More progress...kinda! The builders are done for the time being, while we wait for countertops to be installed, paint to go on, and tile to be installed. One of the things that drives me absolutely bonkers about new construction is the complete lack of creativity and imagination when it comes to trim. Its either modern or colonial...and they do EVERYTHING in one of those two styles. Window and door casings, baseboards, everything. Yawn...so boring. Since we've been in our house, each time we've done a room, I've installed better trim. Nothing super fancy, mind you. Just some built up stuff from commonly available pieces at your local big box. All my doors and windows are trimmed out like this.
Its very simple. Its a 1x4 base, with a 1 x 2 lower part and a piece of bed mold at the top as a "crown" To finish the top off, I used a 1.5" wide piece of screen mold. It takes a little bit of time to miter all the returns, but I think the results speak for themselves. Here is the rub...its all been finished to match our
old kitchen. So...it all needs to be painted or otherwise refinished (I hate the thought of painting all that clear pine $$). Now, my wife is a pretty accomplished furniture refinisher. She does the faux finishes, can repair broken pieces, etc. If the piece is worth it, she has sanded pieces down and re-applied stain and poly. When it came time to pick paint and trim colors, and how we wanted to finish that stuff off...Holy smokes! That kind of work is RIDICULOUSLY expensive. We decided we would do that ourselves. So, we're sanding all the old stuff and she's applying a psuedo-stain, poly combination. Here is a window she's already done.
We're also doing the floors. We wanted to keep the existing flooring. It wasn't old / dated and its still in really good shape. So, we found some that matched (a feat in and of itself) and I wanted to have the builder's "tile guy" install it. When he came back with a quote of 3 thousand dollars (for just over a 100 sq ft!) I said, No effing way!" I already had the material too! His reasoning was that it was going to be a pain in the ass to cut the old tile out and knit in the new. I decided that I could put a week or so's worth of work into my kitchen and do the floor. That money will go a LONG way toward some new jeep parts, LOL.
Last weekend was demo day. Had to remove the cut tiles that ended where walls and carpet used to be. Then I laid some new cement board. I'm working through the process of leveling the old and new currently.
All the cement looking stuff (it's a darker gray) is where there are joints or low spots where the old tile pulled some of the durock away when it was removed. I have a couple more low spots to fill...but I'm waiting for it to fully cure before I do so. This stuff shrinks slightly as it cures and I don't want to rush it and create voids. The countertop guys need access to the subfloor anyway, so no real hurry. Big shoutout to
@AndyG here. He's helped me along the way with some questions I had about tieing in the old and new. I'd say if you're in his area and need work done...He's your guy.
Speaking of countertops, they are being installed in three days. Painters are coming in two days to start the ceiling. Getting close. Having the counters in will be a big step toward seeing the final product.
