{State of the Kitchen} Part 6: Getting Ridiculous

I didn't even take any pictures of my kitchen this week, because it looks exactly like it did last week. To say that I'm displeased is a huge understatement.
The designer at Home Depot told me on Sunday that I needed to make another payment before they would start work again. (It would have been nice to have known that earlier, but whatever.) My daddy always told me that you don't pay for services until they have been rendered. That's not the way it works at Home Depot (and, I'm assuming Lowe's is the same way). She explained it like this (not her exact words, but how I interpret): The customer puts money into an account at Home Depot. The contractor invoices the work and is paid by HD. If there's no money in the account, the contractor doesn't get his money. After reminding the designer about how nervous this makes me, she assured me that HD guarantees the work and there will be a waiver to sign at the end of the project. If I'm not satisfied, I don't sign the waiver until I am satisfied.
I waited for the contractor to call on Monday, but he didn't call, so I called him on Tues. to see about a re-start date. I realize next week is a holiday week and that some of the crew may be taking the week off. I was hoping someone could come in this week and do something...anything to get things going, but apparently that's not going to happen. Looks like the 11th is the re-start date. I go back to work on the 26th, and I told the designer that I wanted it all done by then because I can't take off work to sit at the house while they work. (Home Depot has in their contract that an adult is supposed to be at home while work is going on.) So, they'd better hustle once they get re-started.
The original finish date was July 5th, now it's 3 weeks later. This is a project that was only supposed to take 2 weeks. When we initially met with the designer, she said that they didn't want us to be without a kitchen any longer than was necessary. We had the issues with the cabinets, so that halted construction, but (at the risk of sounding like a diva) I honestly think that we should be pushed to the front of the line & other projects be pushed back. It's been a week since we met with the Thomasville Rep & the contractor, and nothing at all has been done since. The last installment was paid on Sunday, and the designer said she emailed the contractor that day. If I hadn't called him on Tuesday, I have no doubt I would still be waiting for a call.
The contractor did say that he was going to speak with the cabinet guy on Wed. to see what his schedule was like next week. I'm hoping the cabinet guy will come through for us and get something...anything done. I don't know if the contractor talked to him, because he didn't call me like he said he was going to.
The new utility cabinet (next size up so the microwave will fit in it) will be delivered to the store on the 11th, but the Cabinet Guy said he can work around it not being ready to be installed, and the countertop people don't need for it to be in to measure.

This is similar to what I have in mind for the utility cabinet with a hidden microwave, but there will be 3 pullout drawers.  I plan on putting my small appliances (breadmaker, slow cooker, mixer) on the pullout shelves below.
PIcture from Remodelista

That strip in the floor and the ceiling? The contractor is not going to charge us for that. His mistake, not ours, so we shouldn't have to pay for that.

Strip in floor

Ceiling will need to be patched

This is not how I wanted nor expected to spend my entire summer. I originally thought that by this time I would be waiting for my countertops to be installed. The frustration has my emotions going crazy. I just want this to be done so I can cook and use my dishwasher & have water in the kitchen.

{State of the Kitchen} Part 5: Screeching Halt

Sticky notes all over my cabinet doors indicating which ones need to be replaced.

I thought by this time, my cabinets would be in, measuring for the countertops would have been done, and the finishing touches would be taking place. Instead, construction came to a screeching halt.

CH & I had a meeting with an assistant manager & the designer at Home Depot on Sunday. I had pictures & videos ready, as well as a list of things we wanted to discuss. The outcome was that the Rep from Thomasville would call us Monday morning. He, the contractor, and the designer would all meet at the house to look at the project and get things cleared up so we're all on the same page.
Monday morning, the Rep called. By Tuesday we had a meeting set up for Wed. afternoon. That afternoon, we all gathered in the kitchen and the Rep got to work. I don't think he was too happy that the doors weren't smooth, or that 3 of the drawers were "flimsy".

The flaw in the tall cabinet is moot because we are going to get a larger one, but he said he had never seen that before.

"Dots" on the bar between the doors.

The result from his visit: 19 new doors, 3 new drawers, 1 new drawer front.
Then we had to discuss things with the contractor. CH determined the timeline: the contractor's estimate came after the final plans, so he had to know that the back wall would be extended, which means that the flooring and the ceiling had to be fixed. We knew the pantry cabinets would have to be taken out and put back in due to them being off-center. They should also be flush with the doorframe, but they aren't because the boards that the previous shelves were on weren't taken out.

The old pantry with the boards still in it.

