grrrr warning long vent ahead

gator75

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 12, 2010
Messages
758
First let me start off by sayin that the remodoling process stinks. We decided last fall that we where going to remodle our kitchen , well that was the easiest decesion of the whole thing. We had four contractors come out and give us a bid now mind you this kitchen isnt the size of the white house infact its on the smaller side , so anyway we decide on one find out that he does wonderful work , and can do the job for a decent price so we give him a down payment of 5,000.00 that was on nov 1st 2010 and let me tell you it is now may and we still have no kitchen. They told us on jan 20th that we had to order our hardware and doors and what not and pick out a color, so we do this we also needed to order our sink and space saver microwave, said this should all be done before we go on vacation in feb so they can start when we get back, well we come back and no communication on their part what so ever.

Then we find out that my mother was ill and had to have heart surgery , that was at the very end of feb. Her surgery was done the first part of march it didn't go well ad she almost died , but dh ws still at home tearing apart our kitchen. Finally they call me when mom was in the hospital and tell me they are finally doing a walk through. They do the walk through and tell dh work will start the middle of april, so we get to that point, we meet with them to firm up that they will be comming all systems are go tell them that we are going to take out bottom cabinets along with existing stove and sink
we need an electrician and plumber to do this , so on good friday we round up both and spend easter weekend not with family but taking the rest of the kitchen apart as they are supposed to show up the monday after easter and guess what we are still waiting.

they say that maybe they would show up this week well... no such luck. Meanwhile my mom is home a heart patient on a speciasl heart diet and guess what we have no kitchen We are now going to tell them that if they don't come and do this we will be suing them.
There are days i just want to cry we have nothing to make anything with so we eat out alot i dread mealtime because i don't know what to make all we have is a microwave. We cant use our grill because we can't wash the untensils and dont want to clog up the bathroom sinks

Like i said its a long vent thanks for taking the time read it if you did.
 
Okay...take a deep breath...

YES you can use the grill. Wash utensils and dishes outside using the garden hose.

Between the microwave and the grill, you should be okay. As for the construction company, get a confirmed start date and if they don't show, demand the down payment back or then threaten to sue. Remember that if you get a refund and go with another company, you'll have to start over with the whole process.

Is there any of the work you and your DH could start doing now yourselves?
 
Oh dear. I am so sorry to read your situation and can feel your frustration. I am sorry your contractor turned out to be a loser. What has been your communications with this contractor? Do you have a written contract or emails to help document the process?

I just recently finished a kitchen remodel that we did with a trusted contractor we have used before for a new patio project and he had built my parents house. Even at that some issues arose but we worked through them with good communication. Our contractor did not charge us a deposit which I know is unusual.

You must be feeling very abused right now, I know I would be.

Did you do the rip out work yourselves to save $ ? Our contractor had lined everyone up (carpenters who ripped out and rebuilt, electrician, plumber, granite installer, tile installer etc...) most of our work was done within 2 weeks, we had water back on at the end of the first week. Finishing details took a bit longer but he did get them done right before Easter as we had asked. We had a granite slab tagged at the granite shop that was sold out from under us the week before our project was scheduled! :mad: Our contractor handled it all for us and the granite shop offered us a more expensive replacement slab that was similar (ok actually it was prettier than what we had selected) and they ate the cost difference.

Please post back with an update as things progress because people will be able to learn a lot from your unfortunate situation. Best wishes! :hug:
 
We remodeled our kitchen about 6 years ago. We we're lucky. My DH has a friend that is a contractor so we we're kind of high on his priority list. He did mention that the first mistake people tend to make is not doing their homework. Like calling the BBB on the company or not talking to previous customers etc. He said if the cont. has a problem providing the information you request, move on.

I'm sorry your going through this. Ours only took a few weeks I couldn't imagine going without a functioning kitchen for months.
 

a few years ago I got alittle burner stove top from Wal-mart - it is wonderful for parties but we got it when our stove was acting up & we had to wait for parts

garden hose is wonderful for getting pans clean
 
First let me start off by sayin that the remodoling process stinks. We decided last fall that we where going to remodle our kitchen , well that was the easiest decesion of the whole thing. We had four contractors come out and give us a bid now mind you this kitchen isnt the size of the white house infact its on the smaller side , so anyway we decide on one find out that he does wonderful work , and can do the job for a decent price so we give him a down payment of 5,000.00 that was on nov 1st 2010 and let me tell you it is now may and we still have no kitchen. They told us on jan 20th that we had to order our hardware and doors and what not and pick out a color, so we do this we also needed to order our sink and space saver microwave, said this should all be done before we go on vacation in feb so they can start when we get back, well we come back and no communication on their part what so ever.

Then we find out that my mother was ill and had to have heart surgery , that was at the very end of feb. Her surgery was done the first part of march it didn't go well ad she almost died , but dh ws still at home tearing apart our kitchen. Finally they call me when mom was in the hospital and tell me they are finally doing a walk through. They do the walk through and tell dh work will start the middle of april, so we get to that point, we meet with them to firm up that they will be comming all systems are go tell them that we are going to take out bottom cabinets along with existing stove and sink
we need an electrician and plumber to do this , so on good friday we round up both and spend easter weekend not with family but taking the rest of the kitchen apart as they are supposed to show up the monday after easter and guess what we are still waiting.

they say that maybe they would show up this week well... no such luck. Meanwhile my mom is home a heart patient on a speciasl heart diet and guess what we have no kitchen We are now going to tell them that if they don't come and do this we will be suing them.

There are days i just want to cry we have nothing to make anything with so we eat out alot i dread mealtime because i don't know what to make all we have is a microwave. We cant use our grill because we can't wash the untensils and dont want to clog up the bathroom sinks

Like i said its a long vent thanks for taking the time read it if you did.

:hug:

I would hire someone else and just eat the 5000. It is not worth it.

You can wash things in the bathroom sink. Just put a thing in to catch debris.
 
Beleive me we have though a million times about grilling out BUT we live in north dakota and we just had a major blizzard so no using hoses , and as far as the demolishing process we did it ourselves because there isn't any contractors that would do it. The simple reason beining is that in case your cabinets are promised to someone they don't want to be blamed if they don't come out right and they are damaged, and yes we know that if we get our deposite back we will have to go with someone else and the wai time will be alot longer , also if that ened up happening they have nothing to go by as far as our old kitchen so who knows what we'd get.

As of right now it feels like they have us by the tail.
 
I'm so sorry, I hope they show up 'n get this started 'n finished for you soon. :hug:
 
Beleive me we have though a million times about grilling out BUT we live in north dakota and we just had a major blizzard so no using hoses , and as far as the demolishing process we did it ourselves because there isn't any contractors that would do it. The simple reason beining is that in case your cabinets are promised to someone they don't want to be blamed if they don't come out right and they are damaged, and yes we know that if we get our deposite back we will have to go with someone else and the wai time will be alot longer , also if that ened up happening they have nothing to go by as far as our old kitchen so who knows what we'd get.

As of right now it feels like they have us by the tail.

I don't get this? What do you mean about the cabinets?

I think you really are getting shafted and I would not eat the $5k, that is a lot of money! I wonder if sending a registered letter spelling things out and asking for your deposit back would lite a fire under him to return your money. At this point you might be better off to start over because are you really going to be comfortable having these people work in your house?

Another thought, we have good friends who acted as their own contractor and worked with Home Depot (or Lowes, can't remember which now) to remodel their kitchen and it worked pretty well for them and their kitchen looks super. At this point you are pretty involved in your process anyway with all the prep work you have done, it might be worth a look into.

Again, :hug:
 


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