More tiling...

Gustavo the tile guy showed up yesterday (Memorial Day) at 9:20 as I was leaving to go to Jazzercise. He worked until after 6--I'm not sure when he left as I was eating dinner next door at my brother's.

He checked with me at some point in the afternoon about where the cabinets would be, so he didn't have to cut tiles to go all the way to the wall. That didn't seem right to me (I'd expect a wall tiled far enough so that a baseboard would cover any small gap at the wall, should the cabinet configuration change), so I called Samantha this morning to confirm this then called Betsy to tell her about the problem. Betsy thought leaving some gap was OK, but when I said some of these gaps were 6-8 inches, she agreed that was not acceptable. I hope I also got the 'gaps coverable by baseboard' idea across, though with Betsy it's hard to be sure.

Betsy has now called back to say that Jack and Mary had been to check on Gustavo, had already spotted the edge tile problem, and were dealing with it. I'll see what gaps remain when I get home tonight.

If the cabinet installation really proceeds as Betsy predicted, and if Inman Park Granite can come template next week, the plumbing items need to be delivered before they come--the granite guys will take the sink with them to be sure they get the cut done correctly. Betsy will check with her plumbing house and let me know who to call with my credit card number to get those ordered. I'm also going to call the appliance store, Howard Payne, to be sure that my selected items are all still available--we're getting close to the time to get those delivered, too. The granite people will need the template sheets for the cooktop and pop-up ventilation system, but don't have to have them physically available.

On the general subject of remodeling, today's Non Sequitur cartoon is pretty good.

Spending money

After more coordinating with Betsy, I have ordered my appliances, except for the small freezer, which is a Kenmore and is only available from Sears. Most of the items will be delivered Friday so they will be on hand whenever they are needed. The washer, dryer, and the fridge will follow later--installation of those doesn't require work by the carpenter or granite fabricator. (I'm not sure why the dishwasher doesn't also belong on this list, or I may just not have the list correct. Doesn't matter, it will all get delivered sometime.)

Howard Payne, the appliance company, can't schedule the installation until June 28th, which is later than Betsy hoped to be ready for it. If they don't have a cancellation, Betsy will have her crew install them for what Howard Payne had bid. Meanwhile, we left the installation charge off the purchase.

I have called Chase to let them know that the unusually large charge on my Amazon card is legit. This should get me several of those $25 gift certificates in one blow...

I'll be ordering the plumbing fixtures (2 sinks, 2 faucets, hot water dispenser, garbage disposal) as soon as the woman at the plumbing supply house calls me back.

Tile is done!

The tile is done--all cut, laid, and grouted. I think it looks great, and will look even better once the haze left after grouting has been completely cleaned off. First finished surface!

I finally got the person at the plumbing house at 3 PM, after leaving 2 messages and calling many more times. Good thing I was prepared with my list of fixtures, complete with model numbers--she didn't have the "L" (for left-hand version) on the kitchen sink, and had a wrong, and much more expensive, instant hot-water heater, one that included a tap for filtered cold water in addition to the hot. My job is water use: I drink tap water. (And Atlanta water is not heavily mineralized.) Once that was straightened out, I gave her the credit card number and that's done.

I see that various types of molding have been delivered for the trim work around doors, and eventually the baseboard--I assume they'll trim tomorrow, and try to paint some either tomorrow or Friday around all the deliveries.