a good seal.

There also are some tricky areas around the window frame that I need to ponder.

It seems like this project will not end.

I am still waiting for the workers to come back and fix one last thing with the faucet.

There was a bad part, the diverter part that stops the water from coming out the faucet when I press the button for the sprayer hose.

I just have to keep nagging I guess.

The other reason I want them to finish is so they can take the lockbox off my door.

I have had a couple neighbors ask me if I am selling my house and the real estate agent with the listing across the street asked how much I was listing it for and when I was doing showings.

Um, no. Not for sale.

But it is good to know there is such interest and that my neighbors are paying attention and keeping such a close eye on things.

Tile ain't so tough

With help Sunday from the manfriend, I got the tile up behind the stove and on the wall where the new glass-door cabinets are.

It went pretty fast with two of use working, but since we didn't start until almost 1 p.m., there was not time to do the wall behind the sink.

The tiles are 3x6 inch hand-glazed ceramics from Sonoma Tile in a color called Damask.

I ordered it at Classic Tile in Hermosa Beach and it took exactly a month to arrive. The people at Classic Tile were very friendly and knowledgeable and they had an amazing selection.

I felt like what I was ordering was so mundane compared with some of the displays they had.

But the tile looks great on the walls.

There is some fine crackling in the glaze and some color variations. I like that.

I think it gives the tile more dimension than if it was all perfectly the same color.

The only thing was that there also were slight variations in size. So the grout lines, as best we tried to keep them perfectly straight, will not be.

Oh well.

I am fine with that.

I sealed the stove and cabinet walls yesterday and then set about doing the sink wall.

Yep. All by myself.

I no longer fear the wet saw.

Of course it was still a bit daunting. I have never done this by myself before and at $17 a square foot, I really didn't want to mess it up.

It's not like I could run out to the Home Depot and buy more tile if I ran out because I miscut a bunch.

I do have a fair amount of tile left. The manfriend thinks I should go ahead and tile all the way up behind the hood.

It would be much more dramatic that way. But those diagonal cuts at the top of the hood might be tough.

First I would need to measure very carefully to make sure I even have enough tile to do that space. It was not factored into my order, but I gave myself a large cushion for mistakes that didn't happen.

Then I would need to be so, so, so careful not to miscut anything because I wouldn't have a lot of leftover tile to play with there.

Anyway, it took me about the same amount of time to do the one wall by myself as it took the two of us to do the two walls. Seems logical.

So I didn't get any grouting done.

But it will get done. Maybe by next Monday.

I think it looks awesome. It will look even better once the bright white grout is in and I paint the trim moldings and back door a bright white.

Overall, I am pretty darn pleased with my tile and with myself.

Click here to see what the kitchen used to look like and a picture of the inspiration kitchen.

I think it stacks up pretty nicely compared to the inspiration kitchen. What do you think?

Tile. Yay!

Woo hoo! I got my tile today. It looks quite nice.

Now I have no excuse for not painting the kitchen.

So I will do that Monday.

I hope to have the tile up and grouted and sealed a week after that.

That is the last thing. Then the kitchen is done.

Oh wait. I still need a threshold for the back door. But that is in the works.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Kitchen
I got the call yesterday from the tile place. My order is in.
I may try to get by there this morning before work, but it is in totally the opposite direction of where I need to go.
If I don't make it today, tomorrow or Monday will have to do.
I guess this means I cannot put off painting the kitchen any longer. That will happen Monday for sure.
Then the following weekend I hope to get the tile up behind the stove, sink and in the area under the glass cabinets.

Work
We got the information about our new workflow yesterday. It will not change my hours substantially. Which is great. And it won't change my days off. Of course, had it changed them to Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday, I would have been fine with that.
But as long as I get to keep my Sunday and Monday, I can deal with it.
And it won't change my work too much. There were the usual skeptics, but I think it will be fine once we all settle into it.
Other than that, work is work.

