Kitchen Renovation Week 7: A Stumble at the Finish Line

This week we had a very good chance at being almost finished minus the install of the new range.  But work pretty much came to a standstill over a faucet and a screw.  The faucet you see here.  A Minta in Super Steel by Grohe.  A faucet the Architect might love more than me and his dog.  What is wrong with this picture is that the faucet is installed backwards.  The level is supposed to be to the side and the toggle pushes back and forth for cold and hot water.  You see, the problem is that you can't install it in the correct manner because the counter top depth in the back is too small.  Why is it too small?  The counter top fabricators failed to read the Architect's drawings where he specifically measured the EXACT depth needed so the faucet would fit and work in the desired manner.  The drawings also had an exact drawing of this faucet and how it should look installed.

The second issue was the impression of a drywall screw in the newly laid cork flooring awaiting its final finish out.  This resulted in much gnashing of teeth, wine drinking, and a terse email to the contractor.  This issue prevented the application of the polyurethane sealant on the flooring.

The contractor "did the right thing" and agreed to replace the entire section of counter top for the faucet and replace the cork tile.  So at 5pm on a Friday the flooring guys had to come over and spend an hour chipping out the defective tile and replacing it with a new tile.  Since the tile needed 24 hours to dry, no sealant was applied.  The counter top probably added another week to the project.  But it will be worth it because the counter top and the favored faucet will be correct.  In the meantime, we realized there was no water line for the fridge and the gas line still needs to be adjusted for the install of the range.

So the microwave meals and sandwiches continue.  What was accomplished this week was some tiling (minus the grout), installation of drawer pulls and lighting (minus the Nelson bubble lamp).

Tiling of the back splash and new window ledge.

Finished tile (w/o grout) and another pop of orange.

Pendant lights w/ marconi bulbs.

Detail of island where paint meets birch.

Drawer pulls from the front.

Drawer pulls from the side.

A view from the living room of the almost finished product.