Ceramic Tile…The backsplash (part 3)

I could not help myself…So I went back and installed the vent hood & wall oven, put some supplies in the cupboard, and hung one of Deb’s decorative plates behind the cooktop.

This kitchen is going to look great!

Countertops…More Marble

The Central Marble Products guys also installed two cultured marble ledges in the “L” Shaped House yesterday. The ledges are installed in a couple of the places where we could take advantage of the space created at the top of our foundation wall inside the exterior walls. The first one is installed under the window in the landing of the basement staircase.

The second in the guest bedroom in the basement. Both marble ledges are the are Warm Pebble Granite color and will provide a wide a water-proof sill under the windows.

The next two photos show more of the cultured marble installation in the bathrooms. First the basement bath with the marble countertop in place on the cherry cabinetry. The last photo is a (somewhat) better photo of the Warm Pebble Granite counter on top of the cherry cabinet in the first floor bathroom. It’s been difficult to get a photo of the marble sinks in the bathrooms that accurately reproduces the colors of the marble, wood cabinets, and walls…these two are the best I have (so far).

 

Countertops…Cultured Marble installation

Our friends from Central Marble Products showed up today and installed the cultured marble sinks and countertops in the bathrooms at the “L” Shaped House. The first two photos show the countertops installed the cabinets in the master bath. We decided to use an off white bowl (Pure Warm White) in a granite (Warm Peddle Granite) colored top in the master bathroom.

 

The next photo shows the white (Pure White) marble top in the kids bath. Both the kids bath and master bath have integral sinks at each end of the cabinets and an integrated 4” backsplash. The last photo shows the cabinet and cultured marble sink in the first floor bathroom. In both this room and the basement we are using a single color integrated sink in the Warm Pebble Granite color.

 

Laminate Countertops…Day 2

Jim Coffin’s crew from Fabri-Top was back this morning and finished up installing laminate countertops in the “L” Shaped House. The first photo shows the green soapstone countertop on the basement kitchen cabinets. The cabinets are made from of poplar and will be stained with the same half-strength cherry we used on the dining room hutch.

We elected to use an integrated 4” laminate backsplash in the basement kitchen area as seen below. Jim Coffin was amazingly patient with us even as we made him produce a slightly different countertop detail everywhere we used laminate.  The last photo shows the small section of laminate countertop installed in the first floor mudroom. Our dog kennels and food bin will sit under the cabinets and countertop which will probably house all sorts of dog related paraphernalia.

Countertops…Cultured Marble

The folks from Central Marble Products stopped by yesterday to measure for the cultured marble countertops in the bathrooms. We decided early on that molded marble sinks integrated into the countertop fit nicely into both our decorating plans and budget. Our color selections for the bathroom countertops and sinks (as well as the laminate used elsewhere) are seen in the sketches below. All of the sinks will use the Central Marble Standard Oval bowl.

Cambria Countertops…Installation

It was fascinating to watch the Quartz Surfaces crew install the Cambria countertops in the kitchen of the “L” Shaped House. I arrived at the house as they were about to place the third section of perimeter countertop material along the back wall of the kitchen. This posting will serve as a step by step documentation of the process.

• The material is carried into the house (preferably by a couple of big guys)…

• The sections are carefully placed on the base cabinets…

• The “L” Shaped House has five pieces of Cambria. The island and desk are separate pieces. The perimeter countertop comes in three sections…

• The perimeter countertop is glued together at the two seams using a tinted epoxy. The separate pieces are aligned and clamped for gluing using a vacuum holding fixture…

• The process includes a glue gun with a mixing tip, two sets of vacuum clamps, a few wood working clamps, a handful of single edge razor blades, and a bunch of paper towels…

• Once the countertop is in place the sink is attached and the faucet arrangement laid out…

• The gas cooktop is “dry-fitted” in the cut-out…

• The faucet holes are drilled…

• And finally the faucet layout is tested…

Cambria Countertops…Evening report

The Cambria countertop installation this afternoon is the sort of event that deserves a second look. Deb and I stopped by after work to admire the countertops and found Paul Winters cleaning up behind the Quartz Surfaces guys.…making for a perfect photo opportunity. The photos below pretty much speak for themselves. In them we see the Oakhampton perimeter, and Oxford island countertops in place on the cabinets above the natural cork floor. We are thrilled with the results!