Life
I've got a couple things in the works for Sunday with friends. My monthly card group is going to skip our normal get together and head out to the stamp convention in Carson. I haven't been to one of these things, but i have a feeling I should leave my credit cards at home and only bring what I can afford to spend in cash.

I made a card for the swap, but forgot my camera at work last night, so a photo will have to wait.

Then Sunday night, the manfriend and I will be having dinner with some friends at this place.

I have never been there, but I am already checking out the online menu trying to figure out what I want to eat. Wait, I want to eat ALL of it. It sounds great. And my friend tells me they make a killer martini.

It is in Stanton. Which is some vague place in O.C. But that is what Google Maps is for.

Well, I must be off now if I have a prayer of getting from Torrance to the tile place in Hermosa Beach and then to work before noon.

Yeah, I know. Noon. I sound like a slacker. It's just my crazy hours.

Oops... I forgot something

I was going to include the inspiration picture one more time.

The blue in this is a bit more aqua, I think.

I went with more gray on the counters than black, too. But there is still a good contrast in the colors.

And the basics are the same from the inspiration to my kitchen.

It's not blue... It's damask

That is the name of the color I ended up choosing for the backsplash tile.

Before I made the final choice (at $17 a square foot), I went to Lowe's to get a sample of paint in the same color.

Lucky me, they had a small can of the EXACT color on the mistake table. It was $1 instead of $4.

I also bought some paint in yellow and in a couple shades of red.

Those were just not right in there.

(The first photo is the color in the daylight; the second photo is the color at night with the hood light on it.)

And since the blue was the closest to the color in my inspiration kitchen, I went with my gut and ordered the blue.

The sample is square, but I ordered mine in a 3" x 6" so I can get that look of subway tiles.

They also have a very fine crackle in the glaze, which I like. It makes them look a little older, which I think will give the kitchen a more lived-in look.

I think they are just so pretty.

Since it was a custom order, it will take 4-6 weeks to get the tiles. In the meantime I can paint the walls and baseboard, attach the baseboard and get the stuff all moved back into the kitchen.

I already have started with the moving back in part.

The old fridge is empty and waiting for me to give it a good cleaning. I think I have found it a home already.

I also got all my cookbooks in the glass-doored cabinet. It is nice to be able to see them. Plus they look so pretty and colorful.

The manfriend commented that I have a lot. But I think it is an addiction. I love cookbooks.

Just chillin' ... with my new fridge

Finally.

All the appliances are installed.

I got home from work last night to find my fridge and dishwasher in place.

Lovely.

I have not had occasion to use the dishwasher yet (I may give it a test run tonight just to see how it sounds, etc.).

And I haven't moved things into the new fridge yet.

But the icemaker and water dispenser seem to work just fine.

I want to give everything a good cleaning and get the shelf liners in before I move stuff back into the kitchen.

I started today by cleaning some of the cabinets, including the glass-doored ones. They look so nice.

I figure I will use the weekend to get stuff headed out of the spare room and back into the kitchen.

It took me a good solid day to get things out, I figure it will take at least that long to put it all back together.

Plus some stuff will not be coming back in, and I need to decide what that stuff will be.

When I emptied the kitchen it was simply putting things in boxes. This will mean more sorting and organizing.

Also, here is the shot of the finished floor that I have been meaning to post. It is now George-tested and George-approved. He likes flopping down on it and rolling around.

And, on my way to work today, I stopped by another tile place to look at backsplash options.

I found some beautiful stuff.

I think I may have found what I want.

The only problem is it takes at least a month to get it because it is made-to-order tile.

I want to make that decision and place the order by Monday.

For now, I have some (more) sample tiles to take home and look at in all the different lights.

I know it is just tile and if I get tired of the color I choose, I can replace it. But at $14-20 a square foot for some of these options, I want to pick something I really love.

To put the prices in perspective, the floor tile cost $1.79 a square foot. But it also was not handmade and special ordered.

