followup: countertops

[dragonlady7]

via https://ift.tt/ayt3gTY

OK pictures under the cut but before you judge me, understand that i went into this remodel saying “i don’t want everything white and gray!!!!” and then one at a time we considered our options and realized the best options were… whites… and grays…

but! the white countertop has SPARKLES in it, and as I tell the saga I will tell you the inside scoop the countertop installer gave me, as to WHAT THE SPARKLES ARE MADE OF.

i would put in a little video of the sparkle but i can’t figure out how to upload videos anywhere so just imagine it. you can kind of see it in some of the still images.

[image description: a young man in a gray hoodie and orange gloves rests my not-yet-installed stainless-steel sink on the top of the cabinets in front of my windows, which don’t yet have countertops.] These guys rolled up at 8:15 and politely introduced themselves, Devin and Isaac. My buddy Max had already rolled in, but Jim had planned on arriving at 8:30 and was running late.

Devin said to me, excitedly, “Did they tell you? We did it seamless!” There had been discussion of whether the corner section would have to be fabricated in two sections or whether they’d be able to do it in one.

They asked Max about some technical details, but Max demurred, “Jim knows about it, I’m just here to help,” and they said “ah we’ll wait for Jim” but then they were like “well we can just get started” and as it happens they’d just about finished before Jim finally rolled up, LOL.

They installed the sink first, as it’s an undermount and so way easier to do before the counter goes in.

But the counters– they just– set them down, checked the level, checked the measurements everywhere, and then just put silicone around the edges underneath and on top. That’s literally it. I asked if it was ever more complicated and Devin was like ah yeah if we have to level it there’s a whole thing, but. I mean. Jim did this so I knew it’d be this easy, that’s why you’re first for us today.

[image description: an expanse of speckled white countertop, with reflections from the lights. You can kind of see a speck here and there of the sparkles. the color is somethingorother-snow, because it does glitter like snow.]

I admired the glitter, and Devin said, “Guess what the sparkle’s made of!”

“Glass,” I hazarded.

“Close,” he said, “but no.” When nobody else had another guess, he said, “CDs! It’s made of CDs.” This is a quartz-like-composite kinda thing, which means it kinda looks like stone and is shiny like stone (instead of matte like Corian etc) but won’t shatter your plates quite like stone and is easier to maintain.

I texted this to the family groupchat, and VegMan said (my sister must have read it aloud to him, he’s not on the family groupchat) “Oh, AOL CDs?” and I texted it to Dude separately and he wrote back “That’s like 750000 free minutes of AOL!” and when I repeated these jokes to Devin, Isaac, and Max, they all kind of looked politely blank. “Oh no,” I said, “you’re too young.”

“I was born in 2001,” Devin volunteered, and Max laughed and said “same”. (I do not think Isaac is any older.) “They used to give me video game CDs in my Happy Meals though so I know what you mean.”

I’ve lived in this house since both of you were four years old, I thought, but did not say. “In 2001 I was…” “Adulting,” Devin said helpfully. “You… could call it that,” I said, thinking back to my senior year of college.

They brought in the little chunk of counter that’s going over next to the fridge, and then the bigger chunk that’s the sink counter. Then they brought in the big one they’d managed to do seamless, the L-shaped chunk that goes from the stove around the corner to the expanse in front of the bay window that will be our dining area. Devin and Isaac planned out where they’d go and how they’d get it in the door, because they knew it was heavy. Then they got in the door and Devin said “Max! Max I know I don’t know you but I need you to help me!” and Max hustled over and grabbed the heavy end, because it really was too heavy for Devin, and Isaac had the other end so he couldn’t help.

It was a strain for both of them, but they carefully got it up onto the cabinets, and slid it painstakingly into place, and Devin took a moment to recover.

[image description: a person in a gray hoodie is sitting on the cardboard-covered floor of a white room with gray cabinets, applying silicone from a tube to the underside of the white countertop]

They checked the levels and measurements and made sure there were no gaps and then they just… glued it. Like not even really glued it they just applied a bead of silicone around all the edges, and that’s that.

“Is it really that easy?” I asked, and Devin laughed and said “if it’s not perfectly level we have to shim it, and there’s a whole lot of complicated stuff we gotta do then, but the reason I put this job first is I know Jim put these cabinets in so I know they’re level. And if they’re level then yeah this is all that’s gotta happen.”

They look so good. They sparkle like snow. The room is a sea of neutrals.

[image description: from my living room looking into my kitchen, with the stove pulled out awkwardly into the middle of the floor, one man is standing to work on the counter near the sink and another man is sitting on the floor checking the underside of the counter in front of the window.]

Jim showed up as they were finishing, checked on a few things, signed off on the job, and then he and Max set to tiling the backsplash. Which I will cover in a separate post because this is enough for right now. But.

The counters!!! I wish I could figure out how to make a gif out of a little video on my phone because the SPARKLE. Yeah the white countertops and white walls and white ceilings are a bit much but understand two of the walls and all of the window trim are getting painted some bright color or other, so it won’t be like this forever. (Your picture was not posted)

Comments

[rmc28]

I absolutely adore that the sparkle comes from CDs. A use for them at last!