Our kitchen remodel is done!

As most of you are aware, last August Linda and I discovered a “problem” in our kitchen — buckling in the hardwood floor, among other things. A plumber friend found that the outlet hose of our dishwasher had been eaten by a hungry rat, and in addition to the water damage on the floor, there was considerable mold growing on the inside of the cabinets around the sink.

Our insurance company’s remediation contractor quickly cordoned off the kitchen, tore out part of the cabinetry and cleaned out the mold. The bill for restoring the kitchen was astronomical. And we reluctantly agreed with some contractor friends that it would be better to remodel the entire kitchen while we were at it (at additional cost beyond the insurance settlement), and install new appliances. The total bill? You don’t really want to know…

But after several months of kitchen remodel hell, the project is essentially done. Below are some photos. Some items of interest:

1. The countertops are “Costa Esmeralda” granite, with a “leathery” finish rather than a smooth finish. The backsplash tile is natural stone.
2. The ceiling can lights and pendant lights are state-of-the-art LEDs, which use only 1/10 the energy of regular incandescent or halogen lights, and less than 1/2 the energy of fluorescent lights. The LED lights are also dimmable (unlike fluorescents).
3. The stove has an induction cooktop — each of the four units can boil 2 quarts of water in less than 2 minutes (although they require stainless steel pans, or at least something a magnet will stick to). The stove also has two full-fledged, independently controllable ovens. All controls are electronic, on the front of the glass cooktop.
4. The custom cabinetry has auto-soft-closing doors and interior trays.
5. The floor has been refinished with a “golden oak” finish.