By number 28, I wasn't sure which was worse, the frustration or the guilt.

Why guilt? Did you give him cancer? Are you the one responsible for writing his disability paycheck?

No. And no.

You have a contract with your GC. It's his responsibility to deliver the cabinets in a workmanlike fashion. If the cabinetmaker is no longer able to deliver, it's the GC's problem, not yours. He needs to immediately tell you his back-up plan. If the cab guy can still work, he can do the work. On days he feels sick, someone else has to be ready to step up.

Your GC will whine and try to make you feel guilty. Show all the flexibility of a steel rod. If he keeps whining, show him an actual steel rod.

By the way, the day any contractor tells me he has cancer is the day I ask to see the films.

Good grief, that is horrible...where the heck is the contractor and why isn't he handling this? Never mind, I'm sure you don't need to hear anything except, wow....I can't even imagine what you are going through and you have my sympathy.

last year a thread opened with a story about a homeowner whose cabinetmaker was going to have his arm amputated...

Of course it will never be possible to know the whole story as to why he was uninsured at the moment he became uninsurable. And the guy had other (smaller) problems too, which made him a lousy supplier. The homeowner ranted and the discussion went back and forth. A good cybertime was had by all.

Lessons learned: I guess it's that either you hire the best, paying their rates, knowing that they will produce positive results per agreed words, and you even check that they all have coverage too. Or, that you hire just one guy at a time who you deal with closely and not let anything slip up once.

When he told you #28, did he say he had to recuse himself for your job or that he would continue? I'd feel awful for him, but contact the gc and ask what that means as far as finishing.
You can have great sympathy for the guy but still be practical and want to return your family to normalcy.

The really funny thing is if you are just decently good at this and are very reliable, then you would have customers beating down your door offering their business. There are so many professions that can use more reliable people....lots of opportunities out there for people with the right mindset.

A 3-month reno has turned into 9 months!!! Where has your GC been through all this? He is responsible for all the subs staying on schedule and having contingency plans when things start going awry--especially to this extent! I hope your reno is closing in on completion soon! Sending you sympathetic and positive vibes that things will improve. :)

It is funny, and it is tragic. I'm sorry you've bee put through all this. I'm sorry your GC isn't takng charge of your project like he should. Have a glass of wine and a deep breath. One day you WILL be on the other side of this and enjoying your new kitchen.

What. The. He#*. This guy is a comedian, right? He must be the stupidest person in the universe to actually think that anyone would believe his ridiculous lies. If I were you, I would cease all contact with him after I took him to small claims court to recoup the money you've already given him. Seriously, this guy is a pathetic loser who takes advantage of anyone he can. Kick him to the curb.

Oh my. He has all my sympathy if he does have cancer, but the GC gets no sympathy. He needs to get off his butt and make your kitchen right.

When we did our 9-months-turns-into-22-months renovation (non-kitchen), we heard it all too, from the carpenter, cabinet maker, and HVAC guys in particular: grandparents dying. Grandparents dead. Grandparents fell down stairs and are in the hospital (wait, didn't they all die earlier on?) Driving to Buffalo and not to work site because parent in Buffalo may be sick. Worker sick. Workers never showed up. Wife sick. Truck broke down. Truck stolen. Truck towed and has to be picked up from impound lot.

For the first two or three excuses, I was very sympathetic and thought we hired the unluckiest, most snakebit crew in the world. Then I learned.

You don't live anywhere near Baltimore Maryland do you? We had to fire our contractor. He was a liar and a thief.

Once we fired the Baltimore guy... we turned to Lowes for cabinets and a private Granite Fabricator / contractor that has a shop in our town Lanham, MD for over 30 yrs. We were glad we did. Lowes and Nassa Granite were GREAT.

Thanks for the support, all!

Marcolo: Guilt because I HAVE been a steel rod, at least with the general contractor. The GC is clearly mostly at fault and I have no hesitation about using a steel rod on him. But he just turns around and beats on the cabinet maker, who really DOES have cancer and is in fact, trying to get the job done despite it.

