Thankfully the undercabinet LED lights I wanted were on sale during Cyber Monday! :)
Other great news: our carpet came in early! On Monday, DH got a
call that the carpet installation would be scheduled for Thurdsay.
For Tuesday and Wednesday, I went around shopping for curtains, picking up Macy's merchandise that we had pre-paid for, and getting miscellaneous home items. We were finally replacing our broken mail slot. I bet the mailman was pretty happy about that. (We originally had a screw the mailman had to remove and replace each time to open the mail slot.)
Note: if you like your house numbers, make sure to safekeep them when the workers take them down to paint the exterior! I had to buy new house numbers even though I totally liked the old ones - grr.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Black Friday!
For Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to take a nice break from work related to the house. The only thing we did for the home was buy lots of stuff on Black Friday! :)
Went to Macy's and stocked up on guest towels and pots/pans (need new ones for our induction cooktop). We scored a $40 king size down alternative comforter! It would've come with two pillows if we had got the deal earlier in the day. (Macy's opened at midnight but there was no way we were going to do that with a kid now.)
We also bought two more place settings and silverware sets for the upcoming Christmas dinner we're hosting. We scored an awesome discount on both pieces due to an incredibly enthusiastic saleslady who works in the bridal department. She gave us a discount earlier than usual. hehe.
Walking around the mall, there was a guy handing out flyers for the Sony store. We went to check it out. There was a 40" TV going for $600, retailed at $1300. After lunch and a stop by the house (for the scheduled chimney cleaning and inspection), we went back to the Sony store to buy the TV. In the late morning, there were about 8-10 TVs but by afternoon around 3:30pm there were only 2 left. We grabbed one, and while paying for it, the last one was sold. The guys at the store said that there were no more at their warehouse either. So lucky we got it!!
For our chimney cleaning, it unfortunately did not happen. Maybe it was fortunate so that we could get back to the mall early enough to buy that TV. Anyway, our chimney was damaged by the 1989 earthquake according to the chimney guy. We would actually have to rebuild the damaged part of the chimney. He would not clean it because it was damaged. He had been previously burned by customers who used their fireplace with their clean but damaged chimney even though he warned them not to. Then they would complain to him when something went wrong. So he went away with the expectation of sending a quote for the chimney rebuild later.
Went to Macy's and stocked up on guest towels and pots/pans (need new ones for our induction cooktop). We scored a $40 king size down alternative comforter! It would've come with two pillows if we had got the deal earlier in the day. (Macy's opened at midnight but there was no way we were going to do that with a kid now.)
We also bought two more place settings and silverware sets for the upcoming Christmas dinner we're hosting. We scored an awesome discount on both pieces due to an incredibly enthusiastic saleslady who works in the bridal department. She gave us a discount earlier than usual. hehe.
Walking around the mall, there was a guy handing out flyers for the Sony store. We went to check it out. There was a 40" TV going for $600, retailed at $1300. After lunch and a stop by the house (for the scheduled chimney cleaning and inspection), we went back to the Sony store to buy the TV. In the late morning, there were about 8-10 TVs but by afternoon around 3:30pm there were only 2 left. We grabbed one, and while paying for it, the last one was sold. The guys at the store said that there were no more at their warehouse either. So lucky we got it!!
For our chimney cleaning, it unfortunately did not happen. Maybe it was fortunate so that we could get back to the mall early enough to buy that TV. Anyway, our chimney was damaged by the 1989 earthquake according to the chimney guy. We would actually have to rebuild the damaged part of the chimney. He would not clean it because it was damaged. He had been previously burned by customers who used their fireplace with their clean but damaged chimney even though he warned them not to. Then they would complain to him when something went wrong. So he went away with the expectation of sending a quote for the chimney rebuild later.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tile grout versus no grout
Here's the progress of our kitchen backsplash so far. Notice on the left how there's grout. The rest of the tiling has no grout.
Toilet Dilemma and Bathroom Counters
Yesterday night, we ordered a sofa for the family room from Ikea. Delivery scheduled for this morning between 9am and 1pm. Thankfully, the work crew could sign for the delivery so we did not have to physically be at the house waiting.
However, I needed to visit the house in the morning due to a toilet and warming floor issue. Turns out that our toilet needs 4 holes drilled into the tile. Our master bathroom has a warming floor. We were supposed to receive two warming pads, one for the main area and one for the toilet area. Well, turns out that there was an ordering mistake and we got one large warming pad to cover both areas. As a result, we have the warming pad extended to the rear of the toilet (which I did not want). So to drill the holes, the workers were afraid of damaging the warming pad. If that were to happen, the flooring of the whole master bathroom would need to be redone because we would need to replace the entire warming pad. *sigh* I told them to go ahead and drill. Otherwise, the toilet will not be properly installed.
After a long planing period, they went ahead...the workers did some very careful calculations and based on touch, they determined that there were no heating coils around the area they needed to drill. With great caution, they proceeded...and succeeded! :)
Note: If you wanted a skirted toilet, let the GC know beforehand so they can position the piping properly.
Note: Let the GC know what kind of toilets you're using (Japanese versus American) because the Japanese brands need the extra 4 holes drilled in the back.
After making that drilling decision, I had just started driving home for 3 minutes when my GC called and told me that the counter installers were at the house(!). They were scheduled for 1pm but I guess they wanted to finish before lunch so they arrived around 11am. I had to stay for the whole install and checked their grouting work. For the master bathroom, we had bought larger sinks. Apparently that was a minor issue because the sinks were too big for the cabinets - too wide. The installers had to cut away on the sides of the cabinet to get the sink to fit properly. The only damage you can see is if you look towards the sink when the bottom cabinet is open. Most of the damage is hidden by the sink anyway. Thankfully!!
