The laminate installer made an appearance today, bringing us much closer to our goal of a Feb. 1st move-in. One more week of push, push, push and hopefully, the Magnolia house will be ready to rent. Ad goes in the paper Monday.

Cabinets Before: Stained, glazed and polyurethaned but sadly, counter-deficit.

And after: Wilsonart laminate installed on counters and backsplash in a faux granite pattern that picks up the red/brown of the terracotta tile and the darker brown from the glaze. (That whooshing sound you hear is a heavy sigh of relief… nothing like picking out $400 worth of permanent material from a 1×2″ swatch…)

The mister had the laminate installed from the floor to the venthood  for ease of clean-up (vent also MIA, but to-be-installed soon).

A closer view taken without flash.

The back of the weenie chip with product details.

Going with a premium laminate added $25 to the total, but the result is very nice and definitely worth the appeal in this rental market. I’d still like to switch over to ceramic tile counters, but that will probably have to wait until I learn to do the work myownself.

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Tags: laminate counters, REI, rent house

Mr. Brz likes the idea of ceramic tile counters and doesn’t need any elaborate justification. Unfortunately a couple of issues are hindering the advancement of counter materials in Texas from laminate to tile.

• Measurement of the stove space shows exactly 30″… no more, no less meaning even the thinnest tile might interfere with stove installation.
• The bid for a simple 6×6″ tile counter and backsplash was higher than anticipated– $800. The bid for comparable custom laminate was under $400. If we had time to do the work ourselves, it might work, but looks like this time around it’s just not happening.

Bummer

When the nice tile-lady arrived today, she measured the floor and came up with a total of 777 sq. ft.  If anyone around here were even the teensiest bit superstitious, this would be a very nice number indeed. Since that’s not the case, I’m just glad it’s easy to remember.

We decided on the terracotta-colored tile for the bedrooms, living room, kitchen and utility room. We’re going with a lighter color for the bathroom just for grins. Frankly, choosing tile and grout color makes me wonky and until the job’s finished there’ll be no rest for the weary… or whoever. Mr. Brz is resting much better knowing the ceramic tile’s going in and doesn’t really give a flip about colors, silly man.

JoJo the Wonderdog,  for no particular reason except he’s cute with teddy in his chops

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Tags: ceramic tile, ceramic tile floor, flooring, laminate counters, tile counters

It’s time to call the laminate installer to get an estimate for new countertops in the Magnolia house. As much as I love/hate laminate, its really the only choice that makes economic sense for a house at this price point. But while laminate may be inexpensive, it scratches and burns, serious drawbacks for a rent house. Looking at dozens of laminate counters while apartment hunting with mom didn’t make me feel any better– chips, stains, scratches, melted spots… bleh.

A really rotten photo of the Magnolia kitchen taken when my camera was suffering a slow and torturous demise. The old laminate counters extend up the backsplash in a faux marble pattern.

I’m told the new laminates are thicker and stronger with a better wear layer. (For a little outside reading, try here and here.) So far, we’ve been fortunate– the laminate counters have held up beautifully, but I’ve always had this fear that some tenant will decide to french fry weasels on the poor counter and the entire thing will have to be replaced. It’s these visions of pooled weasel-grease that keep bringing me back to ceramic tile.

Back in the olden days, pre-microwave, pre-dishwasher, I had a lovely pink kitchen with lovely pink appliances and lovely pink ceramic tile wrapped around the entire lovely perimeter.  As much as I grew to loathe and despise the pepto-pinkness, I loved those counters. Hot pots went straight from stove to tile with nary a hiccup.  I could’ve fried an entire weasel colony had I been so inclined (I never was). The only real issue was keeping the grout clean, which pre-baby days wasn’t exactly my top priority.

Tile’s come a long way baby–the choices available today are fantastic. The old fashioned, shiny square tiles that chipped and broke so freely back in the ’50’s and ’60’s have been replaced with all sorts of beautiful through-color tiles. The larger sizes mean fewer grout lines and combined with a good grout sealer, even the Mistresses of Grout Cleanliness have been silenced.

In my opinion, ceramic tile just might be the perfect choice for a rent house countertop. So there.

These Crossville counter tiles are 14″x28″ (and way too expensive for any of our rentals… still, very beautiful.)

That’s more like it–Sandy Ridge, 6″x6″ field tile from American Olean.

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Tags: ceramic tile counters, countertops, laminate counters, laminate countertops