iamshack

Wow, what an adventure this renovation project has been thus far. I must say, acting as the general contractor for a complete tear down and rebuild of a kitchen/laundry room has been quite challenging. However, I have learned quite a bit about the various trades, as well as how the existing infrastructure of my home works. We began demo at the beginning of October, and then started tearing up floors. The floors revealed all kinds of challenges, including other floors underneath the existing floors, as well as layers of hardibacker and plywood that needed to be removed and then reinstalled. Electrical, which was my largest concern going into the project due to the age of the house, has been the most simple thing to deal with thus far. Plumbing was fairly straightforward as well, since we weren't changing the layout of the sink. Ventilation was a large challenge, since all of our HVAC ventilation is beneath the floors. The vents were the actually built into cabinets and a breakfast bar that we ultimately demolished. Therefore, we needed to re-route the ventilation to the new areas of the kitchen where it would be the least intrusive, but also evenly ventilate the area. Once all this was taken care of, we have finally been able to begin rebuilding. The subfloor was installed Monday and Tuesday. Drywall and ceiling repair is happening today and tomorrow. Cabinets will be delivered tomorrow evening and installed Friday! The new flooring will begin going in Monday. Also on Monday, the countertops will be templated/measured for. Then we will wait for countertops to be fabricated. Once countertops are in, appliances can be installed. We are shooting for mid-November for completion. Doing this while having a 4 month old and 4 dogs and two working parents has definitely been a challenge, especially since we are both very busy with work at the moment. However, in the end, I believe it will have all been worth it. I will post pictures when everything is complete.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 18, 2015 -> 01:57 PM) It was really our own playcalling in OT that did us in. Too conservative The worst was the playcalling after the Lions kicked the field goal. Then he doesn't call timeout when they got down by the end zone. Could have had a chance to win the game in regulation had he called timeout there. Just complete mismanagement of the clock, combined with some rotten calls by the refs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 14, 2015 -> 05:22 PM) Most workers in America can only dream of eye and dental insurance. Luckily, as a teacher we had both, but of course now teachers' unions are also under fire for fighting for benefits for their workers so that eventually will be cut out as well. Just have a baby in China. As long as you are married, it only costs about $500-1000. Of course, you have to marry a Chinese woman. If you aren't married, the woman or couple bear all the costs...even for future pre K - 12 education, since the child doesn't exist technically and can't attend a government school. Hence, the only single moms are rich celebrities. Uhhh

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 11, 2015 -> 01:47 PM) I've watched a lot of Chiefs games cause of Jamaal Charles...and yeah, they usually are that conservative. Charles and Kelce are usually their go-to players for big plays. Without Charles, that offense is pretty stagnant. Yeah, but the last two weeks they have been going to Maclin a ton. It started in the second half of the Green Bay game and they were like "oooh, we didn't even know he was on the team!" We must have been taking Maclin away pretty well today.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 2, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) Lots of people say this. Never ends up being true. I think Robin should go. But he won't. Fans will show up less often probably too, but no one is just turning it off entirely because they kept the manager. Of course not, but they should not put fans in this position, either. In fact, they cannot afford to put fans in this position. I became resigned that they would not fire Robin several months ago, so at the moment, I'm not too upset...but goodness, get your stuff together, guys.