Note: Always know how large of a sink your cabinetry can accommodate before purchasing the sink!
However, I needed to visit the house in the morning due to a toilet and warming floor issue. Turns out that our toilet needs 4 holes drilled into the tile. Our master bathroom has a warming floor. We were supposed to receive two warming pads, one for the main area and one for the toilet area. Well, turns out that there was an ordering mistake and we got one large warming pad to cover both areas. As a result, we have the warming pad extended to the rear of the toilet (which I did not want). So to drill the holes, the workers were afraid of damaging the warming pad. If that were to happen, the flooring of the whole master bathroom would need to be redone because we would need to replace the entire warming pad. *sigh* I told them to go ahead and drill. Otherwise, the toilet will not be properly installed.
After a long planing period, they went ahead...the workers did some very careful calculations and based on touch, they determined that there were no heating coils around the area they needed to drill. With great caution, they proceeded...and succeeded! :)
Note: If you wanted a skirted toilet, let the GC know beforehand so they can position the piping properly.
Note: Let the GC know what kind of toilets you're using (Japanese versus American) because the Japanese brands need the extra 4 holes drilled in the back.
After making that drilling decision, I had just started driving home for 3 minutes when my GC called and told me that the counter installers were at the house(!). They were scheduled for 1pm but I guess they wanted to finish before lunch so they arrived around 11am. I had to stay for the whole install and checked their grouting work. For the master bathroom, we had bought larger sinks. Apparently that was a minor issue because the sinks were too big for the cabinets - too wide. The installers had to cut away on the sides of the cabinet to get the sink to fit properly. The only damage you can see is if you look towards the sink when the bottom cabinet is open. Most of the damage is hidden by the sink anyway. Thankfully!!
Note: Always know how large of a sink your cabinetry can accommodate before purchasing the sink!
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| Glue below the counter |
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| Master counter top |
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| Installed! |
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Carpet fiasco
Our GC could not find the contact information for his original carpet guy because it's been 10 years since he last had a client who wanted carpet. :p
But our GC made the mistake of assuming that he was going to use Home Depot for the carpet installation. After going to different stores, he decided that he didn't want to deal with the Home Depot guys for carpet. Therefore, he proceeded to call around for carpet installers to come to our site. Out of the four he reached, only one was willing to come out. The rest were on or going on holiday or something.
My Nghe Carpet & Flooring in San Jose on Tully Road -- Chinese guy who does not shy away from work during the holidays.
We had a meeting with the carpet guy today. Turns out that carpet comes from Georgia so we would need to wait 7-10 business days for the carpet to come out. As a result, we moved back our original move-in date by almost 2 weeks. After measuring the rooms, he took our carpet sample (from Home Depot) to his warehouse to see if there was anything similar. If he had carpet in his warehouse, then he could install immediately.
While he went to his warehouse, I picked up DH and headed down to the carpet guy's office. Peak traffic hours = long car ride. He found two carpet samples that were similar in color and pile to our sample but they just were not plush enough to DH's liking. Therefore, we selected new carpeting: Shaw Silken Dreams II in the color 100 Pearl.
But our GC made the mistake of assuming that he was going to use Home Depot for the carpet installation. After going to different stores, he decided that he didn't want to deal with the Home Depot guys for carpet. Therefore, he proceeded to call around for carpet installers to come to our site. Out of the four he reached, only one was willing to come out. The rest were on or going on holiday or something.
My Nghe Carpet & Flooring in San Jose on Tully Road -- Chinese guy who does not shy away from work during the holidays.
We had a meeting with the carpet guy today. Turns out that carpet comes from Georgia so we would need to wait 7-10 business days for the carpet to come out. As a result, we moved back our original move-in date by almost 2 weeks. After measuring the rooms, he took our carpet sample (from Home Depot) to his warehouse to see if there was anything similar. If he had carpet in his warehouse, then he could install immediately.
While he went to his warehouse, I picked up DH and headed down to the carpet guy's office. Peak traffic hours = long car ride. He found two carpet samples that were similar in color and pile to our sample but they just were not plush enough to DH's liking. Therefore, we selected new carpeting: Shaw Silken Dreams II in the color 100 Pearl.
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| 100 Pearl in the center |
Tile fiasco
After the grout in the master shower dried, the stones had turned a shade of brown. There is no brown in our shower!! So I called the tile store to see if this was a defect of some sort, and they said that it was an installation error.
Turns out that if you use epoxy grout, it'll be absorbed by porous materials such as stones (which is what we have). You need to pre-seal the material before applying the epoxy grout otherwise the material color may change. And once the epoxy is sucked into the material, you cannot extract it.
Needless to say, we need to redo the master shower floor. Booooooo...
Turns out that if you use epoxy grout, it'll be absorbed by porous materials such as stones (which is what we have). You need to pre-seal the material before applying the epoxy grout otherwise the material color may change. And once the epoxy is sucked into the material, you cannot extract it.
Needless to say, we need to redo the master shower floor. Booooooo...
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| Brown pebbles versus original grey pebbles |
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| What our master floor should look like |
Monday, November 21, 2011
Kitchen backsplash
They started laying out tile for the kitchen backsplash. In the first photo, you can see our new counters with the faucets installed.
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| Cooktop area |
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