The kitchen is almost done.

I'm really happy with how the kitchen work is ending up, despite not being happy with the time it's taking. We were going to get a pre built counter top and have it brought in, and install it. Then we realized that counter tops cost a lot. To get a pre built counter top we didn't like would have cost over $900 for us to install. To get one we liked with having to install it would have been over $1,500. So I built a counter top myself. As you can see, this was a bit of a process.

I used birch plywood for the counter top. Unfortunately due to limitations beyond my control I wasn't able to do the standard angled corners. The main thing is the back wall of the counter is more than 8' long, and the largest piece of wood I could purchase was 8' long which led to doing things differently. It worked out though as you can see. I will tell you, working with hardwood plywood solo is not my favorite thing to do in the world. Each sheet of plywood was 70+ lbs, and ripping them down to size, and carrying them around is not my favorite thing to do without a second pair of hands. One of the nice things about doing things this way though is I was able to really get things the way I wanted them to be.

If you weren't aware by the way, even stain with low levels of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) will be nasty enough you should leave the house for multiple days if you can't open every window. We ended up learning this the hard way, and retreating  to the top floor so we didn't get over exposed to the fumes. I also learned that stain cures faster if you increase the heat, good thing to know. In the future, stain in the summer is what I got out of this experience. Didn't have that opportunity in this case so we just got it done. Instead of using polyurethane to seal the counter top for the moment we used butcher block oil, and floor wax for the counters. We may end up having to use polyurethane in the future, but if we do it'll be when we and the animals can be out of the house for a week or more, and in the summer when we can leave the windows open. Overall though I'm very proud of how the stain came out looking. Sorry for the different apparent colors. The picture in the Upper Right and Below show the real color best. The other thing I was reminded of in this project is just how much I prefer having a professional do plumbing. Thankfully the actual hook up of the sink is going to be up to a professional, but even just installing the sink was hard to do,

Total project cost was $200 for the lumber, glue, and fasteners. $30 for a corner sander to make my life easier, $200 for the sink, $100 for the drains for the sink (yes those are sold separately), and about $20 for the other random supplies like caulk, plumbers putty, and sink fasteners. All in all, it's been a very time consuming project. I'm very happy with how it came out, but in the future, this sort of project is better for Summer or early Fall. Of course given that in terms of man hours this project took about 90 man hours, when in the Summer would I have time for such a thing?