Signed cabinets and flooring contracts today. Ordered appliances tonight (gulp)! Locked in countertop prices last Friday. Demo starts tomorrow morning at 7 am! Hoping to be done early November.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 03:46 AM) It's more of a Clausen blows and is 1-11 as a career starter Syndrome for me. Nothing to lose if Fales starts. You never know where a serviceable QB can come from. Agreed. We know what Clausen is. We need to know what Fales is. My guess is they don't want to be accused of giving up on the season quite yet.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 25, 2015 -> 10:32 AM) 2009 Bears: Cutler was 7-9. He had some bad games but his best receiver was Devin Hester. Forte rushed for 2010 Bears: Cutler was 10-5 and won a post-season game to give him 11 wins. Bears made it to NFC championship where they lost to Packers (with Jay out). Knox was the #1 ( 2011 Bears: Cutler was 7-3, but got injured in a route of the Chargers (5th straight win and during that stretch they averaged 32.2 ppg). Bears looked like an elite team until they were Caleb Hanied out of the playoffs. 2012 Bears: Cutler was 10-5 as the starter. Marshall had a beast of a season, although he really had on other receiving weapons. No other receivers with even 500 yards. 2013 Bears: Cutler had statistically his best season (Marshall was a beast again and Alshon emerged with Forte playing well). Defense was horrendous and Jay is 5-6. McCown goes 3-2. 2014 Bears: Bears are just an outright disaster. Cutler goes 5-10 and defense was beyond pathetic. The only time we had remotely decent defenses, the Bears were playoff teams (which is what you'd expect with a solid QB). The years where we had awful defenses, the types of D's that only a top 3 QB would get us their, well, we didn't make the playoffs and were bad, but not 2 win bad, why, because Jay is good enough to win a few games on his own, but he isn't good enough to go Aaron Rodgers and just win the whole thing. Bottom line, lets fix this football team. I agree if we can get a top flight Andrew Luck type prospect, you get him, but in the meantime, lets find lots of good football players, cause Jay with good players around him (a good defense and special teams, solid offensive weapons), is a QB that can win. I agree with all of this. Jay isn't Aaron Rodgers, but when you stop and look around, you pretty much had to sign him.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 12:03 PM) Remember this...this time 3 years ago, Trestman, McCoy and Kelly were the talk of the NFL. Bruce Arians is the one whose getting the last laugh. Not how you start, but how you finish. We didn't hire Fox to win a superbowl this year, we hired him and Pace to build us into a perennial contender. That takes time and I expect we will see improvements (even as pathetic as this team is). Yeah, and BA was my choice by far

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 07:40 AM) Plus, only down 6 to Seattle at half on the road. The defense just got tired because the offense didn't move the ball at all. It's really amazing how bad Emery & Trestman f***** up this organization. Bad contracts, 0 depth, only a couple young pieces to build around. Amazing. Now Trestman's team is 0-3 and that offense is so inept lol. I still don't dislike Emery. Did he make a bad coaching hire? Yes. But otherwise, I honestly liked what he was doing. The defense aging and declining so quickly was something any GM would have struggled with. I don't have anything against Pace thus far, but Emery just went down with a bad coaching hire.

I can't take anymore dogs, but I think your wife has the same cookbook collection as mine

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Sep 26, 2015 -> 12:16 PM) Exactly, this is what I do not get. If he is guilty, then he is 100% in the wrong and should be in jail. If he is completely innocent, then what exactly did he do wrong? He met a girl at a bar and took her home - something done nightly by thousands of people between the ages of 20 and 30 in every major city in this country. I am not trying to say he is guilty or innocent, I have not made an opinion on that and will not. But either he did nothing wrong or he did everything wrong. There were posts earlier in the thread stating he has an obligation to himself and the Blackhawks to use more caution in regards to putting himself into situations like this. Perhaps some kind of a vetting process, etc. I think that is what certain posters think he did wrong, even if completely innocent of any legal wrongdoing.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 23, 2015 -> 10:17 AM) I wish I had the exact number for you, I think it was upwards of $70 sq/ft or so. It was costlier than the other brands which were closer to $62-65 I think. Our price got all changed because our island was so big, we need a special jumbo slab. Those prices included cutting and installation. Great. Thanks!

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 23, 2015 -> 09:17 AM) We just went with the Stellar Snow quartz from Silestone, very happy with it so far. http://www.silestoneusa.com/colors/color/stellar-snow/ Very cool. Mind sharing the general pricing per sq/ft with me?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 23, 2015 -> 08:46 AM) We have quartz, don't remember the brand (we looked at several mid- to high-range brands). We went with that over granite due to the zero maintenance and risk of staining, and we've been very happy with it for the last four years. I think the cost was about the same as a granite option. Thanks SS. We have gone to a few slabyards and don't really care for the granite options. My wife wants something white but also fairly solid, which is difficult to find with granite. They had a few quartz slabs, but they were made by a company named Quantro out of India. I didn't care much for the reviews I saw online. Apparently a lot of chipping problems. I think I may just go with Silestone just for peace of mind.

