Thanks, Peke

We live in the Greater Boston area and are in the process of remodeling our kitchen. We started the process of choosing a granite stone by talking to a few fabricators and stone suppliers in the area and narrowing down to one of each. We really liked the Sienna Bordeaux stone and our stone supplier had 3 slabs in total.

Of all 3, we really liked one but since our fabricator wasn't sure if we needed 1 slab or 2, they asked us to put two slabs on hold. Also, of the 3 slabs at the supplier, we noticed that one of them had a gaping chip/dent in the center.

As a result our choices were further limited to just the remaining two. We noted down the complete slab numbers and got them onto one of the stone supplier's "Customer Information Form" as reserved under our name.

In case our work only needed 1 slab, we indicated which of the two preferred slabs should be ordered and used for our purpose. Later we went to our fabricator and gave them a copy of the form which had the slab numbers and our preference.

A few days later, we placed a 50% deposit with the fabricator and waited for them to come do the template work. A week later, they came to install the stone. To our surprise, not only was the stone was poorly cut, badly polished and mis-aligned (photos below), the pieces were not even from either of the two slabs we had placed on hold.

We think its the one that had the large hole in it since we see a place on one of the counters where resin has been applied and buffed. Both of us have a clear recollection of what the two slabs on hold looked like in terms of their grain and movement, and the ones we have definitely do not match either of them.

At this point, we feel we have been badly cheated. We would like to know if flipping slabs is a common practice in this industry and trust is not a word in the fabricator/stone supplier's dictionary.

Also, the pictures confirm the shoddy work where none of the counter slabs seem acceptable to us. We would like to know what are choices are at this point.

Your experiences and comments are deeply appreciated.

Thanks.

Oldbat suggested that I post some photos lined up correctly, see what everyone suggests, and she can photoshop some of your suggestions. (Thank you so much in advance, OB!) I felt like I should have some samples picked and in the kitchen first, but I don't have any presently. The tile stores in my area are completely uninspired and making a road trip to the good ones can be complicated with the kids' schedules and just plain hauling them along.

My trouble is that I don't really know what I want. I've taken the Sweeby test without much luck at least a dozen times. I know I do NOT want white subs. I'd like something more unique with sophistication, elegance, and maybe a hint of quirkiness or unexpectedness. I do not want tile to compete with the lines of the hood or with the view out the windows. I don't want busy and am drawn gutturally to textures. I go crazy for straight, clean lines, but am also pleased with elegant curves and modern graphic shapes. Painterly is another adjective that makes me happy. And then there are the ultra pricey New Ravenna and Artistic Tile water jet patterns that make me drool.

I do not want a separate tile behind the rangetop, nor do i want little borders or other strips of accent tiles. I will tile the whole backsplash with one type of tile. I plan to tile the rangetop from the counter all the way to my ceiling. On the cleanup sink wall, I'm thinking of two options. Either tile that whole wall to just the height of the bottom of the window sill, or tile the wall to the height of the bottom of the upper at the corner.

I need to be mindful of my double-sided fireplace near the kitchen that also needs tile on both sides. I plan to tile from the floor to about 6-8" above the fireplace and add a mantle of some sort (yet another future decision) on each side. Maybe I can even get some help with the tile decision here along the way on this thread.

My Carrara is fairly gray and busy.

I've looked at tiles for more than 3 years now. I think my problem is that I've looked too much for too long. Here are some of the tiles I've clipped.

NOT this color, but this shape.

Any suggestions? General patterns to avoid? Suggestions for the scale of the tile? I thank you in advance for helping me with this decision that has been weighing on me for so long.

This post was edited by breezygirl on Thu, Mar 14, 13 at 19:02

We have been ultra-satisfied with our decision to place the MW into a cabinet with a door on "garage door" hinges. Hidden when we want it to be, easily accessed when in use. Plus I love the Panasonic MW we got for under $200 (with true inverter technology) and will shed no tears if like most MW's it dies in a few years.

It has been SO cold here in New England these last couple of weeks so this draft is very noticeable and something I want to fix ASAP.

Thank You!!

I went out again today looking and I'm thinking I would love the Meile 36 inch refrig, Bosch DW, Thermador oven and maybe the Wolf 36 inch range top.

If you had your pick and were doing a complete renovation of your kitchen, what would you pick???

Thanks,
patty

I'm starting to feel a little hutchy around that back coffee corner. A little appliance garagey. Although it will cut off the peninsula prep area from the sink a bit.

