A Big, Big Rock!

This past week my husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. Looking back, it is hard to believe so much time has passed by so quickly. To celebrate our 20 years together my wonderful husband bought me a big rock!

No, no, not this kind of rock:

This kind of rock!

Mine came in the form of new granite countertops for our kitchen.

If you have been following this blog for a while, you will no doubt understand how excited I was/am. I much prefer “house things” to clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc. This was the absolutely perfect gift!

Here is our kitchen before.  We had speckled green/gray/black granite tiles with a very dated wooden edging.

Here is the kitchen now.

It honestly feels like a brand new space.

I find myself walking through the kitchen and just staring. Is this really the same kitchen? It is hard to believe how one change to a room can make such a big difference. I am so pleased with the results.

Keeping it Real with a Few Things to Think About
I can’t say enough about how much I love my new countertops. (I don’t want you to think I am complaining!) Like every project, however, it was not without its issues. I am hoping by sharing a few of the things which occurred during our renovation, it may help you if/when you decide to tackle a similar project.

Countertops
As I said earlier, the original countertops in my kitchen were granite tiles with a wooden edge. This meant two things. First, the new granite countertops would not be as thick as the original. Not really an issue unless you already have a tile backsplash in place like we did.

In order for the new countertops to be the correct height in relation to the existing backsplash, a ¼” piece of wood had to be installed to increase the height of the granite. This means we will have to put a ½” quarter round piece of cherry molding along the underneath side of the granite to hide the exposed edge of the added wood. We have not done this yet, but in all honesty, you can’t see this extra piece of wood unless you are sitting on the floor.

The second issue was the original countertops had to be completely destroyed in order to make the templates for the new countertops. I was told if my countertops had been laminate, the installers would have popped them off, made the templates and put them back in place.

Instead, we had to clean out everything from the bottom row of cabinets and store it all in the dining room. We also had to live without a kitchen sink and dishwasher for the entire process - about a month.

Not a big issue, as I have a utility sink in my laundry room which is right around the corner from the kitchen.

Faucet
An unexpected problem occurred when we were attempting to reinstall the faucet. My previous sink had been a top mounted model on which the faucet was placed. The new sink is an under the counter mounted model.

Translation, the faucet was now about ½” shorter and the faucet handles would not turn because they hit the ledge behind the sink. Needless to say, I was not happy. What to do?

The installers and I bounced several ideas around – sand off part of the ledge to make it smaller and create more room behind the faucet, install a small piece of granite on top of the countertop and underneath the faucet to add height, etc. Nothing I really liked because each of these solutions created more problems.

Finally after a long discussion, I came up with an idea – switch the faucet handles to lever style. Not knowing if this was even an option, I made some phone calls. As luck would have it, lever style handles are made for my faucet model. We ordered the handles and they should be here within two weeks. Problem solved. In the mean time, the faucet is set in place but not mounted to the countertop. This allows me to use the faucet and sink until the new handles arrive.

Sink
After resolving the faucet issue, next up was attaching the sink to the garbage disposal and water supply. My new sink is larger and deeper than the original sink (hurray!) which, of course, caused more problems.

When my husband tried to reuse the original pipes they were now too long because the sink sits lower in the cabinet. The old pipes could not be cut because of the location of a manufacturer’s label. Another delay, but a trip to Lowe’s and this issue too was solved.

Wall Damage
In order to install the granite on the right of the refrigerator, a piece of the door molding needed to be removed. Nail holes will now need to be patched and the molding repainted.

There was also some slight wall damage caused by the granite sliding into place – more patching and painting. Neither one of these is a big deal, but just something to be aware of if you are redoing countertops next to a door facing.

I hope my experience will help you to think about some of the issues we had with our project should you decide to do something similar. The reality is all of these surprises were easily dealt with. It was more frustrating than anything else when you think you would be finished and then something else would delay progress. The biggest issue was really the faucet. We were extremely lucky that Rohl makes an alternative style handle.

I am “over the moon” happy with how my kitchen looks now. My husband truly out did himself. Thanks Mr. RDH!

Linking to some of my favorite parties HERE

Sources:
Granite – Absolute Black
Sink – Blanco Super Single Bowl Silgranit in Biscuit
Faucet – Rohl Country Kitchen