Cabinets…Cambria Countertops

Our friends from Quartz Surfaces in Plymouth were out bright and early this morning installing Cambria countertops in the kitchen. I arrived at about 11:00 to find their truck parked at the top of the driveway…

Inside they were just setting the last piece of perimeter countertop material in place…

The photo below shows the crew installing the sink in the 3 mm material along the back wall of the kitchen. It is also the only good shot I have of the 6 mm material on the island (believe me…I’ll be back for more photos later)…  but WOW!   it all looks GREAT! As you can see there were a lot of things going on at once as the Quartz Surfaces guys worked to install the tops.

The next photo shows the countertop along the back wall of the kitchen after drilling holes for faucets (more on this later) and cleaning up a little. The last photo shows the kitchen desk area with the Cambria in place.

Cabinets…Arches

The Great Woods Cabinetry folks dropped off a load of arched supports at the house early this afternoon. The first photo shows the kitchen desk with a new arched support at the end. We made this change after the desk was installed with an angled support that looked a little out of place beneath the beautiful arch leading to the laundry room. The second photo shows the three cherry brackets that will provide support to the cantilevered Cambria island scheduled to be installed tomorrow.

It’s the Middle of March…Wrap-up

Here's a scene we have not seen in a while…the back side of the “L” Shaped House with hardly any snow! I was able to navigate back to this vantage point without walking in snow…a little mud though. It’s nice to see the back yard again after a long cold winter.

The next photo shows the progress Brett continues to make on the basement sheet rock. He has made his last pass with joint compound and plans to start skim coating the ceilings tomorrow. Then it’s on to sanding.

The last photo shows the GE cooktop un-boxed and ready for trial fitting in the Cambria countertop scheduled to be installed Thursday. The Quartz Surfaces guys already have the Elkay sink and by Thursday night the kitchen should be completely transformed…

Laminate Countertops…Day 1

We decided to use laminate countertops in the laundry rooms, book nook, mudroom, and basement kitchen. Jim Coffin of Fabri-Top came out to the “L” Shaped House a little more than a week ago to measure and talk through backsplash options. He is already back this morning to install countertops in the laundry rooms and book nook. The first two photos show the green soapstone (Wisonart) tops in the first floor laundry. Instead of an integrated laminate backsplash in this area we are going to install ceramic subway tile on the back wall under the window.

The next photo shows the same green soapstone laminate installed in the second floor laundry. Here we decided to use an integrated backsplash along the back wall of the counter but are scribing the ends to the walls. Both the first and second floor laundry rooms get large “drop-in” white enamel sinks (first & second).

The last photo shows one of the book nook desks with the select cherry (Formica) laminate top installed. The maple base cabinet and shelves above will be finished using a clear polyurethane varnish. The desks have no integrated backsplash…these tops look particularly nice!

Countertops…Day 1 (continued)

Judd from Quartz Surfaces has been busy creating drawings for the Cambria countertops and island. They use a very interesting system named PhotoTop (Green Mesa Inc.) to gather the site measurements and produce the CAD file used to manufacture the countertops. The system relies on digital photographs of a series of targets placed on the walls and strategic points along the cabinets to create a 3-dimensional model of the space. Once the photos are loaded into the PhotoTop software and analyzed the CAD file is created using a process that feels a little like a connect-the-dots game (its a lot more complicated).

All I can say is…Amazing!

The photos below show the targets Judd applied to both the back walls and cabinets. The wall targets come on a roll of tape. The cabinets have cards with targets carefully placed to align with the edges and more of the tape on the fronts. The second photo shows cards aligned to define the sink cabinet and dishwasher opening.

The diagram below is the actual CAD file (.dxf) of the countertops for the “L” Shaped House. Looking closely at the file you can see the targets (blue), the cabinets (pink), and outline of the countertops (black). The drawing also shows the cutouts for the sink & cook-top and the precise position of the seams.

The PhotoTop software is distributed by a company called FabChoice…

The image below is from the PhotoTop tutorial that shows the software interface after all of the information has been processed. The really cool thing about all this is that it not only shows all of the targets but also the position of the camera for each shot (click the image to see it bigger).

Countertops…Day 1

Judd from Quartz Surfaces in Plymouth arrived at the “L” Shaped House just before noon to take final measurements for our Cambria countertops. He patiently answered our questions as he worked his way through his checklist and measurements. As a part of this process we had to make final decisions about the sink overhang (we’re going to make it flush) and edge profiles. The holes for faucets and accessories will be drilled on site as a part of the installation process.  In the photo below he is making a final assessment of the vertical alignment of the cabinets using a laser level.