first floor renovations, part III

by | Nov 17, 2011 | House

We recently swapped out our old laminate countertop for a beautiful blue-grey quartz. What a change, just as dramatic as the floor transformation.

kitchen - from side entrance with new countertops

The white trim looks a bit crazy now but they will blend in once the cabinets are painted white.

quartz countertops
closeup- the blue bits are embedded glass pieces

It seems nothing we do around here is without a little drama, and in the case of the countertops it was the sink. I wanted two bowls that were different sizes – the bigger bowl (60%) with the garbage disposal on the right and a smaller bowl (40%) for draining pasta and drying dishes on the left. However, I noticed as soon as they hauled in the counters that the larger bowl was on the wrong side. To further compound the issue – they also tried to install the wrong sink. The installation guys were trying to ask me (in broken English) if I wanted the sink further forward or backward but it was very clear that the openings and sink simply did not match.

A few phone calls and a visit from the owner of the quartz company later, I accepted the countertops as installed (otherwise we would have had to wait an extra week+ for new counters), we tracked down a sink that would fit and they knocked off $450.

The plumbing re-hookup situation was a little squirrely but it turned out that the shallower, smaller sink on the right made the run a little easier and probably saved us money. If you are in the Triangle area and need plumbing help, call Doug, he does a fantastic job :)

fancy new t-drain for the kitchen sink

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