On the Hunt for Granite – Blue Bahia

Day 458
Total Spent So Far: $131,622.64
30 Yard Dumpsters Filled: 4.5

We’re getting pretty close to “caught up” on these blog posts so I’m going to start including where we are budget and dumpster bin wise again since it more or less aligns. The above includes the kitchen cabinet order and cupola repair as well which we’ll talk about in the next couple of articles.

On the way back from our annual music festival trip in Arkansas, Liam, Shaleece, and I stopped in South Florida before flying home to hand pick some granite slabs for our kitchen and bathroom counter tops. We knew that we wanted “Blue Bahia”, which is a rare deep blue granite out of Bahia Brazil to pull in the ocean view we have even more. Our floors are sand colored, walls white, and with the counter top a bright blue – we really feel our ocean view will pop and we’ll bring the outside in.

Liam Searching for Granite with Us
Liam Searching for Granite with Us

The reason we wanted to hand pick the pieces though, is because we could see from online, and were told, that the granite could vary greatly depending upon the lot it was cut from, anywhere from a light blue-green to a deep dark blue. We really wanted the deepest darkest blues with the least amount of green – so making sure we saw what we were getting was key. At $4,000 a slab – plus $400 in shipping down to the island, you don’t want something showing up you aren’t happy with, especially when you are buying 3-4 slabs.

We stopped by four different granite places, which varied wildly not only in price, but in color as well. At our most expensive quoted place, we played a little golf in their waiting room. Liam was helping me to read the green. No wonder why they are so expensive.

Liam Reading the Green
Liam Reading the Green

We LUCKED OUT when we hit the last spot we checked out. A small warehouse with some very helpful people. Immediately we knew it was the right color we were looking for as soon as we saw it (love at first sight) and could only hope their pricing was going to beat out the other places we had already stopped – and they did! After negotiating with the guy a bit, we got what one company had quoted $22,000 for, for just $15,000 – and in the right color mix we wanted too! This included 4 slabs total (3 Blue Bahia for the kitchen from Pantai Granite) and a 4th slab we actually purchased from one of the other places we checked Blue Bahia at (named Blue Bahia Marble and Granite). The fourth slab is for the bathrooms and is called Blue Imperial.

Our Final Blue Bahia Selection
Blue Bahia for the Kitchen
Blue Imperial for Bathrooms

The Blue Imperial is supposedly some of the last of its kind. The mine is closed now and they are no longer pulling any from the Earth. There were only a few slabs left and it was EXPENSIVE. However, we found one with cracks in the top and bottom, making it a harder slab to sell for the vendor… but for us, our bathroom counter pieces were able to fit within the usable areas of the slab still. We got a steal of a deal on this giant slab after they knocked down the price 30% to $3,600. Even with the non-usable areas of the slab, we will definitely have some of this left over (it’s a big one) and I’m trying to think of other places we will get some use out of this beautiful stone. I will probably add some details in the shower and on the bathroom window sills to tie in the counters, for example.

Granite Crating Company
Granite Crating Company

We paid a crating company in Miami $780 to put all four slabs in a giant crate for shipping down to St. Croix. I was shocked at first at the price, but after seeing the crate, I totally get it. It ended up being a lot of wood, and it safely transported 3,300 lbs of granite standing on end from there to here, without issue. Don’t underestimate the value of a great crate! The same thing was important when we shipped our doors from California. The last thing you want is something you spent $10k-$20k on arriving to the island in shambles. Not only does it set you behind weeks, but recouping the funds may be difficult as well. We shipped them down via VICargo which ended up costing us $1600.

Granite Crating Company
Granite Crating Company

After it arrived on island, I had to hire a trucking company, Bates Trucking, who did an amazing job at getting it here with the right crane truck down our mountainous, bumpy, steep, dirt road. I can’t recommend these guys enough as I can never believe how they get these large Mack trucks down my road and turn around in my drive way. If you saw what they were working with here, you’d understand.

Bates Trucking Crane Truck on St. Croix
Bates Trucking Crane Truck on St. Croix

So, now these beautiful pieces of granite are sitting in our driveway, along with 5 more pallets of travertine stone flooring ready for install. It will probably be a few months before we’re ready. The floors need to be finished upstairs, and cabinets installed first. The cabinets have been ordered and are on their way. (Not here yet as of this writing.) In the next post, I’ll show you the kitchen design we put together with the help of my friend Dave and Home Depot super star Bibi. We are SO excited about the kitchen. Until then…

Building a Closet and Bricking Up an Exterior Doorway

I know, it’s been a while. I’m still playing catchup on this blog writing stuff. Liam has taken up so much of what used to be “free time” I find less time to write anymore. Just getting further behind! Not to mention the last couple of months we were away to run Backwoods at Mulberry Mountain for the year – but I digress. Have patience with me, I will eventually report back on it all…

The Below Took Place in February and March, 2019

In our master bedroom there was a space between two closets, which looked like it was used for an old TV set placement. The issue was that it was only about 36 inches across, and well most TVs now-a-days are much larger than that. The awkward space seemed to collect junk, so I went ahead and built a third closet in our bedroom and tried to match the doors as best as possible. In the end, it turned out great, now hiding all of my scuba gear instead of having it out in the open.

