Comment from a contractor

As the long-awaited kitchen re-model starts slowly grinding into gear, we had a contractor out to run an electrical line into our pantry. Our pantry has a couple of sets of floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with all of our baking stuff, the honey, some canned goods, all of the condiments like the fish sauces, vinegars, oils, etc. etc.

His comment was, "There is more food in this house than in any house I've ever seen, but there's nothing to eat!"

As the long-awaited kitchen re-model starts slowly grinding into gear, we had a contractor out to run an electrical line into our pantry. Our pantry has a couple of sets of floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with all of our baking stuff, the honey, some canned goods, all of the condiments like the fish sauces, vinegars, oils, etc. etc.

His comment was, "There is more food in this house than in any house I've ever seen, but there's nothing to eat!"

You should have replied, "Well, not until you pull the finger out and get the electricity connected.."

Mike, your contractor sounds like my stepsons.

As the long-awaited kitchen re-model starts slowly grinding into gear, we had a contractor out to run an electrical line into our pantry. Our pantry has a couple of sets of floor-to-ceiling shelves stuffed with all of our baking stuff, the honey, some canned goods, all of the condiments like the fish sauces, vinegars, oils, etc. etc.

His comment was, "There is more food in this house than in any house I've ever seen, but there's nothing to eat!"

Did you get to see his smile?

[Jenise]

LOL, Mike! Something similar, in that when I described the size of the pantry I want in my remodel, my architect balked at the size since I was also stressing more/more/more on cabinetry. He thought the pantry was supposed to replace cabinetry--until he saw my current pantry (which besides all the usual stuff of which like you I have more than most people, is also an appliance garage and collection point for recycling).

Dear Mike,

That's a great story. The more one cooks from scratch, the less "food" there is around.

In the extreme, one might have no bread, but also no flour on hand, just big bags of wheat kernels, or better yet a field out back. Makes you realize how much processing has gone on to get even a "scratch" staple like flour into a jar in our cabinet. Good luck with the kitchen!

Walt

Dear Mike,

That's a great story. The more one cooks from scratch, the less "food" there is around.

In the extreme, one might have no bread, but also no flour on hand, just big bags of wheat kernels, or better yet a field out back. Makes you realize how much processing has gone on to get even a "scratch" staple like flour into a jar in our cabinet. Good luck with the kitchen!

Walt

Pretty sage comments. ( I hope you are growing some sage.)

[Jenise]

So Mike, tell us what appliances you've chosen, etc.

So Mike, tell us what appliances you've chosen, etc.

It's still happening very slowly. We did get a Liebherr refrigerator in yesterday. We went with that in hopes that it will prove more reliable than American brands seem to be. Also, this is a tall, narrow model (30" wide, 72" high) which fits into our small kitchen better than a wider model. Downside is that capacity isn't much compared to most American brands. My wife considers this an advantage as we're not good at keeping the fridge cleaned out. This will theoretically force us to rotate our stock more frequently. We'll see. I also hated to see the old fridge go just because it's been so reliable. I bought it in 1989 and no repair of any kind has ever been required for it.

We've narrowed the range down to a Lacanche. This is quite an extravagance for us, but my wife really loves the look and they are reported to be very simple, reliable units. Lots of btu's on the cooktop and very high quality overall. We haven't decided on whether to get a dual-fuel or an all-gas one yet. We were going to go with dual fuel as my wife's experience with baking has led her to believe that electrics really do a better job with cakes, cookies, and such. Then a guy who's a professional chef (he's the inhouse chef for the Franciscan winery) told us that he believes gas works much better for roasting meats and such. Since we ultimately plan on getting an additional electric wall oven, this has made us stop and think a bit. We're also dithering over the color options. With any luck, we'll get this decided in the next couple of days and then place the order. There's a 6-month lead time, so it'll be a while before we actually see it.

That's as far as we are right now. We're continuing discussions with our contractor on the counters, cabinets, and such (mostly over brandy old-fashioneds, which he really likes).

That's as far as we are right now. We're continuing discussions with our contractor on the counters, cabinets, and such (mostly over brandy old-fashioneds, which he really likes).

Mike,

I would be interested to know what you end up deciding on for the counter surfaces. Not because I am too lazy to do my own research, but that is the second phase of my home improvement plan and everyone I ask seems to have a different, and passionate, opinion. I’m leaning toward granite so I can pick out the actual slabs.

Brandy Old-Fashioneds? LOL! Does he wear a Cheesehead hat while on the job?

