Week 3 Day 3

Big day today: Cabinets delivered, Tile laid, Priming started, Trim finished, Mantle Wired, Drywall Completed (probably on the last one). Everything is being completed in preparation for a Friday install of the cabinets. This should take two days so Friday/Saturday or Friday/Monday (he doesn't want to force anyone to work on Saturday over the holiday weekend but thinks Arthur may volunteer anyway).

Next looming decision for us to make is the stone type for the counters

Door Frame

Windows have a very simple door frame. Doors seems to have a slightly fancier frame. See the top of the door below...

Fireplace Problem...maybe

I just spoke to Arthur about the fireplace, explaining to him what I wrote in the previous post and emailed to Arnold earlier today. Apparently there may be a problem with having a mantle so close to the fireplace. Building regulations require all wood to be at least 12 inches away from a fireplace and our mantle will be a wood base wrapped with tile. Arthur said he wasn't sure if having tile around the wood changes things. I asked him if there exists a material other than wood that we could use to frame the mantle but he didn't think there was. That said, Dad spoke to Arnold who confirmed that he received and read my email, and he didn't say anything about there being a problem with what we requested so hopefully this is a nonissue. (Thinking this out logically, I understand why one wouldn't want wood very close to an active fireplace but 1) our fireplace is borderline inactive and 2) in our case the wood is behind a row of bricks and wrapped in tile, which makes me think it's unlikely that enough heat could ever transfer through to light a fire, but then again, I'm not a contractor).

Arthur also confirmed that the Nutone light we want to use would fit in the bathroom.

Lastly, I texted Arnold, who's coming to the house tomorrow, to bring counter top samples for us.

New Fireplace

Below is the picture I sent Arnold to help describe what we'd like done to the fireplace.


I've also informed him of our color choices and that we'll be purchasing the inside bathroom paint. Lastly, I reminded him to look into the bathroom exhaust fan issue and either let us know to order the Nutone model we liked or give us dimensions so we can better focus our search. Hopefully we hear back soon.

Fireplace Mantle

I just spoke to Arnold who's at MSI picking up our tiles. Below is a picture of the stone we picked for the fireplace mantle (the black one). Two issues to consider: 1) That particular rock is back ordered and 2) Bigger concern, this stone is rough and layered which, apparently, is something we don't want for our mantle.


Arnold would like to use the stone/tile we picked for the floor to create a mantle. He said it'll be 2" deep, curved, and said it would look sharp. I told him we'd get back to him with an answer tonight. UPDATE: Parag spoke to Arnold. We will use the tile to construct our mantle, Arnold has the ability to make the tile look like a single block.

Also, the tile we wanted for the bathroom comes in 12" blocks. I remember Parag saying 18" or 12" would be fine so I told him that would be okay. I asked if he could change the laundry room stone to 12" blocks as well but he said they already ordered that one, I didn't think this was a big deal so I didn't press him on it.

Two Weeks Down

Yesterday the taper told dad that the tile guy would be coming today. In response, I emailed Arnold with some direction on how we'd like the tile laid. And in response, he replied back asking for paint colors ASAP. Apparently the line of communication is breaking down somewhere. In any event, this is not a problem because we picked most of the paint colors last night; however, we still need to finalize the accent color and whether or not we'd like to see that color on one of the dining room walls.

Updated Pictures

Computer Generated Cabinet Layout

Laundry Room and Island

Stove


Kitchen: Arnold has already confirmed via email that the cabinet next to the fridge will not have the gap shown in the diagram and the other cabinets will be flush with the ceiling by way of a piece of trim.

Day 8: Modified Layout

Sketch of Laundry Room with sink


Sketch of stove wall with new pantry sizes.


Sketch of sink wall.

Sketch of Island. Now with four 24" drawers/cabinets instead of two 30" cabinets and one 36" drawer.


Can't write much because on occasion I do have to do some work but I wanted to get these sketches up for everyone ASAP. Before Arnold came we all counseled mom to look at his recommendations with a wary eye and to not agree to anything until she knows she's completely satisfied AND we all get a chance to critique his suggestions. She understood, I think she did that, and she seems very happy with the options he's presented. Still, she told him she'd like her family to look at the sketches and she'll let him know tomorrow. Personally, I'm glad she made him draw it out and seeing it all like this I think the kitchen will look pretty sweet but either way we should discuss and come up with an answer for Arnold for tomorrow.

