Update: Tile floor still not done. The "tile guy" cut himself pretty seriously yesterday and spent most of the day in the Emergency Room waiting for stitches. He was back to work today...I'll see how much progress he made today. Venting Problem Not good. We got the estimate today from the contractor: $4,800 to move the waste pipe to the right 3 or 4 feet. I'm skeptical about that estimate. I know the contractor didn't want to do it, so I think he may have inflated the cost so we'd say no. The plumber told us we had a couple of different options, but when the contractor presented the price, he only gave one option...I'm going to "talk" to the KD about it tomorrow morning. I have heard on this site that when a contractor doesn't want the work, s/he often inflates the price so you'll say no or go elsewhere. I tried calling a a plumber we've used before w/no connection to the contractor to give us a second opinion/estimate, but they were gone for the day...I'll try tomorrow morning. If they have a better estimate, we'll probably go with him for the changes. Pantry No news here either...we meet w/our KD tomorrow about it. I have to say that my review of these people on Angie's List when we're done is rapidly deteriorating!

We are two+ weeks in since the counters, etc have been removed; we have only T&G floor for about a month, since the abatement folks had to remove our vinyl layers before their 'big' jobs started once school was out. We have no sheetrock on 2 walls so DH can do electrical, plus the plumber was out yesterday for some of his stuff. Our electric stove is still in the kitchen, and I have used that a bit but am somewhat leery since there is nothing between it and the studs/insulation. Microwave is on a dolly on the floor. BBQ grill is outside. Crockpot is in the dining room. Our old refrig. is living in the new recessed area, so we have refrigeration, thank heavens. No counters, no sink, no DW. We put up 2 sawhorses with plywood in our den to use as our pantry, foodstuff is there along with plates/silverware. As I packed up the kitchen, I made conscious choices of what to put in the 'pantry'. Corkscrew, a few knives, large spoons, can opener, etc. Everything else got packed up. I won't be doing any baking or 'normal' cooking so all of that other stuff is packed. (I packed up each cabinet separately so I could find things if needed, but so far, so good). I got boxes from Costco to pack the kitchen up. We set up one of our bathrooms as "the kitchen". Coffeepot is there, as well as a few mugs. Bought an inexpensive set of Corelle to use during this time, but we are using paper plates sometimes. Plastic silverware is just too flimsy and small so we are using our stainless. I have a small bucket that I bought at the Dollar store to use as a 'holding device' until I wash the plates/mugs/silverware/etc. I am washing dishes in a little washtub in the bathtub, and setting them on a towel on the countertop to dry. We are doing mostly grilling outside, and having 'side dishes' from deli counter as salads. Bagged salad also. Some freezer meals I had made in advance. We have only eaten out twice, so I am pretty happy about that. So far so good. I know it will all be worth it!

Pardon me for struggling to be convinced on a single tier counter. The island would not be a slab of granite or quartz. It would be a high grade laminate. If anything it should be less of a problem because laminate isn't as heavy as stone. Stone really needs extra support. I'd suggest asking on the kitchen forum and actually calling out Joseph Corlett as he's the resident expert on countertop fabrication. The part that overhangs the back of the cabinet would need to be supported. How do you support that? The overhang also would need to be 14 to 16 inches. Same way You'd support a stone counter. Hidden brackets between the end panel of the cabinet. Outlet wire would run through the cabinet and then you'd have an outlet on the side of the cabinet? Plug in a mixer, now have a kid or pet walk by and snatch that cord. Horrible design. Pop-up outlet? That costs how much? That lasts how long? That doesn't get crap and water in it??? Please! What is the idea there? Or you could do what I'm doing on the side and put a strip of plug mold up right under the counter overhang on the side. Gives you more than 2 plugs and it's not far enough down to be a problem. You're creating problems where there are none actually. What is your guy's idea of the bar height I speak of? Is it 42"? Or is it more like 50"? I'd like the facts so the decisions are easier. Standard bar height is 42" high. Counter height is 36" high and table height is 29-30" high. I don't see the benefit of one height when I don't need that big of space since there is plenty of counter space on the cabinet side. I can't physically reach 40" from me. That's how wide it would be. Do you have children? Do they like to do homework near you? Guests who like to help you cook? Elderly family members? Very young children? I know slabs of stone look good at one level. So does laminate. Just because it's laminate doesn't make it an inferior product. Just a note. I'm on the wrong side of 60 and while getting up into the bar height stools was not a problem even 7 years ago, I find that each year it does get a bit more difficult. And I train at a gym 3x a week doing things like step ups with weights, so it's not like I'm out of shape.

Just to update you - here are some during/after photos. We ended up leaving a bit of plaster on top, largely because it was just too tough to get up so high and hack away at the plaster effectively since we were doing the work ourselves. This photo is after removing plaster, before cleaning the bricks -- And here's after cleaning the bricks (but before sealing) -- And finally a cool thing we discovered - apparently they were thinking of building a door there but changed their mind? Or wanted to leave the option of adding a door later?