Next Steps

While the rough-in work was going on, it was time to make additional finish selections in the kitchen. We had selected the door style and finishes for the cabinets when we ordered them. We also needed to find countertops and flooring. Then, we already started the process of selecting the paint color for the kitchen and the fabric for the treatment on the sliding glass door.

Here are some of our initial selections, some that we stuck with, others that we changed our mind on:

Door style is represented by the door on the right and that finish would be for the island and the bar wall. The finish on the door on the left, but not the style, was the one selected for the perimeter cabinets and pantry cabinets. Flooring choice is on the bottom. Countertop choice for perimeter cabinets is the little square. Paint color is the chip on the bottom of the center fabric swatch. Center fabric swatch was choice for sheers on the sliding glass doors. Fabric swatches on the left and right were options for the solid drapery on the sliding glass doors.

Flooring needed to be ordered right away, so that commitment was made early. One criterion for flooring is that it is dirt-colored. That's right, floors that look like dirt. Because if you can't tell if the floor is clean or dirty, you don't have to clean it that often. I can't stand floors that show dirt. I don't have time to clean them every day and some floors require that to look clean. Not my floors. Out of sight, out of mind. I highly recommend dirt-colored floors to everyone.

Fabric and paint could wait. We did use the fabric on the left ultimately, but selected a different style of drapery that did not pair with sheers, so we didn't end up using the sheer fabric at all. I'll show photos of the finished back doors when we get to that.

Countertop would need to coordinate well with the movement stone we wanted for the island and bar wall. We considered the type of stone we had in our old kitchen, Capella, but we couldn't find it. Turns out it would have had too strong and too large a pattern given the size of our island and bar. So, we found this stone instead, Golden Crystal, and it is truly spectacular:

You can see the scale in this photo.

This photo provides a tighter view of the pattern.

The original little square sample of the countertop selection for the perimeter cabinets looked a lot like this, but it was quartz. Turned out that little sample didn't look like the larger material it would have been made out of. Our countertop contractor, Constantino, who was a true craftsman, noticed this and brought it to our attention before we made the mistake of ordering it. This photo represents the granite we actually bought, Tropical Brown. It really worked beautifully with the Golden Crystal granite for the island and bar.

While we were making selections, drywall was being installed over all the rough-in electrical and plumbing work that was now nearly complete.

They started with the ceiling and unfortunately had not yet moved that copper supply line you can see running vertically on the left side of the photo. This would have to be patched later.

Drywall up, but seams still need work.

View looking toward the eat-in area.

It was about this point in the project where some things started to go awry. The subfloor, for some reason, was not all on one level. It had to be for the radiant heat and ultimately the tile. The contractor wrote in the specs that the subfloor would be removed as necessary, but when they found spongy areas they felt needed to be replaced, they also felt that was a "change order". In the contract such change orders had to be estimated in writing. Well, we were all friends, right? No need for such formality. Not so much.

We had to argue about this point over and over, not just on the subfloor issue, but about 4-5 other issues as well and it was emotionally a turning point for me in the project. I had to demand that any time they thought an item was out of scope I did have to have that in writing and agree to it, and the estimated additional charges as well, before any work could be done. This proved to be quite difficult for them to do as it apparently cramped their style. We had to haggle over several items, none of which was technically a "change order". Mike Holmes on HGTV will tell you that when you change your mind as a customer about the specifications, that it is a change order and you have to expect to pay more. When the contractor doesn't do a good job of estimating, however, that is his problem. I stuck to my guns, but it made for a miserable experience for me from this point forward.

Meanwhile the radiant heating tubes went in and the mud that makes the finished floor ready to tile was also installed. Both of these subcontractors did a great job. It was a little tricky with the mudding because every entrance to our house was touched by this. That means that while it was drying we wouldn't be able to get in and out of our house. That wasn't going to work. So, they organized the work so that the front door area would be done first and have the most time to dry before we came home. Then, it would also have a ramp that would get us to the stairs so that we could at least access the bedroom and bath.

Since we couldn't easily get in and out of the house while this installation was taking place, we did not get many in-progress photos. Here you can see the kitchen mudding is finished and the back hall is not yet mudded. Those white tubes are woven back and forth throughout the floor to carry hot water to heat the floor, and the entire room, evenly.

Kitchen ready for tiling.

Entry hall looking into dining room. Those are pieces of drywall on the floor. That was our ramp to get to the stairs from the front door while the mud was drying and curing.

Here is the view from the entry hall into the living room on the left and the kitchen at the top.

Another stressful event was the delivery of the tile. The contractor could not supply the tile, which was fine, so we had to go direct to the tile store, which was also fine. Then, the tile had to get to our house somehow. Well, neither the tile store nor the contractor expected to do this and we were not informed that there was an issue until the day before the tile was needed at the house to be installed. You might not be able to imagine this, but three full rooms and a hallway of tile is a lot of tile. It is heavy and takes up a lot of room. The two vendors pointed fingers and cast aspersions on each other, neither of which was going to get tile to our house. You know, if someone had actually acknowledged the miscommunication, treated me like a customer, and provided me some time and options I might have made delivery arrangements myself and paid for it. But, the entire juvenile exchange coupled with no time caused me to finally suggest that there was no other solution than for us to pick up the tiles ourselves and that it would take many trips. The contractor agreed to participate in this and so with two vehicles we delivered all this tile in two trips. But, what a friggin nightmare. And completely unnecessary.

I always want to end on a positive note. So, here are some photos of the floor nearing completion. The tile selection was perfect. The design worked fabulously. And the tile contractor did a terrific job installing our design. Take a look:

View from upstairs down into the entry hall. Tile is not all set yet and it is not grouted.

View from entry hall looking toward the living room on the left and kitchen at the top. Tile is completely installed and grouted.

Finished flooring in the kitchen.

Closer look at the kitchen tile pattern. It is a combination of the large squares used in the entry hall with large rectangles and smaller squares. We really love the random pattern over such a large space.

Laundry room floor. Notice we switched here to 13" x 13" squares in a running bond pattern. This was a less expensive pattern for the laundry and back hallway. Using the same tile in different sizes and patterns is a great way to define individual rooms and save money too.

Next time we make an exciting transition from pure construction to cabinet installation. Look for the next post.