River House Diary

The cabinets in the Laundry Room will be painted off-white and I wanted a subtle pattern for the countertops in white, off-white, cream or beige. We selected laminate counters as a cost-savings measure and chose this WilsonArt pattern. The name of the pattern is Drama Marble, which has me a little concerned but the sample looks perfect. Laminate countertop for Laundry Room; personal collection

The countertop in the Bonus Bath, or upstairs bathroom, is plain white cultured marble with a molded rectangular sink. Hard to go wrong with white! Countertop for Bonus Bath; personal collection The vanity will have weathered wood finish instead of painted as in the photo.

Our lot is only 97 feet wide with 7.5-foot drainage setbacks on each side so the buildable area is 82 feet wide. And we are using almost every foot. A long, narrow house plan would fit the lot better; but then not as many rooms in the house could have river views. House location survey; personal collection

I originally wanted quartz countertops throughout the house, but the cost was prohibitive. So we chose cultured marble countertops for Bath 2 -- the guest bath -- and the Bonus Bath, which is upstairs. Today, we went back to JAK Moulding & Supply to discuss the cabinets over our Thermador refrigeration units. While we were there, I photographed our countertop selections. We chose Classic FHS in a honed finish, whatever that is, for Bath 2. My objective throughout the house was to choose subtle patterns with little detail for countertops since they were not the star of the room designs. Countertop selection for Bath 2; personal collection

Another gray area in the contract in terms of price was the cost of site preparation. Because of the recovery efforts during the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, the site preparation subcontractor was too busy to prepare a quote for the job. So our builder added an estimated amount to the contract we signed, and Pete and I added 50 percent of that estimate to our budget as a cushion in case we needed it. And, boy, did we. Who knew there was such a thing as bad dirt? Well, there is. Our old, bad dirt didn't drain. There is also a spring on the lot that may require a French drain. After 86 dump truck loads of new, good dirt, we can start on the foundation. Instead of a 50 percent cushion, it should have been 150 percent. Big cha-ching! Site preparation; courtesy of Ted Jennings

I did not want to move the microwave, but for safety reasons -- and I am a klutz -- I understand. The original plans called for the microwave to be above the double ovens. Cooktop kitchen wall with double ovens and the microwave above; courtesy of House Plan Zone And we even saw this configuration when we started appliance shopping in New York, though the ovens were not the same size. Double ovens and microwave configuration at Earl B. Feiden, Inc.; personal collection But our cabinet designer was having none of it. So I caved after puling just a bit, and we moved the microwave to the island. New location of the microwave; courtesy of JAK Moulding & Supply

When we drove by the lot this morning, we saw a mystery box. What could it be? Mystery box; personal collection The porta-potty is not the mystery! The wooden thing is. When we met with TAB later in the week, we learned is for building debris recycling. TAB's workers put all the debris in the box and the refuse company picks it up, sorts it, and takes it to various places that will buy it or recycle it. Every little bit helps our environment.