Countertop Complete for the Lobsterfest!

Although it has been done for a couple of weeks, I forgot to post the finished slate countertop! Since starting at a new client for work, and riding after work every night, I get home at 9pm and have had barely any free time to post!

Luckily we finished in time for the surprise party, I had been planning for my brother's 40th birthday. He was really surprised!

We had a great lobsterfest!

Lobster, steamed in beer, the only and BEST way to make lobster!!!

Now that the patio is done. Next project is the rest of the backyard.

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DIY BBQ Countertop

A few more no shows and several people who wouldn't call back so we decided to just settle on The Granite Center who actually did show up to give us an estimate (aside from the $6,000+ estimate). It was still more than I wanted to spend $2,100 (plus tax), but I just want this thing done, and since no one will show up we didn't have a ton of options. The Granite Center sent us down to the slab yard 45 min away to pick out our granite and while down there I asked the guy about different prices to make sure I didn't pick out some expensive, exotic stone. He pointed us to an area and said they were all about the same price and reassured us when I showed him my choice.

The Granite Center called us to come down and fill out the paperwork (and get money) so they could get started. As soon as we sat down the guy said it actually is going to cost $400 more than the estimate I gave you...

I don't remember my exact words, but I don't think they were very nice. I got up from my chair and made a b-line out the door. When Chad caught up to me outside we both agreed that we are sick of being taken advantage of. These contractors give you an estimate to rope you in and then take you for every last dime they can. Coincidentally the $6,000 guy called back wondering if we had made a decision and after we told him it was way too much he told us he could negotiate. So basically he was going to rip us off for as much as possible. No! No! No!

So we decided to tile it ourselves. I am not handy. The biggest home improvement project I have ever done was strip the paint off of our built in china cabinet and shelac it. Chad has also never done anything like this, so we got a book from Home Depot and bought the supplies to get started. Plywood, thinset, screws, a level, Backerboard, fiberglass tape, 2"x4", etc. Oh boy this is going to be a challenge!!!

Day one we framed the inside of the barbecue with 2x4's so that we would have something to anchor the plywood to. Cinderblock is quite tough to drill into, but we bought a special drill bit that made it possible (not easy but possible). At this point we realized that the guy who built the barbecue did not measure very well because nothing lines up. One side is one length the width changes, it isn't level. This is going to make this job very difficult! Doesn't anyone take pride in thier work anymore?

We also cut and fit plywood on one side. A very successful day in my eyes.

Day two Chad finished cutting the plywood to fit over the entire countertop and also cut the cement-backer-board to fit over that. It is not the easiest to cut in odd shapes, probably because it is cement. The cement backer board can be cut with a saw, but that process creates clouds of choking dust. And in our case it ruined the blade completely. You can score the cement backer board with a hand tool that has a carbide tip. You make numerous passes along the cut line, and then apply pressure to the other side of the cement backer board along the scored line.

I got home at this point and I was ready to do something (even though Chad was ready to call it quits). We then mixed up the cement based thinset. Once thinset is mixed with water, it makes a sticky mortar that tenaciously grabs onto anything it touches. So after we were mixing and mixing it finally looked like it was ready to spread over the plywood. You spread the sticky, gloppy mess around with a special square-notched trowel. Then we screwed the
backer board onto the plywood and to make a sandwich with the thinset in between. I then taped the joints and edges with fiberglass tape and more thinset. We finished up around 10 last night. Tile next!

