Kitchen Remodeling - Day Three

Well - although this is plenty excitement for me, writing about it isn't as interesting as actually being here. I guess the personalities contribute a great deal to the experience.

Walter, our contractor, is very comforting. He assures me that not only will everything be glorious when the kitchen is done, it might even be fun! He was chosen because of a recommendation from my garden club friend Dianne. Walter has been working in her subdivision for five years, being passed hand-to-hand, and doing repeat business with many of her neighbors. Dianne herself had her master bath done (just finished) and was amazed to come home one day and find that there were toothpicks all over the walls. The grout lines were so small that the toothpicks defined the spacing for the tiles.

So far Walter has talked me into granite countertops - I thought they would be too expensive, but it is the same price as Corian. I chose a beautiful slab that picks up the brown and ivory and has a vein of green in it. It is called Lady's Dream. I found a tile that will be used for the backsplash, in a diagonal configuration, to compliment the granite. Both go with the paint colors we had chosen in 2001, when we were GOING to do the kitchen and I lost my job.

Of course, the unintended consequence of this choice is that I can't really use stone-look flooring because it would look bad next to the real stone. Real stone is too hard. I searched for something that would look right and found linear cork flooring that is more than perfect. It will be good for my bad back and is beautiful. My only reservation is the warning on the pamphlet that says "Wet maintenance is strictly forbidden." What does that mean? Will it float?

In my ongoing search for flooring, countertops, cabinets, etc., I have met lots of interesting people. The manager of Georgian Stone is a very knowledgable woman who started with the company in a clerical position. She told me later that when she saw our cabinet sample and color selections, she already knew I would choose Lady's Dream. But she is part psychologist, so she let me look at everything, leading me, eventually to the slab that I chose.

Today I met the plumber, Winfred, a very nice man who sounds very confident and practical.

He will return tomorrow to run a new copper water line, INSIDE the insulation, and arrange for the dishwasher to move from right to left so that we can accommodate a corner cabinet lazy susan. He will also price on-demand water heaters for the kitchen and laundry bath which are furthest from our main water heater. With Georgia's drought, we can't be running the water, waiting for it to heat up.

The kitties had a chilly night. The heat pump that serves the solarium is camped on the same circuit as the oven that was removed. Of course that circuit was turned off.

More adventures to come.