So that means the kitchen may not be done until mid-November.

Getting my kitchen mojo working again

The floor is done! I have a new appreciation for people who do floors for a living. That is not easy work.

I grouted yesterday afternoon. And I am paying for it now with creaky knees and sore shoulders.

But it looks great.

No pictures of that. It is a gray grout that ties in nicely with the floor. I will take more pictures once the workers come back and finish with the fridge and dishwasher, etc.

And the workers may come in this afternoon, or at the very least, sometime this week to finish.

So to celebrate, I really wanted to make a proper dinner for myself and the manfriend.

That pasta last week was great. But I wanted an entree and some side dishes.

I didn't do anything too crazy, but I did make three things I had not made before just to really give my kitchen mojo a workout. It has been a while.

Turns out I am not too rusty.

Dinner was great.

Here is what I made. Just click on the name of the dish if you want the recipe.

Cucumber salad with sour cream and dill dressing (from Everyday Food magazine)

There was no actual cooking with this one, but it gave me a chance to chop and the coolness and creaminess was a nice compliment to the rest of the dinner.

The dressing-to-cucumber ratio was a bit off. I thought it was over-dressed. Next time I would add more cukes or make less dressing. But the flavor was excellent.

Sweet potato hash with bacon (and thyme) (from Gourmet magazine)

Um, YUM! Why have I never thought of this before?

It is like hash browns, but with sweet potato?

This was great with dinner, but would be so yummy as a breakfast or brunch dish, too.
I left out the red bell peppers on this. I was just thinking the flavor might compete too much with the sweet potato. It probably would have been OK with them, but peppers aren't my favorite anyway.

Tomato-and-garlic-stuffed chicken cutlets (from Gourmet magazine)

The key to keeping these together is to not cut the tomato pieces too thick and to make sure the chicken gets nice and brown on the first side before you flip them.

But these were awesome and pretty easy to make. They would be excellent dinner party food because they are not difficult to make and they look quite impressive.

I was thinking though that they would be good with a little cheese of some kind in the stuffing. I might try crumbling some goat cheese or neufchatel or boursin in there next time I make them. I think a creamy cheese with a strong flavor rather than a gooey-melty cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, etc.) would be better.

Oh, and the pan juices are great. The recipe says to pour some on top before serving. Oh yeah.

Tonight will be leftovers. But my little brain is already thinking about what I want to cook next.

I think I need to make something more complicated than cheesy bread in the oven.

I think I need to bake.

It wasn't easy, but it was easier than I thought

Well, the kitchen floor is pretty much done.

I have about 4 tiles left to set today. They were in an awkward place behind the door, so we left them until today.

The man friend was a HUGE help in doing this.

There is no way I would have attempted to tile the kitchen on my own.

Not to mention the fact that he had all the tools, including a wet saw.

We started the day with a trip to Home Depot to exchange the mortar I had bought the night before since the guy sold me stuff that didn't sound like the best option for large porcelain tiles like the ones I had.

Go figure.

Anyway, we got back around 10:30 and started looking at where we wanted to start and how tiles would fall if we started from certain points.

We thought about how to stagger the tiles. I was thinking at first about a diagonal run since I knew I didn't want it just in straight rows all the way down. It was like that before and it was just too straight.

I had been thinking about an offset pattern, which I thought would tie in well with the subway tile style I want for the backsplash. Not to mention it would mean a lot fewer cuts to the tile. That would not only save tile, but it would save time.

Since it worked for the timing, the budget and the style... An offset pattern was perfect.

Once we had that established, we started cutting tiles.

I was a bit fearful about using the tile saw at first and I had the man friend do all the first cuts, especially the angled cuts.

But once we got into straight cuts, I decided to try it. Then I realized, "Hey, this is kinda fun."

So I did a lot of the cutting after that while he measured and dry fit pieces.

