Granite, part one

When we bought our house in Washington, we thought the tile counters were beautiful. And they were.  Totally not functional, but beautiful.  Tile doesn't get clean. Ever.  Just try rolling out a pie crust on a tile counter.  Not that I was silly enough to try it....

The grout soon started cracking all over the place and little pieces would break off.  Notice the missing tile lip in the picture below.   I thought I was opening the dishwasher and accidentally took off a tile. They all came off that easily.

We decided that we needed a change.  We had lots of friends who worked in the granite business.  Our friend, Drew, a granite salesman, helped us choose the right granite for us - Uba Tuba, or as my friend, Lydia, called it, Ubba Tubba. 

To save money, we {read: Handsome Hero} did our own tear out.  Drew, our salesman and awesome friend, helped knock that job out while his wife, April, and I were shouting at each other over the noise chatting in the other room like nothing was going on.  Wonder of wonders, Ella slept through the whole thing.  Jack had not yet made his existence known, so he was quiet, too.

As insane as it sounds, the guys found that part of the counter had been tiled over a sheet of, get this, styrofoam. 


So posed.  They also found out that the drywall behind the backsplash would all have to be replaced.  Our friends, Tom and Ben, helped Handsome Hero to do the drywall.  Ben has all the tools that have ever been invented, and rather than just lend them, he came with them to lend a hand.  He is awesome.  He's also exuberant and cheerful, even around midnight, which helped to lift Handsome Hero's spririts considerably. 

The granite was installed in a couple of days, and it was beautiful.  Unfortunately, it was also Thanksgiving.  We had invited company, but the plumbing hadn't been put in yet, so we had to get creative.  The girls and I worked on the meal while Handsome Hero and Bob {below} worked on the sink.

Despite the circumstances, we had a wonderful feast with our dear friends, the Jason's.

Then we washed the dishes.

In the bathtub.

Do you know how many dishes are involved in a Thanksgiving spread?

Once the granite was sealed and the new backsplash went in, the job was complete!

Uh, minus an outlet cover.

It's funny how much stuff I had on those counters.

We enjoyed that granite immensely.  It was a wonderful upgrade to the house. 

Hmmm.  I wonder where this is going.  Do you have an idea about the content of tomorrow's post?

p.s.  Our friends were such a blessing during this and other home projects.  Just to push their awesomeness even further, get this.  Handsome Hero's job in Washington had him working to all hours.  Often he wouldn't begin a house project until 10:00 pm.  These guys came over to help and often wouldn't leave until midnight.  That is friendship with a servant heart, my peeps.