"Apply shellac sealer to cat-affected areas of subfloor." If your goal is to remove the odor, shellac won't make it go away. You need to replace the subfloor underlayment in that area (which they can do) just as you are going to replace the damage baseboards. Cats CAN smell any of those spray odors that you are trying to cover it up. If it's soaked into your drywall underneath the baseboards, you will need to replace that drywall also. Wood flooring installation prices in our area run $2/sf to install, $2/sf to sand, $2/sf to stain (if needed) and $2/sf to finish. So about $6/sf. BUT this is in our area of the country, the Mid-South. If you live out east or out west, I would think those prices would be higher. Others can chime in... Our flooring contractor charged me an extra $20/room to install the new baseboard (which I had painted and all ready to go.) Removing carpeting and padding is really easy to do if you have one or two people to help you. That can save you some $$. Roll it up and take it out to the curb (or call the city to come pick it up - some will.) WHen we took up our old carpeting, some of the padding stuck to the subfloor so I had to scrape it off. But a $6 scraper from HD did the job and I did it myself with ease. (female) If your hearth boarder is the same wood as the rest of the flooring, there shouldn't be any extra charge for that. My last comment is to be careful about filling in gaps in your wood flooring. We are coming off the heating season which causes wood to contract a bit. Come summer and higher humidity, it will expand. If you fill in the gaps now and it expands this summer, you will have cupping or possibly the floor may buckle. A flooring pro might be better able to explain this. Wood floors move - that's just the nature of wood. The carpentry work along the wall and subfloor would be extra and replacing drywall is not a difficult job, nor is sanding,priming,or painting it. And I wouldn't pay any contractor for anything except materials until the job is finished. What kind of warranty does he provide on his work? You don't pay for half of your house before it's built so why would you need to give him half of his money before he's even started the job? I would not hire any contractor that insisted on pre-payment except for materials. So looking at your quote and figuring what I would be charged here for all of that, it does seem a bit high especially since you might be able to do some of that work yourself. Does that quote include the cost of the hardwood flooring??? That will make a big difference. And if it were me, I would go buy that flooring myself so that I knew I was getting good quality wood and not some LL rejects. Is there any specification as to the grade of wood he is going to use in the quote? If you have any leftover pieces of your old flooring, you should be able to match it up easily - just take it along to the flooring place or lumber co. Do some test pieces without any stain - just the finish. You may not need to stain your flooring. It doesn't look like it has any stain on it. Good luck - hope that helps!

well, the temperature went down instead of up but finally got to spend sometime in the kitchen space this afternoon. C9pilot, ( yea, another pizza lover!) the hearthkit sounds like a great idea, but the pizza oven kit is already on order and should be here anyday. If you are interested in seeing where the pizza oven will be, go back to the original photobucket pictures and look at the 3rd sketch. apparently jamesk had pictures of his pizza oven posted but they are no longer there---I emailed him because I had read about his kitchen and he emailed back with info and pictures but for some reason I couldn't open the pictures or I would try to share them with you.. bmore, if you are still out there--- I had to tear the "dummy" kitchen apart to actually get the feel of all the different layouts. I still love the "idea" of the two islands--so much wanted a room divider and to have my granite be a stunning piece of art but after a all the mock ups.....I'm beginning to feel that the very first layout you drew ---- single island (with the cooktop across from the clean up sink and the seating on the opposite side facing the window wall) really works so much better. To make it work just a little better for the way I use my kitchen though I'm wondering if it would be okay to change a few things relative to that drawing: move R to back side of buffet where you put it in the 2nd layout? add prep sink to end of island opposite the big oven, on the corner closest to R? I know it could be a possible bottle neck but maybe keep it far enough to the side so it won't matter---make aisle a litter wider? put espresso machine where R was in my original layout? storage above and below espresso machine? have counter space next to espresso (where oven) was in the original layout---to be used as landing for R? pantry adjacent to new R space where you had drawn the tall shallow cabinets in the hallway? And more pantry across hallway adjacent to bench? add one stool to end of counter on great room side to creat some type of demarcation from one space to another? not have stool next to prep sink? not have a sink in the buffet area but keep one over in the pizza room? Does this make any sense at all? Thoughts? Thanks m

jan s - Thanks for the link. I believe the 4th photo is the kitchen I posted earlier that antss said won a contest. It looks much better in the larger photo. I'm glad you all are enjoying the album. I haven't had the time to look at these closely. But there were a couple that caught my eye. msrose - I replied to your email. I hope you received it. Do any of you have the rough edge treatment that this counter has? Is it difficult to keep clean? CC

rosie - good things to think about. You are, of course correct that all "wrappings" don't need to be in one location! That's me being programmed to where they've been because of lack of space for them to go elsewhere. This rethinking...that's the thing that I appreciate so much about this forum...the people here help challenge me to rethink the things I *think* that I know. :) It helps me come to peace with the decisions (and sometimes tradeoffs) that I need to make. So, the parchment paper and aluminum foil will take up residence over by the oven where they are most likely to be used. Plastic wrap might get a home in the top drawer in the island...although, I use it so seldom that a bottom drawer really does seem fitting for it. The ziplock bags will move to closer to their use...I've seen a gadget that allows you to store those type of things on a door...that might be something I think about. Thanks for making me rethink my preconceptions of all the stuff needing to stay together. :) The 5-drawer stack is primarily to keep cleaner lines - a 4 drawer unit that had deeper individual drawers didn't line up with the cooktop drawers - I have a 6-12-12 unit going in for the cooktop. So, then for the 5-drawer stack, I tried 3 6" and then a 12" bottom drawer and I didn't like the looks of it. Maybe if it was a wider unit, I would feel better about it, but it just felt "off". So, then I put in the 5 6" drawers and while there are more diagonal lines, it felt cleaner to me. Strange, I know. My cabinet maker is planning on putting a narrow pull out in our upper cabinet for oils, etc. I showed him a unit like what I had in mind and he said he's used one like it before and wasn't happy with it, so he said that he's probably going to do a custom one for my needs. For the sink area - we do have a GD that will take up a fair amount of most of the one side. The other side will have a roll of paper towels (I use maybe a roll a year, so they don't need to be out nor to take up a prime spot for me). Most of my cleaning supplies will be located in the broom closet that is to the left of the oven. I am thinking of having a small compost bin under the sink, probably using one of the NeverMT things with a big container of detergent, DW detergent, BKF, baking. This really resonated with me: "I didn't put mine in what would have been the most efficient place where the counter ends by the dining area, not because there might not be room for it to stick out but because I just couldn't have its mass looming into the room there and separating the two areas from each other. I wasn't about to have to step back from working to chat with whoever was sitting by the windows. Plus, the very thought of its mass there bothered me, and it would have made not just my cooking area but the dining area seem smaller and closed in, spoiling the spacious feeling of the room." Putting the fridge on the cooktop wall really felt like it was breaking up the room in a way that I wouldn't like. It was also very nice to hear from someone who has narrow aisles say that they are working. I would probably go a few inches wider with them if I had a choice, but I don't feel like it's going to be a big issue. This will sound funny, but I went to IKEA to walk around in their kitchens, open and close stuff, mock that I'm using the kitchen and measured various aisles...the ones I felt most comfortable "working" in were less than 40" wide aisles. This post was edited by andreak100 on Sun, May 5, 13 at 15:53