Then we started setting them in the mortar. That is what I am doing in the second photo. Don't I look fabulous?

We had dry fit tiles starting at the entrance from the living room, going back about four rows.

Then we started setting tiles moving back from there toward the back of the kitchen.

Late in the afternoon, after working back almost to the end (we had three rows unset), we decided to move to the front of the kitchen.

We wanted to finish off the spots for the dishwasher and the fridge so that the workers could come in this week and install those.

I hope.

Then we went back and finished those three back rows, minus the tiles behind the door.

I will finish those today and then grout the whole thing.

Fun for me.

Basically we worked (not including the HD trip) from 10:30 a.m. to about 7:30 or 8 p.m. with a very short lunch break.

After we were done, we scraped the biggest chunks of mortar off our arms and hands and went for a dip in the hot tub at a condo complex where his dad owns a place.

It felt so good to just soak and float and relax.

It was a long, ache-inducing day. But we accomplished our goal of getting the whole floor set. OK, so we left a few tiles out. But I still feel so great about the progress we made.

And my aches are not as bad as I thought they would be.

My guess is that will all set in tomorrow. When I have to go back to work.

One decision down, one to go

I picked out floor tile over the weekend and went ahead and bought it.

I will take some pictures of that, maybe tomorrow morning, and post them.

It is a medium gray porcelain and the tiles are 16x16 inches and it cost $1.79 a square foot.

The man friend has agreed to help me do the floors this weekend. He is a brave man and I really appreciate the help.

I am still undecided on the backsplash. I am leaning toward the original plan of the subway tile, but I am having trouble finding a color I like that isn't going to cost $20 a square foot.

The floor is about 125 square feet and the splash is about 35 square feet. I hate to spend three times as much on the splash as I do the floor.

We shall see. It may just come down to me biting the bullet and paying more to get something I really love.

A quick look back

For those of you who are new here, this is what the kitchen used to look like, as well as the inspiration kitchen.

Here are some pictures of the packing up and demolition of the old kitchen.

And I found a recipe for Chevre and Mango Steak Bites that I think I will make as one of the nibbles for my kitchen-warming party.

Like a rolling stone... that they compact at a pressure of 100 tons

I now have countertops.

Two dudes came yesterday morning at 8 to install them. Which was early for me, but it was worth it.

They look great. The countertops, not the dudes.

The material is called Caesarstone, which is a quartz composite.

So, what is left?

Tile on the floor. The guy I want to hire will be available in a few weeks.

In the meantime I want the kitchen people to hook up the sink, cooktop and oven. I also think they should be able to finish the open electrical outlets.

They don't want to install the dishwasher and refrigerator until the floor is in so that those things only have to be moved and hooked up once. That will reduce the possibility of denting anything, I guess.

But if they finish the sink, stove and oven, I can start using those and stop washing dishes in the bathroom and making tea on the barbecue.

And then there is the backsplash and painting. Those are things I want to do myself to save money.

So those go to the bottom of the list. I figure I can get the painting done in one weekend and hopefully get the backsplash done in another.

The bottom line: It will be at least another month before the whole thing is DONE.

Click on the photos to get the bigger picture.

No new pictures, but a kitchen update

The countertop guy came out yesterday to make the templates and the regular workers did a little more work.
But I think things are at a standstill until the counters are ready. The guy said they might be able to install by the end of the week or early next week.
I would bet it is later rather than sooner.
I hope I am wrong.
The cooktop and sink are waiting on the counters.
The dishwasher and refrigerator are waiting on tile.
My tile guy is on another job right now, but I am hoping to get a start date from him that falls within the next few weeks.
The manfriend is telling me I can do it myself, but I am scared of doing the floor. I think I will attempt the backsplash. But the floor needs to be solid, so I think I need a professional.
For those of you who may have forgotten about the inspiration for my kitchen, click here. It is all about the white cabinets, the contrasting countertops, the stainless appliances and a cool tile backsplash.
I still love the idea of the subway tiles, but I also really like the glass mosaic tiles (1"x1" squares) in frosted white, greens and blues. If I go to look at tile tomorrow, I will take some pictures of samples.

