{State of the Kitchen} Part 9: Finally Some Progress

It's starting to take shape!
First all, I think it's a shame that there even is a part 9. Just ridiculous.
Amazingly, the contractor had a cabinet guy at my house on Friday to put in the base cabinets.
Base cabinets finally in on Friday. 
See all of those blue stickies on the doors? Those are the ones that have to be replaced. The replacement doors, cabinets, and drawers are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.
On Saturday, I opened up the box for what I thought was my tiered cutlery dividers. I expected this:
I was really excited that this was going to be in my kitchen.
But what I got was this:
Not acceptable. This is a cheap piece of plastic.
I took it down to Home Depot to speak with the designer, but she wasn't back until Monday. The manager is on vacation this week, and the assistant manager whose name he gave me as a contact had the day off. The assistant manager who sat in the first meeting was there, so I spoke to him. He said that I received the wrong item. I emailed the rep, who confirmed that the plastic one was what was ordered. I told him that I didn't even know plastic was an option because we had never been shown the plastic one. Y'all...it's so cheap; no way would I have wanted that in my old cabinets, much less my new ones. The plastic dividers that I bought from WalMart are nicer than that. I also told the Rep that I can buy a bamboo divider on Amazon for $20 that will do nicely, so this plastic one will be returned for reimbursement. He emailed me back and said he would order the one I was expecting. This Rep is awesome.  It's just too bad not everyone else in the company has the same kind of commitment to excellence.

Monday, the original cabinet guy was here, but he wasn't sure why. He hung around and helped the 2nd cabinet guy put in the flooring and the hood. The contractor gave me a "Change Order Estimate", charging me $670 to replace the flooring. Yep, you saw that right...to replace the flooring.  I told him that the designer told me I was not going to be charged for that. He said, "Well, we can stop right here", so I told him I was going down to HD to talk to the designer. I was shaking I was so mad! I got to HD and no one was there: the designer, the assistant manager who I was told to talk to since the manager is on vacation, and the assistant manager who sat in on "the meeting". I told the associate that I needed to speak with someone in charge now. I spoke with another assistant manager and gave him the quick story. I showed him the email from the designer where she said that the contractor told her he was not going to charge us for the flooring or the ceiling. He checked with another assistant manager who confirmed that she sat in on the meeting where the contractor made that statement. The assistant manager said that I would not be responsible for the charge and that one way or the other it would be taken care of.
The owner of the construction company was at the house on Monday, and I gave him an earful. He said that he is a plumber by trade, and he wasn't happy with the plumbing to the sink. When we moved in, the plumber we used updated the plumbing from the basement to the kitchen floor, so he is replacing the plumbing from the kitchen floor to the sink...no charge. He is also giving us a temporary sink so we will have some water. That's a start, but no way does it make up for what I've been through this summer.

Tuesday, I met with the designer to clear some things up. We are not being charged for the flooring. On that same "Change Order Estimate", there was a $986 charge to put in the undercabinet lighting. The lighting was in the plan from the beginning. Apparently in the estimate, the part of the cabinet to hide the lighting was included, but not the labor. My question is: if the cabinet was in the estimate, how could he not have known I was having lighting put in? The designer is going to question that. I did tell her that it was her job to double check and make sure everything was on there.
The 2nd CG & the electrician knocked out a lot on Tuesday. I am starting to get excited again. Especially now that I can cook and wash dishes.
I can now cook and wash dishes!
No one was at the house yesterday. They really can't do anything with the cabinets until the replacements get here. CG2 said that someone would be on Thursday to work on the sheetrock and the ceiling.
On Tuesday when I got home from my piano lesson, 3 wall cabinets that were on the floor were gone. That would have been okay, but 1 of them was not being replaced. I told CG2 that I had white sticky notes with the word "Replace" on the ones that were being replaced. He said he didn't know because there were sticky notes all over the cabinets. Uh, yes...but there were only 3 that were white & said "Replace" on them, and 1 of those is on the wall. I've told them every day that the one on the wall is being replaced, but no one has taken it down yet. They didn't bother to ask CH (who was at home) about it. Someone was supposed to bring it back to the house yesterday, but no one came. I really hope they haven't tossed it.
I spent yesterday calling contractors that I know to get estimates on the undercabinet lighting. I'm going to fight to not have to pay for the contractor's mistake of not including it. I still have a situation of paying over $300 for permits that only cost $54. I discovered that yesterday and will have to take that up with the designer. This contractor may have gotten away with this in the past, but I'm not going to let him do this to me. There may be a logical explanation, but I don't know what it could be.

So...I'm finally getting excited again. There's a light at the end of the tunnel! The appointment for my countertops to be measured is Monday morning; hopefully I can view the slab Monday afternoon, then it will be a couple of weeks before it is installed. Providing the cabinets, drawers, and doors are all okay when they get to the house, I would think they could get an awful lot done before I go back to work on Tuesday.



4 comments:

  1. What a nightmare! I've never heard of anyone having this much trouble with a remodel. Wow!

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  2. "Commitment to excellence"...that just about sums it up, doesn't it? No one seems to be committed to excellence anymore. No one. All those costs? That's so typical down here with contractors. They hope people aren't paying attention. This is how they make their BIG money. We do have a contractor across the street who is very honest and on top of everything. You can't get him, though because he is always booked solid and it's because of his 'commitment to excellence.' So, there is at least one person out there. :) Hang in there. And do NOT pay anything extra or hidden. You go girl!!!

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  3. This has been so awful for you! If anyone I know thinks about Home Depot or Lowe's for cabinets, I will tell them about your experience (and others I mentioned to you). What a shame that no one cares anymore. No integrity or even a hint of decency with the big corporations anymore. They will get away with whatever they can. Keep fighting!!

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  4. It is definitely starting to come together and looks awesome!

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