General Upgrades & Ideas

[Bo Diddley]

Looks good, funk. It's a great feeling when you make an upgrade like that.

[falafel]

It looks really good. I do think that I need some under cabinet lighting because there is kind of a blue tone to the tile from the black countertops. The kitchen does feel a lot lighter and actually feels a little bigger as well. Now, to save up some money to get rid of these counter tops.

C25304C1-8BB3-4BBF-B3B1-F2FC7693CF40_4_5005_c.jpeg

prefer the confetti, tbh

[MartyFunkhouser]

prefer the confetti, tbh

That is surprising given how much you hated it. I'm cool with you hating my kitchen backsplash. It looks better in person than in the picture.

[The_Tick]

So...I am not a handyman. I have two left thumbs when it comes to this stuff. Until this project....

My wife took a chuck out of the drywall in the kitchen leaning a chair back. When she did that I had the thought that board and batten would look really good in there. And then I thought well....if I am doing it in there, the guest bathroom would be a great spot as well.

So I watched a few tiktok videos, two youtube videos, took my measurements and went and bought the materials and a brad nail gun. I started the project on Monday and wrapped the construction portion of it up last night. Today I will set all of the nails that are poking out and I'll use wood filler to cover them all up. I also have to do some putty work on one wall where I didn't think about hiding the seam.

Will do silicon work tomorrow and then probably paint sometime next week. I feel really accomplished though. I ran into a few hiccups and that is normally where I quit and call someone to come and finish it. But this time I just told myself that I would figure it out, and it doesn't have to be perfect. We can fix anything.

Now it kinda has me wanting to redo the cabinets in the house.

[Pelado]

Nice work! Cabinets are a bit more involved, but they're not rocket science.

[falafel]

Looks really good Tick. I am considering something similar.

[Moliere]

Nice work Tick!

[Pelado]

Nice work Tick!

Any cabinet-making tips for Tick (and the rest of us)?

[Moliere]

Any cabinet-making tips for Tick (and the rest of us)?

Yeah, pay someone to make them for you!

[Moliere]

In all honesty, cabinets are pretty easy since they are just big plywood boxes. The hard part is the face frame, drawers and doors. We are redoing an upstairs bathroom and while we have a contractor doing the work, I made the cabinets/vanity/whatever you call it. It was about a full day of work to cut all the wood, assemble it all and then get the face frame milled up, fitted and finished. Install was pretty easy even though I almost trapped my stud finder under the floor of the vanity. I’m having issues uploading images so you’ll have to take my word for it

we redid our other upstairs bathroom and I also did those vanities. I’ll try to load those pictures as I think it turned out awesome.

[MartyFunkhouser]

I really wish there was something that I could do about my counter-tops in the kitchen. I really don't like the black. I really like the backsplash we put in, but the black gives it a little bit of a grey look to it instead of the white. I've done a temporary under the counter lighting that helps with the situation, but it only helps so much. Also, it involves charging lights on a regular basis. At some point, I will have a permanent under cabinet lighting installed.

I know there is the epoxy option with the counter-tops, but I'm not confident in doing that and if I eff it up then we are going to end up having to replace everything. I'm considering maybe going with a peel and stick contact paper, but I'm afraid it will feel or look cheap. I may just be stuck with it for a couple of years.

[Pelado]

I really wish there was something that I could do about my counter-tops in the kitchen. I really don't like the black. I really like the backsplash we put in, but the black gives it a little bit of a grey look to it instead of the white. I've done a temporary under the counter lighting that helps with the situation, but it only helps so much. Also, it involves charging lights on a regular basis. At some point, I will have a permanent under cabinet lighting installed.

I know there is the epoxy option with the counter-tops, but I'm not confident in doing that and if I eff it up then we are going to end up having to replace everything. I'm considering maybe going with a peel and stick contact paper, but I'm afraid it will feel or look cheap. I may just be stuck with it for a couple of years.

Is the current counter surface formica? Something else?

I think you're right to be concerned about peel and stick contact paper looking cheap, though I don't have any experience with it so maybe it's not a bad way to go.

I do have experience with epoxy on the kitchen island (which I have documented here before). There is a bit of a learning curve, but it can also be pretty forgiving. If you screw it up the first time, it's relatively easy to correct with another layer on top. And epoxy is waaaay cheaper than most other options - even if it takes two or three different attempts.

[MartyFunkhouser]

Is the current counter surface formica? Something else?

I think you're right to be concerned about peel and stick contact paper looking cheap, though I don't have any experience with it so maybe it's not a bad way to go.

I do have experience with epoxy on the kitchen island (which I have documented here before). There is a bit of a learning curve, but it can also be pretty forgiving. If you screw it up the first time, it's relatively easy to correct with another layer on top. And epoxy is waaaay cheaper than most other options - even if it takes two or three different attempts.

It is granite.

[USUC]

Anyone have any recs for drywall and/ paint people in the south salt lake county area?

[Copelius]

Sean Brady, Sure Thing Painting. 973-222-2860. He just does paint, but probably has a drywall guy on call, since they are so closely related.