Counter tops are in!!!

Well, here comes another portion of the kitchen....we worked on kitchen counter tops last week, and as I have posted before, there is always that unexpected thing that can come about. Some can cost you a great deal of money while others are just a HUGE pain in you butt :-) This one didn't cost a lot more, but it was definitely a pain in our butt (and my side as my hip got caught on a screw in the door while helping tote the counters up to the kitchen door and in).  There will be a little bit more cost to the project soon, not sure the amount though as you will see as I post these pictures and where the expense will be...

These first two pictures are what the original counter tops looked like. They were not the most hideous I have seen, but not our taste either. They were put in back in the 70's and were the old style formica tops. As you can see, when they were originally done the seam was not done correctly.
In the second picture my husband has removed the sink and is unbolting the counter tops from the cabinets.

 In this picture the old counter tops have been removed and you can see where the brick back splash is there. We needed the new counter tops to end at the same spot as the old did, as we didn't intend on changing the rustic brick on the walls.

 Here you see my husband working with some extra wood trim, this was on top of the cabinets and the old counter tops placed on top of that. With the new slimline counters today, when we brought them in, put the first piece in place and stepped back, you could see this trim stuff that they had on top of the dark cabinetry and you could see this under the edge of the new counter tops when you stood back and looked. We had to take the counters back off, remove all this extra wood that was nailed in with some crazy long nails. Then we put the new piece of counter top back on.

This is the first piece to go in place, the hole underneath is where the stove had to be pushed back into place, you will see further down how he cut out the hole for that.

 This is piece two, where the dishwasher and sink are at. This was a little bit long even though we measured for it, so my husband had to cut off about an inch on that end. It was not a big problem though as he had ordered the extra side pieces so it is never seen.

This next picture is of the piece of counter top he cut out for the sink. The way you should do this is to take some masking tape, we used the blue painters tape because we had plenty of that around here. You have to make a few layers of the tape, then you measure out on the tape and mark where you plan to cut for the sink or the stove. The tape is easy because you can write on it as well as it keeps the counter from chipping in that spot you are cutting.




















Before you place the sink in, you need to place the silicone on the counter (and do not get this on anything other than it is supposed to be, as it will not come off) This is the protective barrier for the sink and to keep water from running back under the edges of the sink ruining the counters. You can see the line of silicone here, but we also rubbed some in on the inside edges of the counter tops just as an extra measure of safety here. That way if water ever did get under it would not cause the wood in the counter tops to swell. The layer of tape here is to keep the silicone from going too far out on the counter tops as it don't come off really once it is on something. Much easier clean up.

you can see the silicone that we used in the picture above.

 This plumbers putty is for sealing the drains on all of your sinks.

 you just take out a blob of putty and roll it in your hands making a long roll with it. Then wrap and mash it around the underside of the drain for the sink. Once you have done this, mash the drain into place in the sink. Excess will ooze out, that is okay...leave it there. It needs to set for about 36-48 hrs. before running water in the sink. Then you can tighten the drain more at that time from underneath and clean off the excess then.

 You can see the excess here as it pushed out from being tightened the first initial time.

This is the sink and faucet in place. ( I was so excited to have a fully functional kitchen sink. You can see our issue with the back splash here though as it is not fully touching the counter tops now. We have to find something, some sort of trim that we can add to this because the back splash can not be added to as far as the brick. We are currently looking into some options and will post updates as soon as we have it all figured out.

Here you see a finished product of the counter tops and sink. I am LOVING it in my kitchen so far!!!

Remember......if anyone ever has a question about something you have seen in my blog posts, please feel free to send them my way, and I will do my very best to answer them. Thanks for joining our journey.