Bathroom faucets and sinks

Went to Saratoga Plumbing to order faucets and sinks for the master and kids bathrooms.  Need to do this so we can schedule templating for the quartz countertops.  They need those measurements to cut the stone correctly.

From the previous remodel, we learned that Kohler Caxton sinks are the best value if you're not hankering for a fancy sink.  As for the master, we went with Hansgrohe Solaris E and the Grohe Eurosmart for the kids.  Both in brushed nickel so I don't have to clean them too often - fewer or less noticeable waterspots.


Grohe Eurosmart

Hansgrohe Solaris E

Zoning

Today we met with the heating guy to discuss zoning.  We definitely wanted at least 3 zones:  front part of the house, the family room (with its tall ceilings), and the bedrooms.  For an extra $600 we could get 4 zones.  So why not?  The fourth zone is the nursery.  Now we don't have to worry about temperature regulation for any future baby.  yay!  :)

Bubbles chandelier

The Bubbles chandelier from Solaria Home cannot be found anywhere local.  Seems that they mainly sell it online?  So anyway, the saleslady that I worked with at Los Altos Lighting offered to order it for me.  She worked directly with Solaria Home and got me the lowest price I was able to find on the internet (and no sales tax!).

We did the ordering through the phone so I went to go pick up the receipt today at the store.

Unfortunately, the lights aren't coming in until end of January...

Rise of issues

Went to Saratoga Plumbing this morning to see if they would price match the Grohe Brideford faucet with the other showroom's quote.  The sales guy was perplexed as to how the other showroom could get their prices so low!!  Later on, my GC told me that the other showroom was going out of business.  Hence, everything would have to be bought in cash.  eep!

Back at the house, I discovered that the tile store had delivered the wrong color tile.  We were supposed to get white and they shipped celery.  Turns out it was a manufacturer error and that the new tile would be shipped up in a day since the company was in LA (thankfully!).  But thank goodness I was luckily enough to swing by the house just as the worker had laid out the bottom half of the shower which is in celery.  He showed me the tiles for the top part which were the ones with the wrong color.  I'm so glad he did not waste any effort laying out the wrong colored tiles.

Bottom half laid out (no grout yet)

 
Also, while sorting this out with the tile guy, I decided that I'd rather have white quarter rounds to match the white tiles rather than the celery we had previously decided on.  (Actually, I don't remember deciding that but he did.  Oops, my bad.)  So now we'll have some extra celery quarter rounds because those are custom order and can't be returned.

The GC asked me to give the city a call regarding our gas line situation,  Our gas is padlocked shut so we can't turn it on.  The utility guy who came out to open the gas lines said that we needed an inspection sticker before the padlock could be removed.  Now we have to figure out who to talk to find out what to do next.  yay, fun with the city again!

Went by Restoration Hardware to buy a couple of 4" handles to test in our kitchen.  Do we use 4" or 6"??

Shower tiles

Yesterday, finished ordering the rest of the lighting.
Note to self, order lighting earlier (if there's a next time) because some of the lights will not arrive until December or January - 2/3 months away.

They started laying out the tiles in the bathrooms!  Here's the progress:

Master bathroom

Powder room

Master Bathroom: Turino Grey Pebbles by Venetian Floor
Powder Room:  Polished Black Pebbles by Stratastone

Faucet showroom

Visited a kitchen/bath showroom today where my mother had bought all of her faucets for her remodel 10 years ago.  They had a lot of products on display.  Took a good luck at the faucets that are not on display at Saratoga Plumbing.

Hansgrohe Solaris E

Grohe Bridgeford

Really really like the look of the Bridgeford and asked for a quote.  I want to compare their prices with Saratoga Plumbing.

We had a week of not being able to go to the house because they were staining the floors.  Checked up today.  Our baseboard is now in!

(some) Lighting ordered!

For the past few days, I've been emailing companies to find a local store that sells their products.  Solaria Home is difficult!  They have one store that is "local" to me - it's in Tahoe City about 4 hours away.  *sigh*

So anyway, for the Robert Abbey Bling Chandelier, I got a sales rep to tell me of a store located in Redwood City!  yay, it's close to me!  Called up Coast Lighting and asked them to price out the chandelier for me.  Their price was even better than what I found online!  :)

Went there in the afternoon to pay for it.  Easy sale for the sales guy that picked up the phone when I called.

Then went to Los Altos Lighting to order the kitchen pendants.  Probably should've done that days ago when I couldn't find anything else that I liked pendant-wise.


Going around the differnt lighting stores, I realize that I'm definitely attracted to the square lights ror our master bathroom. The saleslady at Los Altos Lighting showed me an awesome one from a German lighting company, Holtkotter. It also had an "awesome" price tag of $664. (Would need 2 of these so it's a bit over our budget.)

Notice how the lights are pointing downwards.  Well, while looking for a cheaper version, we could only find square lights pointing upwards.  Strange, huh?  But at less than $200 a pop, we would go with square upward-facing lights for our master bath.