The Countertop Saga

A major component of our kitchen remodel was getting new countertops. We shopped around quite a bit and decided to go with laminate countertops instead of a Corian or a Granite material. Those other materials are very nice, but we realized we probably won't get the return on our investment in this house if we did. The laminate countertops are very nice and they come in a "high-definition" style that looks really nice.

We decided to use a local person rather than Lowe's or Home Depot. Initially, we had a good experience with the guy being very prompt and knowledgeable. He told us it would be a 3 day job to get the kitchen countertops done. We also arranged for him to replace a small countertop in our master bathroom. Still a 3 day job was promised. He even told us if we wanted to schedule the job as soon as we went to the hospital for Caroline's delivery, he could start the job and just about have it done by the time we got home. This is essentially what we did, scheduling the start of the job on Tuesday, the day after she was born. Keep in mind we had Mom, Dad, and Bethany staying at our house.

So, the guy we hired started the job on Tuesday night, telling us he'd be done by Thursday. We were going to come home on Wed, but figured we could suck it up for a day without having a working kitchen or a bathroom sink in our master bathroom. That would leave us with one working sink in the house.

Long story short, the job did not get completed until Wed of the following week. A 3 day job turned into an 8 day job!!!!!!!! It was a very frustrating process with lots of phone messages and uncertainties during this time. I applaud and apologize to my family and guests for getting through a week with 5 adults and two children in the house and only the guest bathroom sink working.

All in all, we were happy with the finished product. The countertops and the sink look great and we're really enjoying them.

In the week waiting for the countertops to get put in, I replaced the light fixtures in the kitchen to try and update things a little bit. Here are some before and after pics.

It was a long ordeal, but we're really happy with the new kitchen.

Still more stuff to do in the house, though!