Appliances and countertop:
I picked a Caldera gas cooktop and a GE electric oven. I like the electric oven, but it's been a PITA; it's died 3 times already in 6 months. It works fine when it works, but the controller gizmo that has all the touch controls and LEDs (actually plasma, I think) and intelligence has gone Tango Uniform when I'm right in the middle of heating the oven to bake a pie or something. Argh.
The cooktop is fine. The burners light instantly and the big burners will pretty near set the house on fire, and the little one will keep things hot without even simmering, if you turn it clear down. And it's easy to clean.
I picked Formica for the countertop. That's partly because the house is my mother's and she's 89 and we probably won't be here long enough to wear it out, and partly because I'm sort of cheap, and partly because I don't like the super-hardness of tile or stone. Given 6 months of living with it, I think I might have preferred one of those composite fake stone materials (there are several brands that more or less resemble Corian). The main thing is that with Formica, the sink has to be above the countertop and you can't just sweep stuff into the sink. There's one seam in the Formica, at the corner of the L-shaped counter, and I expect there'd be a seam there with anything else too. It would be awfully hard to get an ell that big into the house without breaking it.

John

Dave -

We're still working on counter tops. My wife likes marble but I worry about the durability aspect. I like granite, but she wants something light-colored (which makes sense in our rather dark kitchen). We haven't looked at the synthetics (Silestone and the like) to know what we think of them yet. They have a lot going for them, though.

John -

Thanks for the info. Sounds like you did well, although it sounds like that oven is frustrating.

There's one seam in the Formica, at the corner of the L-shaped counter, and I expect there'd be a seam there with anything else too. It would be awfully hard to get an ell that big into the house without breaking it. John

I don't do installations, but I work for a developer / home builder in the Southeastern area of Virginia. His new installations feature kitchen counter tops with sinks level with the counter. The entire counter top installation is seamless in appearance. Even those counters with the big "ells." On every installation I've seen so far, I have not been able to see or feel a seam between the counter top and the sink or at any of the bends / ells in the counter or between the counter surface and the back splash. The entire installation has the look of being one continuous piece of material.

When I asked how this was done, I was told that the installer uses an epoxy filler that is color matched to the counter, and then it is finished with very careful "sanding" and polishing to very effectively hide the seam.

Dave R and Mike
We redid our kitchen last summer, and went with CaesarStone, which I assume is a brand name of silestone. We love it, but if you've got your heart set on granite, then you might as well go for it. We have marble in the bathroom - I don't think I'd want it in the kitchen.
There's no cost benefit to the man made product. Getting the job done as quickly as I could, with as few subcontractors as possible, was as important to me as the final result. We're in a tract home and did not want to overimprove.

The Caesar looks good (to us), is easy to clean, and can handle hot pans and plates straight out of the oven without breaking a sweat.

Here's what it looks like:

Dave R and Mike
We redid our kitchen last summer, and went with CaesarStone, which I assume is a brand name of silestone. We love it, but if you've got your heart set on granite, then you might as well go for it. We have marble in the bathroom - I don't think I'd want it in the kitchen.
There's no cost benefit to the man made product. Getting the job done as quickly as I could, with as few subcontractors as possible, was as important to me as the final result. We're in a tract home and did not want to overimprove.

The Caesar looks good (to us), is easy to clean, and can handle hot pans and plates straight out of the oven without breaking a sweat.

Here's what it looks like:

That looks great, John. Nice choice. Do the man made products require any maintenance? I have heard that some of the natural products require periodic sealing.

I like the LVD pour bottle on your counter as well.

That does look pretty nice, John. We have some friends who went with Silestone and they like it, too. A big advantage for us would be the choices of color and pattern in it. It's hard to find white or very light granite. Another issue for us is whether we want to stay consistent with the age of the house (1931 vintage) or give it a more updated look. The counters we have now are the original tile ones. I don't think we'll go with tile due to the grout issues, but we may still try for something that looks "older".

Well, we got rid of the tile because Cindy was getting tired of cleaning the grout with a toothbrush. Me? I had no problem with it....

Dave, the Vieux Donjon bottle is our dish detergent dispenser - another one of my wife's cutsey ideas. We change it monthly. We're now featuring a Loring Rancho Ontiveros in that space. Check back often.......Maybe I should put up a sinkcam.
The man made product requires NO maintenance whatsoever - which was key in my decision. We also liked the way the colors matched with the cabinetry. I like the feel of it; it feels real.
If I were doing a kitchen and my intention was to stay there forever, then I would likely go with granite. I prefer the randomness of the pattern. But for here and now, this was good enough.

I just realized that you are the Dave from the old days. Wow. Welcome home.