Edit: mocked up the hutch and don't like it at all, too closed off! But under the cabinet still works!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 9:45

Methodology:
- Tried to standardize on a 24D x 48W blind cabinet
- Lazy susan & corner drawers required 36 x 36 corner cabinet
Total usable space is calculated based on the interior space of the drawer/pullout
Usable space given is PER TIER and calculated based on the footprint of the box
Multiply usable space by number of tiers/drawers for total storage area
Drawers and pullouts are 22” deep minus 5/8” drawer front/back
Drawer widths are box width minus 3/4” box sides, 1/2” drawer slide clearances, and 5/8” drawer sides
- Your cabinet builder’s specs may vary slightly from my numbers

Shelves & Non Corner Drawers
Plain shelves (not shown) maximize space use (88% of footprint due to plywood box sides and back) but minimize accessibility. The gold standard is drawers (see 'Non Corner'), balancing space utilization and accessibility (only 73% of footprint due to hardware and clearances), but obviously, two drawer stacks are NOT an option for a corner. Space efficiency should be compared to the drawer 'gold standard' rather than plain shelves which are a terrible idea for any deep cabinet, especially corner cabinets!

Corner Drawer
The corner drawer solution (53% of footprint, 73% of non-corner drawers) does have LARGE dead dead space in both corners, and awkward angles all over the drawers. The pluses are: you can store a lot of stuff by having 4 drawers (2728 sq in), and you can have access to ALL of your stuff. 4 corner drawers offer 81% of two 24W drawer stacks, but takes up 12.5% more floor space.

Super Susan
The super susan (60% of footprint, 82% of non-corner drawers). It’s impractical to do more than 2 tiers, and it lacks a certain sex appeal, and stuff can fall off and get lost in the dead space areas. There’s a maximized version of the Super Susan called the Korner King, which looks like it stores a LOT of crap, but it looks like a Frankenstein’s cabinet, an esthetic purist’s nightmare. For those not offended by its looks, functionally it has a lot of broken up pieces of storage of which only about 10-40% of your stuff is accessible at a time.

Custom Corner
My 'custom corner' (narrow pullout, wide side slide), my choice, has the same usable space as drawers per tier (73% of footprint), but a lot less accessibility due to the limitations the corner imposes. I chose it because while we have lots of storage space, I still wasn’t ready to seal off the corner. The large sideways slideout is perfect for items like our 60 and 100 qt pots that wouldn’t fit in drawers anyway (we occasionally cook for LARGE groups). The main pullout would have 3 tiers for more often-accessed items, for a total of 1494 sq in (514 s.i. x 1 full height slideout for big pots, 327 s.i. x 3 for front pullout), a decent amount of storage including a very large, full height side-slide. 2 L + 3 S tiers would give 2009 s.i.

Dead Corner
The simplest corner solution, the 'dead corner,' only gives 29% of the footprint in storage, or 40% of the storage of 48' of non-corner drawers. But if you use a 4-drawer stack, you get a lot of functional storage - 1348 sq in, though no room for tall/large items.

Magic Corner
Hafele’s Magic Corner offers that WOW factor when you see it gleaming and gliding in and out with soft-close. But it’s only 536 s.i. per tier (49% of footprint, 67% of non-corner drawers), 1072 total s.i. It could store more, but it’s designed to fit in more applications (21D cabinets, narrower cabinets), and therefore has a lot of dead space.

Thoughts
- Unlike straight base cabinets where there’s clear consensus that drawers are best, corners are ALL about limitations and compromise (and debate, with everyone having their own favorite corner solution that fits their needs)
- Drawers offer the greatest accessibility, and by using 3 or 4 drawers, you quickly make up for less space efficiency over 2-tier solutions. For example, even though the dead corner only offers 29% of the footprint of storage per tier, multiply that by 4 drawers = 1348 sq in, more than the Magic Corner’s 1072 s.i. and almost as much as the Super Susan’s 1550 s.i. with 144 s.i. smaller footprint. Despite the large dead spaces, the Corner Drawer offers a LOT of potential storage, up to 2728 s.i. with 4 drawers, though losing large item capability.
As impressive as the 'Magic Corner' solutions are to demo (I too “ooooh”ed at first), they are extremely costly (about $900 and up after hardware and baskets) and optimized to fit in shallower cabinets so have more dead space than other solutions.
My custom corner maximizes total use of the footprint area and also maximizes large and bulky item storage with relatively limited access to the inside corner area, while minimizing cost.
- As with marriage, there is no perfect match, only great or poor fits for your needs. If you’re unhappy with your corner solution, either ignore the limitations or find a better solution. Just don’t expect perfection!

