Plumbers, Dentists and More Backsplash

Plumbers are worth their weight in gold. After our countertop and new sink installation in the kitchen, we contacted a plumber (actually the same one who fixed the drain lines after the rug situation) to hook up the sink plumbing and new garbage disposal. For anyone looking to install a new countertop – this is somewhat of a hidden cost. Well, when I called to set up the plumber, I told them that I had two sinks that needed to be reconnected…the kitchen and the guest bathroom. After mulling it over, the cost that is (not cheap), I decided that Shane and I could figure out the guest bathroom sink. Kitchen hookup goes splendidly…it looks so clean and organized and professional under the cabinet. Just what you like to show off at parties and stuff…

Guest bath is another story. On Saturday, Shane and I take a look at the under-workings of the sink and think that we have it totally in the bag. The main pipe from the wall doesn’t match up with the drain of the new sink, but we just figure that we can push it back in the wall (first mistake) and force it to match up. So we take care of that and proceed to hook up the faucet pipes and the sink drain. First try we realize that we didn’t tighten the faucet pipes enough – which resulted in being squirted in the face. Second try, after putting on plumbers tape, we realize that we still didn’t get the pipes tight enough. Third try, we realize that shoving the pipe in the wall wasn’t a good move. After both Shane and I had been showered, squirted, and doused with water, using our small shop towels to soak up the water from the vanity and surrounding floor – we have decided to pay the additional $125 for a plumber to hook up the bathroom sink. And that will be the best hundred bucks I’ve spent all year.

On to today…I had a dentist appointment this morning where I had to get a cavity filled. For those who know me, I am DEATHLY afraid of needles…like I go into hysterics if I see one. Or like the fact that I set a goal when I was 22 to give blood by the time I was 25…missed that goal and made a fool of myself by having too high of blood pressure because I was crying at a Red Cross Blood Drive. I get to the dentist and see the finger pronged needle and I am, surprisingly, fine! I sit down, start talking to the hygienist, the dentist comes in and tells me that he is going to numb the ‘shot’ area first with an analgesic. So he puts this Orajel type stuff in my mouth and then gives me like five shots – I swear. I am totally fine…still! My hands were shaking a bit, but at least I’m not crying, hyperventilating and planning my escape. He fills my cavity and even says ‘You are doing great!’ I’m sure they say that to everyone, but I especially took it to heart. Afterwards he tells me that I can rinse my mouth with Listerine so I pop up out of the chair, so proud of myself, and go to grab the little plastic mouthwash cup. But my hands are shaking so hard that I can barely grab onto the cup…what was in that analgesic – speed? So the dentist sees me and asks if I’m ok…at which time I proceed to cry. Here it comes – all of the tears that I held back during the filling have just been unleashed as it is time to leave. I tell him that I think that it’s the Novocain…that MUST be what is making me cry and shake. Definitely the medicine. He makes me sit down and asks the hygienist to stay with me – so embarrassing. After about 10 minutes I finally settle down and am ‘allowed’ to leave. For the next 4 hours, I had a crooked smile, huge left cheek and a real problem with drinking liquids.

And on to more of the beautiful backsplash…here are some of the in-progress pics:

I'm planning on painting some tomorrow night and this weekend, so stay tuned for more pics!

Oh - how could I forget?!? Shane and I just bought a new couch and TV console for the living room...wonder what we decided on? Remember the poll from forever ago? It wasn't any of those. :)

The Kitchen: Before and After…

A picture can say a thousand words…enjoy the kitchen before and afters (minus the painting - those will come this weekend)!

The Decision Has Been Made...

We have charted our course of action and are ready to move forward with the granite AND backsplash renovation! Yay! We have been dealing with Superior Granite and Stone and they have definitely exceeded our expectations. Our salesperson, Jennifer, deals mostly over email (which I love), is very prompt in responding to my laundry lists of questions, and was very willing to work with us on pricing (as in she gave us an extra dollar off of our square footage price because she had two slabs of the Tropic Brown in stock).

Since she was so great, we have decided to let her take care of the removal, repair and installation our new backsplash, kitchen granite, and threw a curveball in and will let them replace the yellow-y marble top in the guest bathroom (and that was a steal at around $25 a square foot!) We are going on Saturday to pick out our slab and then hitting up Floor and Décor for our tile backsplash.

