You know how it is when you pretty much dread something that you're ultimately looking forward to? (Because getting from A to Z means a whole lot of grief between B and Y?) I'm keeping my eye on the endgame, because I know it'll be worth it. Getting there is a bitch. Have to say, though, that it has to be much more of a bitch for JDub (but I don't hear him complaining (much) about it).
He has taken this week off to replace the kitchen countertops and also to install the backsplash tile.
Here is the proverbial "before" picture:
Are those BLUE countertops, or what? Can't get much BLUER than that. (I love blue, but not SOLID BLUE COUNTERTOPS).
One of the biggest tasks with this project had to be clearing off those counters. All that crap had to go:
"Where'd the stove go? Any mice down there?"
Sink bub-bye:
And then...what he says was really the most difficult task — removing the old countertop. I wasn't here to see what it all involved, but I do know that unscrewing 25-year-old screws from underneath and using an iron to heat up the 25-year-old glue to loosen the old countertop was part of it (said iron got dropped into the stove cavity and broken!) He said everything came off in little pieces, not easy a'tall. Luckily the base was in good shape so he didn't have to replace that:
It's a good thing JDub has cool tools. You name it, he has it. Our garage is not a garage....it's a Shop. He'd never done this before, but he's MacGyver you know. There were a few close calls with cutting out the sheet of countertop to his template, but he was able to "fix" the mishaps.
And....it's in!
It's hard to see just how it really looks in a photo, but I think once the tile is up it'll be clearer. (And so much softer than all that BLUE). Here's an up-close shot of the countertop:
It's really very pretty! It is a little lighter than I expected, but that could be because I was so accustomed to that DARK BLUE. I really like the little splashes of aqua, and that'll be nicely accented with the decorative tile strip with the aqua glass tiles.
Having JDub install it instead of hiring it out saved us $1,000! We were utterly shocked at the installation estimates we received — totally a rip-off. Plus, if we'd gone that route, he would have been required to remove the old countertop himself anyway!
Next up: Tile. I'm so excited!