Here is a link that might be useful: Korner King - not for me, might be right for you?

Thanks...

Here is a link that might be useful: Tapmaster site

gas range

1. My understanding is that the 240 Advantium cannot be installed undercounter so we have to get the 120. Is this correct?

2. Should we get convection for the single oven? (I'm leaning towards it even for the extra $$$.)

3. We currently use our toaster oven for quick means, not for toasting (english muffin pizzas, chicken fingers, etc.). Do you think the Advantium will serve this purpose? I'm assuming we will still keep our pop up toaster hidden somewhere.

Thanks in advance!

kitchen

What brands should I be looking at? How powerful of a hood do I need? Are there certain features I should be looking for?

kitchen

WHy I wanted it.

- I love to bake bread. REally good bread is tough in a home oven. I've gotten good baking in a dutch oven but I wanted to make baggettes, rolls, and other breads that just aren't conducive to a dutch oven.
- I purchased a 36" range (bluestar) and while awesome it takes a long time to preheat and is often overkill for weeknight oven cooking
- I work long days so keeping food warm and/or reheating was attractive (I don't have nor want a microwave oven)
- Steamed dumplings in large quantities. Enough said there.

My experience after 1 week of lots of use

- First, bread. Amazing! I am handing out loaves to my neighbors right now as my wife says no more! It all just works. the steam mode for about 20 minutes and then convection for the remainder just works. Dead simple, really crusty, and I'm able to do 6 medium bagettes all at once.
- Second, as secondary oven. Preheat is amazing. Somewhere between 5-10 min to get to 450. So fast and easy to use.
- Third, chicken. Just tried this for fun (I usually do chicken on spit on my grill) and it was incredible. You have the ability to turn on/off the steam and it made a really nice juicy meat with the kind of crust you typically only get on the spit.
- Dumplings. I made 48 steamed dumplings for some friends (shrimp, pork/veg, and cabbage/mushroom) and they were better than any dim sum place I have ever been. I love dumplings and this was great. I could bang out a lot of prep, put in fridge and then quickly get a bunch ready at one time.
- Pastry. Surprisingly great. I used the humid setting which keeps a seal but injects no steam. Super great results but I can do same with a larger gas oven I think. a tie but no knock out here.
- Thai fish. My wife immediately said "you need to make this again!" after one bite of my thai red snapper.

Cons

- we purchased "semi-custom" cabinets from kraftmaid and there was no easy way for us to fit the steam oven into the cabinet. My GC was amazing but it wouldn't have worked well if he weren't a skilled carpenter.
- it is a lot of money. I purchased this instead of a second 30 inch oven but it was a tough sell to my wife. Felt I should state the obvious.
- for me, they have way too many programs. Navigating all of the options is overkill. It is steam! I can figure it out Wolf! I love the options of controlling the seal, steam, and convection oven but feel like a "Flan" program is a bit much. Easy to ignore but it kind of turned me off. I am a pretty serious home cook and this feels a bit like a beginner device and it really isn't.

Finally, I have no idea if this is better/worse than Gag/Miele/Thermador, etc. Gag was too much money and the plumbed line is nice but I feel like I can easily change the water tray every six cooking hours. The Gag does allow you to set humidity levels and I was concerned this would be an issue and so far it hasn't been at all and I feel i can approximate this through the on/off steam feature. I love the size of the oven and feel that this gives it an edge over miele/thermador but if I'm truthful I must say it isn't a significant edge.

Can I do most everything in some other way? Yes. Does the steam oven make it easier and quicker so I will do it more often? Yes. Would I buy it again? Absolutely. Should everyone buy one? I recommend it to anyone who uses the oven a lot for small jobs, likes to slow cook, and experiments with various cuisines - especially asian. And if you are a baker especially of bread it is a knockout device.

Hope that helps people and thanks again

We are all set to go on our kitchen reno with a miele gas cooktop, and because of space constraints (gotta love those nyc apartments), we are relegated to a 24" cooktop with max 10K BTUs. However, gas is gas, right? The best.

However I've recently been reading here about induction, and now I'm wondering whether a 24" induction top would be better, to get that higher heat. Having read a gazillion posts, I'm now convinced induction is a better bet vs. electric. But what about gas. My hubby thinks I'm crazy (gas is the best, remember?) and I need to hear from the former gas lovers out there, to serve him back some real "poll" responses from those of you who had the option for gas who chose induction... and whether you are happy or have regrets.

