Maybe I bit off more than I can chew...

This is extremely more complicated than I ever dreamed. I made a slight adjustment to my plan, an alternate, not a definite, of putting the dishwasher to the left of the sink instead of right at a 90 degree angle. As it is, it's impossible to have it open and stand at the sink.

I went to Lowe's because I wanted them to do these calculations. The cabinets come in standard sizes and the walls don't match the standards. Russell and Jason were the only ones to do it and Russell was off and Jason was very very late. So, I started collecting prices and finally the boy said he would get me a price sheet. That helps a little bit!

He didn't have a price list for the unfinished but said they were about $4 each less than the white. I just got through adding up the white pieces from Lowe's - $4,000 - and compared it to the unfinished at Sutherland's - $1500. I will stain them myself for $3500!

I priced and wrote down numbers to countertops, sink, faucet, 30 inch gas stove, ventahood, hardware, and flooring. Countertop is hard to figure because it's in standard lengths. So, I'm afraid there will be a lot of waste. Flooring is hard because I don't know how much installation costs are yet. I think these extras, being frugal, will top $2,000. Then I went to Home Depot, but they didn't have any prefinished, and only worked by appointment. So, I left.

I tried to call Mr. Jones this weekend and also today and never reached him. Bob called back tonight and said he would do everything, patio cover, eaves, install cabinets and tops, walls for $4400. He will furnish materials to resupport the walls and all materials outside, i.e., patio cover, etc. He's going to have to break it down and itemize. I have no idea! Something happened to the phone connection, so he will call me tomorrow. I'll also have to get some references or see some of his work. This is way too big a job to do it that way. Surely he's been in business long enough to know that!

In the meantime also today I called Curtis Wright, the level people. He and his son are gone for the week. I kept calling back trying to talk to the foreman. Finally I did at 5:00 - Frank. At first Frank said they couldn't be responsible for what Larry Layfield did. We chatted. I told him Jr. - or Bubba -- had said he would discount for me to have them level me again; so I wanted to see if that offer was still good. It's now $350 regular where when I first got back after the storm, it was $400. After I finished my woeful tale of the whole leveling fiasco, he felt bad for me, knew it was wrong that they had left me hanging and took the initiative and said he would get somebody out here this week, hopefully tomorrow, and at no charge. He knew the Wrights and the Layfields had not done right by me. I think we talked about 45 minutes!

In the course of this conversation, I told him I was in the process of wanting new cabinets and needed to be level - did he know of any good carpenters? Yes, he said, his cousin's husband who had done work for him and gave me his phone number. So, I called him and he will come out tomorrow afternoon, after 3:00, and make a bid. He prefers to custom build and said it will be about the same for him to custom build than to buy them and pay labor to have them placed. I highly doubt that! But I'll listen to what he has to say just in case. At least I may pick up a pointer or two.

My gosh, if I were not having to watch dollars, I could spend $20-30,000 in a heartbeat on this project!

I found some pictures from '03. The quality is really awful but maybe it will give you an idea.



The last picture is when I tried moving the fridge to the other wall. It is now back where it's supposed to be, right beside the stove. Where it is in this picture is where I want to put the stove and wall up the kitchen from the l.r.

Somehow I'm going to achieve this if I have to do it myself!