The Sink Tumor that Killed the Concrete Countertops

Sink Tumor

That is probably the grossest picture ever posted on a half-assed blog ever.

(Side note.. google chrome suggested I change grossest to greatest.. so at least I have that going for me)

That’s the picture of the sink tumor that we came home to late one Sunday night in June.

We had both been gone for the weekend on different work trips.  I swung by the airport and grabbed Hubs and we arrived back home around 11pm.  He spotted that 3D swell area behind the sink while getting a drink right before bed.

It almost caused a huge fight.

It was so big you could see it from the front (may be the first time that phrase was used not in reference to a large butt).

I know that the brown is gross behind that faucet.. The main part of it is putty from putting the sink back in that hadn’t got cleaned off yet.. because the countertops weren’t done for that long.  Then some of it is just gross dirt around a gross kitchen faucet.  That thing was so filthy (spoiler alert we’ve since replaced it) that every time I’d clean it more dirt would seep out of it and take the old dirt’s place.  Marinara monster – I swear it.

Anyhow, Hubs touched the sink tumor and it was soft to the touch and then chipped right off.

We resolved right then and there to rip them off and replace the concrete with laminate.

(I have other pics of other holes that developed.  For instance, we had a run of the mill knife block sitting to the left of the oven.  When we picked it up to move it, it ripped a bunch of the concrete off with it?  Don’t know why.  I can post these pics if people like, but it’s truly overkill in my head.  If you don’t get the idea by now, I am sure its just because you are blaming us for it not working haha)

 

Stay tuned.

 

The First Sign of Failure

The First Sign of Failure

There it is.  The first sign of failure in the beautiful ardex countertops.

(Click that image and it’ll enlarge, by the way)

The criminal?  The George Foreman drip tray.  It got sat there and forgot about for a day or so.  When I finally realized it and picked it up , it left behind that huge stain and those holes.

I know its gross that a drip pan of grease sat there for any amount of time and that plenty of people will judge us for being disgusting, but I am just keeping it real.  I am sure there are plenty of people out there that wish they were more OCD about picking things up and are in the same boat as we are.  If thats you and you are reading this and still thinking, but I’ll just BE super cautious about these because I want them so badly.  Stop.  I did that.  I was super cautious.  I was constantly wiping things up as soon as they touched the concrete.  It still happened.  The good thing is I now wipe countertops constantly even though I ripped the concrete out.  So maybe if you want to train yourself that way, you SHOULD do this, but expect to be redoing it in two months.

That hole and stain up there was within 2 weeks.  We hadn’t even gotten around to doing the rest of the countertops yet and that one already had to be chipped and patched and resealed.

 

Moral of the Story.

Not worth it.

 

Before, During, Progress, Kitchen, etc.

As I gather up my half-assed pictures of the kitchen reno at every step I have realized a few things. They all boil down to one thing: I need to take better pictures.  For starters, I am not the best photographer.  But there’s also the fact that I never bothered to clean off the countertop for any of the pics.  It’s always full of chaos.  In fact, I don’t even have a picture of the full kitchen post painting the countertops.  God only knows why.  So, to the best that I’ve equipped myself, here’s three pictures of our kitchen along the way, with a quick cap of what changed in between.

Progress Shots

I seriously need to work on my photography skillz.

Our kitchen to do list looks like this now with this update–

• Prime, paint, and seal the cabinets. (we opted to not seal)
• Buy new hardware and add it to the cabinets (duh)
• Paint the walls and ceiling
• Re-do the countertop (either paint or re-laminate)
• Re-redo the countertop again (surprise surprise!)
•  
• Finally finish installing the big light (it needs a sealing gasket thing installed, but we couldn’t find it for awhile lol)
• Replace the under cabinet light
• Find a permanent solution for the trash and recycle bins (on our way!)
• Make the upper corner shelf open shelving (just have to add the shelves back in – more on that later)
• Paint the new open shelving in the corner (still have to paint the actual shelves + maybe a pattern in the background + hang the shelves)
• Possibly replace the above-window light
• Add some sort of curtains to the window and the door
• Strip and repair the doors to the outside and to the basement
• Paint the doors to the outside and the basement
• Bright gloss white paint on the trim and doors
• Create a family command center on the big open wall that includes a calendar, mail center, meal planner, and anything else we may find useful.
• Add a light in the little nook where the doors are?
• Decorate.
• Enjoy.

