Kitchen Week 7

I took off from work this past week to (hopefully) wrap up the kitchen. With the baby's arrival only two weeks away, there's not much time to spare.

Did I finish? There was so much to do - flooring, appliances, countertops, backsplash, plumbing, crown molding... there's only one way to find out!

Granite was set to arrive on Wednesday, so it was important to have all appliances in place - especially those that had countertops around them. The fridge didn't really need to go in first, but I was anxious to get it into place. First, the floor trim needed to be painted.

I put in the last couple floor pieces that we have. Now we have to wait a week for the last box to arrive, so I can finish this area by the back door.
We're happy with how the slate pattern laminate looks, so far.
The stove is slid into place. It's the only appliance left that's original to the house, when we bought it.
I put down cardboard to protect the new floors. Here I removed the toekicks from these cabinets so that I could feed the dishwasher drain line from it's home on the right side of the picture, to the sink cabinet on the left.
Although it looks like I'm slow-dancing with the fridge, I'm actually moving her carefully into the kitchen. Part of me was sad because now it's a longer walk from the couch to get a beer.
I finally hook up the icemaker line. It's tied into a cold water line in the basement. Finally, we have an automatic icemaker!
Here is our first ice harvest...one lonely cube... at this rate, we'll have enough ice for a cold soda by Christmas.
The fridge fit nicely into place.
The sound of ice dropping into the tray is unmistakable - I rush to the freezer, and see that we have for our first full batch of ice! Exciting! Our first born ice cube now has seven new friends to hang out with.
The new water supply line for the dishwasher is in place on the right side of the picture. The supply line goes straight down into the basement to tie into a hot water line. I drilled a hole right next to it for the drain line which will run to the sink.
What's that sound?? More ice! Woohoo!
I had to special order a 10' dishwasher drain line since the original 6' one was too short. It arrived a mere hour before the granite guys arrived. The dishwasher is set level so that it drains properly.
Hey, look at all of that beautiful ice!
Derrick and Jacob from Colonial Marble and Granite arrive with our beautiful "Sapphire Blue" countertops. This big slab weighs about 500 lbs!
Derrick (right) and Jacob (left) are two big German (I think) dudes, and are very good at what they do.
Here the 2nd big piece is slid into place. Derrick, the lead guy, is very chatty, and complimented me on my nice and level countertops.
Here's the glue and coloring agent that is used to attach the two big pieces.
Jacob works on installing the sink. We opted for an undermount sink.
Derrick drills holes for the faucet as Jacob uses a vacuum for the dust.
Three out of four holes are cut. One more will be cut on the right for the disposal button.
Derrick works on the seam between the two big pieces.
Jacob uses some silicon to glue down this small piece by the fridge.
Jacob cleans the surface with acetone in preparation for it's final seal coat. This seal coat is supposed to last a lifetime, as opposed to traditional granite sealers which need to be re-done every few years.
And they're done! It looks great!

This area by the fridge and pantry will be our mail area.No two granite slabs are alike! Can you spot the seam?
I was given strict orders by Derrick to not touch the granite until the next day. So I had to wait until Thursday to start the backsplash tile. Knowing how messy I am, I covered the granite with paper to protect it while I place the tile and grout.
We went with a simple and inexpensive white subway tile.
The tiles have built in nubs that create a 1/16" gap, so it was nice to not deal with spacers.
I got pretty good at cutting unique tile shapes for around the outlets.
Instead of buying a tile saw or borrowing one, I decided to spend $50 and rent one from Home Depot. And I'm glad I did! This professional model tile saw cut through the tiles like a hot knife through butter - much better than a basic tile saw that I would've bought.
And the last piece is in!
The next day, the tiles are ready to be grouted. I bought this acrylic epoxy grout from Home Depot, and it's best feature is that it never needs sealing. Apparently it tends to set quicker that traditional grout, so after mixing, I split the batch into two halves, and put the second into the freezer, per the manufacturer's recommendations.

Now that the tile grout is done, I can work on the plumbing. Our water filter spigot is on the left, and a spray hose is on the right.
Here the water supply lines are in, as well as the water filters on the left. I used Sharkbite copper fittings which eliminate the need for soldering pipes. They're much easier and quicker to install, but more expensive than traditional fittings. Next the disposal and drain lines are installed, as I work my way from the back to the front of the sink cabinet.
I took this opportunity to replace the original iron pipe drain lines with new PVC.
Here's the new drain line installed in the basement.
My plumbing wasn't the greatest, and took some tweeking to pass leak tests - although, we avoiding any disasters like the one my favorite 80's sitcom characters Larry and Balki experienced.

With plumbing done, the final major hurdle is the crown molding. It's a two-piece molding with a rectangular piece and a 'cove' crown molding. In this picture, the 2x4 represents the ceiling. The rectangular piece is installed first. The two-piece system helps conquer the wavyness of the ceiling, while still looking nice when installed.
I need some nailer blocks in order to have something to attach the rectangular molding to, so I created a jig with some scrap wood. The blocks were nailed to the board in order to create the needed 3/4" overhang spacing for my nailer blocks.

First the 2x4 blocks are slid in place.
Then a couple pieces of 1/2" plywood scrap that are nailed into the 2x4 pieces. I had to make about 30 of these, so the jig came in handy.
Here's the finished nailer block.

The blocks are in place, nailed to the tops of the cabinets. Now I have something to nail the molding to.

Rectangler molding is pretty easy to deal with, and it goes up in only a few hours.

I finish just before it got dark on Saturday.
After baseball on Sunday, I attack the 'cove' crown molding and hope to finish in a few hours. The first big piece is the easiest part of my day.
Crown molding is hard. These pieces are set at an angle, and apparently there's a top and bottom (thanks to Cendy for noticing). In 3+ hours, I only had 3 pieces (correctly) installed. Unfortunately I will have to order more since I wasted too much on cutting mistakes.
Well, I completed most of what I wanted to this week. Here's what's left:

-Floors (still waiting on that last box to arrive)

-Crown molding (not sure how long it'll take for two more 8' pieces)...

-Cabinet doors & drawers

-Move in!

The cabinet doors and drawers will be pretty easy, so in a few days we'll move into the kitchen. I will finish the floors and crown molding as they arrive. Although the baby won't know any different, Cendy (and I) will be glad to finish this major project!