Kitchen Counter Tops

As you can see, we have our granite kitchen counter tops installed and they do look great. Lynn and Brent (no Cookie did not make the trip) drove over to continue work on Zelda. After looking at the counter tops and meeting with our electrician for placement of under counter lights, we started work.


Brent wanted to start work on the kitchen floor, so we took some time in finding the center of the room (note that old houses do not have straight walls) and then he laid out the tiles to look at the cuts. We decided on the offset/brick pattern, so after Brent placed a set his starter boards, he began laying the tile. The larger tiles did go quicker, but he was forced to make more batches of mortar. Lynn was marking the center of the tiles on the edges, and together, we finished about 25% of the kitchen floor.

When Lynn was not marking the tiles for Brent, she was busy at the staircase, removing layer, after layer, after layer, after layer of paint. We purchased one (1) quart of a stripper to test and it only lasted about two (2) linear feet. Lynn is now looking at different heat guns and other types of chemicals to remove the paint. There are a lot of nooks and crannies so this will be very time consuming.

We plan on stopping by Zelda next Saturday as we head to Raleigh to visit the Renee and Greg for the long weekend. We may stop back by Zelda on our return trip Monday, but we have a dinner date at the Jarrett House in Dillsboro, NC.

We have a shout out to Becky and Tommy in Birmingham, AL. Thanks for the tip on marking the center of the tiles on the edges. It was a huge time saver.

Electrical Passed Inspection

Brent received a phone call from our electrician on Monday afternoon, and yes, the electrical work has passed inspection. Now we need to arrange to get Kings Mountain to hook up the power. He also informed Brent that the granite kitchen counter tops had been installed and looked great.

We can hardly wait to get to Zelda on Saturday and see the counter tops. Look for pictures this weekend.

The picture is of the bar area prior to the counter top being installed.

Kitchen Tile One Step Closer

Well, just Lynn, Brent and of course Cookie, made the trip over to Zelda for Saturday. We had two (2) things on our list. 1) Insert the bracket supports for the overhang on the small granite bar; 2) Install all the fiber board in the kitchen area.



We completed item number #1 and finished about 75% of item #2. We still have two (2) partial pieces to put in the kitchen and all the laundry room which will take about four (4) pieces. We will start the tiling in the kitchen next week.




The first picture is a view from the kitchen looking into the pantry (left door) and the laundry (right door) room. You can see all the 16" x 16" tile stacked in the pantry.

The second picture is looking into the sink area of the kitchen. To the left of the sink is the location for the dishwasher and the opening to the right, is for the slide in gas stove. We still have to have the gas line re-installed for the stove. During the installation of the cabinets, the installers removed the gas piping stub-up due to interference.

Monday is full of promise. Our electrician stopped by the house on Saturday and informed that the inspection is scheduled for 9:30 am on Monday morning. It appears that one (1) of the two (2) inspectors for Kings Mountain had suffered a heart attack and all the inspections had been pushed back. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the electrical will pass. The picture shows the two (2) front lights installed and also shows a view of Zelda with her aluminum siding stripped off. We will be caulking, power washing, priming and painting the original siding. The aluminum did a good job of protecting the original siding. Not in too bad of shape but does it ever need a paint job. There are are few areas that need to be repaired before the painting begins. Also on Monday morning, our granite kitchen counter tops will be installed. We can't wait to see the finished product and we will take lots of pictures.

Nothing further on the trim work. Brent does have a name to contact about installing the wood flooring downstairs and trim out the downstairs. Once the roofing gets caught up, Ray Jr. says he will finish the upstairs.

Hope everyone has a great week and we have a shout out to Scotty O. in Casper, WY. Hope things are going well.