Progress Update: Week 10

First of all, apologies to my dear readers for an absence of updates.  Truthfully, the kitchen renovation was on pause during week 9 (read: nothing much got done) because we were on hold waiting for our countertops.

Pop Quiz Time!  The following picture shows...

(A) someone's been playing paintball in the house again.

(B) the site of the double homicide where we took out our frustration on the 'bad' contractors.

(C) chicken-pox: even the house has grown sick of this renovation!

Actually, the correct answer is far less exciting.  That red stuff is bondo, which Alex gave me to fill all the nail holes.  "It's the bee's knees," as Alex tells me, and it does a better job than caulk, which I find shrinks and forms divots.  I'm amazed how smooth this stuff is once you sand it down.  But the sanding process creates a plume fine pink dust, making it a bit of a hassle.  But now my trim looks fabulous!

Restored original trim and new cove molding in the vestibule.  (Nevermind the painter's tape temporarily holding the light canopy in place!)

As you can see, the wall paper is also hung in the vestibule.  DH disapproves, but I LOVE it!  

At least one area (the hallway) in my home is finished!  Too bad it's the least necessary!

Thanks to Ikea, our countertops finally arrived on Aug. 16.  I had read online that the installation process would be very long and messy, especially seeing that they would have to notch the counters on site to fit the farm-house sink.  The installers were real professionals; they did a fast, but careful, clean job.  Very little quartz dust was left behind at all, making me a happy home-owner!  It took just over an hour to completely install the counters and farm-house sink.  Boy is it nice when you get someone who knows what they are doing!

The quartz countertops finally arrive!

The two gentlemen from IGS cut off excess material for a perfect fit.

The Real Deal:  Their are reports of inferior imitation Caesarstone floating around on the market.  According to the Caesarstone website, authentic material will be stamped on the diagonal on the back like this.  Authentic Caesarstone will have the serial number, the date of final inspection, a batch number and then the color number.  ("Atlantic Salt" is color 6270.)  Note the final inspection date of 8/5/13 -- these babies are brand spankin' new!  I have a feeling IGS received the material late, causing the delay in installation.

Checking for pock marks in the new shiny surfaces.  Yes, I am wearing my particulate matter protective mask.  I've already been knocked down once this renovation by inhaling too much icky stuff and I don't want to repeat that mistake again!

Note to Ikea Orlando fans: I do NOT recommend buying your stone countertops through Ikea's 3rd-party vendor.  Our experience working with the countertop manufacturer was aggravating at best.  The worst part was their failure to deliver the countertops as promised.  When the countertops were templated on July 19 we were promised installation on Aug. 2.  Then we were told Aug. 14.  Then it became Aug. 16.  Then we got another cancellation and notification that they would be installed Aug. 21.  At that point I lost it, filed a complaint to Ikea, and threatened to cancel the order entirely.  Ikea was WONDERFUL to work with.  They were in our corner the entire time.  One of the heads in the administrative office called IGS and said either they deliever our countertops by Aug. 16, or they would refund us 100% of our cost, including the 'non-refundable' deposit.  Afterall, it's been nearly a month since they came to template the countertops (July 19) and this amount of time is ridiculous.  Numerous local manufacturers quoted us stone countertops in a matter of days.  Was it really worth $10/sq.ft. less to buy the counters through Ikea?  For the hassle and frustration, not at all!  The one redeeming factor was that they cut one large slab in a single piece and did not charge us extra for the waste material, although I really believe this had more to do with the original template being forwarded to the guys who actually cut the stone, rather than the company's attempt to do something to make us happy customers.  Would I work with International Granite and Stone out of Odessa, FL, again?  Hells no!  But the countertops are the real deal (I checked the serial numbers on the back of the slabs) and they do look beautifully done.  

DH and I wasted no time getting to the next project: backsplash tile.  We stayed up until midnight the same day the counters were installed and got about 1/4 of the work done.  Thankfully, this backsplash stuff is pretty DIY friendly!

DH reflects on our tiling progress.

Beautiful: The cove molding really finishes the space.  Have I mentioned before how awesome my carpenter is???  For whatever reason, the camera is really picking up the pink undertone of the beech wood in this photo, but this is exactly the look I was hoping to achieve; I couldn't be happier!

Countertops and backsplash in one day?!  My mind can't handle it!