East Texas Countertops And Sink Revealed

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well.

Countertop weekend number two went off without a hitch except for the hitch in my back. 

Thankfully, we love our new counters and sink and the problems we had are behind us. 

Here is the post about countertop weekend number one. We encountered some issues. You can read all about them over there. Essentially, the last section we put in, needed to be replaced. 

How we pieced the counter was just not going to work. 

The old sink was fine and serviceable but it was not the look that I was going for. 

Thankfully, we had more countertop so we didn't need to purchase additional material. 

Once coffee was consumed, Bill removed and cut the section of countertop to the left of the window so that the seam would be in the center of the window. 

That was done without issue. 

We lifted another section of countertop and laid across the sink area. Bill marked the cutting line by marking it with a pencil from underneath the cabinet. He made the cut. It was perfect. He then cut out the other half of the sink with a reciprocating saw. He had much more control and no kick back. (The saw kicking back is what marred the section of counter the previous weekend.) 

If you recall, the other new sink was broken. A corner of the cast iron had snapped off. Bill was able to exchange it for a new one. 

It is the Kohler Brookfield Drop-In Cast Iron 33inch 4 hole sink. We purchased it at Home Depot. It was $249.00.  

It is the heaviest sink in the world. I have no verification of that but it is heavy. 

Getting it in the cutout without cutting off our fingers, took some thinking. 

Once the new faucet was on, we put boards under the sink and put it in position. I slid the front board out Bill lowered the front of the sink into place. We did the same thing for the back. 

We still have all our fingers. 

I was finally able to breathe. 

I am in love. This was exactly the look and feel that I wanted for this country kitchen. I didn't need an apron sink which would have required remaking the cabinet. I wanted drop in because I do not like the under counter mounted sink at home. It's a mildew habitat and I hate it. I love the white sink! It's so beautiful. It adds an element of sparkle to this kitchen. 

I sealed the counters so that we could use them for dinner.  

I need to do a light sanding and another coat or two of butcher block oil. 

The smell is a little strong and it lingers so I'll do that before we leave next time.

No. Cats aren't allowed on the counter but she crawled up while we were working so of course she jumped up when it was finished. 

The stove is propane. Bill would like a new one. This one doesn't bother me. I'd rather cook on it instead of electric. It has a vintage-y look to it which I love. 

We're toying with the taking the microwave down. We're not sure where we would put one though. 

The faucet is the Banbury High Arc 2 Handle Kitchen Essential Faucet by Moen. It was $109.00. 

We reused the wooden backsplash from the first phase of the kitchen makeover. We needed it to cover the gaps from the old green counters due to the crooked wall.  The faux tin backsplash was cut from a piece left over from my mother in law's old kitchen and a piece that I found at the thrift store. It's very pieced together because I cut it wrong the first time. It is essential to protect the wall until I decide on a permanent backsplash. 

Sometimes I know exactly what I want and other times I need to mull things over. 

We got the Unbranded Unfinished Maple Butcher Block. 

We got three 8ft. long by 25 in wide sections. They are 1.5 inches deep. They were $324.00 each. 

We needed one 6ft. by 39in. wide section for the peninsula. It was $389.00. That is the piece that had some serious flaws. 

The color of the wood doesn't match in front of the sink. That is what caused me to make the stupid design decision the previous weekend. Compared to the flaws we encountered during counter top weekend 1, this one won't bother us at all. 

Sometimes big mistakes make little imperfections seem less noticeable. 

A blue and white valance has decorated the window for the summer. 

The color scheme was prompted by a stunning flow blue platter that I found at my thrift store. 

It was only $35.00. 

I should have moved it for the photos but my IKEA cutting board was part of the reason that I knew we could do butcher block counters. I've had it for years and it still looks pretty good. I'll be using it or something else for all our cutting. We won't be cutting on the new counters. 

We'll hang the little white cupboard this weekend. I don't need it to disguise olive green counters anymore and it will give us more counter space. 

This was not an easy DIY. We learned a lot. I don't think we will ever do it again. 

It was worth it all the sweat, angst and tweaked backs. 

It was a very budget friendly countertop solution. 

I love how it turned out! 

Have a wonderful weekend. I'm off to visit my pretty kitchen. 

Katie

Butcher Block Countertop Progress

Hello, Friends,

How are you?

I hope and pray that you are doing well. 

We started installing the butcher block countertops at our house in East Texas. 

