So, the updated checklist…

• Finish bathroom vanities
• Get carpeting installed
• Install laminate moldings
• Sand and paint wall moldings
• Install wall moldings
• Get appliances installed/replaced
• Install kitchen backsplash (low priority)
• Touch up a few paint spots
• Install bar counter
• Get blinds

The carpet is on order, the appliances are on order, and I just ordered blind samples tonight, so I think we are in good shape. I just need to get cracking on the moldings.

I stopped by Ikea tonight to pick up some new handles for the bathroom cabinets, and looked around a bit. I think I might get a kitchen table there, and they had some nice rugs. I’m not that into the whole oriental style, which is cool because those are the expensive ones.

I’m thinking about moving my stuff in this weekend, since I’m going to be in Vegas the next weekend. The carpet won’t be in, though, so I won’t have access to closets or bedrooms, which kind of sucks, particularly for clothes.

Today I took a day off from condo work, aside from stopping by Sears to look at appliances. This weekend we made some good progress. The vanities are almost completely done. I just need to install one more sidesplash and verify the plumbing. We also got the bar counter installed, which I was dreading, and a bunch of the laminate thresholds. I was thinking of finishing up the thresholds and vanities tomorrow, but we’ll see. Here are a few pictures of the vanities going in:

So, it turns out our little problem with the table saw last night was user error. You have to turn the nut backwards to get it off–how stupid. So, I got the blade off pretty easily this evening and replaced it with a 24 tooth blade. That thing ripped right through the wood nicely, and I had a couple of filler pieces in no time. I looked through my screws to find something close to the recommended #8×1.5″ screws, and found some #6×1.5″, but they were definitely too short. Stupid installation instructions. Mike and I went to Home Depot and picked up some #8×2″ screws. Those worked pretty well, although they were pretty tough to screw in all the way. In any case, we got 2/3 of the cabinets installed in the master, but then we ran into a problem for the last one. Apparently one of the 20″ tiles under the cabinet is seriously off level, so it screws up the cabinet level. My plan is to use the circular saw to cut a bit off the cabinet in the back, and it should just chill above the crooked tile. We also attempted to caulk the sinks to the counters, but you know that black caulk is always trouble….

Today, I planned to work on the cabinets some more. I moved the table saw downstairs, and tried to switch the blade. Unfortunately, it was pretty much impossible to get the retaining nut off even with my great strength. John was with me, so he tried too, but wasn’t able to get it. I decided to cut losses and start working on the bar counter instead. That went ok. Everything is cut and fits now, but it is a little weird. The two pieces of counter don’t seem to line up perfectly so the surface isn’t quite level. I stopped by home depot later and got some metal plates to screw them together, so I think I can get that all fixed. While I made some final cuts to the counters, John spotted a mouse running across the garage, apparently scared by the saw. He tried to catch it for a while and it was quite funny to watch. I have caught three mice inside now, although I think they are almost all gone, because the traps haven’t caught anything in a while.

After the counters were in pretty decent shape, we started work on mounting the sinks under the new vanity tops. The mounting system was really weird, and I was about to give up and call tech support tomorrow, but we got it figured out. We got the alignment all set and traced lines, so now we just have to caulk the sinks and remount, which should take about 15 minutes. I didn’t do it tonight because I couldn’t find my spackling knife anywhere.

So, if you are feeling up to a challenge of strength, let me know and you can have a go at removing the table saw blade tomorrow :).