To prepare for our upcoming kitchen countertops, we have to remove the existing black granite tile countertops. This afternoon, Kyra and I were lounging around and I told her I was going to spend a few minutes working on the island to see if I could figure out the easiest way to remove the granite.
“A few minutes” turned into a two-hour project that involved me, her, Pepper, and Cil and Jim (who are visiting). After removing all the drawers in the island and stripping the trim around the edges of the tile, it was clear that there was no easy way to pop those tiles off.
“I notice there’s a chainsaw sitting there,” you might be thinking. Yep. We decided the best way to remove the top portion– so we could get to work on the main part of the island– was to take a chainsaw to it. I cranked it up (how many people can say they’ve used a chainsaw in their kitchen?) and cut the length of the bar on the island to remove it. Sawdust everywhere. Jim and I carried out the bar, which probably weighed well over a hundred pounds (quarter-inch granite plus a half-inch of cement atop inch-thick plywood).
The top surface proved resilient. As we work on various projects around the house, we’ve learned the builders were quite thorough in their work twenty years ago. Everything was built well, built sturdy, and built to last. But this island was no match for our gift from Thom and Katie:
Some strategic sledge-hammering eventually freed the top, bringing with it some of the particle board and ripping out a few screws. But in the end, we were victorious. The island lays bare, ready for a new stone countertop next week:
I thought that might be enough demolition for one day, but nope, we kept going. Jim and I pried off the trim on the main countertops, and I started chiseling away at the tile.
Jim disassembled all the plumbing under the sink. I hate plumbing.
Tomorrow’s supposed to be really nice outside, and it seems a waste to use a beautiful day on tearing out countertops. So we’ll probably finish the job on Friday. More to come.