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.