We finally pulled the trigger on the countertops for the bathroom.  We've been waiting to decide mostly because it didn't affect the renovation since we were too busy working on tiling and painting and also because we couldn't figure out how much we were willing to spend.

We had already decided against granite or quartz and didn't like the look of cultured marble, so we were left with solid surface or laminate.  We wanted solid surface, but on a laminate budget.  I knew I wanted a light/almost white color so I thought it would be pretty easy to find a basic color for cheap.  Famous last words. 

We started at the box stores, (Home Depot and Lowes), and then the smaller local shops.  Even though we didn't need sink holes cut and choosing the free edge profiles, we were quoted over $1,000 every time.

A little secret of ours is that during high school, Mike worked in a countertop shop, so he knows how to make laminate and solid surface counters.  And, even if he didn't it's actually pretty easy, (easy for the skilled DIY'er, like Mike, I wouldn't be able to do it myself, but thank god my man has skills!).  So, to save us even more money, we thought about just buying a pre-cut countertop and installing it ourselves.  The problem with that is everywhere including Home Depot and Lowe's includes all labor in their prices.  And believe us, there is no way to get it removed - we asked, numerous times.       

So, in the same fashion I jumped started this bathroom renovation months before we had planned to, (read about that here), I started perusing the internet to see if anyone sold just slabs of solid surface.  I have to tell you there isn't much out there, but I did stumble across SolidSurface.com (go figure), which not only offered full slabs of most popular brands and colors, but also had overstock material for deeply discounted prices.  Obviously that's where I went first.


I first searched by size, knowing that our countertop was 22" x 70" (this included the 1" overhang in the front and on the left hand side) and we needed enough to cut out a backsplash and a sidesplash on the right hand side, (3 1/4" x 70" and 3 1/4" x 22").  Also, since slabs of solid surface are only usually 1/2" thick, it's important not to forget the additional pieces that are needed to glue together around the exposed edges to get 1" thickness.  We figured we would need something at least 71" long (to have some extra wiggle room) and at least 30" wide (to get all the cut pieces out of it).  Also, the website notes that the pieces may have chips and we found one on the corner of ours when it arrived, so I would suggest always getting a couple inches bigger than needed so if there's a chip, you can cut it off.

I then searched by color, knowing that I wanted a white/light color I did a search of the white color family.

With those perimeters, I narrowed it down to a couple colors I liked, at least based on the computer colors.  I had about 3-4 that I picked and sent off to Mike, and together we narrowed it down to Formica's Luna Sand.

via

It had the light color I was looking for plus gray speckles which would tie into the gray walls and floor grout.  The beigy color would also offset the white sinks.

We found a piece - 30" x 71.25" x 0.5" for $244.35.  We knew we would have to buy the equipment glue, and miscellaneous stuff, but we were still well under the $1,000 quote we were getting.

At this point we were hesitant to pull the trigger and so we sat on it for the weekend.  During that time I drove over to Carter Lumber (the only place nearby that had a physical sample of Formica Luna Sand (it is a new color so even Lowe's didn't have a sample yet)) and was very happy with the color:

Formica Samples: Luna Sand, Silk, Glacier Ore

Just for giggles, I had the guy at Carter Lumber give me a quote for the price of what we needed.  He said he would get it to us on Monday.

We were busy over the weekend, (imagine that), and didn't think about the counters until Monday morning.  Mike put together everything we would need if we were to install the counter ourselves.  First the slab, then the glue which would be to glue the front and side pieces together for the seamless look.  SolidSurface.com has a tool that helps you figure what color you need based on the manufacturer and color selected, since the glue is from a separate manufacture (Integra) and has over 200 colors to match up to the selected solid surface color.  Ours was Glacier White.

via

The glue comes with 2 of the fancy mixing tips that are required.  Also needed for the gluing is the adhesive dispensing gun, which at $79 was the most expensive tool we needed to do the countertops ourselves, but we figured if we want to add solid surface in the basement bath, or if we were bad asses and wanted to try to tackle the kitchen counters, we would already have the adhesive gun.

via

The last piece of equipment/material needed was a sanding kit.  Once you've glued everything together and cut and routered the edges, you need to sand it down to the desired finish.  The kit comes with everything needed to sand anything from a matte to a semi-gloss finish, so we didn't have to chose which finish we wanted yet.

via

After adding all of these together our cost was almost $500.  We were still hesitant, but after getting the quote from Carter Lumber for $1,000, we were sold.

