Week 10

A 4 day cabinet staining job turned into a two week stripping and re-staining process. Thanks to the artistic talent and painstaking work of Shawn, from Apex painting company, our cabinets are now very close to how we had originally envisioned them to be. As I wrote last week, the first attempt at staining was unsuccessful. The stain was left on the cabinets too long and they ended up looking painted, with no visible grain. Although pretty, it was not what we wanted. Thanks to the understanding of the owner of the company, who also agreed that the cabinets needed to be redone, we now have properly stained cabinets.

           I am very much looking forward to filling, and then emptying this gorgeous wine cabinet!

                                                       View from the dining room area

It is so nice to have all the paper and plastic off the walls. With the removal of the paper and plastic, the smell dissipated almost immediately. Our home away from home, AKA the pop-up trailer, will be taken away this weekend. Thanks again to Kim Hays for providing us with a smell free escape!

The rest of the remodel should move rather quickly from this point forward. We're looking forward to the granite and floor installation this coming week. 

Happy weekend everyone!

Week 9

What a week! For those of you who don't have a Facebook page, let me catch you up to speed on our remodel process. Last Saturday the staining process was complete....we thought. We were happy with the stain color when the stainer left for the day. As the weekend progressed, the cabinets got darker and darker and darker to the point of not being able to see any grain in the wood. By Monday they actually looked painted rather than stained.

A phone call to Jared led to a meeting at the end of the day on Monday with the owner of the staining company. He looked at our sample board then looked at the cabinets and said, "we'll make it right". So began the process of stripping ALL the stain off ALL the cabinets. 

Suffice it to say that all the chemicals in our house smelled terribly. We were fortunate enough to borrow a friend's pop up trailer, which now sits in our driveway. It is a nice escape when needed. The neighbors are calling us the Clampetts! Haha.

Towards the end of the week, the wine rack arrived and was pounded into place. I am really looking forward to using this! 

So, as you can see, this has been an "interesting" week. Every remodel needs a bump in the road, right? This put us back about a week and a half but in the grand scheme of things, it's nothing. The re-staining began today and will continue into next week until complete. We are confident it will be made right this time!

 It has not been the Spring Break I was anticipating but summer vaca is just around the corner.

Due to this snafu, we were given an opportunity to really witness the integrity and character of the owner of Trinity Renovation, Scott Monday. He stopped by yesterday to see how things were progressing. Apparently he noticed that I was in the middle of getting ready to go out so he casually asked what we were doing that evening. I told him we were going to Camp 4 for dinner with some friends. Long story short, after enjoying the wine and food at the restaurant we asked for our bill so we could move on to our next destination. The tag, along with Scott's business card, was brought to the table. Confused, we asked for clarification. We were told that Scott had been to Camp 4 prior to our arrival. He had made arrangements to pay for our dinner. I was completely overwhelmed, to the point of tears. Roger was speechless and our friends felt like they hit the jackpot, being the recipients of our good fortune! This is the mark of not only a good businessman but also a man who owned the mistake of the staining company, which he didn't have to do. Thank you, Scott Monday, for being who you are. To those of you reading this, if you are looking for a company to renovate your home or business, Trinity Renovation is the company to call. Please, however, wait until they finish our project!

Happy Easter everyone. He is risen indeed.

Week 8

This week brought stain, stain and more stain. Our house is torn apart again but I guess we have to get messy before we can finish this project completely. One more coat of stain on Saturday, a clear coat on Monday and the cabinets will be finished. Well, almost. We decided to turn one of the cabinets into a wine rack so it may be a few days before that is built and installed.

Our cats are in jail again behind the zippered wall. We certainly don't want cat hair on the wet cabinets. We are hoping they have short memories!

If I was being honest, I would have to say Roger and I have looked at each other a few times over the past week and wondered why we chose to live here during this project. It's all part of the adventure, right? 

I am looking forward to getting away for a couple of days next week during my Spring Break. The Pacific Ocean is calling my name so off I go. Roger is staying home to monitor things (I will owe him for this one!) while I go visit our friends Connie and Peggy in Pacific Grove. 

If on schedule, hardwood floors are next. Fingers crossed!!

Week 7

Wow. What a week. We knew at some point the pace would pick up after 3 weeks of small, but important jobs being accomplished but we had no idea things would move so quickly all at once! Please enjoy as I attempt to take you through our week.
We were initially told the windows would be delivered on Tuesday but they came on Wednesday instead. Thanks to Roger, who stayed home from work, for cat duty. With no windows, we knew they both make their escape! We now have brand new windows throughout the entire house!!

What we didn't know, was that the cabinets were being delivered on Wednesday, with installation scheduled for Thursday and Friday. 

We had cabinet pieces EVERYWHERE!!

On Friday, the mason arrived to retrofit the brick on the front of the house.

As I said, it was a busy week at the Dial's. Here are a couple more pics of what it looks like now that all the workers have gone home for the weekend.

On a side note, we had an open space in the living room that had some funky shelves in it. Neither Roger nor I liked it and even considered closing the space completely. Thanks to our friend, Judi, who suggested we add another cabinet, this is what we got. It's perfect!

What started in our minds as a kitchen remodel has definitely turned into a much bigger project. We have torn down walls, a fireplace and chimney, added windows and a gas fireplace, painted additional rooms, installed recessed lighting and we certainly aren't finished. More to come next week!

Week 6

The last two weeks brought texture and paint. It seems as if progress has slowed tremendously, however we needed to get these two jobs completed before anything else could proceed. Besides, we have been waiting for the windows to arrive, which they have. Here are a couple of pics of the space now that it has been painted. By the way, the color name is Zanzabar...sound so exotic!

                                           Textured and ready for paint

                       We decided to paint the hallway as well. This is Armando.

     Finished. The best way to describe the color is a greyish taupe. We love it!

We also decided to take out our walnut tree in the backyard. It was old and very messy. 

Stand by. I think the next couple of weeks will be very busy. I see progress on the horizon!!