PEACE = when things just work out...

So, I thought the Green Peace granite was what I wanted.... then when I brought my friend Kathy to view it we noticed that some of the areas with veining did not seem to take the polished finish the same as the other parts of the slab. When viewed on an angle, seemed like it might look "dirty" or not consistent.

BUMMER!!

I have been looking at all kinds of slab and I was thinking this was my choice. Well, no worries; will find out details and decide. If not this granite; I will find another. This is one of the things that a big renovation teaches you. You MUST GO WITH THE FLOW!!! Things do not always go as planned; and you have to just deal with it (aka "accept it"). When things do not go as planned, there might be a good reason. Actually, as I think back, all the times we have had things not go as planned with this project and we just accepted it; we ended up with something better. I think sometimes the "house" speaks!

OK... so now it is Friday and I bring my designer, Marit by to see the slab. We talk to the folks at the granite warehouse and they tell us that some types of granite have minerals that will not be polished.... they just cannot be due to the nature of the minerals. Green Peace is one of these slabs. So yes those attributes are part of the slab. She told us we should go out into the yard where there are some remnants and scraps and we can see some of the Green Peace in the outdoor light because some of it is back there.

Marit likes Green Peace as well and also shares my concerns.... although in the direct sun light it is not so bad.....We go back inside and ask if we can "borrow" one of the remnants so I can see how it looks in the house. They say "Yes" and I get to take home a 16" by 52" piece of granite which we placed on top of the island in the rental house so we could see if we liked it.

Hello!! We do like it! Bill likes it! And while there are "streaks" it is not so bad. So, here I sit and I ponder what are the chances that there would be a "sample" for me to take home and try out? Unheard of!!! I think this is a sign that Green Peace is meant to be the granite in our kitchen.... AND, am hoping we can leverage some of those remnants to reduce the cost! LOL....

Need to talk to Jack. We will see.

Hello Green Peace! Welcome home.

Now I can plan the rest of this room!

Granite

Wow! Who ever knew all the choices there are in granite slabs.... and the price ranges are crazy. Learning lots about granite and where it comes from. Some of the pieces are just incredibly amazing. Makes you appreciate the wonder of mother nature that such beauty is created in our universe.

The choice of slab is somewhat important. We have quite a bit of counter and we are converting our kitchen/family room/dining room into one great room, so it is part of a room we are spending quite a bit of time in. Granite choice is going to impact choices regarding finish for cabinets, and floor as well as lighting and potentially even paint colors....

On first visit out to look at Granite, I thought this crazy piece of granite would be my choice, but after sleeping on it.... and going back to look at it, decided I did not love it and Bill didn't like it so I kept searching!

and searching!

Finally, while decision is not final, Ithink I have found the piece we are going to use.... gray and green with lots of veining and very nonstandard.... it is from Brazil and it is called "Green Peace"

We will decide this weekend so I can move on with all the other choices!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Well, we are entering the phase of the project that involves all sorts of decisions! Appliances, finishes, cabinets, floors, tiles, etc. etc. Bill and I were talking about how it is a good thing that I have to make decisions all the time for my job.... makes me less paralyzed! But I have to say that I would rather not screw this up!

I spent several hours yesterday at University Electric looking at appliances for the kitchen. Today, I brought Bill out shopping so we could pick the refrigerator (we are going with a Samsung:
Link to Refrigerator

Although, I thought for sure that Bill was going to go for the Samsung refrigerator that has the android powered computer screen on the front panel that is connected to the internet.LOL... Have you seen these?!

Unbelievable!

Anyway, we picked out our refrigerator and then headed over to the house. We were pleased to see that they had completed installing the big slider (it is a ten foot door with a 6 foot opening in the middle).

They also started the electrical work. We will have 100% new electrical! WOOT, WOOT!

and they made more progress on fixing the issue with the waste line from the kitchen sink. I think I mentioned in my last blog there was a hole in the line. They dug through the slab to find the leak and removed a rusty old pipe and replaced with new. We truly are going to literally have a new house!

OLD PIPE:

NEW PIPE LAID:

They also started cutting the holes for the can lights as well!

Lots of progress..... and lots of research online this afternoon; thank goodness for a few days off. I think I have most of the appliance decisions made...