And thank you guys in advance!

As part of a full renovation our kitchen island got a nice beefy top made of black walnut. Even though everyone thought I was nut, I said I wanted to use part of it as a cutting board. After all, it's a kitchen, not a museum. With that in mind, I had to come up with a food-safe finish for it. What I chose, based on advice here, was nothing more than a hand-rubbed application of mineral oil and bees wax.

I'm happy to report that it's been over a year and everything's gone great. First, the island looks great. Everyone comments on it the moment they see it.

Second, using it as a cutting board has worked out quite well. The wood is more than hard enough to stand up to my knives. Not having to get out a cutting board, and then keep all my chopped whatever on the cutting board as I work... it makes life so much easier. For those who told me I needed to do something akin to butcher-block -- making the island top out of end-grain... well, you were incorrect. End-grain would have been harder no doubt but the walnut is more than hard enough. And worst case? I break out a power sander and 1/64" of an inch later my island would be in immaculate condition.

No doubt, the knife leaves marks in the wood. But the wood is "busy" enough that you can only see them if you go looking for them and your eye is within 12" or so of the counter (photos below).

Oh, for those worried about food safety, I still don't get raw meat on the counter (though I think it would be fine as long as I cleaned up with soap and water afterwards). And we don't chop anything "stinky" like garlic or onion though we do work with other aromatics like rosemary and thyme. 15 months later and the counter has no odor of any kind.

Third, the finish. I was worried about this but in the end it's been fine. I melted some furniture-grade beeswax on the stove, added mineral oil (about 2 parts oil to 1 part wax) and let is solidify into a semi-hard paste. I rub it in, let it stand (sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes overnight), and then I buff it out.

At first I was doing this every few weeks but now I only do it every 2 months or so. I could probably stand to do it a bit more often in the quadrant I use as a cutting board, but, well, you know, life gets in the way.

For the first 6 months or so if you left a wet glass on the counter for more than a few hours we were getting drink rings. I had to lightly sand those out and rewax. But now we seem to have a deep enough coating that we haven't had a drink ring -- or any mark of any kind -- for over 6 months.

How do I clean it? A soapy sponge. Simple as that.

Ready for photos? Ok, here's the island as whole:

Take a good look at the image above. Can you see where I've prepared over 100 meals? You know -- the section where I've sliced up thousands of peppers and cucumbers and apples and peaches and melons and tomatoes and potatoes and celery and carrots and parsnips, etc, etc?

Okay, the "cutting board" area is the left side of the island, from the bottom of the photo to the sink. That 25% of the island is the designated "cutting board" section.

Yes, the board closest to the left of the photo has a lot of lines in it, but those aren't knife marks, that's "tiger-striping" in the wood -- I chose that board for there on purpose in case I needed camouflage for knife marks.

Ok, ready for a close-up of the knife marks? This photo was taken from about 8 inches away:

...looks like a cutting board, doesn't it? ;-)

So what problems do I have? Well, we have a lot of friends and cook a lot of meals together, People like to help. Once they get past the "What??! I can cut right on the counter???!?" moment I have two problems.

First, it's hard to keep them in the designated 25% that I use as a cutting board. Yes, the knife marks are subtle enough that they could probably work anywhere but I still haven't let go.

Second, these same people occasionally use a bread knife that can take some comparatively pretty big chunks out of the top. This has only happened once or twice, and with a coat of wax the marks pretty much disappear. But still, it's stressful.

Bottom line? I strongly encourage people to explore using an island top as cutting board. Second, a food-safe finish is easy! Third, I love my new kitchen. :-)

I asked my old friends at Mission Stone & Tile for a sample of the beveled arabesque tile in Smoke to check out. Oh, my. It showed up on Friday. I immediately got out the packing tape and taped it to the wall. It didn't photograph well on the wall, but in real life it looks gorge! The tiles have highlighted edges at the bevel which make them even more interesting. So, here are some pictures of the tile laying on the Super White. When I tried to photograph them vertically on the wall, the look like dark blobs. There is under cabinet lighting and to the naked eye, they look great. But, just not in photos, well, MY photos.

I put the white ones up on the wall next to these and I can report that the gray ones are blowing away the white ones in terms of interest, at least in this kitchen.

So, should I do it?

I know many cut into the base to accomodate a larger sink. At this point we are uncomfortable doing that.

