Shopping and Building on a budget - Chapter 13

Howdy Y’all! Welcome back! Last time I was sharing my story of the formica “can’t guarantee no damage”, I said I had the answer.🤠 Being a DIYer, I am going to cut the formica at the rear seam all the way across the counter. I think I can just use a box cutter. Hmmm🤔 Well, my son had a better idea. He bought me a “Dremel Lite”. What the heck is that? Turns out they are available at just about every one of my retailers:  Home Depot search Dremel Lite ,  Lowes search Dremel Lite  ,  Walmart search Dremel Lite ,   Amazon Link,  and or the Tractor Supply Link  OMG! I had no idea about this cool little tool. It works great!  I “dremeled” my way… all the way across the kitchen counter. 🤠

Shannon from Arkansas was very helpful. We worked together on this draft below.

Shannon and I communicated very well. Now that I felt comfortable with the purchase, I had to put approximately 10% down. Of course all on Home Depot  deferred interest. I asked Shannon who would be installing the Granite top. She told me,  “Rock Tops Granite and Stone” out of Plainview, Texas. Wow! That’s like north of Lubbock, Texas. 😮🤠 Maybe 160 miles away. 

Oh well. Alexa, from Rock Tops, contacted me and we went over a lot of information. Great Customer Service. We went over the measurements again and I did tell her about all the appliance and sink purchases that I had already made. Everything seemed to be going well until I read the print about “no drop in sinks”. 😮Yes the sink I purchased from Home Depot was a drop in. 😞

No worries, Alexa got right on it and she found a sink available to them for the same price. Pretty much like the sink we had purchased, except the Culligan spout was going to have to be on the left instead of the right. No worries, as long it did not cost me any more money. 🤠 Ooops, also the Boss said it was o.k. 🤣

We then had to schedule the Measuring to come out for the actual Template. You have to clear counters, no children or pets running around. The equipment they have is pretty high tech. It’s like lasers shooting across the kitchen. All the cuts have to be made precisely. They actually make all the cuts in their shop before they load it and travel 160 miles. 

Alexa has great communication skills. I was impressed. She kept me informed on everything from beginning to end. 

Remember the “Bullnose” decision? The decision I made on the outer edge cuts without approval of the Boss? 😮 Well, that changed. After much discussion we decided that it would be  “ ¼ inch Round, top and bottom”. You can google “Granite countertop edge profiles” and see so many different styles. So we went from full bullnose to ¼ inch round top and bottom at no additional charge. 🤠

Alexa sent me a picture of the granite slab “Santa Cecelia”. Something looked odd. Is that a stain? Or is it a shadow? Looks like a DEAD DINOSAUR to me. 😮

This is one full slab. Our kitchen might take two. I don’t want a dead dinosaur on our kitchen counter. 🤔  I better show the Boss.    

Well, I called Alexa. Alexa could see the same thing. She called her Boss. Cynthia began to communicate with me. She also could see the same thing. She was tickled that I called it a dead dinosaur. 🤣I’m glad she had a good sense of humor. She talked about the chances of the stain being cut out once she received the template. Cynthia is actually one of the Owners. Wow! I’m impressed. I’m talking to an actual owner. 🤠Cynthia also had another idea. She had a granite slab available to her called “Giallo Ornamental”.

Hmmm. 🤔This is lighter, but it looks nice. I need to ask the boss. 🤣

O.K. the decision is made. Giallo Ornamental it is and no extra charge. It also blends well with the formica back splash. After Cynthia received the Template, she let me know that it would take two slabs for this Kitchen. She also said that there were no dead dinosaurs on these slabs. Funny!🤣 “ I like these people”. Alexa then called me to schedule the install date. 

My appliances began to arrive at  Home Depot .The first one to arrive was the black range hood. Great! The hood is up and away from the counter, so I can actually take the old one down and install the new one right away. I’ll get my drill. My son bought me  a Lowes, Black+Decker drill combo set.  The one pictured here has more attachments than mine, but it is a cool tool to have.

