Day two install

Day two we called in some recruits to help with the bigger stones.  We figured we couldn't do it with Loy, weakling me and the one armed man.  We had a friend from church come help and one of Loy co-workers came by.  We pulled out an 8 foot piece and got to work on the piece that goes around the sink.

Drilling the holes for the sink cut-out.  Our friend, Billy helped us so much.  He is a cabinet maker and has worked with alot of these tools and was such a blessing.

The spectators...

After cutting the piece out, they had to flip it over and work on routing out the underside of the edge where the sink sets because it was just sightly taller than the cabinets and it would not fit if they didn't do all this extra work.

Covered in soapstone dust.

Loy got many new toys for this project, including the router, orbital sander, belt sander, grinder, and he also got to use some other toys that he had, just haven't had the opportunity to play with yet, those were the circular saw, jig saw and drill.

The grinder.  Notice it is dark now.  They stared about 1:00 that afternoon and did not set the piece on the cabinets till about 7:00 that night.  It took a long time and Billy is just as much a perfectionist as Loy so it took a long time, but it looked GREAT once in.

Billy's daughter drawing with the kids who came up to see the progress.

Its in!!!

After they did this they cut the next big piece and got it ready to set the following day.

I don't have pictures from day three of four, but Sunday night Billy came back and between him, Loy, me, my mom, Ashlynn, and one armed dad, we got the other large piece installed.  After getting it done we decided it would have been better to do it the opposite way we did it, but we got it all in and set.

Day 4, Monday after work Billy came back and the guys epoxyed the seams and tried to place the bar, which didn't end up working and we had to have the trim carpenters come back out and fix the bar area.  The guys got it set and waiting for the new posts that will support the other side.  More pictures to come...

Soapstone install, day 1.

Our soapstone arrived a couple weeks ago.  The FedEx called me on a Friday and told me they were on their way and then asked me if I had access to a forklift to unload it off the truck.  Um... No, I do not have a forklift.  Well after much discussion, we finally decided to wait till Monday so Loy could use the tractor to get it off.  He said it was very stressful and nerve-racking.  But he got it off and in the garage waiting till we can working on it.  My mom and dad arrived on the following Thursday to help.  Friday, after a final (or so we thought) trip to Lowe's Loy and my dad got started.  By late lunch they had gotten the first piece cut and up on the cabinets.  I went with them after lunch to help with the next piece.  They got it cut and we were carrying it inside and my dad tore a muscle in his bicep and he was out of commission for the remainder.

Cutting the stone.  He used a diamond blade on his circular saw.  Dad held the vacuum.  It was VERY dusty cutting that stuff.

Look that dust.  That dust is EVERYWHERE now.  Had to wear masks and glasses.

A couple of the pieces were oiled when they got to our house so you can kinda see what it will look like oiled.

At the end of day one this is what was done.  Two pieces installed, or at least on the cabinets.

Also placed the sink that night.  

This is one of my had-to-have items.  This is a fireclay farmhouse sink.  It is the 36" sink and it is really big, but I like it.  I wasn't going to get the bigger one, but at the time we were purchasing it the 30" was still in production and wouldn't be done in time.  But our contractor worked his magic and we got the bigger one for the same price as the smaller.

When the day was done, we had one tired  little boy.  He worked hard.  He was waiting for dinner to finish cooking and he fell asleep.  LOL.

Update!

This might be a long post since I have not updated in quite some time.  My internet at home has been malfunctioning so I have not been able to upload picture.  The cabinets and trim are stained the paint is on and looking good.

The family room, living room and kitchen are this green color.  Its a light sea foam green color.  I was having a really hard time capturing the color.  Against the dark stain I think it looks really good and with decorations it will look better.

Looking toward the kitchen.

The white color in the rest of the house.  We figure we will paint each room separately later.

 The front door stained. From the road it looks black.

I'll do a separate with the soapstone install.  

Stain time

Staining started a couple weeks ago.  They are painting today and hopefully be done today or tomorrow.  With as many people as they have, I don't see why they wouldn't be done.  I will post pictures of that today or tomorrow when they get all the plastic and tape off.  So here is the staining of the cabinets and trim

A couple from the kitchen.  I don' think they were completely done, but this is basically how they look, maybe a little darker now.  It is much darker than I was originally wanting, but I think it will turn out looking good once the countertops are in and backsplash and with the paint.

