Some Bumps In The Road...

I'm trying to figure out how big of a deal I should make over this:



It's the corner of the kitchen countertop. I can tell that the two pieces of granite probably have the same *name* as far as their color, but they are obviously quite different. The sample he showed me was like the upper portion, with quite a bit of the yellow/gold color. The lower piece has hardly any yellow/gold and is mostly black, white and grey. I know he noticed it as it was going in- there's no way he wouldn't have- so he must just be hoping I won't say anything. So do I tell him to rip it out and redo it? I'm leaning towards yes, but I'm not looking forward to the battle of wills that I'm sure will ensue.

There's a 2nd issue with the granite. He's installing a granite table that's going to be attached to the back wall of the kitchen. It will be supported by one leg in the middle. I saw the leg they're planning on using, and it's a turned table leg with some funky designs on it (was that a bunch of grapes I saw??). In my head, I was thinking it would just be a plain round leg. I don't like turned legs; never have. But according to the contractor, the granite people ONLY have this type of leg. And the local lumber yards aren't open on Saturdays, so I couldn't find what I wanted. They didn't have anything quite right at Home Depot or Lowe's. Should I just use a 4x4? I guess if plain round is good, plain square would be OK too. Then would I paint it trim color, or stain it to match the cabinets? Ooh and the big question about the table- counter height or bar height? I was always picturing it at bar height in my head, but is that a bad idea? I feel hesitant about that for some reason.


Oh, and the medicine cabinet. ARGH! I got a recess-mount, 20x26 frameless beveled-edge cabinet that was very nice. I figured the larger size cabinet would be good, to maximize storage space. But it turns out that it wouldn't fit in the space between the studs. So I went back and ended up with the espresso one that I liked best in the first place (and was 1/4 the cost):



The worry was that it's not the same espresso, but I held it up in the place it would be mounted and it really looks OK, I think. The bathroom is so tiny that you can't back up too much from the vanity to really be able to compare the two. So maybe I can get away with it.

But the new question is this: should I just get a plain mirror for over the sink, and get a mirrorless cabinet to put over the toilet for storage? That idea is suddenly seeming like a better way to go. Do you think the different-espresso issue would be more or less of a big deal for a cabinet like that? I may just have to bring one home and compare the medicine cabinet idea vs the over-toilet-cabinet idea. GAH so much trouble for a silly medicine cabinet!


Here's another issue: windows. Originally, he had put replacement windows in the quote. I wasn't convinced that was really necessary, but I left it in. I figured that if I decided against windows I could use the money to upgrade something else. But as everything started coming together, I realized that I really did want the new windows. I figured he would probably want to install them before all the painting and tiling got done, but before I knew it it was done, so I just let it go and figured he had a plan. But when I talked to him yesterday and he said we were ready to move on to final punchlist items, I thought, "what about the windows??" When I brought it up, he claimed they were never in the quote. Ah, but everything lasts forever on teh internets! So I got out a copy and showed him where new windows were specifically identified. He said he'd take care of it. I wonder how much of the tile, paint and trim he's going to have to redo.


About the punchlist: this is going to be a long list. There are a LOT of little things that are just not quite right. There's paint that's not finished, caulking not done, gaps under the base moulding, gaps behind the granite backsplash, nail holes not covered, the kitchen faucet is loose, there are no doorknobs, the valves under the bathroom sink don't match... and those are just the obvious ones. I'm sure I'll find plenty more when I actually go and LOOK for them. It's a little disconcerting to see that such lax attention to detail is apparently OK for him.


And the TRASH again!!! After the original Trash Fiasco, when I told him EXTREMELY clearly that he and his workers were to haul off their trash themselves and not put ANY trash in my outdoor garbage cans, they were again filled with his construction crap when I got home yesterday! Are you kidding me?? The trash people already warned me about overloading the cans, and that they're not to be used for construction debris. I am VERY irritated about this. Especially because he promised a dumpster, and it has never shown up.


Now for some good news- the shower floor is done! And it looks fabulous!



I do kind of wish that the grout lines on the lip lined up with the grout lines on the floor, but I'm not overly bothered by that.


The finished product:




I also really like the new front door, I think it's very cute:




The ceiling fan is up in the kitchen:




And I think it goes quite well with the one in the living room:



I had them switch the blades to the darker side. They had originally installed them both with the lighter side down.


The kitchen faucet is on and working!




And today, the vanity finally got installed!



It is so cute! I (stupidly) didn't realize the drain pipe would be so visible, but I guess that can't be avoided. Maybe I can make something to hide it a little bit. Also a bummer that it takes away some of the storage space, but that's probably the case with all vanities to some extent. I still really like it though.


The light fixture is installed too. I like how the squareness matches up with the squareness of the vanity- what do you think?






Oh and as you can see, there's a toilet now too:



And that picture right there ^ shows the entirety of that teeny tiny bathroom!


A shower curtain rod was apparently not included in the work scope, so I may have to mount that myself. I can't stand those screw-into-place ones; they always seem to fall down after a while. So I bought one that screws into the wall. I might be able to get the guys to put it up for me. I thought about doing shower doors but I figured with the shower curtain, you can pull it back to show off the shower tile. I certainly don't want to hide it behind frosted glass! And I don't think that the few hundred I'd spend on a custom, unfrosted shower door is really worth it for the guest house. Oh and lastly, the tininess of the bathroom means that you probably couldn't open the shower door all the way anyway. So, shower curtain it is.


Current assignment: find a suitable table leg. And prepare myself for some difficult conversations (granite, sloppy details, TRASH) that are sure to be coming soon. Blah.