Day 7 Pictures/Video

Day 7

I'll post a video a little later on today. The guys are still working right now and I don't want to get in their way. What we need to work on next is getting the bathroom situated. They're ready to install the toilet, vanity, fan, and lights. I told Martin we haven't bought any of that and that we were planning on ordering them online so I anticipate a delay for shipping, etc. He understood and said that's fine. I know you guys found a toilet you like and Martin confirmed that the light/fan Parag liked should fit in the allotted space; but, I'm not sure anyone's looked for the vanity or the lights. If not, let's start now and if we're ready let's pull the trigger as soon as we can.

Other than that, they've spent today finishing up the electrical and drywalling everything except the inside of the bathroom which they'll do after they get the fixtures. Also, the tapers are coming on Thursday, per Martin, they're ahead of schedule and should have had the tapers come in Wednesday. If they finish putting up the drywall today, which he's planning on doing, they may not come in again until after the tapers are finished.

Bathroom Vent

Below is a picture of the bathroom's ceiling. In terms of orientation, you're looking at the center of the bathroom (between the toilet and sink). The yellow insulation is on the wall facing outside the house and the opposite end is where the bathroom's entrance will be.

If we want a vent fan with a light, we need to find a product that fits within the smaller centered rectangle. A light anywhere else will be off center and illuminate the wall. If we went with a fan only, we can use either rectangle.


Parag found the fan/light pictured below and ideally this would fit in the smaller rectangle. In a perfect world we could pick it up from Home Depot to see if it fits but unfortunately it's only sold via their website. That said, I've printed out the product page which includes the dimensions and will ask Arnold if it fits. If it does, we're finished (hopefully). If not, I'll ask for the dimensions and we can proceed accordingly.

Week 2 Day 6

Stopped by the house during lunch. Arnold wasn't in today but I spoke to Martin:

1. He wanted to know if we could get the appliances delivered early. He needs to know where the outlets need to be and how many are necessary. For instance, does the oven/microwave/warming drawer use one singular 220 volt outlet to power all three appliances or does each appliance need it's own outlet? I printed the manuals for the Oven and Fan from their websites- these were the two appliances he had questions about. I also told Dad of Martin's request and he called Mukesh Uncle who is having the installer from Abt come to the house tomorrow to direct Martin on where he'd like to see the outlets for when they do the installation.
2. Location of light closest to bathroom and what light switch should it be connected to. Do we want the light centered with the bathroom or centered with the hallway? Also, do we want the switch controlling this light to be the same one that controls the foyer light or separate? A. After talking to Mom and Parag we've decided to have the light centered with the bathroom and controlled by the foyer light switch.
   
3. Pipes in the bathroom. Already spoke to Parag about this but Martin wanted to know if we were using a pedestal or a cabinet base. Turns out...neither. We're using a wall mounted base.
4. Electrical in the Island. We really should have told them before they laid the flooring that we wanted an outlet in the island. They may have to tear down some of our basement ceiling to make this happen. Alternatively, they might be able to run a line from one of the can lights in the basement but this outlet would not be limited to low surge devices. Neither of these options sound particularly good to me but I don't know if there's a better solution. A. After talking to mom and dad, we've decided to forgo the outlet on the island.
   
5. Will our bathroom fan also have a light? Martin said it wouldn't be hard to wire the electrical but pointed out that our bathroom is small. He said that after putting a light over the vanity, which is necessary to properly look at yourself in the mirror, the ventfan light is for all intents and purposes worthless. It'll get drowned out by the vanity light. I told him I understood and that it makes sense to me but I'll let him know what we want to do after talking to the family.

They were only working on electrical so I didn't bother taking pictures during lunch. I'll snap a couple shots when I get home and post later.

Week 1 Finished

I've added a new column on the right side of this blog titled "nickles and dimes". Going into the project I think we anticipated a few additional costs in excess of what was estimated but it's been a week and these extra fees are slowly adding up so I figure it's probably not a bad idea to keep a running total.

Speaking of costs...the cost to move the 220volt outlet is now $900. Arnold had originally estimated it to be around $500 but after opening the walls and whatnot apparently his estimate wasn't close.

Also, some of our cabinets are on backorder. I asked how long but he didn’t know yet. He did say that he'd find out today and he'll come back to us with wait times and any potential alternatives if they exist. Obviously I think it's important to keep sight of the end goal for the kitchen and if that means waiting an extra week or two or five before we have all our cabinets then so be it.

