Monday, February 28, 2005
Flooring ordered
Today we ordered our flooring from Panel Town. We were going to buy select grade clear maple flooring, but the company installing our floor -- Bissell Jr Hardwood Floors -- said his supplier was running an incredible special on grade 1 and 2 maple flooring (ie. $1.50 /sqft less than what we were going to pay) so we went to take a look at it. The flooring was very nice and had just the right amount of markings -- not enough to show huge knots, but enough to make the floor look "real" and not manufactured.
They will be delivering 1,000 sqft of flooring on March 19, so I guess we better have a room ready so the wood can acclimate. :)
They will be delivering 1,000 sqft of flooring on March 19, so I guess we better have a room ready so the wood can acclimate. :)
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
The ride begins
We just ordered the cabinets from Lowes! They will arrive in 3-6 weeks. We were told that Diamond has been turning them around fairly quickly so it may only be 3 weeks!
It seems like a huge weight has been lifted. The cabinet issue has been a thorn in our side for months, so it's nice to finally have closure on the cabinets.
Now we can concentrate on other issues like the floor, molding, casings, doors, etc...
It seems like a huge weight has been lifted. The cabinet issue has been a thorn in our side for months, so it's nice to finally have closure on the cabinets.
Now we can concentrate on other issues like the floor, molding, casings, doors, etc...
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Cabinetry nightmare
So we found the perfect cabinetry. The color was spice with a mocha glaze in a full overlay arch pattern. We loved it and it went well with the granite we chose -- Cranbury Brown. It just so happened that the cabinetry we liked could only be purchased at one establishment, and only if we continued with the contractor we *thought* we were going to use. When we got his final quote, we realized how outrageously priced he was and that we could do better being our own general contractors -- of sorts.
So the hunt began for similar cabinets.....
I can honestly say it was a nightmare. I have come to the conclusion that service just isn't what it used to be. I can't tell you how lackadaisical some of the people were we dealt with. I mean we had to be easy pickings because we *knew* what we wanted, we had a design, and we were willing to spend cash! We went to no fewer than 4 separate retailers about cabinets, and the only one who came through was Lowes. Kenny, our salesman, went through our design, fixed the problem areas, offered suggestions, called to check on our progress, and generally made us feel like he wanted our business. The other thing was that Lowes price-matched the cabinet bid we received from a different deadbeat salesman from another establishment. Kenny is coming out to do a final measurement, then I think we're going to order the cabinets!
So the hunt began for similar cabinets.....
I can honestly say it was a nightmare. I have come to the conclusion that service just isn't what it used to be. I can't tell you how lackadaisical some of the people were we dealt with. I mean we had to be easy pickings because we *knew* what we wanted, we had a design, and we were willing to spend cash! We went to no fewer than 4 separate retailers about cabinets, and the only one who came through was Lowes. Kenny, our salesman, went through our design, fixed the problem areas, offered suggestions, called to check on our progress, and generally made us feel like he wanted our business. The other thing was that Lowes price-matched the cabinet bid we received from a different deadbeat salesman from another establishment. Kenny is coming out to do a final measurement, then I think we're going to order the cabinets!
Friday, February 04, 2005
A minor setback
A week before Christmas we came home to find our garage ceiling leaking and the drywall seams on the ceiling falling apart. Closure inspection revealed an attic full of water (we had *lots* of rain in Dec), plywood with mold, and wood so rotted it was like putty.
Getting the insurance adjuster out here to look at it proved irritating because he kept handing us excuses as to why he couldn't come out -- some legit (snowy day), and some not (still some snow on the roof....NOT). When he did finally come out 5 weeks after we called, and we pressured him into looking at the attic AND the roof (don't ask), we discovered the repairs would *not* be covered because it was an installation problem from seven years ago!
Needless to say we were not happy....but the roof still needed repaired and replaced...so we started taking bids. One company told us they were so busy it wouldn't be repaired till late 2005, one made two separate appointments to come out and never showed, and then we had a legit bid from one. We wanted another bid though....
Mike was at Lowes one day pricing wood doors and was telling an associate, Nancy, about the roof and she told us that they replaced roofs and would not be undersold! Who would have known! We agreed to have the roofing company they contract with give us an estimate.
B&T Roofing and Lowes came back with an awesome bid, 25 year warranty on the installation, and all the extras the other company was offering on winter installations! We chose them, and we are *very* pleased with the job the did. They found a few other spots on the roof that needed repaired so they put new plywood in those areas too.
We couldn't be happier! We really like the look of the new dimensional roof. :)
Getting the insurance adjuster out here to look at it proved irritating because he kept handing us excuses as to why he couldn't come out -- some legit (snowy day), and some not (still some snow on the roof....NOT). When he did finally come out 5 weeks after we called, and we pressured him into looking at the attic AND the roof (don't ask), we discovered the repairs would *not* be covered because it was an installation problem from seven years ago!
Needless to say we were not happy....but the roof still needed repaired and replaced...so we started taking bids. One company told us they were so busy it wouldn't be repaired till late 2005, one made two separate appointments to come out and never showed, and then we had a legit bid from one. We wanted another bid though....
Mike was at Lowes one day pricing wood doors and was telling an associate, Nancy, about the roof and she told us that they replaced roofs and would not be undersold! Who would have known! We agreed to have the roofing company they contract with give us an estimate.
B&T Roofing and Lowes came back with an awesome bid, 25 year warranty on the installation, and all the extras the other company was offering on winter installations! We chose them, and we are *very* pleased with the job the did. They found a few other spots on the roof that needed repaired so they put new plywood in those areas too.
We couldn't be happier! We really like the look of the new dimensional roof. :)
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
And so it begins.....
The snowball effect.
A simple visit from the hardwood floor refinisher in the spring of 2004 revealed that the hardwood floor we thought we had was actually manufactured 1/8" veneer flooring so nothing short of replacement would do....
...so we decided to replace all the flooring with real 3/4" maple hardwood because we love the look, but that would mean the oak cabinets would have to go...and heck, since we have always disliked the laminate counter, why not replace it with granite, and heck, while we're at it, why don't we re-design the kitchen so it's functional and we could actually open the refrigerator door all the way, and replace the old chipped porcelain sink with stainless steel.....
One little snowflake fell and began rolling downhill....and here we are one year later with a HUGE snowball and we're ready to go. Follow us on our journey of remodeling -- both the ups and the downs...
A simple visit from the hardwood floor refinisher in the spring of 2004 revealed that the hardwood floor we thought we had was actually manufactured 1/8" veneer flooring so nothing short of replacement would do....
...so we decided to replace all the flooring with real 3/4" maple hardwood because we love the look, but that would mean the oak cabinets would have to go...and heck, since we have always disliked the laminate counter, why not replace it with granite, and heck, while we're at it, why don't we re-design the kitchen so it's functional and we could actually open the refrigerator door all the way, and replace the old chipped porcelain sink with stainless steel.....
One little snowflake fell and began rolling downhill....and here we are one year later with a HUGE snowball and we're ready to go. Follow us on our journey of remodeling -- both the ups and the downs...
