What can it be?
Yesterday I shopped. There are things we must know to go much further, such as, what will the final countertop be like, how will the under cabinet lighting work, what range should we use, and what range hood? If we're going to prepare surfaces and the like, we have to know what the final look will be.
The range and range hood questions were answered rather quickly with a trip to Albert Lee. My family has furnished the apartments with appliances from this venerable business for a quarter century or so, and we've been happy with what they suggested. We've bought elsewhere on occasion, but have regretted it. Anyway, I found a professional, stainless steel, version on sale that is being phased out. And lucky this, because the old version is much cooler than the gas range that is replacing it. It is a …
Well, we'll leave the actual brand as a surprise. Suffice it to say that it was a bit pricier than I had intended to go, and yet was half off. I will hint that it is a "slide in" model, as opposed to a "stand alone". What does this mean? It means that the range doesn't have a back, and has flanges that overlap the stone of the countertop rather than leaving a gap between the top and the sides of the range. This was a welcome revelation to me.
Did I mention your new 16-gauge sink?
After dropping a good deal more money than I had intended — your good luck if you're the one who'll rent the unit — it was on to Morgan Electric to see about under cabinet lighting. I found that there is an amazingly simple, low-voltage system. You supply 110v power to a centrally located transformer, and low voltage line is stapled to the under skirt of the overhead cabinets. Then you simply press the little high intensity lamps onto the line, and sharp probes pierce the insulation and connect to the wires below. That's it! If you don't like the arrangement, pull the lamps back off and press them somewhere else. The freight for this is not bad, $1.45/ft for the line and $5 each for the lamps.
Finally, I went to South Seattle to scare up a quote for granite countertops. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'll be able to source these for $700 less than I had budgeted, and the product will be nicer than I had expected. This makes up for the money spent for the range and hood.
That brings us to today, Sunday, when I'm putting together the site I'll use to entice a renter (you?). The blog pages from this point will be dated as created.