Please refer to this blog page. You can read all about the house, the property and how we are fixing it up to be our cozy get-away place. 

Here are two before photos of the kitchen the day we looked at the house for the second time. 

The first time we looked at it, I was unimpressed so I didn't take a single photo.  

Bill really wanted the property so I was willing to give the house a second look. He could see the potential. 

Upon a second look, I liked the layout of the kitchen. We've never had a peninsula. I love what Angela @ Parisienne Farmgirl did to her 1980's kitchen so I could see some potential. I knew right off of the bat that I would paint the cabinets, install flooring, take down some upper cabinets, switch out the light fixtures, and add butcher block counters. 

We have also added knobs to the doors and drawers and added crown to the top of the cabinets to make them look finished. 

Instead of painting the cabinets a color to coordinate with the olive counters, I ignored them because I knew butcher block was coming eventually. If we were keeping the olive counters, the cabinets could have been painted a creamier white. We didn't hate the counters so that is why we didn't rip them out sooner.  There were more pressing projects to do. 

Why am I going with butcher block? 

Will there be maintenance? 

I wanted a natural product so laminate was never seriously considered. It would have been nice to for someone else to do the install but it wasn't really an option. I feel it is expensive for what it is. 

DIY concrete? Nope. 

Quartz was an absolute no. We had a bathroom counter in that material and it changed color in about two years. We've seen serious yellowing of cultured marble so I was not going to risk that again in a quartz. 

Natural stone wasn't considered either. The cabinets aren't that great, so I didn't want stone on them. Stone is a bit fancy for this house, anyway. We've had stone in town since 2015. It chips and it's hard to see gunk. I think our granite is beautiful but I feel it's a tad overrated. 

So we'll have maintenance. I say "we" but I mean me. Bill will count on me to care for the butcher block. 

I've oiled a sample to see how it holds up to coffee, oil and wine. We won't be cutting directly on it so cuts are not an issue. Little surface abrasions won't bother either of us. 

Let's get in to the nitty gritty of the install. 

Removing the old counters was not difficult at all. They were held in place by some long staples so they essentially popped right off. 

The first section went in without any problem. Bill started with the easiest part first. 

He used the old piece as the template. 

He was done with it by breakfast. 

He had to run to the hardware store for a new saw blade on the second piece but once cut that went on with out issue.  

He did the wide peninsula next.

The glue holding the blocks together didn't hold in two places. 

We were able to cut most of that end off but we weren't happy with the quality. The piece really needed to be re-glued and clamped together but we feel that it will hold now that it is on the cabinets. 

The wall is not straight so it took some finesse to get it in place. He didn't use the old piece as the template and he regretted that a bit. I think he may have used geometry but I'm not sure because I black out whenever math comes into play. 

At this point we should have stopped but we had accomplished quite a bit and we felt buoyed by the success.

In my concern about the curved wall, I made a stupid, stupid design decision. Bill acquiesced since he was tired and concerned too. The countertops are heavy, so we got physically tired pretty quickly. One of the other sections had some additional flaws so rather than use it, we pieced in a small portion of counter under the coffee cabinet.

It was late, we hadn't had dinner. Water was in sight so Bill proceeded with the sink cut. 

He cut the template but the saw had kick back and marred the wood. 

We went to put in the new sink and the sink was broken on one corner. 

Because I was exhausted and over it, I said the old sink would be fine. Bill reinstalled the old sink. It fit in the cut out but didn't cover the flaw caused by the saw. 

I was disappointed but too tired to even know that I was disappointed. 

The next morning, I knew we would not be happy with the pieced section under the coffee cabinet and the cut near the sink. 

We could live with both problems, but I knew we would be kicking ourselves that we didn't take the time to do things right. 

I wasn't happy about the old sink. There was a look that I wanted and the stainless sink wasn't going to cut it. 

Bill quickly came up with plan B. The section around the sink will be removed. Bill will make a cut in the middle of the sink and join another section there. That is what we should have done in the first place.  That seam will be easier to join than the other seams, fingers crossed. 

He exchanged the sink so we will be getting a new sink and faucet. He made that call in deference to me which is very sweet.  

Work will continue this weekend.  

I noticed immediately that the new counters brighten the space. The old countertop seemed to suck light out of the room. There is very little natural light in this room. 

I've oiled the finished section of counter. I plan on a two more coats just to be on the safe side. 

I'll keep you updated on the second weekend of countertop DIYs. 

Until then, stay safe. 

Katie