Sunday, December 31, 2006

Countertop Victory

It is safe to say that I've been a bit preoccupied by the kitchen counter top lately. But it is hard to ignore it when it is leaning against the wall in the living room. I can't even watch TV without the damn thing taunting me. The one thing standing in our way was a belt sander. I asked everybody I knew if they had one to lend out, but none materialized. My father had one that he inherited from my Grandmother's boyfriend. Unfortunately it was a table mount one, so not the correct tool for this job. Yesterday I was going to go rent one from Stephenson's Rentall for $35, but thought - why not try the palm sander first? We put the counter top in place and made pencil marks in the places that needed to be sanded, so that the counter top would meet the wall better. I got out the #60 grit sandpaper, and away we go. Alas, it worked just fine. I'm sure that it was more time consuming, but it did the job. It was hours of putting the counter top up, marking, taking it down, sanding and repeat. But, I think that we're finally ready to bolt that sucker down. Just a few more hours with a variety of levels and some shims, and hopefully we'll be done.

But wait. What about the sink? I guess that now is the time to really use that jigsaw that I got for my birthday last year. We got some special laminate blades, and re-read the internet instructions. I traced a practice curve onto a scrap of counter top and got Dan to try his hand with the jigsaw. I figured that I'd get him to do it so that I could take the photos. He did pretty well, so we figured it was time to move on to the big leagues. So, I traced the template for the new single sink on the counter top and then drilled a 3/4" starter hole. I'm sure that the neighbours were happy to hear us firing up the saw at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve. The photo gives away the ending of my story, but I have to say that Dan did a fab job staying inside the line, and the new sinks fits in perfectly. Now it is my turn to put that plumbing course to use and get us some running water in that kitchen. That and get that dishwasher running. And tile the backsplash, install the under counter lights, install new doors on the cabinets, move the dishes back into the kitchen, and paint the wall. Yeah, I guess that we are not almost done. Oh well, for now I will celebrate the victory that the sink hole was cut out on the last night of 2006. Happy New Year!

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