Result from contractor: Boards in pantry will be taken out, flooring in pantry will be taken out since we have a floating floor (the cabinets can't sit on it because it will case the flooring to buckle), strip in floor will be fixed, ceiling will be fixed.
So...we can restart the project since it's not necessary for them to be on for the cabinets to be installed. They won't be done in the time frame I wanted it, but it will be done correctly. I feel like we had a productive meeting and can get the ball rolling again. Let's just hope nothing else goes wrong so it will be finished before I have to go back to school.

{State of the Kitchen} Part 4: What a Difference!

Things really started hopping on Monday. The contractor called me Friday afternoon to let me know demo would start on Monday. Sure enough, the demo guy was at the house that morning, ready to get started. He had to do it by himself, but he was very efficient and managed to get it all done before he left.
I was holding my breath as he started. With the house being 55 years old, there was no telling what he was going to find.

So far, so good. Nothing bad yet!

When he took down the cabinets over the cooktop, he said that they bolted the cabinets into the beams, which is how it should be done. WHEW! That was 1 area of concern.

The gaping hole in the ceiling may be a problem. Fingers crossed!

The sink area was another concern

Who am I kidding? It was ALL a concern! The demo guy is a firefighter who has a cabinet business on his days off. He mentioned that it was a good thing we were remodeling now...before we had a fire. The wire to the garbage disposal had just been laid over the cabinet frame (instead of a hole being drilled through the frame). The wire had frayed and had arched...there was a burnt place on the frame. That was a bit scary, but it was the worst thing he found.

Goodbye, yucky pantry!

Things are real, now!

Everything was dumped off of the back porch to be removed the next morning:

There goes the old kitchen!

Side view

True to their word, it was gone the next morning!

Looks like nothing ever happened!

The electrician/plumber came on Tuesday to get everything up to code, ready for inspection on Wednesday morning. Wednesday morning, the cabinet guy opened all of the boxes and we inspected the cabinets. At first glance, there were a couple of things that aren't up to par.

This drawer (along with another one) was chipped...supposedly during delivery)

This is the bar between the doors in a pantry cabinet. Dots are not okay.

As CH started looking closer at things, he found some things that will need to be replaced, like 12 of the doors. They should all be smooth, but some feel like they weren't sanded enough because they have rough spots. So, those will all be going back, along with the top drawer of a drawer cabinet. It had some chips in it which I didn't see before because it was still in plastic.

The cabinet guy started putting in the cabinets, which was really exciting!

Things are starting to happen!

He got 1 corner done before the inspector came to inspect the electricity:

Moving along nicely!

Except for 1 minor mistake which is easily remedied, we passed inspection!

The cabinets for the pantry were put in, but they'll have to be redone because they aren't centered. I hate it for him, but it needs to be right.

It's going to look great when it's done properly and the filler/trim is put in!

 CH also looked at the drawers in the base cabinets. The top drawers have gaps in them on one side...not good.

This was disappointing

Another disappointment was the pantry cabinet. I wanted to put my microwave in there, but the cabinet we received isn't wide enough. I don't feel comfortable with the cabinet guy trimming part of the opening to make it fit. We have a few more inches in the area where it's going to go, but I'm not sure what the next size is.

Not quite wide enough to get the microwave in

Since we have plans to extend the back wall a couple of feet but are keeping the current flooring, there's a strip of floor that is of concern (see above picture just to the left of the cabinet). We were told by the designer that the contractor would take care of that; the contractor didn't know about it. 

I'm not going to lie...this was a hard post to finish because yesterday was a rollercoaster day. I was so excited to see the cabinets going in that I was blind to the irregularities. We're paying a lot of money for this, so we want it to be as perfect as it can be. 

I don't know what I was expecting; I guess I was expecting things to go so smoothly without any crisis. The quality of the cabinets is a bit disappointing, but it is better than what we've ever had, for sure. Even with 2 new houses in our past, these are better quality.

On top of everything else, I threw my back out on Saturday & am not 100% yet, so I'm not really able to get out of the house for an extended amount of time. (Gotta stay close to the ice pack!) I realize we really just started, but I'm so ready for this to be done!

10:21 a.m. update: With the cabinets not being the quality we were told they would be, we're at a standstill. We were told the doors would be all wood (they aren't), that we would have plywood ends (they all aren't), and that there would be nails...no staples (there are staples). Next step (before the cabinet guy comes back in) is to go down and talk to the kitchen design manager at Home Depot & voice our displeasure at the quality of the cabinets.  They're Thomasville, so we expected much better quality. Yes, we're extremely disappointed because this means we're without a kitchen longer than we anticipated, but with the small fortune we're paying, it needs to be remedied.

