Kitchen Renovation - Days 1-11

[sydneyalexis]

Renovation: (n) a painful, expensive, drawn out process wherein a person hands out gobs of money and wait patiently for contractors to show up whenever they please, do a minimum amount of work, and then disappear for long stretches of time leaving the homeowners with a barely functional house with nary a word to said homeowner. See also: masochism

Comments

[kitasangel]

Oh yuck I have to agree it would so suck to have crazy guy in my bedroom either. I hope they redue the plumbing for you. I like how the living room is turning out. As for the late/behind issues well wasn't that expected? Stay strong. It will all be over a week or two later then they originally said. :P
Hugs
Lyn

[sydneyalexis]

The plumbing was fixed. Thankfully, it was only one line that had to be done.

Next week, they're going to paint and bring in a jackhammer so that they can lay in the electrical lines for the island in the kitchen. It's going to be loud.

As to finishing, it was supposed to take a month. They've been at it 12 days so I'm thinking they'll be done in early to mid July rather than their expected finish date of mid-June. :P

[teatotaller]

Wow! What a project. I just have to say though that the kitchen you guys just gutted was sooooo much nicer than mine! I have my original 1965 cabinets, countertops and tiled backsplash.

But my husband would kill himself or someone else before he hired contractors like this. That scorch mark on the wood? I shudder to think of my husband's reaction! Which is why all work at our house is DIY! :)

You will be so relieved when you get your kitchen back!

[sydneyalexis]

Our cabinets were circa 1970s. They were this nasty walnut color with funky pulls and hinges. The former owners were smokers so there was a thick layer of sticky tobacco on it, and the house sat empty for two years while the bank that seized it for defaulting on their loan tried to sell it. (It was a real diamond in the rough

[mitakay]

OMG! This post makes me want to NEVER do a major kitchen renovation.
Hang in there- I'm sure it will all fall into place and look spectacular when finished.
**hugs**

[sydneyalexis]

If you're not ripping out the walls or moving any major appliance's location, it's actually a quick job for a professional. Ripping out the cabinets takes about half a day as does ripping out the flooring. Installing a new set of cabinets would take half a day to a full day depending on the size of the room.

From there, the amount of extra time depends on finishes you're using. A marble, stone, or quartz counter top has to be measured for after the cabinets are installed. Then there's a week to two weeks lead time while it's made to order. (I know this from the two bathroom renovations I've lived through.)

If you want a tile backsplash, you've got to add time for that.

Where you get into trouble is when you're doing major electrical, plumbing, or totally changing the layout like we're doing.

I'm sure it will all fall into place and look spectacular when finished.

I keep telling myself that.

And also that I will eventually have my dishwasher back! (I've been washing them in a plastic tub outside!)

[gaeln]

that was thorough, I started getting flashbacks, scary scary flashbacks but your new space is really starting to come together. You've ordered up the appliances and flooring and whatnot, I assume...the best part. Good luck, I look forward to your next update.

[sydneyalexis]

Thank you! We actually have new appliances since all our old ones seemed to have died right around the same time. The only new one we had to get was a range hood.

I just can't wait until all this nightmare is over with!

Washing the dishes on the back porch in a tub bucket is so early caveman! LOL!

I'm also getting less than 15 minutes on the internet a day! The shakes. I haz them. :P

[gaeln]

'Washing the dishes on the back porch in a tub bucket is so early caveman!
ROFL

'I'm also getting less than 15 minutes on the internet a day! The shakes. I haz them'
Well thank you for spending quite a bit of that time today talking to me, I absolutely appreciate :D

[tigbit]

Ah, this seems terrible. Unprofessional people have no business getting paid anything, much less a lot of money. Complain as much as you can. Stick through it, though! I can already tell the end result will be fantastic and beautiful.

[sydneyalexis]

We have been complaining. Dad will call, tell the contractor to come out, point out everything that was done wrong and how he expects them to fix it, and then tells them that, since it was their mistake, they'd better not charge us to fix it.

What's really upsetting is that we have a good plumber that we use all the time. They're pricey, but they would have done a better job. They're also all nice, friendly people that have been in business for 70 years. It's one of those multi-generational ones where a father teaches the son the business and eventually hands it down.

*sighs*

It's all just so annoying.