Anyone have any suggestions? A 30" base is not an unusual size why are there not more sink choices? Frustrating...

TIA

Debra

I am going with 54in Wide 30in High modernaire hood.

The two options for the inline blower are
the Fantech FKD10Xl with 1266cfm

or the larger FKD12XL,2016cfm this will need 12in duct so I must decide now.
Any opinions is greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: cabinets

Here is a link that might be useful: Unico

Here is a link that might be useful: More Photbucket Nooks & banquettes

As for what constitutes a good tile job:
>The tiles are laid level, flat, and plumb.

>Coursing is in a straight line. WIth reference to the brick joint, you should be able to put a straight edge up to the wall, and every other tile should line up vertically.

>Grout joints are uniform.

>Corner joints are uniform, and no bigger than the grout joints in the field of the tile.

>Cuts, when possible, are no less than 1/2 a tile (Obviously, this one goes out the window with brick joint) and are made with a nice smooth edge.

>Tiles are well adhered with a minimum of 85% coverage on each tile.

>With reference to the sheet tile you had removed, once grouted you shouldn't be able to see any sheet lines. The tile should flow with no interruption to its end.

Much less obtrusive so there isn't any competition with the beauty of the stone.

The carved sinks are beautiful!! Forwarnings.. The bottoms should be ground down so they slope. Some, not all of the carved sinks from Brazil have flat bottoms so the water can puddle.. but I know some shops sand or grind them down.

To answer the question of how they are held together. We use a two part apoxy and then test the sinks for 24 hours after the apoxy hardens by filling them with water and a stoper. Never had any problems with leaking. We normally tounge and groove our sinks and with some of the harder sinks I think it's called a dato(sp?)joint. Josh can explain it better.

but if you have a chance, go on ebay and see if there are any old soapstone sinks for sale. Sometimes they post the dates from when they were made.. it's amazing how they have stood the test of time.

Most of the house came down to stud. We installed two zone HVAC and built an addition on the house.

We restored and repointed the brick and brownstone facade - used to be painted:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Living Room (we're leaving the leather chair!) : ):

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

The whole kitchen area is part of the addition. A year ago there was nothing here. The cabinets are custom and the island is brushed finish Limestone:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Where the dining room ends and the stairs start, used to be the back of the house:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

This is the room we use as the master bedroom as it is on the back of the house and therefor blissfully quiet. It is also part of the new addition and has an ensuite bathroom:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Ensuite bathroom with Restoration Hardware vanity, Toto toilet and two person walk in shower:

Shot with Canon EOS
DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Second Bedroom:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Guest Bathroom with 6ft soaking tub and Kohler Memoirs series sink and toilet:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Shot with Canon EOS
DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Third Bedroom - we will probably put a full size bed in here and remove the exercise equipment. We haven't really gotten around to doing anything to this room yet. Has a skylight and walk in California closet:

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Powder Room (not yet complete):

Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT at 2007-07-02

Then we have a backyard which is still a work in progress. The kitchen has a composite deck off it which is nice, and the backyard has a beautiful Dogwood tree which is amazing in the Spring. The backyard itself still needs so much help though.
So that's it! A year later and we're almost done - and now we will probably sell it because of DH's job. Oh well.

So.... one more try:

From the kitchen junkie: Diana, there is no way to pull off this scale project or anything anywhere remotely close for 100k. Especially with a goal of your 50's tract house ending up with the 'character of the 30s and 40s'. The type of 'fit and finish' and craftsmen necessary to get that look is massively expensive. Can't happen on your budget given all that structural work of roof, foundation, etc. It can't.

And from the shrink: You've had over a hundred people here try to tell you the above. You are not listening.

You've also had over a hundred people implore you to stop, take a break. As in, a week or more of forcing your head elsewhere. As in, get some sleep. As in, go back and do the stuff you did before this took over your life. You are not listening.

Your DH is doing the caveman, wounded, angry, freaked out 'the-shelter-I-can-provide-my-family-is-not-good-enough?!' war dance. (Men seeem to always get their virility/adequacy entangled in proposed change somehow, don't they?) You are not listening.

Your DS is starting to channel the stress, and the reno hasn't even started. That call from the DS's school wasn't to tell you he is cute. You are not listening.

Maybe they both are saying "I can't handle the stress/cost of this remodel."

I guess "indomitable" is one word for it, but....

Wishing you the strength to stop for a couple weeks, and clarity and creativity when you resume refreshed.