{State of the Kitchen} Part 3: Deliveries Galore

Several deliveries were made this week

Things are starting to look a little different! I've cleaned out almost all of the cabinets and the pantry, except for some things I can just throw in a bag at the last minute. I canceled my cleaning ladies for this month; there's no need to have them come when my whole house is a wreck.

The dining room is now a storage area

1 of the spare bedrooms is also being used for storage

My range was delivered on Monday; the hood was here on Tuesday.

Deliveries early in the week

The big delivery was made on Wednesday. Before the delivery, I had to clean out that area.

It looks pretty empty in this area

We weren't sure if everything was going to fit

Just to be on the safe side, I moved the kitchen table to this area

I was given a 4 hour window for the cabinet delivery, which was kind of a bummer, but par for the course. I lucked out with the range & cabinet deliveries: both were delivered in the earlier part of the window. All of the delivery men were extremely polite and efficient. Better than that, everything appears to be delivered in good condition. I say "appears" because the cabinets are still in the boxes; the contractor will have to look over them. With the cabinets, 1 of the guys told me what was in the box as I marked off the list he gave me, and then checked it against my invoice. I have a few things that weren't delivered; nothing big or major. I'm not sure if those things are already in the boxes or will be coming. 

We've hit a snag: When we first spoke with the designer at Home Depot, we were told that the demo would happen a couple of days before the cabinets are delivered. The cabinets were completed earlier than expected; as soon as I had the date I let the designer know. But then she was out sick, so it was almost a whole week before she was back at work. She is only at the store 3x/week and isn't on a fixed schedule. I went by on Sunday to make another payment and to pay for the tile & under-cabinet lights. As soon as I did that, she emailed the contractor. I didn't hear from him on Monday, so I called him on Tuesday. He said he was finishing up a couple of projects and would be ready to demo next week; I just don't know what day. Everything is in place, just waiting for the contractor to get started.

The actual delivery went pretty smoothly. 

At first, they started bringing the boxes in the front, but decided it would be more efficient to go through the back. They did an excellent job of not tearing up the yard.

The boxes fit almost perfectly

And now I wait some more.

{State of the Kitchen} Part 2: And Now We Wait

No progress yet

My kitchen looks the same as it did last week, doesn't it? Well, it may be because I used the same picture, but believe me, nothing's changed. It's not that we haven't done anything, it's just a waiting game now.
Sunday, we had an appointment to pick out the back splash & order the range and hood. Buying the range was no big deal. I had one picked out, and we got to actually look it over at Sears. Honestly, I wasn't very impressed with the person there who came to help us. He seemed more interested in getting the jump on other sales associates than helping us. He could've sold a dryer, but he was jumping around to 2 other people, so Home Depot just made a sale!
Back to the kitchen. Things should start hopping next week: the range is supposed to be delivered on Monday; the cabinets on Wednesday. I had to order the hood online; it was only on sale online. It has an estimated delivery date of Wednesday.
With the range ordered, it was time to pick out the back splash. I didn't have a clue what to pick out, and when the designer took us down the aisle with the tile...I was extremely overwhelmed. She explained each of the different groups of tiles, and then started narrowing down. I found some tile that is very similar to what we thought we wanted a few years ago when we started dreaming about this remodel. I showed it to her, and her creativity kicked in. When she showed me the individual rectangular tile, my first thought was that I didn't really want white tile. Then she showed me the trick of wetting the tile to see what it will look like with the sealer and grout. There are all kinds of subtle colors in there!
To keep the cost down, she suggested 4 rows of the wall tile, then 6 rows of the smaller, followed by 1 row (it may not be a complete row) of the single tile. The smaller tile costs about 3 times more than the other. She suggested a grout color, which is great because I couldn't even begin to think about how to pick out that! When we first went to the tile aisle, she brought a sample of the door color and the counter tops. Since I have a hard time visualizing stuff, she laid everything out so I could get an idea of what it will look like:

Whew! That was a lot easier than I thought it would be, thanks to the designer! 
So now we wait. Apparently the contractor won't schedule demolition until that part is paid for. I expected a phone call on Tuesday with the cost of the tile along with what else I needed to pay for to get things going. I'd like to have a date so I'll know how quickly I need to pack up the kitchen, and get it prepared to receive the cabinets.
As I was looking over the charges from the contractor, I thought the cost of the installing the tile was a bit high. I have a couple of friends who do this for a living, so I asked one of them if he would mind coming out and giving me an estimate. If he can beat that price, then I'll let my friend do it. If not, then the contractor can do it. That will be the last thing that will have to be done, so we're not even close to even really thinking about that. 
And now we wait. Hopefully not for too much longer. I'm just a little antsy today knowing that I'm going to have all of these cabinets and the range in my kitchen area, and no start date. I'm sure the designer will come through for me; I just can't say enough good things about her so far. 😉

{State of the Kitchen} Production has Begun

My kitchen today. I can't wait for the demo to begin!