We added everything into the shopping cart and here's the final cost with shipping:
  

Item		Qty	Subtotal
Albion 250ml Standard Adhesive Dispensing Gun B26T200x10		1	$79.00
Integra 7.4/18 Bell End Mixing Tips		4	$7.40
Luna Sand, Formica - 30" x 71.75" x 0.5" (overstock)		1	$244.35
Integra Adhesives, Glacier White		1	$44.00
Finishing Kit 5" (sandpaper) - Matte to Semi-Gloss Finish (large pack, 60pcs)		1	$69.00
Ship To Nearest Freight Terminal		1	$0.00
Subtotal			$443.75
Shipping & Handling			$63.00
Grand Total			$506.75

To compare, the slab we bought is 15 sq.ft.  Using our grand total, (since all the other quotes included installation), we paid $33.78/sq.ft.

Lowe's price was $45/sq.ft., but a minimum of 25 sq.ft. is required so the total would be $1,125.

And, Home Depot didn't carry Formica solid surface, but for the pricing was comparable to Lowe's (and also had minimum purchases) for similar colors in Corian.  

The only thing we skimped on was shipping and instead of paying extra, we chose to pick it up from the nearest freight terminal, which ended up being right near my office and one of Mike's jobsites, so it wasn't far at all.  The only weird thing was it's a freight terminal.  Mike and I had no idea what to do and where to go and ended up driving through a lot of areas that said "No Cars Allowed", or "Do Not Enter".  It's just a bunch of truck drivers so no one stopped us, but that also meant no one came to our help either.  After about 20 minutes of standing around near the specified ramp, Mike was able to get a fork lift operator and another guy to help load into the truck.  Mike and I didn't have a problem unloading it ourselves when we were at home, and I got a sushi dinner since we were right down the road from our favorite place.  All in all, I'd say it was worth it!

So, that's our story of how we saved at least $500 on our vanity countertops.  Next up I'll explain how we installed them ourselves!

Last week we finished the tile.  Whoop-de-doo.

Honestly it's really exciting stuff, it's just I'm so tired!  We were busy all evening and then at around 10:40 pm we started the last step of grouting the shower.  At around 11:30 we finished the first side.  I wanted to stop there.  But, Mike pushed forward and did the other side.  I really wanted to stop there.  But, Mike persisted and started the back.  This happens a lot.  I told him last night that I'm always appreciative when we're finished that it's done, but I hate him while we're doing it.

Before showing any completed photos, I'll start with the floor tiles, which we finished last week.

I explained last bathroom post that we were working with the wrong tile, but we bought it on clearance, so we had to use it.  Mike started by laying everything out and noticed it was going to be tight, as in we weren't sure if we were going to have enough tile.   When estimating, pretty much any material, you figure out your square footage and add a percentage of waste, for cut tiles that can't be reused, that sort of thing.  Mike figured the everything and even added 10% waste, but for some reason it wasn't enough.  And again, the damn clearance tile made it impossible to ensure we could get the same tile to match.  In the back of Mike's mind he was coming up with ways to make an apron of different tiles near the door or cabinet, in the back of my mind I was atoning for my sins and praying we had enough.

In the end we didn't.  If we were able to use the one sample piece (the one that didn't match) we had we would have been fine.  But we fudged it enough that it's barely noticeable, only to Mike and I, and everyone I point it out to - which is everyone because I'm weird like that and share way too much.

Anyways, I didn't get very good pictures, most were taken with my iPhone while we were randomly doing things, so here's when we started laying out the tile:


We were lucky having the closet as our stock pile area.  As you can see the tile came in 9 x 9 sheets which made it go a lot quicker.


 
We used dry thinset that we added water to, which wasn't fun.  Along with all the cuts, Mike had to continually run up and down the steps to make new thinset outside.  I was in charge of using the drill to mix the thinset, which I have to admit was kinda fun.  Here's the only action shot I got, when Mike wasn't spreading the thinset, I was placing the tiles (except for the extra tricky spots like here around the toilet), so there was little time to take photos.


Once we got all of the tile in I still wasn't feeling the color.  It didn't help that the all the grout spacing was a dark color which made the tile look more gym locker room than spa.



I also got a picture of the only evidence of the sample tile which we ended up using below the toe kick.  The top three tiles are the original tile we picked out.  You can barely see in this picture that it has less yellow splotches and a more grayish color.


It was at this moment that I also realized we got gray grout to match the sample tile.  Oh sample tile, why do you have to make my life so miserable?  We didn't really have any choice so we went for it.  And, thankfully one gosh darn thing worked out for us, because it looked awesome.


The light gray grout made the tile a lot lighter looking and brought out the subtle gray colors, which in turn tied it all into the walls and all the other details.

