It's been a frustrating week this week. So far everything has gone along very well with very few hiccups...this week....well, let's just say there is no such thing as a trouble free reno!
First up the kitchen drawers, they were supposed to be soft-close (an upgrade to the cabinetry which costs around $1000). Unfortunately, despite the order being correct at our end it was not at the Laminex end and instead of upgraded drawers we have standard ones. It's OK. In the whole scheme of things it's not a major issue - let's face it we've all been closing drawers without some amazing mechanism forever anyway!
Next was the laundry, instead of a cupboard base unit they sent us an upgraded set of drawers....not sure what's going on at Laminex! But that was an easy swap so no real drama there.
And now for the piece de resistance! The floor. The plan has always been to have vinyl planking on the floor. We have a client who used to work for a company that made high-quality vinyl planking (or Luxury Vinyl Tiles - LVTs for those in the know). He put us on to his old workplace and managed to get as an amazing deal on the flooring as well as a lovely guy to come and install them for us. All was good till I got the bill on Thursday which had the wrong product on it. Assuming it was a typo I asked for it to be corrected, no problem, but it turns out that the floor we want is out of stock won't be available until the end of November! Despite looking through the entire range there was nothing that we liked or would work as well!YIKES! We had the installer booked for Saturday 23rd. Demolition of the kitchen etc in the existing house starts on Wednesday which means we need to have moved most of our stuff out of the existing part of the house before then.
So most of Thursday I spent frantically looking for flooring alternatives that could be delivered and laid within 4 days. One of the benefits of living in this part of Sydney is there is always someone out there who can do something! I found a company that can do a whole range of different flooring and were able to install on Tuesday. We settled on Bamboo flooring. After reading up a bit about it I've learned that not only is it, water and stain resitant, as or more harwearing than solid timber, significantly cheaper than solid timber, able to be stained and sanded, it is also an environmentally responsible option. Bamboo is fast growing and renewable. Bamboo used for flooring is harvested in 4-5 years - trees used for flooring can take up to 40 years before they can be harvested.
So, the lovely Mr Sam comes out to measure up the floor on Friday afternoon and drops off a few samples. We deliberate and select one we like. On Saturday I ring up to order and organise the installation only to be told that the one we like the best won't be in stock till mid November. DOH!!!!!! But our second choice is in stock now. So, we have settled a little bit. The one we are having installed is a bit yellower that we wanted (it's alot like pine). But as we have pine floors throughout the rest of the house perhaps it's not a bad thing. Also, like pine the bamboo will darken with age and exposure to light so I think that in about 5-6 years time the floor will be about the same colour as our kitchen benchtops. Hey if we really hate it we can always sand it back and restain it (now there's a job for another lifetime!)
So not having the floor in means that we can put another coat of paint on the ceiling. While we could get away with it as is, in different lights you can see a few spots we've missed. After spending all day yesterday in a bathroom supply shop, spending Sunday painting sounds like the end to another perfect weekend.....
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| After the first coat of paint |
