California 2 Puerto Rico

Summer has pretty much givin’ me full decision making authority for the kitchen (i am the cook). I laid out the cabinets, the floor plan and now have to pull the trigger on our counter tops. Her input is very important to me and we have collaborated on every purchase so far (no one gave anything up to get what they wanted, that’s a compromise) and I am really satisfied with every decision we have made together.

Now that we are onto the counter tops, I really wanted her input as to what they should look like. We both liked the idea of granite (solid, earthy, natural, strong presence) but neither of us fell in love with any of the samples we found. As a matter of a fact, we really didn’t like any of them. I couldn’t stop thinking of confetti or some cheesy jersey shore summer rental. There was one that was kinda cool, but really only because it was granite. If it were another material we never would have chosen the pattern.

Now, that it is decision time, I might be backing out on the granite. But I am not sure yet. I would really like everyones input on this one. Link to whatever may help us in the comment section and help give us some direction.

I found this stuff called SileStone.

The superman of stone, quartz surfacing provides a nearly indestructible material, idea for homeowners who want a beautiful countertop—that they might occasionally spill wine on! Providing the look of natural stone with a mettle that laughs in the face of coffee, lemon juice and high-maintenance care, its non-porous nature protects against more than just stains—it’s also extremely hygienic, making it a food-safe choice.

Though quartz surfacing is sometimes referred to as “engineered” quartz, don’t be fooled into thinking that you’ll end up with a synthetic countertop. Expect pure natural quartz (generally upwards of 90 percent) mixed with epoxy resin binders. The care-free surface doesn’t require sealants. Boasting the look of natural stone, quartz surfacing has a consistent color; its color should be very close to what you saw in the showroom.

Pros

* Does not require sealants.
* Scratch-resistant with diamond-like hardness, you can cut on quartz (excessive force can damage it, however).
* Consistent color.
* Its non-porous makes it virtually stain-free.
* Can be worked into a decorative edge.

Cons

* Though it can briefly tolerate moderate temperatures for a brief time, you’ll want to use a hot pad or trivet when placing a hot pan on it.
* Integrated sinks are not available, as with solid surfacing.

Click the link to see big version: SileStone Quartz Color Chart

Today, Jerry and I decided to take a major road trip and try to find some hard to find things. Puerto Rico travel isn’t the easiest thing to do when you are looking for stores, farms…pretty much anyplace you haven’t been before. Luckily, Jerry is a pretty good guide. We didn’t get everywhere on the first try, but having someone that speaks perfect spanglish is a plus. Our travel mission, taking about 8 hours, for yesterday was the following:

• Big Palm Trees (Cheap)
• 36” Pipe for around the front downstairs windows (topsoil will be up to the bottom of the window)
• Epoxy Thinset (to install the marble we bought for the bathrooms)
• Marmolina (Bought 80 bags at home depot for $2.99 a bag with delivery..the local Rincon Freterria was $3.59)
• Inspect the Granite Yard where we are going to buy our granite

We accomplished everything…well, not really.

We found the Palm Tree farm in Lajas. It wasn’t easy to get to, but after asking for directions and finding about 3 other nurseries, we found the Palm Tree Farm in Lajas Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, they are only open from 7:00am until 12:00pm so we were S.O.L. once we got there, but now we know where it is. It was pretty cool to see hundreds of 30ft palms lining the fields. I also got all of their contact information.

Palm Tree Farm in Lajas Puerto Rico
Website: Palmas Ornamentales Puerto Rico
(787) 568-6394

We drove around Mayaguez for about 30 minutes looking for the store that sells big pipe (36”), and we completely struck out. No one knew where we were talking about and we couldn’t find it on our own. We need to use the pipe to cover the windows to the basement before we fill in the topsoil. I found this example on Google Images of what we are trying to accomplish. This image shows a pipe cut in half, pushed up against the window and then backfilled to the very top on the outside protecting the ground level windows. We won’t be backfilling that high, but it is pretty close to what we are going to do.

Basement Window Shield

We went to 3 or 4 tile stores with no luck finding our Epoxy thinset for setting the marble. Two of them carry the item, but didn’t have it in stock. And in a very typical Puerto Rico fashion, no one had any idea when their next shipment may come in. We may have to drive all the way to San Juan to get the epoxy thinset…which would suck. But, the show must go on and not finding this stuff has all but stopped the progress of finish work inside the house. Marble is so heavy that you can’t just use normal thinset to attach it to the walls (concrete board) like you do with tiles and travertine. You need to apply special epoxy glue in order to adhere it securely to the walls.

I figured out that Home Depot Puerto Rico has the cheapest marmolina. They are going to be delivering a full pallet of marmolina to our house on Wednesday morning. A pallot contains 80 bags. We are going to use a mix of marmolina and concrete (7 to 1 ratio of marmolina to concrete) to plaster all of the concrete block walls downstairs. It will be a nice smooth finish (with a little texture…not like polished concrete). If the guys show up to do the work, we should have it done in 4 working days. When using concrete on walls, it is best to complete an entire room with the same batch so all the walls in that room have the same exact texture. Mixing concrete by hand is not a complete science, so there will be some minor differences in the batches so to avoid different textured walls in the same room, you complete a room a day. These guys (twins) offered the job at $80 a day per person. So, essentially, $160 a day for 4 days should complete the walls downstairs.

One of the nurseries we were guided to on our Puerto Rico adventure just so happened to be right next to the granite yard where we are considering buying our granite from. They didn’t nearly have as many slabs of granite as I expected to see. I saw a big slab of the granite summer and I liked the most…seeing that much of it in one spot (instead of our little sample) has me thinking twice about the kitchen counter tops again. One of the tough things about building your kitchen, is that things like counter tops and cabinets need to be spec’d out weeks and weeks before you see the finished product. Not only is it hard to conceptualize the finished product (without the help of an architect or interior designer) but every day we wait is another day to wait in 4-6 weeks from now.

The only really bad news out of yesterday (aside from summer going back to california) was that the Bronco broke down when we were half way home. We pulled into the parking lot of Puerto Rico Wire Company, hopped out of the truck and notice fluid spewing from the bottom of the truck. That is never good. When I went to walk around the truck I noticed a trail of the same fluid going from the street into exactly where we parked. We were loosing the fluid at a high rate. After dipping my finger in it, feeling the texture and then smelling it, I came to the conclusion that it was transmission fluid. That is no bueno. Unfortunately, when I checked, we were completely out of fluid. I refilled it with three more quarts and got it home with almost no leakage but this morning when I woke up, it was empty again. The long and the short of it is that the transmission in the bronco is shot. Looks like it’s time to dump some more money into the hoopty.

When all was said and done, even if we didn’t get everything that we set out to do accomplished, we traveled the entire west coast of the island and I found new stores that may help in the construction of the house and thanks to my guide, I know how to get back there without getting lost. Sucks about the truck.