This is how my kitchen looks today. Outdated, for sure. CH & I talked for years about what we wanted to do when we remodeled. We went back & forth several times about what we would do when we decided to bite the bullet and do it. When we bought the house almost 13 years ago, we knew it was a fixer-upper. The kitchen is the last major thing we need to do inside. 

A little over a month ago, we got started. We talked about having the cabinets continue down the outside wall a little more and putting in an island, but I like the flow of my kitchen; it just needs some updating (and drawers and cabinets that can actually be used!). We ended up with plans that use the current configuration, but extending the outside wall a couple of feet. Here is a draft of what it will look like:

Draft of new kitchen

I found cabinets at Home Depot that I like. The Interior Designer has been fantastic thus far. She listened to what we wanted and kept us right at budget. We would have been a little under except I wanted something done with this monstrosity of a pantry:

I haven't liked the doors from day one.

Or the shelves. 

 I pulled up my Pinterest boards and realized I had one for a kitchen. I had only pinned a couple of things, but when I saw this I was super-excited:

Photo by BMLMedia.ie - More traditional kitchen photos

This is the inspiration. The right side of the pantry will have 3 drawers and a cabinet; the other side will be 2 cabinets. (The doors won't have the storage in them; they'll just be doors.) The white door frame will be gone; it will be framed in the same wood as the cabinets so it will look built-in. 

I was able to get on the cabinet manufacturer's website to watch the progress. When I checked yesterday, I was excited to see that they were being made; then, today, I get a phone call to schedule delivery. Looks like June 7 is the day! With this weekend being Memorial Day Weekend, there should be sales going on, so I hope to buy my range and hood, and get maybe get some tile for the backsplash chosen, if not bought. 

I've pinned all of my "bells and whistles" on a Pinterest Board, so if you're interested, click here. Come back next Thursday for the next "State of the Kitchen"!

{Friday Foto Friends} Painting & Moving

Friday already? Why do breaks always go by so quickly! I need a break to get over my break! It's been a very busy week. I've had a dr.'s appointment, mammogram (don't forget to get yours annually!), vet appointment, and car appointment. And, there has been a Mass for my daddy every day except for Wednesday. 

My brother carried this jewel down from the attic at my parents' house. Apparently we had been told to "get off our high horse" a lot! 😀

This is how my Sunday started. Yeah, it usually helps to put the coffee grounds in the pot when making coffee!

I spent Sunday afternoon painting 1 of the spare bedrooms and then putting it back together. This is what it looked like before I painted:

 

Why I agreed to allow YS have an orange room when we moved in is beside me! Luckily, it only took 1 coat of Kilz and another coat of paint to cover it up.

Excuse the mess on the beds...I haven't completely finished this bedroom! But, I spend Monday painting this bedroom and putting it back together. Here's the before:

Not as much of a difference from the other room, but the walls went from gray to "mushroom".

I saw this sign on Tuesday when I ran into the restroom at church.

Wednesday was moving day. Apparently, several years ago, I told my daddy that I wanted the piano. So, I scheduled the piano movers for a day during break, and Wednesday was the day. 1 of the guys told my brother & me that they move around 1200 pianos a year. I was shocked! He said they send about 50 a year to the dump, which made me sad. Hopefully it was that they were dump-worthy & it wasn't that the owners just didn't want them anymore. Anyway, getting the piano down the front yard steps was a little hairy, but they did it without any damage.

When they got to my house, they assessed the back and front entrances, and decided the back was the path of least resistance. They had no trouble at all getting the piano in the house.

And there she is. Eloise has a new home! I plan on taking piano lessons (something I've always wanted to do) very soon. I don't want her to be just a piece of the furniture. My mom saved her cake-decorating money to buy her over 40 years ago. We're not sure exactly when she bought it. 
If you're in the Knoxville area & need a piano mover, let me know. I'd highly recommend them!

That's it for the pictures for the week. I was able to relax Thursday and watch Time after Time on Hulu. Excellent show! Thanks to my big sister for making aware of it! 😘

I'm linking up with Deb at Breathing in Grace for todays Friday Foto Friends.