Closet Before Painting to Match
Closet Shelves Built, Frame Added, and Door Installed
Closet Before Painting to Match
Center Closet Before Painting to Match

We mounted the TV above the closets more towards our ceiling as well, which is great when you’re laying in bed. No neck strain! I also cut out the top panel that was above this area to create an indirect light that served a dual purpose of lighting the closet so I can see my scuba gear, and lighting the room when you first walk into the bedroom. I used a piece of plexiglass on the front, and as the closet ceiling, and used a high grit sand paper (and sander) to give it a frosted look. It turned out great and provides a soft light!

Finished Closet After Wiring TV Through Wall
Finished Closet After Wiring TV Through Wall and Adding Frosted Light in Top Shelf

I’ve also gone ahead and blocked up an exterior door way that lead to our back patio which is no longer needed now that we’ve torn down kitchen walls and created an open floor plan. The doorway was redundant as we have another just 155″ away on the same wall. We’ll be using this space for kitchen cabinets now in the new kitchen layout.

Doing Some Demo

I’ve never bricked up a wall before, so this was not only a learning process but my first attempt on an important aspect of the house. I had to get it level so you wouldn’t notice it, which I think I did a great job at in the end.

It turned out lovely. I’ve learned a lot about plastering lately which will be needed for all the window replacements. I’m not horrible at it, but I will tell you I’m not a fan of the work itself.

The Finished Product, Plastered and Painted. I Can’t Believe There Was a Door There!
Check out this Sunrise Photo Taken at Our House. I Still Can’t Get Over Our View!

“The Mermaid” AirBnB on the Island of St. Croix is Finally Finished!

 

I apologize for the time lapse since my last post.  After two straight weeks of working on The Mermaid Villa to finish it for one of my companies’ superstars, Sebastian, and his big move down to St. Croix, I was so dead beat tired from “working on the house” that I switched gears physically and mentally and went back to focusing on my day job for a bit.  The timing couldn’t have been better either as I really needed to focus on the Backwoods at Mulberry Mountain lineup announcement which happened November 30th.  If I haven’t mentioned it before, I own a large multi-stage music festival in Arkansas, which sees up to 10,000 people a day who come for camping, art, and music in the Ozark National Forest for four nights a year. It’s a ton of work, and our lineup announcement requires a ton of focus to secure the right acts and get it distributed to the masses.

Anyways, we finally snapped a photo of Terry painting! She was such a huge help and we couldn’t have finished the place without her.

Terry
Terry

Dave also came down for another visit and we busted out the final plumbing in the bathroom, tile, ceiling fans, and electrical.  The place really came out great.  The bathroom was the most work, as we literally stripped it down to bare concrete walls, and redid all of the plumbing and electrical, framed out new 2x4s and installed concrete backer board so we could tile up the walls and cover the plumbing and electrical.  I bought $350 worth of travertine “pebbles” to create an interesting look on the back wall and floor of the small shower we built from scratch.  It needed something else given it’s size to make it unique and make it pop.  I think it turned out great.  After 4 weeks of waiting on Sears to get our fridge delivered (it can take a long time to get things on the island sometimes) it finally arrived after Sebastian did, and the place was complete.  Well, after a tad more painting… We couldn’t let Sebastian get out of adding a bit of his own touch to his place.

I still want to replace the ceiling in there at some point, and of course when the windows and doors that we ordered 6 months ago finally get here, those will get installed as well.

Check out some of the Before and After photos!

After New Kitchen
After New Kitchen

Shower Handle
Shower Handle and Pebble Backdrop

This blog wouldn’t be complete without showing a bit of our lifestyle on the island.  We’ve done a bunch of fun things in the last few weeks since Sebastian arrived.  My brother and a couple of his friends also came down for Thanksgiving.  Here’s some of our adventures!

Point Udall at Sunset
Point Udall at Sunset

Jeep Trail with View of Buck Island
Jeep Trail with View of Buck Island

KC and Sebastian on Their First Scuba Dive
KC and Sebastian on Their First Scuba Dive

Sebastian with a Moko Jumbie
Sebastian with a Moko Jumbie

Jeep on the Jeep Trail
Jeep on the Jeep Trail

Brother Chris on a Rain Forest Jeep Trail
Brother Chris on a Rain Forest Jeep Trail

Sebastian Sailing to Buck Island
Sebastian Sailing to Buck Island

At Lunch with Terry at EAT
At Lunch with Terry at EAT

Our View is Beautiful
Our View is Beautiful