Lastly, Arnold is getting closer to working on the stone around the fireplace. Before he does that we need to pick up a wall mount for the television.

Onto the pictures...

Here's a shot of the entrance way between the dining room and kitchen. Parag had asked me to ask Arnold if it would be possible to have the door way extend all the way to ceiling. Apparently that would not be possible. They need certain beams in place in order to keep the wood from cracking; although, he did say he could move it up the height of the two small vertical beams. This would cost ~$50 for the two dining room entrance ways and a few hundred for the living room. This was one of those all or nothing ideas, unless they could move it up to the ceiling I didn't see the point so I told him NOT to do it.


Here's a picture of where the canned lights will be installed.


The next three pictures are of the foyer doorway. Our original plan called for a stone "doormat" to stretch across the entrance. As you can see, that won't be possible because the vent is in the way. Also, because of how they lay the stone, Arnold explained that it won't be flush with the base of the door. Instead, there would be a line of hardwood flooring at the base of the door which would then lead into the stone. Below you'll see a crude picture of what he intended on doing for us. It seems like our doormat will end up being a floating stone floor between the doorway and the stairs. I think we should revisit whether this is what we want to do.

Day 4 Part 2

Stopped home at the end of the day and took some new pictures. As you can see the floors are almost fully installed. The bathroom is beginning to take shape and you can see the divide around the fireplace where the tiles will be placed. Something similar will be built around the front entrance later. I didn't take a picture there because for now they've installed the hardwood all the way to the door (don't worry, they know tile will be placed there, the plan is to cut out the wood later). On a side note, I think the hardwood floors look good enough all the way to the door that we could scrap the tile idea if we were so inclined; admittedly, I've thought that from the beginning so I may be a little biased but it's something to consider nonetheless.

Day 4

They're making solid progress. By the end of the day they should be finished installing the new floors. Up next is building out the bathroom and closet as well as wiring the electrical. Here are some pictures showing the flooring in a preliminary pre-sanding, pre-finish stage.





Decisions for this weekend:

1. Finalize all stone selections, ie. granite, fireplace, mantle, bathroom, foyer, laundry room
   

Day 2

Not much to show but a few issues that need our attention. As you know, the original plan calls for using six cabinet bases to construct the island. On one side we'll have three 24" deep cabinets and on the other side three 12" deep cabinets. Unfortunately, an island 36" wide will create a cramped and congested kitchen. Moreover, because of the size, we won't have the ability to hang any of the granite over the cabinets to sit and eat comfortably. This being the case, it's a no brainer to scrap the 12" cabinet base and have a two foot wide island base. The "question" now becomes, how much space can we afford to hang the granite over? 8"? 6"? Arnold will do the measurements and let us know his recommendation.

Side issues:

1. Cost for additional can lights are $90 each. This seems high.
2. Cost for dimmers are $30 each. This seems a little high too.

I recognize that adding two can lights in the foyer is only $180 but since we've decided to keep the light we already have in place (thus the two can lights were going to be an addition rather than a replacement) and because the existing light is already sufficiently luminous, then this may be one area where we can cut back and not even notice anything?

Finally, the bathroom...


Above is a picture of the guys ripping out the subflooring by the bathroom in order to move the pipes. Unfortunately, because of the placement of one of the pipes, the toilet cannot be on the short wall facing the faucet; instead, it'll be directly to right of the door facing the wall. Arnold said there will still be plenty of space to maneuver around and we'll be able to maintain the slimmer dimensions so we okay'd the toilet placement.

Lighting

This very not to scale sketch of the kitchen is what I'll use to hopefully show Arnold where we'd like our recessed can lights. The blue circles represent the larger 5-6" lights, smaller grey circles under the Cabinet section are the 2-3" can lights.

Day 1 Demolition

Day 0

And it begins...

Greetings to the four people who may frequent this blog. For anyone else that happens to stumble onto this site (I'm guessing, possibly someone who's considering hiring Arnold Nutting as a Contractor and found this blog via a google search...am i psychic? No, his name + contractor + Illinois just doesn't produce much info); anyway, I'll be using this space to document a first floor home remodel- this includes a new kitchen, bathroom, demolition of walls, hardwood flooring installation, etc. Demolition begins on Monday June 14, 2010 with an estimated work time of about one monthish. As stated before, we've hired Arnold Nutting from Flooring Systems, Inc. to do the work and my intention is to use this space to keep a photo diary of the progress.