24_Last Piece Of The Puzzle: Having Working Kitchen

We started to live in the new house from August 25^th. However, we kept coming back to the apartment for doing laundry and, sometimes, cooking. When we moved in, we were still waiting for the countertops to finish. We had a guy came to measure the total area for the countertops on the 21^st; after that we had to wait for around 2 weeks to get the countertops done.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait for a long time. On the last day of our leasing period, or on August 31^st, the countertops were ready to be installed. This felt like a welcoming present for us.

It took three guys to lift our granite countertops. However, it only took two guys to install them. Apparently, the granite was just cut according to the shape of the kitchen countertops including the sink. It had not been cut for the stove and the vent. So the two guys had to do a cutting job in the kitchen, and it sounded very loud. I had to wear my earplugs to reduce the loudness. They finished the installation in about 6 hours.

It took three guys to install the granite countertops. 

By afternoon, we had new countertops and double sink. This didn’t mean we had a functional kitchen; we still needed to hook up the stove and the vent. In addition, we had to hook up the plumbing for the sink. However, we couldn’t do it right away. We had promised to come to PA for the weekend.

Installation of granite countertops around the sink.

Left: Granite countertops before being cut for the stove and vent. Right: The stove and vent were encapsulated by granite countertops.

The island was covered by granite countertops.

The Stove And The Vent

Once we were back home, we hooked up the stove and the vent; so we could cook. Actually we still needed to work on the vent line: installing the vent pipe towards outside, but at least we could cook; as long as we didn’t cook something that produces too much steam, or fry too much.

The stone and vent were finally working. 

Drain Problem

However, again, we weren’t lucky in plumbing department. My husband tried to hook up the pipes for the sink and the dishwasher, with only browsing on the Internet as a reference. He never had done it before. After several try and errors in cutting the pipes, he managed to build a pipeline between the dishwasher and the sink.

Left: Before the pipes were installed. Right: The pipes were installed. 

But then, problem occurred when he worked on the drain; it blocked L. The water couldn’t get through to the drain. It stayed as puddle in the sink. He cleaned the drainpipe and encountered a lump of waste since, God knows when. He tried to connect the pipes again, but the drain still couldn’t work. In the end, he had to turn off the pipes for the sink and the dishwasher; and we had to call a plumbing company. OMG, we always had problems with plumbing. We had to think it through to redo the plumbing by ourselves. (See also 08_Second House Hunting).

The island was used for working station. 

We called Blanton’s, a plumbing company that we used previously, on September 4^th. However, we couldn’t get its service until the 7^th due to its busy schedule. And when the plumber came, of course he delivered a bad news: we had to replace the whole pipeline that supports the sink and the dishwasher because it was too old and corrosive already. The culmination of the shock, of course, was the price. It costs around $1,500 for the service. O… M… G… the whole house used the same galvanized pipes; if we had to replace them all, I couldn’t imagine the cost that we had to bare.

We didn’t have any other option but to accept the service. However, the plumber couldn’t work alone for a big task like that. So he would start the next day with his colleague.

About The Oven

We had to buy a new oven that could fit into our cabinet. (See also 21_InstallingKitchen Cabinets). At first, we compared different ovens from different websites. We ended up ordering an Empava oven from eBay because it offered cheaper price than other websites for the same oven. It said that the oven would be arrived on August 24^th.

However, on August 24^th, the oven didn’t arrived. We tried to track the package, but didn’t come out. We waited until August 27^th. At this day, we received an email from eBay, asking us to review the oven. I wrote that I couldn’t review the item because we had not received it even after 3 days of the scheduled delivery. At the same time, I contacted eBay to ask about the status of my order. Soon, I got a reply saying that the item was out of stock and eBay refunded our money. What?! That’s funny. They never bothered to check their stock and delivery status until we complained about it…???

Email from eBay, asking us to change the review.

Anyway, we considered the problem was solved. So we ordered another oven, of course not from eBay. However, eBay reached out to us, asked us to change the review for a compensation of an eBay gift card. A representative from eBay called me and waited until I changed the review. She said we would receive the gift card in a few days via email. However, 6 days later, when I wrote this, we had not received anything. Well, I guess you can conclude…

At Last, Everything Came Together

On September 8^th, the plumber came early. He said the job would take almost the whole day. Later on, his colleague came to help him. It really took almost the whole day. They completely replaced the pipeline including the one that was installed by my husband. When they finished, we tested the drain from the sink and the dishwasher, no dripping let alone leaking. Yaaay, no more washing dishes in the main bathroom!

Left: The installed pipes were cut. Right: The plumbers installed new PVC pipes.

The drain finally worked.

Around 30 minutes after the plumbers gone, the oven arrived. Alright, everything started to come together. With these, my husband felt motivated to finish installing the vent pipe. On September 9^th, finally we had functional kitchen, which meant our whole renovation project had completed. Everything worked as expected. We finally could enjoy our home.

Left: Our new oven. Right: The oven was placed above the microwave.

Our kitchen was finally done.

Our new favorite place to hang out was the kitchen.

The finished island.

The view from the island.