No granite guy today.

The foreman called this morning to say the granite guy had other appointments and would not be coming to the house until Monday.

Which is fine.

There has been a lot of progress in the past few days and I am happy to have a break from it.

Not that I got to sleep in today.

I took the car in for an estimate.

They said it would cost about $480.

That seems very low to me, especially considering they have to put in a new grill.

But really, like I told the claims adjuster, I don't really care how much it costs as long as they do the job right.

So I am dropping the car off at the body shop Monday.

Anyhoo... back to the kitchen.

They did get the oven and hood installed yesterday. They look awesome!

There is still a protective plastic thing on the hood, which makes it look white. But it is the same stainless as the oven.

The fridge and cooktop will also be that stainless. One of the reasons I wanted to get all the same brand of appliances was to make sure the stainless finishes were consistent.

Also, they left a sample piece of the countertop material. So I took a picture of that, too.

With all the activity this week, things are pretty dusty in the house, so I will need to spend a little time cleaning this weekend.

But it will have to wait until at least Sunday.

Tomorrow is my nephew's first birthday party (he turned 1 Wednesay). There is a fairly large party for the little guy, so I don't anticipate getting much done tomorrow around the house.

Rolling, rolling, rolling along

The kitchen is taking shape much faster now.

They got the upper cabinets in and did part of the plywood for under the counters yesterday. The uppers on the side by the bar will have the glass doors.

Today they did the plywood for the bar area and the counter surface over the new cabinets along that wall.

They also were starting the installation of some of the appliances.

The double oven and the hood should be in when I get home tonight if all goes well.

There was a little hiccup with a light fixture.

Since I already have nice, simple recessed can lights, I decided to just keep those and not have new fixtures put in.

But one of the cans is right at the point where the cabinets above the new fridge will go.

I guess this is because the new fridge is wider than the old fridge.

They asked if I wanted it moved.

But there are six lights right now and they all line up in pairs. I think it would be odd to have 4 of them line up and then two of them be off.

So I told them to just take it out.

The kitchen gets plenty of light and sometime down the line I may put in under cabinet lights anyway.

It just peeved me that the designer came out three times to measure the space and it never occurred to her that the light might be in the way? Or maybe it did, but it never occurred to her to mention it to me.

Whatever. My goal now is to keep this project moving forward.

Supposedly the granite guy is coming tomorrow to measure the counters so the slabs can be ordered and fabricated.

Also tomorrow I am taking my car in for an estimate and to see the claims adjuster.

So that, like the kitchen, also is moving forward. Finally.

Finally, changes I can see

At the top is the kitchen in its patched, plastered and primed state.
Yay. We have progress.
We are in the middle of week 3 of the kitchen remodel and I am finally seeing cabinets go in.
George likes the new cabinets. I wonder if he will like them as much when they are covered by countertops.



















More cabinets in, including the big one, above, that will house the double oven, below.
















There was a huge pile of cardboard in the driveway from the boxes the cabinets came in. And that isn't even all the cabinets. Plus there are still giant boxes that hold the appliances.
I sure hope my workers recycle that stuff.
Turns out I don't really like the drawer pulls I bought.
I mean, I like them (they look like mini versions of the oven handles), but they are too wide for some of the narrower drawers. So I will take those back and may just use the brushed nickel knobs on everything.
Speaking of my oven, isn't the new double oven beautiful?
I can't wait to bake two things at the same time.