 
We used QuartzLock2 which is a ready-mix urethane grout that is more stain resistant, water resistant, color consistency, crack resistant, and most importantly easy to use.  It also doesn't require sealing - score!

via

We will have to de-haze once we get everything done, but it's a small price to pay for how quickly this stuff went on.  Mike did the spreading and worked in small areas and I maned the sponge and water bucket.

After the floor grout dried for 24 hours, according to the label we were a go for some light traffic.  Since the bathroom doesn't get "heavy" traffic, we were all systems go.

We took the opportunity to install the toilet, (I'll save all that for another post), and began installing the tile in the shower.  I chose a matte white subway tile with white grout.  After purchasing all of the tile I decided I wanted it to extend up the the ceiling, all our extra tile calculations must have gone into this number because in the end we still had almost a full box of tiles left over.  Thankfully since they're sold by the tile, we were able to return the extras.  

We used a pre-mixed thinset that made the task go a lot quicker.  But, even with Mike and I sometimes working side by side, it took us a couple days.  That was what was so great about the pre-mixed thinset, when we got to a stopping point we were able to throw the lid on and wash the trowels.


Like I said earlier, we were able to grout last week and finished in record time, (even if it was way past my bedtime).  We used the same QuartzLock2 grout, in white, and although it was a little trickier working on a vertical surface, it was much the same as the floor tiles.  The first small side took about 30 minutes to grout, (finished at 11:30 pm), the next side (with the faucet and shower head) took about 15 minutes, (11:45 pm at this point), and even though the back has more square footage combined than both the small sides, it took about 30 minutes (finally ending at 12:15 am).  With clean-up and showing we were in bed at 12:45am.  Not bad for a Wednesday night, (although now that I think about it, Mike somehow convinced me to stain our entire deck on a Wednesday night as well - looks like I'll have to join a book club or something on Wednesday's from now on). 



And the next photo it really bad, but I can't get the whole shower in one frame and neither of the ones above show how awesome all the subway tile looks wrapping around:


We've already installed the shower head and faucet, and we have to clean up the edges by painting (near the ends where I went too far with the color) and adding sealant.  According the the grout label we will wait a full 7 days before we shower or expose the grout to any water, but you better believe come next Thursday I'll be singing in the shower in our upstairs for the first time in almost 7 months!

Not Grey, but gray.  (I'm sure everyone by now gets that literally reference).

I'm finally going to share why it took 3 different paint colors to finally move-on in the bathroom renovation.  Last time I left off the room was a breezy, bright 'Gentle Tide':


Although it was a little bright for my taste, I was warming up to it.  It definitely gave the room a spa feeling.  I was fine with it until Mike laid out the tile.  All of a sudden it didn't look too good.  The tile had way more yellow than I remembered and it clashed with the walls.  So, while in freak out mode, I grabbed the leftover paint from our master bedroom (Sherwin Williams Uncertain Gray) and painted everything (this time was made a lot harder with the addition of the vanity and lights).



I actually ran out of paint since I had less than a gallon, but it was a good thing because when I finished, the color was looking a little more purple, (especially near the lights) than I wanted.

Back to the drawing board.

I grabbed a bunch of swatches from Sherwin Williams and brought home to sit in the room with the lights and all the fixtures.  Since we had all the tiles already out of the box, I used one of the loose ones to compare.  It was at this point that I noticed something fishy.  The tiles from the boxes were not the same as the sample we were given.  We bought our tiles from a tile store in the clearance section, and we chose the tile based on a sample sheet that was supposed to be the same as the boxes we bought.  The woman at the store wrapped up the sample sheet to a piece of cardboard that we had been running around using to pick colors like paint. 

(This is where I would show you a picture of the two different tiles, but somehow we were short on tiles, so we had to use the different color sample tiles under the vanity toe-kick.  I have pictures of them somewhat hidden, but you'll have to wait until I post about the tile.)  

While I was pretty pissed when I realized the tiles were different, (I actually hated the real tile at first), I was a little relieved that I wasn't going crazy with my paint indecision.  While we weren't able to use the 'Gentle Tide' color, I'm happy with the new direction we're heading.  Which leads me to the third and final color, Sherwin Williams Pewter Tankard.  The color is a little darker than I had originally planned for this room, but I love it.  It's a nice taupe-y color that works well with the finishes we have, as well as the tile.  The pictures read a little more brown/tan than it is in real life, which is more grayish brown, but it's definitely a big difference from the soft greenish blue that we started with. 



And, because I had to work around the lights, (by unscrewing and letting hang down on the wall), which we didn't feel like removing, we were left with a fun reminder of the rest of the colors where the mirrors will eventually go.