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Patio Debacle

So we decided to have the backyard fixed up for summertime and get a nice patio, seating wall, and built-in barbecue. We had several estimates and decided on a referral from a friend who had an addition built by this "contractor". We gave him a drawing of what we wanted and lots of photos of examples of the stone, wall caps, and concrete we wanted. He started right away preparing the area and was building the seating wall by day 2. I thought this was strange, but what do I know? I would have thought the wall would go on top of the patio with footings into the concrete, but heck this guy has done this before right? First major problem was when Mr. Patio shows up with a load of dark charcoal bricks. What are those for, I ask? "The top of the wall, and I can't take them back"....I don't think so, Mr Patio. First those are the ugliest things I have ever seen, second you don't just show up with a load of materials without getting approval, third, that looks nothing like the long stone caps we showed you we wanted. Uh oh, I think we may be in trouble here. Ok, so next problem the stone veneer that we requested, is "not available" so he brings one stone of a few other types and tells us to pick. Stone veneer is comprised of many different shapes, sizes and colors, so picking one stone as a sample is a guess at what the batch would look like. A photo or a sample section glues to a board (which we found out later from visiting a stone store) is a much better way to see what the stones will look like together. Anyway Mr. Patio starts attaching the stones on parts of the seating wall and the first night a few have already fallen off! I don't think the three bubblegum sized pieces of cement are enough to hold the stone on. Ugh, now I am getting really worried.

Time to start the barbecue. The what? Oh Mr. Patio is running out of money because he had to pay his rent and now that will be extra $. I'm about loosing my mind at this point, and we have already given him more money than work he has done, so we are stuck. He continues on, making a giant mess of the backyard leaving trash everywhere and making it look a lot worse than before instead of better.

BBQ is still unfinished with no counter top and no door installed.

And the stairs...yup, you guessed it that will also be extra. So basically, he underbid the job to get it, and then decided to charge us more once he got started. Super!

What a nightmare. Things continued to get worse. He backed into the side of the garage, broke the back gate (by another misjudgment in his driving), raised the price $3,000, and we had to go out and buy our own wall caps (+$700)and still pay for the ugly ones he bought without approval. Really??? Yup it gets worse....

So I come home from work the day the concrete is poured and instead of the picture I gave him of beautiful stamped concrete that looks like flagstone, it has a few hand drawn lines across the middle and its the wrong color. I completely break down at this point. I cannot believe this is happening. This guy is not listening to a word I am saying, and if he is he is not understanding. Everyday I have a huge argument with him telling him what I want and he is telling me what he did is what I want???? I think I know what I want and this is not it!

This is what we got...

This is the picture we gave him of what we wanted....

Although he assured us he knew what stamped concrete was, he apparently did not! Hand drawn lines are not stamped concrete.

So now we have a patio, that is completely not what I wanted, but I'm stuck with it unless I want to pay someone else to redo it. We paid way more than his original estimate. And he hasn't finished the barbecue (no top). Plus the closer we look the more things we find wrong. Things start getting ugly, I demand his contractors license which he promised me he had and come to find out...surprise! no license. He wants the remaining $1000 because he needs to send his friend back to the islands (like that's my problem). Chad is out of town and I am left to deal with Mr. Patio, so I call for backup...a few firefighter friends who come and disperse the situation. Mr. Patio is told to hit the road because the job is in no way complete, the yard is a disaster, the patio is completely not what we asked for and he is not getting the remaining $1000. Now he is threatening to put a lien on our house for the $1000. Are you serious? I think operating without a license is frowned upon heavily in the state of CA, so chances are he will get in more trouble for that if he tries to take legal action on us. PLUS he hasn't finished the job!!!!

This is the end of the concrete, where there is supposed to be a step. He just left the wood there because it was stuck from the rebar he stuck in the concrete to keep it in place, which is oozing out from underneath. The concrete is also supposed to go out farther than the wall, and have a lip. And below is the picture we gave him of what we wanted....

Completely different! Ugh!

We wedged the wood off and now this is what the edge looks like - ugly and uneven!

So we are trying to find a legitimate contractor to finish the barbecue. Four appointments for estimates and all four were no shows. I thought the economy wasn't so good and people were looking for work? Apparently not in my area. Finally we did get one guy out for an estimate and the estimate was $6,100 for the counter top. Do we have sucker written across our foreheads? There is no way I am paying $6,100 for a barbecue counter top. The search continues....

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