Kitchen Remodel Thread v2

[wct097]

12-13 hours worth of laying tile and I'd say I'm half done. I made the executive decision to lay all of the full pieces of tile first, then go back to cut in later. Not sure it's faster or slower, but it worked well for getting the backer board done and being more efficient at using as little total material as possible.

So basically I have the entire kitchen and breakfast nook center sections done with the exception of a path I left open between the great room and garage as I still need to get in/out with material. Will probably do that section tomorrow evening.

A couple of flaws thus far. Nothing really major except that I started to do a pattern that I somehow got off. I started at the pole/support and went along the step with full tiles. The next row I offset 8" (24" tiles). My intention was to offset each row by 8" so every 4th row restarted. The problem was that when I got to the end, I started back offsetting by 8" and ended up with every other row being the same.... with the exception of the row by the step.

Too much work and I'm too worn out I suppose. Didn't notice it until this morning.

I'm paying the price for working 10 hours today. Sore all over. Right hand has a blister from the mortar trowel. Was wearing mechanics gloves covered with rubber gloves to make cleanup easier. Switched out the mechanics 3x as they got soaked with sweat. Still ended up with a decent blister.

I'm too old for this crap.

Tomorrow I'll concentrate on cutting in under where the cabinets will go. Should be fairly fast since I don't have to make it look perfect. Just part of the critical path of this project as cabinets are going in on Tuesday.

 

[wct097]

..and before someone mentions it... yes, the pattern in the breakfast nook doesn't line up with the tile in the kitchen area. That's intentional as I wanted to start with full length tiles coming from the step. Once the cabinets are in, it's unlikely you'll be able to notice the difference as there will only be one place visible that could line up.

 

[abqtj]

 

[Jays89YJ]

Your window should be able to be reglazed from the exterior. Should be an inexpensive fix. Call a glazing company. US Mirror & Glass is excellent if you have one.

 

[BrandonM7]

I'm too old for this crap.

Not really too old, but definitely too soft. We've gone soft from punching keys for a living and only doing projects every so often - hanging with these guys in the broke-dick crawlers has shown me that. Plenty of people I grew up with. They've gotten fat and gray just like me, but they sure do seem a lot harder to bruise and cut than I do They don't groan near as much when they get up off the ground nearly as much, either.



*ETA* Forgot to mention - I'm not mad at the slightly fluid tile offset. I don't think it will be an issue at all once it's all together. There's going to be a lot of stuff to break up the visual pattern that is now one wide open view. Looks good

 

[wct097]

Window is double pane insulated variety. Cost is $475. Local glass place is fixing it, but will be a week or two before it comes in.

I'm not super worried about the tile offset pattern. Just annoyed that i didn't get it how i wanted.

Yes.... fat & soft, with a little grey. I've always been fat and soft though. That aside, I never was good at knowing my limits. I've always gone at things like i wasn't fat & soft. Hiking, climbing, biking, snowboarding, working, etc. Seems like i pay the price more these days. I'm certainly feeling it this morning. Going to get started here shortly.

 

[Jays89YJ]

Yeah, we break them daily in our plant. Milgard brand. Reglazing cost is between $60-$150 per window. Retail would be more.

Even the STC 40 aluminum framed windows we broke on my LA project didn't cost that much to have them reglazed in our plant. 4/0x5/0 casements. Reglazing onsite was more, but prevailing wage.

 

[wct097]

Kitchen is done with the exception of the area under the fridge. Still need to cut in the breakfast nook and do the pantry. Cut about half of the tile for the breakfast nook today. May be short a box or so of tile to finish the job. Will see.

Called in drunk to work tomorrow. Need to figure out the exact order of things, but I'm going to try to pull off the following:

* Cut out & cap the copper to make room for cabinets coming in
* Grout at least the area around/under the cabinets
* Cut in the breakfast nook
* Tile under the fridge

I'd really like to do the pantry, but I expect I won't have the time. I'm also thinking about abandoning my pot filler plans for lack of time.

 

[FinlayZJ]

Any reason you offset the tiles at the front? It would drive me crazy if I bought your place.

 

[wct097]

Any reason you offset the tiles at the front? It would drive me crazy if I bought your place.

Yes

..and before someone mentions it... yes, the pattern in the breakfast nook doesn't line up with the tile in the kitchen area. That's intentional as I wanted to start with full length tiles coming from the step. Once the cabinets are in, it's unlikely you'll be able to notice the difference as there will only be one place visible that could line up.

The cabinets & island will be on top of that line to the left and the far right/near the wall. I don't think it'll be as obvious as it is with nothing in there. I also really like not having small/thin portions of tile right at the threshold/step.

 

[wct097]

The only place that really sticks out to me is right at the transition between the kitchen and breakfast nook.

 

[Road Head]

This is JUOT, master of all trades. I doubt anybody buying your house will notice.

 

[Jays89YJ]

Looks good man

 

[wct097]

Grouted the kitchen portion of the tile. Also roughed in the plumbing by cutting out the old stuff and capping it off. Wanted to get much more done but it just wasn't in the cards. Going to forgo the rest of the tile work until next weekend.

 

[SAD]

Grouted the kitchen portion of the tile. Also roughed in the plumbing by cutting out the old stuff and capping it off. Wanted to get much more done but it just wasn't in the cards. Going to forgo the rest of the tile work until next weekend.

looks good!

 

[wct097]

Thanks! I'm reasonably pleased with the results. Grout is still drying so I can't get a good feel on the color yet. I think it's going to blend pretty well with the tile.

Garage is full of cabinets. The installer is apparently pissed that the delivery guys left them in the garage rather than in the kitchen.

Painter is on the way over to cut in over the cabinets.

 

[abqtj]

Grout makes it looks so much better

 

[wct097]

Cabinet guys have been here since about 6:45am and are going at it hard. Installer says the cabinets I picked are nice. He does work for about 8 different vendors and says that he's installed some crappy cabinets but that these are higher end. I pretty much expected that, but it is always nice to have someone that knows what they're talking about confirm it.


edit: Watching these guys work, I just can't help but get annoyed at the shoddy workmanship displayed by the original installation.

 

[wct097]

Before:

During:

 

[Jays89YJ]

Why not taller wall cabs? You use it for dust collection storage?