A reveal: 10 months later, we are still 99.9% done!
scoutfinch72
7 years ago
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practigal
7 years agoSammy
7 years agoRelated Discussions
It had been over 2.5 years and we still are not done!
Comments (21)Wow....you guys have my sympathy! We bought our land in the Fall of 2005 and then spent about a year working with our architect, making all our material selections, getting all the permits in order, etc. Spent about another year interviewing builders and eliminating all of them after coming very close to signing on the dotted line with two different ones. After two very frustrating years, we were about to give up and put the land up for sale when our neighbors advised us to contact the builder who built their house, an Amish contractor who had so much business from referals that he never advertises and has his own crews. He had a waiting list over a year long, but because of our wonderful neighbors, and because he really liked our house design, he moved us up the list. We broke ground on July 10th, 2008, and exactly 92 days later, we had a 3400 sf, two story, Craftsman style farmhouse with a walkout basement, a sunroom, screened in porch, and huge deck. We have gorgeous custom made cherry cabinets, doors and trim, granite countertops, hardwood floors throughout the whole house, and every detail was finished to absolute perfection. Everything was done on time and to our very exacting standards and I couldn't be happier. Our punchlist had just two items on it - both just very small things like moving a switch or two and some touch-ups. I'm telling you all this because I know how many people have bad building experiences with delays and contractors who don't seem to care what a schedule is. There are GOOD builders out there, even in these times. I highly recommend Amish builders if they build in your area. They are extremely efficient, work from sunrise to sundown 6 days a week, and dont waste either materials or your money. Good luck to all of you with your builds....See MoreMy 99.9 percent finished kitchen
Comments (7)Thanks for your nice comments, everyone. So sorry I am just seeing them now; I've been a little out of touch lately. It's been 8 months since we moved back into our new kitchen -- gad, I cannot believe it's been that long! -- and we still love love love our kitchen, and we're still not completely done. Since these photos were taken, we have installed molding ourselves under the cabinets to hide the under-cabinet lighting -- I bought the wood, had a friend rip it; mitered it with my husband, sanded and stained it and installed them ourselves. And, I have decided I will be doing the backsplash myself. Yep, gonna take it on. Wish me luck and I'll post pics when I am done. Mariel, as for your questions on the lighting: I did not spend a lot of time deciding where to place the can lights. My architect drew them into the plan, but I think the electrician, who was really great, kind of put them where he thought it best. I remember the architect asked how many we wanted, and at first we thought this was too many, but in the end we're glad with what she suggested. We did not use a kitchen designer; my husband and I told the architect, who was a friend of a friend, what we wanted, and she drew it all out, and asked questions on the things that we hadn't thought about, like how many canned lights to install. The electrician provided those lights and I don't know the dimensions or where he got them. My husband and I decided on the pendants and ordered those ourselves from Restoration Hardware & Pottery Barn. As for the pulls and what sizes to use: My husband actually picked those out, and he and I installed them ourselves. After our cabinets had been installed, I went to RH and bought the Duluths in several sizes, then he and I spent a weekend discussing what sizes and how many to use and where to place them on each and every door and drawer. We used blue tape to install them temporarily, just long enough to stand back and study the results and take pictures of each option. Then we spent the rest of the weekend deciding what arrangements looked best to our eye. Studying them this way really made us see them better. This is the arrangement that looked best to us after playing with them, and we put them in ourselves, cuz we decided it would be too confusing to have the cabinet maker do it. It was a control thing on our part. More trouble than it was worth, maybe, but we're real happy with the results. I believe we used the 4 inch and 6 inch sizes on the drawers pulls, but I will measure later and let you know if they were different sizes. We're real happy we used two handles on the bigger drawers. They are big and hold lots of heavy pots and pans, so it seemed like a wise choice. But play with them to see what works best for your kitchen. Try the tape and photograph method....See MoreNine months later, with apologies - my kitchen reveal
Comments (94)Oops, sorry for the very delayed response, MGMum and gemcap :-(. Thank you for your kind comments . MGMum: Of course I don't mind, I'm tickled white! ;-) gemcap: Thanks for your warm wishes, really appreciate it! Yes, we are truly enjoying our kitchen - a year later. Clean-up's the best part - so easy and such a pleasure! Yes, I did put in a great deal of thought into this kitchen and researched a great deal, too. Thanks for intuiting that! ;-)...See MoreTwo years later, finally posting my reveal!
Comments (76)We paid $750 for the tile backsplash installation four years ago. Your cost will certainly depend on where you live, how much tile, how complex your pattern, etc. As I recall, this job took about a day and a half for one guy. For reference, we live in the SF Bay Area...most contractors are pretty pricey. I feel the same way about the light grout...it really accents that gorgeous tile!...See Moreeam44
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