More Shots

The plumber hooked up the gas yesterday and I managed to get the TV up and running and the beer tap working. I will be picking up a keg of beer at 9am this morning, which will give me a couple hours before the USA football match! And right after that it is time to burn the first food!

Here's a few shots to show it finished off taken just as it was getting dark last night.

I have these little LED lights under all the counters. They look really good when it is fully dark. I'll try to get some pics of that later on.

Here's the grill all lit up! It has fancy blue LEDs on the knobs, which look really cool in the dark. Inside it has two very good lights for night time grilling.

Artsy shot showing some closeup of the detail work and the TV behind.

Side view of the island. The kegerator didn't want to go i all that easily. I think it expanded while I was building the island as the hole seemed to be too small!

And here's the standard, full island shot!

Almost Done

So, I am almost done. So close, I can taste the burned steaks......

Here's the stucco going on. I am very glad I decided to get this done properly VS screwing it up myself.

You can get a feel for the overall finished look from this shot.

Here is is from the other end.

Now here it is with some of the paint on, and the foot rail in place.

From the other end, starting to look done!

First shot with all the stainless stuff in. Gas still isn't connected, LED lights aren't in, and the beer keg isn't in yet, but everything else is in)

Here's the family and the new bar stools....

Getting my son trained early for a possible future career....

And if he can cook too, he'll be set!

Shot of the fridge and the beer tap (which the kids now call "Sexy")

The whole thing. I am very happy with how it turned out. Gas will be hooked up tomorrow. We need to trim the opening for the kegerator as I managed to screw up somehow and it's 1/4" too tight. Then I'll get the TV up, the heater installed and the LED lights in. Should get all that done between the beer and football this weekend!

Getting Closer!

The tile is all installed - just needs to be grouted and sealed. Gas is run all the way to the island, just needs the final hookup. The pole for the TV, heater and shade sail is in. It's definitely coming together!

Stucco, paint, grout/sealing and gas hookup should be all done by Wednesday next week. Then I just need to install all the stainless steel stuff and hook up the beer tap. I still need to cut the hole in the side of the kegerator, which I will look at later today.

Unless unforeseen problems arise, I will be grilling (and more importantly, drinking) next weekend. And if the England football team can get their act together, they should be playing in the world cup group of 16 next Saturday or Sunday. And that is an excellent excuse to BBQ and drink beer!

Tiles Going On

The tiling is now underway. Most of the top tiles are on, but they are not yet grouted or sealed.

The lower tiles will go on next, they are already cut. It is starting to look pretty good now!

Here's the view from in front of the standup bar. I think the tile being flush with the edge of the granite looks really good, and I am liking the color combination.

Here's a closeup of the mitered corners. They give it a much more professional & contemporary look. This kind of detail is one of the reasons why I got a professional in for the tiling. The other is that I didn't want the tiles to fall off the first time it rains.
The rest of the tiling shouldn't be too much work now that it's all cut, and then it's stucco time. It definitely won't get finished this week, but should be up and running by the end of next week.

Tile Time

Tomorrow is the start of tiling and stucco. We are going to do a 5" trim at the top and the bottom using a silver/green/gray slate tile. It matches the green in the granite and also the bluestone hardscape that we have. Here's what it looks like laid up against the island.

And now that the granite is all done, the beer tap is really looking good. Can't wait to get some beer going through it!

Granite

Finally got the granite put in today. It looks good - we are happy with the color, and the honed finish. it is very flat, and the seams are pretty much invisible. They need to come back and seal it on Monday and fill the seams as it was way too hot this afternoon to do it.

It looks really nice; finally looking like a real high-end outdoor kitchen VS looking like a dodgy construction project!

Just to keep things honest, here is what is supposed to look like. So far, so good.

On Wednesday we have someone coming in to do the tile trim, the stucco and the gas plumbing. He'll probably need about 5 days and then I can finish up by putting in the grill/burner, drawers, doors, footrests, fridges and most importantly, the beer!

While he is trenching for the gas pipe I need to get the pole for the TV, heater and sail put in, and also run the conduit for the electric. I have all the brackets etc. for mounting them, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

I will be ordering the summer's first keg of beer next weekend, and should be all operational by June 19th for the kickoff BBQ! Exciting Times!