Thursday, April 29, 2010

Kitchen Countertop Project: Part 9 "Seal 'er Up & Get 'er Done"

If you haven't been following along with our Granite Tile Kitchen Countertop Project, you can catch up on Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 here before reading this update.

We're finally there - the last couple of steps in this month-and-a-half ongoing project adventure!

Although I think we are both kinda sad to see our days of not cooking coming to an end.

But then again, the sink isn't installed yet, either, so maybe we can squeeze a few more out. :)

We left off where we had just finished off grouting the granite tiles, and polished out the last bit of remaining grout haze left on the tiles with a soft cloth.


We then had the hardest job to do out of the whole project: waiting. We had to wait for 72 hours for all the moisture to evaporate and dry out of the tiles and grout lines.

It was killer.

We wanted to use our new countertops so bad - we were so impatient! It was almost physically painful, I tell ya.

So in the meantime while the countertops were slowly drying, I managed to do something productive and finish up unearthing the patio. I've said this before - shoveling mud is hard. But it's better than sitting around all day waiting for water to evaporate out of stone tiles. I think I'd prefer watching paint dry or grass grow over that. Maybe.

Anyways, when it was nearing the 72 hour mark, I whipped out a test tile and tested both the tile cleaner spray and the actual sealer on it. It passed inspection. Even Barley approved.


So I sprayed the tile cleaner spray onto the countertop and wiped it off with a soft cloth. Then it was time for more waiting, as we then had to wait for that stuff to dry/evaporate, too. Fortunately we had sprayed it on at nighttime, so it dryed out while we were catchin' some Z's.

The next night I got home from work and got right to it, busting out the sealer and a special microfiber sponge-thing made just for sealing.


According to the directions, I liberally poured the sealer onto the tiles and then wiped it off within 5 minutes.


Then we did some more of the hard stuff: we waited. 24 hours until it was decently sealed (we began to cautiously set things on it), and 48 before it was sealed well enough to repel liquids.

And... stay tuned for the upcoming unveiling and review! We'll be showing off the before and after shots, dishing on what went wrong (in case we've inspired you to makeover your own kitchen countertops),  revealing the budget and costs (like how much dough we saved by DIY), as well as spilling the beans on if we would undertake this project again!

Next Phase: Kitchen Countertop Project: Reveal & Review

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4 comments:

  1. I can tell it's going to be gorgeous!!! You guys have a lot of patience! Can't wait for the unveiling!

    -heather

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  2. Yeah, I'm in love. I actually sent someone from another site to your site when she asked her readers for countertop suggestions.

    ...however, I'm old and have no idea who. I need some Ginkgo Biloba.

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  3. Thanks guys! They are beautiful and we are totally loving them!

    Sunny - Thanks for recommending/suggesting Fresh Fossil/granite tile. It's not the easiest project, but is soo worth it! Haha, I forget stuff all the time, even if it only happened like 5 minutes ago. And I'm young. Hmm, that doesn't bode too well for when I get older, does it?

    ~ Chelsea

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  4. Lookin good! I am very excited to see the final pictures!

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