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More Travel And Kitchen

Jeff — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:46:40 +0000

Last week, I added a new airport to my list: Fayetteville, NC. Not big news, just one of my rare (at least now) business trips. There’s not much to do in Fayetteville, so I don’t really have anything to write about.

However, I do have some things to say about our “completed” home remodel. I’m beginning to learn that project completion is a fluid definition. All the flooring, cabinets and counter tops are installed, true, and most of the electrical is done. The last piece of electrical will be our over-bar pendant lights which we have yet to choose. We still have to finish the kitchen backsplash as well, but that is what I’m calling “phase 2” of the project. At least, I’m calling it that so I can say this one is finished… when it’s finally done.

One of the big unfinished things is that our dishwasher was leaking and we only found out about that after it was re-installed and began to leak on our new floor. So we have been doing without for a couple of months now. A couple of weeks ago, we ordered a new one that was supposed to be installed last week. However, it was damaged on arrival and another had to be ordered. Luckily, the new one came in the next day and will be installed this morning.

As if that wasn’t enough, several manufacturing flaws were discovered on the cabinets that now need to be fixed. Fortunately, the manufacturer has sent us all the replacement parts and will be swapping out the bad pieces for us.

Maybe we’ll be done with this thing eventually.

Got Rock!

Jeff — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:59:13 +0000

Now, the last of the “big” installs is done. And I mean BIG. They brought up through our crooked staircase a granite slab large enough to crush several men if it fell while they were moving it. All of our counters are seamless sections now. We’re very happy with our fabricators.

The stone is called Yellow River and is very nice with lots of “movement” and a variety of color tones.

Here’s a few wide pictures.

I have a few close-ups of some of the details:

And finally, our spiffy new faucet [which I installed myself!]:

Awesome!

Now, we just need running water…

Sadness

Jeff — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:49:39 +0000

Today is a melancholy day.

Oh, most things are looking up mind you. The remodel is coming along and I’m sanding and painting the patches in the wall and ceiling. The electrician will be in tomorrow to finish most of the work. And, I even have a new opportunity at work which should help my career.

However, I just sold my motorcycle. That makes me sad.

Here are some pictures just before I sold it:

33,000 miles is quite a long tenure for a bike and it will probably get even more with the new owner.

I almost cried as a watched it ride away. Almost.

But I know that I will one day have an even better one.

One day.

Almost There – We Have Cabinets!

Jeff — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:39:12 +0000

After a long day of very skilled work, the installers have completed the main phase of the cabinet install. They have to leave a few things undone for the electricians to finish and the plumber to attach things, but for the most part, they’re done!

Tomorrow is major electrical work and hopefully granite templating followed by the inspection for electrical. Once that’s done, the finishing can be done on the island and the sheetrock can be closed up.

So, you asked for them and here they are: some pictures!

First, the upper cabinets were assembled as a unit.

Then, they were lifted on top of the mounting board that was temporarily attached to the wall to keep them level. You can see how many people it took – I’m glad I didn’t try to do it myself!

Here’s the cabinets without doors:

And now, the “final” shots [well, final for the day at least]:

No, we don’t have the dishwasher installed since the electrical and plumbing on the island aren’t done yet. That starts tomorrow.

Well, I love the new layout and it was exhausting just watching these guys work.

Floor: Complete!

Jeff — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 21:43:35 +0000

After four days of very loud pounding and sawing [and lots of the accompanying dust] our floors are finally done! They are beautiful. Now, we just have to learn how not to scratch them.

Our next step will be moving our furniture back into place in the living/dining area. We’ll be able to do this over the weekend.

Monday, our new cabinets will be installed. And we’ll get our garage back, since they are stacked in there.

Here’s some pictures of the final floor.

Pretty!

Floors: Almost There

Jeff — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:26:40 +0000

Today is the third day of our flooring install. This morning, they repaired the whole in the floor that the plumber had to make to move the island over… and they did it EARLY. I’m glad, but I had to be up and ready early for them to come in. And they had to do it this morning [as you’ll see in the last picture] because if they didn’t, the flooring installers would not have been able to continue.

So, without further ado, pictures.

Day 1 [flooring removal and most of living room]:

Day 2 [all of living room up to most of “dining” room]:

Day 3 [most of kitchen]:

Demolition Day

Jeff — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:54:29 +0000

Today I stayed home from work to watch our kitchen fall apart. We first had to clean out all of our kitchen stuff – which I must say is quite a job. We then created a “kitchenette” upstairs in a spare bedroom. The demolition team arrived at noon to this clean, neat kitchen:

A mere two hours later, we have this:

Amazing how devastating two hours can be, yes?

Next up: plumbing!

The Whole Slab

Jeff — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:37:52 +0000

We made a journey the other day to the same area that our granite counter top fabricator’s shop is, so we thought we’d stop in and see the slab. We had chosen it from a company out in Jessup, MD and they then shipped the slab to our fabricators.

Here’s a shot of it:

Pretty, ain’t it? It will be the last thing installed, so we’re a bit impatient to get it home.

Let There Be Light

Jeff — Sun, 30 May 2010 03:52:28 +0000

As many of you know, Laura and I are in the process of renovating our kitchen. We have already started with the electrical work, and next week [Wednesday] we will begin the demolition phase. We will, of course, be posting some photos – like these of some electrical work:

Here are some of the after pictures:

As you can see, we now have more light than we did before. And there’s still more to come!

A Proper Cut

Jeff — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:19:52 +0000

Having attempted barbeque brisket a couple of times before in my smoker and not being completely satisfied, I’ve sought advice on how to proceed from those who have tasted success… literally. The key, it seems, is the meat. Not just the quality of the meat, though, but the cut. Most briskets here are trimmed and very lean. These just don’t smoke well. What you need is a whole untrimmed brisket. like this:

As you can see, I finally found one. I have been shopping around for quite a while looking for one. Even Whole Foods, which usually carries quite a variety of cuts doesn’t stock this. We finally found it at The Organic Butcher in McLean, VA. The butcher was so nice as to get us this cut as well as some beef ribs to smoke next to it. He said that he never trims the brisket without explicit instructions from customers to do it.

Tomorrow, I will be firing up the smoker to take a pass at this 11-pound pile of jiggly fat and meat. Since I’m going to be working from home, it will be a great time to try it out.

Of course, it’s supposed to rain, too…