And on to the backsplash….it is with a very huge amount of joy that I will watch my heinous brick backsplash come tumbling to the ground. Well, not the ground – I don’t want it damaging my floors – but to maybe a catch-all drop cloth laid neatly on the countertop and floor. I have decided to move forward with a travertine subway tile, but want to use the smaller tile size (1 ½ x 3 – I think?). But I am loving this look too…

Oh, and BTW – the dishwasher is broken. Has been for over a week. I’ve been washing dishes by hand. Yeah, I said ‘by hand.’ The repair guy is coming on Monday, finally, to fix it…so let’s just hope that there are no screaming phone fights and that he actually shows. (fingers crossed)

Granite Estimation Situation

So, as I mentioned yesterday, we had a contractor come out last night to give us a quote on the countertops. In my post I mentioned a rough price of $40 per square foot…but those who know me well (Shane) know that I low-ball EVERYTHING! And apparently, with this guy’s products I low balled by about $10.

I also learned that they getcha’ with the sinks. We currently have a cream colored porcelain sink and I hate it. It scratches so easily and it’s cream – so it’s a nightmare to keep clean. AND – it has two bowls, but the bowl with the garbage disposal is really small (like a bar sink) and the other is extremely oversized…makes no sense. Well, I told the guy last night that I wanted a stainless steel undermount sink with two equal size bowls. ‘No problem.’

Here is the breakdown:

• 36.8 square feet of kitchen countertops x $48 square foot for Tropic Brown/Desert Brown granite = $1766.40


• Stainless Steel undermount sink with two equal bowls = $200


• Installation of sink = $249


• Demo and disposal of old countertops = $147


• TOTAL: $2362.40

Huh?!? I’m paying almost $500 for a sink??? No ma’am. He told me this was standard pricing, but that if I could find one for a better price, then I could bring it to him and he would only charge me the install.

After Shane and I talked, I decided that I was going to get a couple of other quotes and just see if it was the company that was overpriced, or if it was the granite that we chose or whatever…So, I did an online quote today with a granite company in Kennesaw, and someone responded immediately. They quoted me $37 a square foot for Tropic Brown, bringing the total more in line with what I was looking to spend.

Here is their breakdown:

• 37 square feet of kitchen countertops x $37 square foot for Tropic Brown/Desert Brown granite = $1369


• Stainless Steel undermount sink with two equal bowls = $250


• Installation of sink = $150


• Demo and disposal of old countertops = $0


• TOTAL: $1769

Still getting me on the sink, but we’re saving so much on the square footage price.It pays to shop around!!! So stay tuned for my 'befores' as we plan to make a decision by the weekend! Who knows, we might even demo that backsplash this weekend!

We’re Rockin!

I am very excited to announce that someone is coming to quote the installation of granite countertops tonight! Oh, how I cannot WAIT to be rid of my horrible Formica countertops that have nicks and cuts in them…and that are just ugly.

Shane and I did some rough measuring, and we approximated 40 sq. ft. of countertops in the kitchen. If you take an average price of $40 per square foot (fabricated and installed) that is only $1600…which isn’t that bad - especially since they say that you will double the money that you spend in kitchens and bathrooms. I also mentioned the heinous backsplash that I have hated since we first looked at the house in April 2008. He said that he had seen it done and it looked ‘pretty cool,’ but I quickly let him know that mine is not so ‘cool.’ He doesn’t do tile work, but said that he could recommend some people and could give me a rough estimate on how much it would cost to take down the existing and install a new backsplash (with average costing tile).

So, now I’m looking to you for opinions…do I want a tile backsplash? That would probably add on another $500, and while I don’t mind spending that – I wonder, will it be too much? Here are a couple of kitchen ideas that I found…

Beadboard backsplash: Very clean, and it's somewhat comparable since I also have white cabinets. But I will NOT be getting black granite...I've heard it's a nightmare to keep clean.

Tiled backsplash: This seems very boring to me, but again, it's comparable since the granite countertops are similar to what I like and it has white cabinets.
Subway tile: I love the look of this, and also like it with the white cabinets...My choice would probably be something more in the cream family, rather than the red family.

What do ya’ll think? Plain drywall backsplash? Beadboard? Subway tile? I’m open to all suggestions…except for brick pavers.