backhouse progress

we made a little progress on the backhouse this weekend.

the counter top search was on.

after exhausting our usual options for decently priced home and building materials (second use, restore, and earthwise) we took a risk and went to pius - a granite and cabinet place...one of those scary places over stuffed with product..... we got our bathroom vanity and kitchen counter tops here...so we know the drill, which is why we avoided it from the get-go.

(products from earthwise)

the drill goes like this: awesome product, many options, TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING CUSTOMER SERVICE. but you get what you pay for....great INEXPENSIVE product and ZERO help. instillation sucks, the people suck, but the customers still go b/c they can get a fantastic price on a "scrap piece of quartz for their back house."

we dove (literally i was climbing on top of piles of the stuff) into a pile of quartz and granite scraps and found the perfect piece with a bullnose that just needed to be trimmed 2 inches. after being ignored for 30 minutes and almost leaving b/c i was NOT in the mood for any sort of BS on saturday, we "negotiating" a decent price (and by that i meant asked one woman who half gave us an $80 price while on the phone and speaking in quick sharp tones in a language i couldn't even begin to identify, and finally hunted another dude down who said, "uhhh $70" we replied with a "can you do anything better" and he shot back, "dude, the full slab of this is over $200...sorry, man."). the most decent interaction we've ever had there (we've been to pius COUNTLESS times...and THAT was the very best it's ever been). long story short...or still long, whatever....we walked away with a great piece of, what i call, tapioca quartz.

(the pile of scrap i climbed all over)

("tapioca" quartz and our diamond blade-sounds fancy...isn't)

after another (2nd time that day) trip to home depot we walked out with a diamond blade (to trim the quartz) and a scrap piece of $0.52 plywood and quickly the backhouse felt impressively more finished. 

(before cabinet, fridge and counter top)

(very untidy version of the cabinet/3-drawer set up with the quartz, the "during")

left to do in this space:

• caulk around counter top 
• install face plate around outlet
• purchase and install cabinet hardware 
• purchase and install light fixture (just above picture)
• purchase and install shelving for blank wall. picture something like this: 
  
  (via)
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