Worktop saga

We've been so lucky, and everything has gone so smoothly, that when something does go wrong, it actually surprises us.

Case in point is the kitchen worktop.  We were happy with the Ikea kitchen, but not their worktops.  We had to order the kitchen early, but we figured the worktops were cash and carry, and so we thought we had plenty of time.  We checked out a couple of options -- Corian, which was more expensive than the entire kitchen, and glass, which was more expensive than the entire house -- and looked at all the laminate options in at least six different stores, but nothing was quite right.  Finally, coming down to the wire, we decided on a butcher block pattern from...Ikea. 

So for the fourth time we were there past store closing, and were placing the order when they told us it would be delivered 30 April.

Wait, what?  The pattern we chose was "made to measure" which meant they weren't in stock, and even though we didn't want them to do anything -- no cuts, no sinks, just three pieces of laminate-covered MDF -- the soonest we could have them was 4 weeks, which was a week after the builders were gone!

So we cancelled the order and started over.  Jess went over to a place called Howden's and got a chip deck, and we decided on the 'basalt stone black' which was black with a little grey, but had a bit of a texture to it.  Not surprisingly, they were out of stock.  But this was a standard Formica laminate, and so was available at B&Q (the local equivalent of Home Depot) for less, and they had plenty in stock.  The only difference was that B&Q had a round profile instead of a square edge, which I thought looked better. Wednesday night I went to pick some up.

Even though I knew the countertops were 3 metres, and I know a meter is about a yard, I have no idea what I was thinking that I could even lift -- never mind fit -- three large worktops in my car, even with the top down.  But we actually only needed 2 meter lengths, and they could cut them down for me, but I was just wanted to be sure before I committed £300 ($500), so I called Jess and asked her to have a look.

She arrived and immediately had all of the employees in a tizzy, because the website said 'basalt stone honed,' the catalogue said 'basalt stone textured,' and the sign on the product just said 'basalt stone,' and she wanted to know if they were the same thing.  After 20 minutes, they said it was, but I'm sure they had no idea.  It was a moot point, however, as Jess pointed out that even at 2 meters, I still couldn't fit them in my car.

So we called the builder and asked him to pick them up in the morning, went home, had a good nights sleep, and the next day Jess realized that because we had open shelves at the end of the counter, instead of a wall or appliance, we couldn't use a rounded profile!  (The cut edge wouldn't match the front edge, you see.)

We cancelled the order with B&Q and called Howden's back, and they located 3 lengths at two different stores, but they wanted £90 ($150) to deliver!  Finally, Friday morning, I drove to the house and then went with the builder to both stores, but we now have a worktop.

And if you think that's crazy, you should know that tonight Jess is driving to Southhampton, about 90 minutes from London, because Ikea says they have our glass cabinet doors in stock there.

17 days to go...