The stair way.  The white dust looking stuff is from when they were sanding it.

The doors.  I am really pleased with the way these turned out, love the color, the graining in them, I wish my cabinets looked more like this.

The fireplace in our room.

The trim around the doors and the crown are different woods so they took the stain a little different, but hopefully you won't be able to tell much of a difference.

I know I will love it all in the end when it is all together, but i was a bit disappointed in the cabinets.  Since maple doesn't have much grain it kinda makes it look like its just brown paint.  I think when the lighting is all in and right it will look different. I was disappointed in Sherwin Williams when I went to get samples of stain so I can pick it out.  When they put it on the wood piece I had, they did not let it soak in long enough so I did not get an accurate picture of what the stain looked like.  My sample was not near as dark as the actual stuff really is.

Got a call from FedEx this morning at 7:15 to let us know that our soapstone was going to be delivered Friday and wanted to make sure someone was going to be here to meet the truck.  They are going to call me 30 minutes before they get here to deliver it.  I am so excited, it'll be like Christmas morning!!!

Let the packing begin!

Not because we are moving anytime soon, well we are, but not for about another month and a half, but because I have lost my wedding ring.  I can not find it anywhere, so as I am tearing the house apart to look for it, I might as well pack things up at the same time.  My ring has been missing for about a month and a half.  I did not look for it right away because I can't wear it all the time, so I have it off and on always, so I just thought it was in one of my normal places.  I can not wear my ring to work, I have a stand in ring for work, so I take my ring off often.  I usually put in my jewelry stand, but sometimes it comes off and lands on the bathroom counter.  That is where I believe it was last.  Loy said he saw it on the floor at one point and picked it up and put it back.  Not sure when that was and if I saw it after that, but that is the last time I can determine it was last seen.  Who know what little fingers may have gotten to it.  My concern right now is that it got knocked into the trash can and out with the trash and it is gone for good.  I have torn up my bathroom several times, gone through the drawers, looked in the laundry baskets, in the sink, in the floor vents.  Today I tore up the living room and the couches with no such luck.  Hoping one of the kids picked it up and "misplaced" it and it will be found before we move.  Yes it is only material items and it can be replaced, as Loy lovingly pointed out, but it just won't be the same.  Almost 7 years ago, December 26th, I received not only a beautiful ring, but a promise of a future with a wonderful man.  Wonderful memories and a special kind of love was put in that ring.  It so special that Loy picked it out special just for me, knowing what I loved and giving me such a special gift.  It was blessed in our wedding ceremony as a  symbol of our precious, everlasting love.  A new ring just won't be the same and who knows when that will happen (read $$$ and a new house that needs new furniture and new mortgage).  I feel horrible for possibly loosing such a precious gift.  Please say a prayer for me that I find my ring.  I love my ring and all it represents.

WOW!

That is all I have to say about what they have done recently.  All our cabinets and trim work is done and it looks amazing!  Can't wait to see it all stained!

The tower of drawers.  It took them a whole day to make all the drawers.

The drawer sliders...

Where the cooktop goes.  Two big pot drawers, two spice racks drawers on each side and you can barely see it, but there is a drawer for the trash can on the left.

Here's a look at the spice rack drawers.

Here is what the doors look like with the trim pieces.

They put our font door on at the end of the week!  Looks very nice!

From the inside.  (and a little sneak peak of the stairway)

So since I already gave a little of the stairs away, I guess I'll show those now.  I was going to save them for last, since they are AMAZING and its always best to save best for last.

Here they are!!  I think they look absolutely amazing!

Going up...

Balcony.  Door to our room on the right.  Door on left is the door that goes outside to upstairs porch.

I love them!!!

Looking down...

A little sneak of the kitchen.  I'll post a separate blog of just the kitchen and all its features.

Powder room cabinets.

Kids bathroom cabinets.

Master bath cabinets and mirror trim.  There is two of these, one on each side of the door.

Storage cabinets in master bath.  Lower part is a large pull out drawer for a laundry basket.

And the laundry room.

Well, what do you think?  Stain and paint starts this week.  I am nervous about the stain color I picked.  I didn't think it was very dark, but apparently my contractor and the painter say it is a dark stain.  We will see...