I’m gonna show y’all the before and after pictures below. It was quite an easy dismantling of the old and install of the new. There are electricity wires to deal with because of the fan and the light. Remember, “you got to know your limitations”. Call a Professional if you're not sure. Safety First. I can handle this job. Easy peasy, for us DIYers. According to electrical safety rules the age of the house and or install can make a difference. To me, black is the hot live wire. White is neutral and green, brown or bare copper is ground. I mention the age of the house, because I remember doing electrical work at my parents house. Old, older home. Red was hot, black was the neutral and white or bare copper was ground. Just be careful and make sure the main power source is turned off.

Before Picture.

AFTER picture. Not bad Mr. DIYer Duron!🤣🤠 The new is a little bit smaller so I had to make a little bit of a wood adjustment of the “scribe molding”. Can y’all tell? 🤠

Next, the kitchen sink that I purchased, at the time with Shannon, arrived at  Home Depot . Can I return this sink? No problem at Home Depot. I received a full refund for the sink and now had to work with Alexa on purchasing an “under mount” sink through Rock Tops.

Alexa was very helpful. This is not a very good picture of the sinks that were closest to the Boss's liking. There were definitely a lot more to choose from, but it came down to the two on the right side. Maria Elena wanted the smaller basin on the left (above the garbage disposal ) and the wider, bigger basin to the right side. What’s the difference between $279.00 and $289.00 ones??? It was the depth and width of each basin. The Boss chose the $289.00 one. 🤠 There goes my strategy of saving money!  “Everything but the kitchen sink”. I say! 🤣🤠🤣🤠🤣

Also the Garbage disposal was ready to be picked up. I received an email from Home Depot saying that the Stove Top would be delivered to my home. No problem. I have 24 hours to report any damage for a full return. Hmmm. It’s not getting installed until the actual install of the Granite Counter Top. I called Home Depot and they explained, no worries. They write that for damages during “shipping”. Once it is installed and it does not work, etc. That will be a different kind of problem. Let me just pray everything comes out all right. I’m a little worried because even though the Granite top installers will place the stove top into the cut out slot, they will not do any electrical work. It will be Mr. DIYer doing the hook up. 🤠💪 

I’m getting ready for the install day. I can easily detach the electricity connections, the garbage disposal, the drain pipes and the water purifier. Now to get it all back together is a different story. 🤣 “You got to know your limitations”! Well, it all looked pretty easy, but I did schedule the Professionals. 

The stove top arrived at the front door. I opened the box and did a thorough inspection. Everything looked good.

We are very fortunate that our house has electrical AND gas hook up. I really wanted to have a dual stove that would allow one to cook with either one. Most chefs prefer gas stoves. Not that I’m a professional chef,🤣 but it would have been cool to have BOTH in this kitchen.

Everything seems to be coming together. I called” Randy’s Rooter & Plumbing LLC.”  Maria Elena and I have known Randy for quite some time. I let him know that I just needed everything hooked up. His price was fair and reasonable to come out when I needed him. Again, I probably could have done all the hook ups by myself, but I really didn't want any leaks in my new kitchen. 

I also scheduled my “Culligan Man” to come out right after Randy was to be through. I was up for new filters anyway, so the timing was perfect. They always have to check out the water softener also. Since they were scheduled to come out, I asked them to bring a NEW water spout.

It was all coming together.  * Well folks, it’s Miller Time!!!  🤠

This beer cooler is in my Cowboy Room. 🤠 

I definitely need one of these in my NEW Shop! 🤣🤠🤣

I’ve had some requests to explain the Cowboy Room Tile, “when I sits and thinks” picture.🤔🤠🤣This was a project a long time ago. When the boys finally grew up, I was able to turn that kids play room into my MAN CAVE / COWBOY ROOM. 🤠 This room now, Maria Elena calls it a DALLAS COWBOY SHRINE. 🤣🤠🤣 

 I will share the Cowboy / Miller Beer Tile in my Cowboy room in a later story. Stay tuned. 

Join me next time for the rest of the story. Don’t forget to click on my LINKS to save time and money. Tap the LIKE button👍, send feedback, ask questions and definitely SUBSCRIBE by placing your email on the home page, to receive a notice of NEW Chapters at the DURON RANCH. Until next time, stay safe, make good choices and we’ll see y’all soon!!! 🤠