Happy New Year everyone!

More photos here: More Pictures Here

Windows and Doors

Check out our cool new front door!

Windows and most of the doors have been installed. The house is starting to look like a house again!

We had one problem with the sliding glass door in the dining area. The opening is on the wrong side. This is a problem due to the placement of the dining table and so we need to order a new door. Our contractor has been so awesome so far and he is handling the issue with the door and going to cover it even though I'm sure I contributed to the misunderstanding. So far, we have been lucky with the number of issues that we have had (knock on wood), I hope that doesn't mean we will get more on the back end of the process.

The house has been fully papered and is now ready and waiting for the roof, gutters and stucco to go on. We need another inspection before we can start and the City is on vacation this week; so we have to wait until the new year.

Happy New Year!!

More photos here: http://crookeremodel.shutterfly.com/pictures/244

More Framing and Plumbing

Its now December and the framing is getting wrapped up. In fact; we pass city inspection for the framing in December. The plumber is now working on the rough pluming and gas lines.

We ran into first trouble with the waste line from the sink. Rather than run a new line out to the street, our contractor figured out that he would be able to hook into the existing line. The only problem was that we discovered there was a leak in the existing line. They have had to dig through a large part of the slab to find the problem and ended up removing a big chunk of pipe.

The roof is now covered and we are now having to make some decisions regarding the roof color and gutter color. We are also now working on selecting cabinets so that our cabinet maker can begin the work.

One of the cool things we are doing to create more closet and storage space is to move the furnace and hot water heater up into the attic. By doing this, we will have two new closets. One will be an extra linen closet.... the other is going to be our wine closet! :-)

More pictures here: http://crookeremodel.shutterfly.com/pictures/232

Things are mostly moving on track. We have been so lucky that the rains have held off this year. Normally by now, we would have experienced more rain. And while we need the rain to avoid draught, we are happy that it has not yet started.

Next up.... windows and doors are delivered.

Framing

Its now November and the foundation has been poured and the footings are in place. The next step is to frame the roof. Some framing work on the inside has already been completed. New walls have gone up in a few places. Older damaged 2x4s have been replaced where needed and walls have been removed in certain spots.

Our old roof was flat tar and gravel. They took off the old roof and the new roof is going to be framed on the existing base.

We are going to have one large great room which will consist of the kitchen and dining area plus family room. The roof will be peaked over the family room area and extend out beyond a 10 foot sliding glass door into a covered patio area.

We will actually have an attic space for storage!!! What a concept!

More pictures here: http://crookeremodel.shutterfly.com/pictures/217

Foundation Work

September was the month of demolition. October was the month of the foundation. Because we entirely demolished the garage and we are adding an additional room (we call it the "bonus room"), lots of work was required to pour new foundation and properly secure it to the existing slab. They also continued the work of digging/pouring footings.

It was in October that I got a call from Jack, asking what the shape of the patio needed to be as they were going to handle digging it and pouring the concrete for it at the same time. What? I had not been thinking that I would need to address any of the "outside stuff" until later in the process, so I was not prepared. I told Jack I was planning on hiring someone to help with the design of the yard and he recommended Marit Hansen. We met and I really liked the samples of her work and so we hired her to do all the design of landscaping/hardscaping.

Marit drew up several designs for the back patio and we selected one that will incorporate a water feature as well as a fire pit. But as a result; we had to remove a tree that was in the yard (that was not in the budget) because the roots would be in the way of the patio.


Before the concrete could be poured, the city had to inspect the framing. When they did; they had concerns that the front right corner of the garage was in the setback. Because we demolished the existing structure; we now had to comply with new set back rules. The city wanted to see a report from the surveyor certifying that we were complying with the setback rules. Our guy was on vacation and so we had to engage a new guy. Turns out, the one wall needed to be moved several inches. What a hassle!! Our lot is a bit complex because it is a pie shape and the front of the lot is on a curved street. This added over a week to our schedule and we were concerned about getting the house sealed up before the rains started.

We had some rain while they were pouring the concrete, but nothing too bad; so it all worked out..... Next on to the framing!


More Photos Here: http://crookeremodel.shutterfly.com/pictures/204