So here’s where we are now…

Completed Kitchen Floor

So happy with this finished step!

More Painting…Obviously

I finally got around to painting the interior of our now open corner shelf.  I used the wall paint and cabinet paint to make it look like framed shelves on the wall. Let me just show you the picture…

Open Shelving

I still have to paint the shelves and get them mounted in there.  I haven’t done that yet because I want to put a lip on the front of the shelves to make them a little more substantial looking.  Also, I want to paint a pattern in the green – I think.  I have a small sample of the green that is in a different finish (our walls are satin finish & the sample is not…yeah I don’t know what it is).  The pattern would therefore be very subtle.  Actually, to tell you the truth, it may not even be a big enough difference to show up.  Ha.  Whoops.  I’ll see what happens when I do it.

But its painted!  Let’s focus on that achievement.  We’re obviously slow over here.

Update:

• Prime, paint, and seal the cabinets. (we opted to not seal)
• Buy new hardware and add it to the cabinets (duh)
• Paint the walls and ceiling
• Re-do the countertop (either paint or re-laminate)
• Re-redo the countertop again (surprise surprise!)
• Replace the floor
• Finally finish installing the big light (it needs a sealing gasket thing installed, but we couldn’t find it for awhile lol)
• Replace the under cabinet light
• Find a permanent solution for the trash and recycle bins (on our way!)
• Make the upper corner shelf open shelving (just have to add the shelves back in – more on that later)
• Paint the new open shelving in the corner (still have to paint the actual shelves + maybe a pattern in the background + hang the shelves)
• Possibly replace the above-window light
• Add some sort of curtains to the window and the door
• Strip and repair the doors to the outside and to the basement
• Paint the doors to the outside and the basement
• Bright gloss white paint on the trim and doors
• Create a family command center on the big open wall that includes a calendar, mail center, meal planner, and anything else we may find useful.
• Add a light in the little nook where the doors are?
• Decorate.
• Enjoy.

 

Green with Envy

So it’s bright green.  To be specific, it’s Behr’s ultra premium super duper paint & primer in one color matched to new grass green by Glidden.  If people are interested (I totally sure you are not), I can go get the formula off of the paint can.  I love it.  It’s really cheerful and there’s not a whole lot of wall in here anyway.  The giant wall behind Kevin is going to be home to the family “command center” – so you are not going to see a whole lot of green there either.  That probably won’t get done until 2013 in reality though.  But we both love the green.

Checklistmania:

• Prime, paint, and seal the cabinets. (we opted to not seal)
• Buy new hardware and add it to the cabinets (duh)
• Paint the walls and ceiling
• Re-do the countertop (either paint or re-laminate)
• Re-redo the countertop again (surprise surprise!)
• Replace the floor
• Finally finish installing the big light (it needs a sealing gasket thing installed, but we couldn’t find it for awhile lol)
• Replace the under cabinet light
• Find a permanent solution for the trash and recycle bins (on our way!)
• Make the upper corner shelf open shelving (just have to add the shelves back in – more on that later)
• Paint the new open shelving in the corner
• Possibly replace the above-window light
• Add some sort of curtains to the window and the door
• Strip and repair the doors to the outside and to the basement
• Paint the doors to the outside and the basement
• Bright high gloss white paint on the trim and doors
• Create a family command center on the big open wall that includes a calendar, mail center, meal planner, and anything else we may find useful.
• Add a light in the little nook where the doors are?
• Decorate.
• Enjoy.