Kitchen Update: Granite Tops and Cabinets
Posted on December 5, 2007 - Filed Under Housing |
Believe it or nuts, progress has been made on the back house. It’s nearing completion. Only a month behind schedule.
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To prevent the kitchen from coming some kind of dark cave, I went with the lightest colors I could find. Lighter cabinets, lighter counter tops. At Lowes, I found this great deal on a dual basin stainless steel sink. Only $80. To save money, it was an abovement sink. The granite guys cut out the hole for the sink and everything looked good. UNTIL The problem reared it’s ugly head. If something went right with this project, I might just pass out from the excitement. The problem: the fasteners for the sink were designed to be used with tile or formica counter tops, not granite. They were too small. Because the hole had already been cut for the countertop, we had to find an exact duplicate for the sink. That left us with one option: this cast iron sink compliments of Home Depot. One more victory: at some point the electrician had the inspector out. Apparently he was thrilled the circuit breaker/electrical meter was no longer in the bathroom. |
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9 Responses to “Kitchen Update: Granite Tops and Cabinets”
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No dishwasher also means no counterspace when you are drying the dishes. Plus, the water won’t drain toward the sink with the level granite slab. Which you wouldn’t want it to anyway with the top-mount sink…
Looks like a very entertaining blog! Look forward to reading it. Would love to get on your blogroll as I will put you on mine. Thanks!
Another Investor
Not having a dish washer is not a big deal. Go to walmart and by a 10 buck plastic dish rack to dry your stuff on. In the year 2007 they have managed to actually build a little lip that hangs over the sink, even top-mount sinks. They take up a very small amount of space and save energy. Good for the landlord if they are paying the electric bill.
I’m suprised you went with granite counters. Why did you decide to go with those? Must have cost like $1750. Why not laminate if you were going with an above mount sink?
AI, it’s obvious you’re not happy with this kitchen. And that’s alright. Twenty inches to the left of the sink, thirty three inches to the right of the sink. The left basin is 16 inches. There’s plenty of room for a dish-draining apparatus.
What is odd: I have never heard of a counter top which drains towards the sink. If that’s true, why are cabinets shimmed to be level? Or why do counter top people constantly use levels?
Kenric: The countertop was $850, everything included. The material costs were minor this time. It was more labor than anything. But the big factor was speed. They were in and out within a few hours, allowing the contractor to come back and get all the plumbing connected.
Cliff:
Look at any 1940’s to 1950’s (pre dishwasher) era kitchen with tiled countertops laid in mud and an inset sink. The mud was done so the tile slopes toward the sink. This way June Cleaver could finish the dinner dishes, leave them to dry and watch Ed Sullivan with Ward and the boys without worrying about mopping up the counters.
The kitchen is pretty and suitable for a gourmet cook like you. The average tenant wants a dishwasher because they have a killer schedule as a professional so they can afford the rent you are charging.
Cliff, that’s a great price for granite. My calcs show it comes to about $26/sf.
AI, I haven’t seen any counters slope towards the sink in any of the places I’ve looked at. Even places without dishwashers they don’t have the slope.
I guess back in the 40’s and 50’s they hadn’t invented dishracks with a mat on the bottom.
BTW, do most people put the dishes in the dishwasher to dry? I’ve never done that.
OK kids, I am not making this up. Both houses my parents had when I was young had this feature. Not a huge slope, just enough to get the water to drain into the sink. Plastic mat? What’s “plastic?”
Kenric lives in Phoenix, where the dishes dry before you put them in the rack. Also, no house was built before the 1960’s and formica countertops. Houses built in 1960 are antiques and sell for premium prices as “mid-century moderns.”
Cliff’s future tenants will want a dishwasher to wash the bowl and spoon for their take-out gourmet soup dinner. They will throw the dish(es) in and turn the dishwasher on. Then to bed.
AI, admittedly I haven’t spent any time in a 1940’s or 1950’s kitchen. When I redo kitchens these days, I go more for the 2007 feel.
June? Ward? I guess I grew up in the kitchen where Gilligan wiped the flat counters, Mary-Anne cooked the food, and the Bionic Man took out the garbage. At some point, Michael Knight showed up with a microwave, which sat on the flat counter-tops.
The kitchen will have to be suitable for a gourmet like me. That’s where I’m going to live!
For the professional, washing dishes by hand: I figured having a washer/dryer instead of a dishwasher would save them from having to spend hours in the laundro-mat, begging bums for quarters.
Kenric, I was quite happy with the price. Without a doubt I’ll be using him again in the future. If I choose granite for my next project.