Trying to decide on countertops. Has anyone gone with quartz? If so, what brand?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 22, 2015 -> 09:21 AM) I have some friends in california who just had a new baby this summer. They were looking over the past couple weeks to switch to a larger car than their 2010 or 2011 VW car and of course were going to use that as the trade-in. They suddenly can't buy that car because the trade in value of their vehicle has instantly dropped to zero since it can't pass an actual unrigged California emissions test. They'll get part of a settlement in the end I'm sure but they're unfortunately stuck because of this. Wow. That sucks. I would be fuming (ok, the pun was kind of intended).

Went and priced out appliances on Saturday afternoon. All I can say is HOLY s***!

Well, we signed papers to refinance our home today and took out some equity. Removed the pmi and went to a 20-year term. Kitchen renovation project is a full go. A little frightened about the budget, considering we expect to require plumbing and electrical upgrades to go along with all new cabinets, appliances, countertops and flooring. Should be interesting though!

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 16, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) Usually that 20 dollar oil change is with no filter. I get it though, some people just don't want to do it. I do as much as I can on my car to save money, by far the most money I have saved is changing my own brakes and rotors. The shops just kill you on those changes. Costs me about 90 bucks for brakes and rotors to do it myself, most shops charge 200 bucks and up. and when I do it I also rotate my tires which is another cost Yeah, I have heard this is incredibly cheap to do on your own. It's just a personal thing. I am probably one of the least mechanically inclined individuals on the planet. I can barely install an air freshener I figure my talents are better put to other things. In fact, I would likely cause more damage trying to do things myself and cost myself more in the long run than simply entrusting my vehicles to a professional and spending a little more.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 16, 2015 -> 05:29 AM) Usually you save anywhere from 5-10 bucks. If you go into any auto store like Napa or Advance, they have a deal where you can get a Oil + filter deal for 20-25 bucks. Most jiffy-lube type places charge you 30-35 bucks for oil and filter. Air filters usually cost you an extra 15-20 bucks in the shop too, where they cost 10-15 bucks in the store It just depends if you want to do it. Yeah...I have no interest in doing it

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 10:17 AM) I like the two Monday night games. NFL should scrap the Thursday game and just do two Monday night games. Except most of the larger markets cannot stay up late enough to watch the second game.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 09:59 AM) Joys of fatherhood, haha. I will say...it is awesome having football back on. Nice on Saturday night when the kid is asleep to be able to watch the tail end of a few of the games. Plus...after a day of running around with the kids, you truly can relax, haha. This year has been the perfect storm of time and energy consuming life-events for me. Birth of our first child, major project happening at work, and moved my parents from Chicago to Las Vegas. Not sure which has been the most stressful Unfortunately, that has left no time for current events. The world could be falling down around me, and unless I saw it happening on my way to work or to get diapers, I probably wouldn't notice.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Sep 14, 2015 -> 08:33 AM) The other goal line series where they passed 4 times from the 2 was awful as well. You're running down Green Bays throat all day, you have the ball at the 2 and you decide to throw it 4 times? That was some Trestman like s*** right there. A TD there and the game might be different. Yeah, but it isn't as simple as that. The thought process is the Packers are going to gear up to stop the run there and so you are trying to catch them off guard with the pass. It's all a chess game on the goal line. I would have liked to see them run it outside, particularly that little pitch sweep they were running, but I really think the failure was to continue to keep Bennett in to block instead of releasing him into the end zone. The guy is a beast, and one of our most reliable pass catchers, and we didn't really try to get him involved until the end of the game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Sep 13, 2015 -> 01:24 PM) Yep, not bad. More funny than anything that Cutler threw that predictable interception there. On defense, who would you say played well? The defense didn't play great...there were so few possessions by both teams. But we had the feel of an actual professional football team today, which is drastically different than last year.