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Friday, August 15, 2014

To Build In or Not to Build In

When it rains, it pours “they” say.  I usually don’t go along with the anonymous “they”, but in the case of this old adage, I think it’s often true.  A couple of months ago we lost the bottom out of a water heater and our microwave died all in the same weekend.

We were extremely thankful it was the water heater in the garage and not the one upstairs.  But the replacement had to be done right away. Even though we have two water heaters, the one that died served both our showers downstairs.  This meant the whole family had to use the upstairs bathroom. I didn’t want go upstairs to shower! (how spoiled is that?) But it really wasn't that bad, I just went up there wrapped in a towel and came back down the same way.

This came just a few weeks prior to our big California Adventure vacation, which is odd since we usually come home from vacation to something broken. We're come home to the AC not running, a dead refrigerator, tree on the neighbor’s house, etc.  It’s one of those Murphy’s Law things around our house. But this time we came home to everything fine because we got those expensive repairs out of the way before we left.  

The water heater was covered (in part) under our home warranty plan. It cost us a little over $400.  I was expecting the $75 co-pay and we were done, but there were some necessary things that were not covered – like the permit from the City and the hoses to connect the water heater, etc.  Anyway, you know what we did….we paid and happily used our master bath again!

Then there was the issue of the microwave.  It was an upscale brand, along with the oven and range installed by the previous owner.  Home warranties only care about features they care nothing about brands and they “lost” the information a time or two between phone calls.  I finally told them to send me a buyout check and shoved the decision to the “back burner” to be dealt with after vacation.  I could do this without too much inconvenience because we had a small microwave that belongs to our daughter to use until I made a decision. 

The reasons for the delay and for most of the moaning and groaning were:

#1 We weren’t going to buy the same brand, because we had the old microwave repaired several times.

    #2 We weren’t sure if we wanted to buy a 'built-in' or frame out the opening and put a counter top microwave into the cabinet. If we didn’t get another “built-in” the home warranty would not cover the new microwave at all.

    #3 If we did get a built-in, we would have to order it without actually seeing it in person because none of the stores seem to carry built-in microwaves (unless you are buying a $1000+ drawer style)

Honestly, I was about ready to pull my hair out, but I finally just made a decision and placed an order and waited for delivery day.

The microwave arrived at the store on a Wednesday and I picked it up that afternoon and brought it home under the false impression that this was a weekend project.  Most women complain that it takes their husbands forever to get a project done, but I don’t have that issue with SuperDave. And I found out quickly once I arrived home and started trying to prepare dinner (in the kitchen) that SuperDave had every intention of installing the new microwave on a Wednesday evening after work.

Git 'er done!

Before the paint
This actually turned out good, because on the weekend he was able to add a couple pieces of trim to the upper cabinet. (did I mention whoever had trimmed out the cabinet above used different sizes of trim?) Then I painted the wood black to match the island paint job.  The black paint really finished it off nicely.  And the long term plan is to paint all the lower cabinets black and the upper cabinets white with opaque glass in the doors. Hey, a girl can dream!

Finished at last!
I chose a black and stainless microwave even though we don’t have other stainless appliances at this time. My thought was that all home buyers seem to love stainless. I hope after all this decision making that the microwave will still be functional when we sell this house and retire!

Close up with weird lighting
How did that happen?


So let me know what you think.  
Do you like the stainless?  Was it a good decision?

Much love and laughter,



Laura


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1 comment:

Shenita @ Embellishments by SLR said...

Wow, what an adventure, Laura! Reminds me of the time our upstairs A/C malfunctioned; and the next day, the downstairs unit went out. What are the odds? Luckily, the homeowners' warranty covered both. Your new microwave looks great!