Maybe I really AM a pushover

So the kitchen guys told me Wednesday that they would be "working all week."
Of course, that meant 3 days, 4 if they included Saturday.
So on Wednesday they finished the plaster.
On Thursday, I saw them driving up the hill to my house as I was on my way to get pancakes.
By the time I got back from pancakes, they were gone and there seemed to be no visible progress.
Friday one guy showed up to prime the walls.
I asked him "Hey, did you guys work yesterday?" knowing full well that they did not.
"Oh," he said "we just came to drop off our tools."
Nice.
This is getting stupid.
I called the project coordinator chick Thursday to see that the heck was happening.
She told me they would have the bottom cabinets installed Monday so they could make the countertop template and order my counters.
I so doubt that will be happening now.
It takes at least a week for them to fabricate the countertops.
She also said ALL cabinets would be installed by this Wednesday.
Again, I think this is bunk.
The guy Friday said there would be people there today to start the cabinets.
This morning my phone rings at 8.
"Hello?"
"Hello. I'm sorry, but my helper called in sick so I can't come work on the cabinets today."
"Um, OK. So you will just be here Monday?"
"Right. Monday."
I don't want to get too bitchy because I worry that they will rush the job and not do it as well.
Plus I am nice. I have a hard time getting cranky with these guys because they are doing a job I neither want nor could do.
So what do I do?

Anyway, I will take some pictures tomorrow of the newly patched and plastered and primed walls.

Wow, three whole days of work

A couple guys showed up today to work on my kitchen.
One of them said that the other job they were working on was done, so they would be at my house all week.
Um, yeah.
It's Wednesday. All week is all of three days.
It was a little noisy in there today.
They seemed to be sanding and doing final prep work on the walls.
There is a rumor that they will start hanging cabinets tomorrow.
But that is what they said last week, so I won't hold my breath.
If they do manage to get beyond wall prep, I will take some more pictures to post.
I stopped by their offices yesterday to make a payment and try to get a more firm timeline of the project.
Of course the woman I need to speak with was not there. She called me yesterday while I was out. I called her today while she was out.
But she did mention something in her message about doing the "templates" this week.
I am not sure what that means.
I know there is a template they need to cut the counter tops for the sink, etc.
So I really want to talk to her and find out what the heck is happening and when it will happen.

Time to (cough, cough) clean up (achoo!) some of this damn dust

Dust is everywhere.
A mere plastic drop cloth cannot stop it from migrating from the demolished kitchen to the living room, then the bathroom, then the bedroom and office.
So today is a cleaning day.
Smack dab in the middle of my 3-day weekend.
Of course, being the procrastinator that I am, I felt the need to tell you all that I will be cleaning today.
But I cannot put it off any longer.
Oh wait... Look at that. It's lunch time.
OK. Just a quick bite and then down to the dust bowl I go.
I hope you all are having more fun than I am today.

I know it's been a few days, so here goes...

I went to Vegas for a few days to get away from work, not to mention the noise and dust and mess that is my house right now.
I know they are only tearing up one room, but that dust gets tracked everywhere.
Last night when I got home from Vegas I sat down on the couch to have a beer and relax after the drive and I saw dusty white paw prints all over my dark wood coffee table.
Anyway...
Vegas. Yeah. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. In my case the only thing staying in Vegas was my money.
It was not a good gambling trip this time.
I played blackjack and I am a conservative better and had guidance from people who really know how to play. And even those people lost. So it was just a real run of bad cards.
Oh well. It's only shoes, right?

As for progress on the kitchen...
They told me Saturday that they would probably start hanging cabinets Monday. No dice.
They had done patching and plastering over the holes in the walls and worked more on the electrical stuff.
But today the foreman told me they would not be here tomorrow. One guy is coming Saturday to work a little more on the walls, then after that they won't be back until Wednesday.
At that time they will do some texturing on the walls and then hang cabinets Thursday. A week from now.
Bummer.
I was thinking it's no wonder this is going to take at least a month, they only work a few hours a day.
They showed up today at 9:30 and were gone by 11.
I just keep looking at the cabinets in the boxes and the appliances sitting in my garage. I just keep looking at the inspiration picture and thinking about tile options.
I just want my kitchen.