JAMES MULLETT

Home Improvement Update

Several months have passed, and we’ve finally seen a lot of progress on the house. I was able to finish the kitchen and utility room flooring with a great deal of help from Jeremy Carter. We installed about 550 sq. ft. of ceramic tile. Installing tile is extremely difficult and to put it simply; it sucks! I have no idea how people can do it for a living. Only a good friend would help with something so unpleasant. I’ve also included some before, during, and after pictures of the utility room as well.

Our cabinetry has been installed, we still have some trim work and hardware left to install, but it’s looking pretty good. The granite counter top and back splash, and all kitchen appliances are in. The sink has been installed and all the plumbing is done. After 2 years without, we finally have a fully functioning kitchen!

We decided to go with Kraft Maid cabinetry as I have a lot of pride in the town and people in which Kraft Maid is located.

Along the way, our hot water heater gave out and we replaced it with a tankless water heater. It takes a little longer for the hot water to reach the faucet, but once it does, the water remains hot for as long as you want it.

This is Cynthia cooking the very first meal in the new kitchen. Notice the big smile on her face – no more hot plates. Also, you can see the French doors in the background. We replaced the large window that was there with glass French doors and placed a bar (left) where the old door was.

Lapacho/Brazilian Walnut flooring

The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. The new hardwood flooring is finally being installed in the rest of the house. We picked this wood up from Lumber Liquidators just like the bamboo. I just love the variation in colors this exotic hardwood flooring offers. So far, the installers have been working for two days. These photos show you the progress that has been made to this point in time.

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Fireplace Calamity

We were preparing to get our Brazilian Walnut flooring installed, so we had our usual contractor get a mason to build us a stacked stone fireplace surround to replace the one that I demolished over a year ago. This way the flooring guy can work around it as apposed to trying to build a fireplace surround inside a void left by the flooring guy. Anyway, I wanted it to be stacked stone with no visible grout, coming straight out about a foot then curve around to the other side, and not to extend more than two feet from the fireplace. Well, this is where it was after the first night.

You can see that this thing is a mammoth. It extends almost three full feet from the fireplace and is almost a perfect semi circle. Not to mention that it is not stacked stone; it is cut and set. The problem with cutting and setting the stone is:

• Saw blade cut marks are visible in the front of the stone
• The color and appeal of the stone was cut off
• Half inch to three-quarter inch grout lines are obvious

As you probably guessed, I had it torn down and gave my contractor a design to complete himself. Here is where it’s at. Big improvement isn’t it?

I’ll post more pictures once the project is complete.