Back before we even moved in, Home Depot had a big sale on countertops. We weren’t fond of the copper-sheet+acrylic invention that a previous owner had installed and considered a selling-point. The detail on the edge was cool, but, it was a too much wood for me.
I realize that this is not a popular decision among my hipster friends. And I get it – it looks cool… for a dining table! or any kind of table! But, a kitchen counter? Sorry, no. So we ordered new counters, choosing a medium gray silestone that sort of had the appearance of cement. Originally, after talking with my Aunt Margaret I was really set on a faux marble silestone, but, at this point saving $1,000 was a huge selling point in going gray. Plus Marc really liked it. But, that was early September, so honestly we had kind of forgot about it because it took ages for the install company to work us into their schedule. Then I got a call on my birthday saying it was ready. We gave ourselves the weekend to demo the old counter – surely it wouldn’t be THAT big of a job – right?
We hoped that we could remove the old countertop and use it in the shop out back, but, then Marc started to attempt taking it off.
He soon realized that like everything else in this house – there is no easy. The previous owners had laid the genius copper sheet on top of plywood on top of the tile from 1950-whenever and then pored acrylic all over it, some of which leaked into the layers below and onto the cabinet wood. Yeah – that’s awesome.
So, there was no salvaging it.
And once Marc got that off the real fun began. In the fifties they installed tile by pouring cement onto plywood and chicken wire. Yeah, you’re right 1955 – nobody in the future will ever want to change the look of their kitchen. Flesh-toned square tiles as kitchen countertop will ALWAYS be in style. Barf.
And… getting a new counter meant a new sink (HOORAY!) But, a new sink meant dealing with plumbing ($#%@!) But, dealing with plumbing meant that we could install a new water filter (YAY!) But, that led to finding that the pipes are filled with rusty-calcium deposits – almost completely blocked, and that the last piece of pipe for the water supply was actually a garden bib – which is lead. And marked with a warning – RIGHT ON IT – to not use for drinking water. ($#%@! $#%@! $#%@!) On top of that, the fittings for the pipes are really old and rusted and when Marc unscrewed them most of the threads crumbled off, which means that no matter how much Teflon tape you put on the connection it’s going to leak.
So, Marc had to rebuild the whole plumbing system under the sink and we were made really aware of just how bad the pipes were. Marc was not happy. And it was dinner time. Harrison and I escaped from the cursing and went to dinner thinking that there was a chance that we would have to sleep at mom’s house because the water might not get turned back on. However, we got a text during dinner – Marc did it. All was well-ish. Plumbing was fixed (well at least under the sink wasn’t leaking and didn’t have lead-pipes. We will still have to replace all the plumping…some day). But, water was on, and we were ready for the new countertop.
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