Dirtybloomers: YES, I am in Baltimore! Who was your thieving contractor?

Assuming my GC is not Dirtybloomers' lieing, theiving GC, I AM beating on him. I am FURIOUS with him and have let him know. But frankly I'm sort of stuck with him...we are finally so close to the end that it just isn't worth trying to oust him and find another GC (which I have to for the terms of my loan...I can't be my own GC).

Supposedly, the final bank inspection is to be done on Friday AM and everyone is working madly for the next three days to get it done. I think a lot of the work will be faked (eg. doors on the cabinets, but not the inside lazy susans, etc.) but I'll be happy to have the bank sign off and put the remaining funds in my hands to use as a stick over the contractor and to get at least three good days of work out of everyone this week.

I posted earlier about what to do to the GC re: payment and the consensus seems to be pay him, then file a complaint with the Contractor Licensing Board and/or hire a lawyer now.

Personally, I'm beginning to think it's all a ploy....wear the homeowner down to the point where she'll be glad to pay any amount of money, accept any horrible, slipshod job just to get the experience OVER!

Thanks for the support....hoping I have good news Friday AM.

Melissa,

If you've managed to hang in this long, don't give in now that you are so close to finishing.

Get ALL that you've paid for. And make sure you do the withholding of the final payment until everything is perfect. Hopefully you have this provision as part of your payment schedule.

I have a feeling if the GC has been so sloppy all along, there is ab.so.lute.ly no incentive for him to follow through once he has his money.

And I'd consult an attorney before I released all the funds.

One thing in your favor, the fact that the bank has to inspect before the funds are released. I guess the GC knows this?

Pepper

I wouldn't for a second allow faking for the bank. It's probably fraudulent. Plus it's a great stick to wave at the GC--it's not you refusing to pay, it's the bank.

I don't know how the 'consensus' became 'pay him everything and go to the BBB.' That is an utterly useless route and you will see the last of your money and him at the same time.

And for everyone reading this BEFORE you hire a contractor--THIS is exactly why you want a liquidated damages clause in your contracts! (I.E. project will be completed on XXX date. If not completed by due date by fault of the contactor or his/her subs, for every day/week/10days unfinished, contractor owes you $100/$1000/$1500.)

Carla in Sac

Latest update...the electrician is working mightily, though some stuff will be faked for the inspection (three-ways not activated for example). The cabinetmaker I hired a week and a half ago (someone I'd worked with previously) to take over one part of the job...in the probably vain hope that the other cabinet maker and GC will then finish the painted cabinets on time...has already made and installed the oak upper cabinets. The custom wood hood is here and going in Thursday.

But the carpenter didn't show up again today, so still no trim on the windows and doors, no grout on the backsplash, no stain on the patched floor.

And the AWOL GC and cabinet maker apparently made a brief appearance, installed exactly 5 of the 25 plus missing doors and drawer fronts and left...again.

Marcolo, I'm willing to allow a certain amount of judicious faking because the money does not get released to the GC. It goes directly into my bank account and it's up to me to decide when to pay it out and there's a deadline on my loan. If it isn't done by the fast-approaching deadline, I can no longer draw on it and any untapped amount comes off the principal owed. So...better to get the funds under my control. Believe me, I'll have no trouble refusing to pay until everything is perfect. I just wonder if I'll be in my grave before that happens.

Melissa

This is so so sad! For you Melissa. I cannot believe the horror stories I have read here about contractors in the few days I have been on these forums!
I have built and installed hundreds of cabinets and never have I ever used any of those excuses! If there was an issue I was always upfront with the homeowner and bent over backwards to make sure the job was done right and the homeowner was tickled. I know there are scam artists out there, I'm just suprised to hear of so many!

OH NO! Melissastar... maybe he's the same contractor.

His initials are TC and the intials for his business are GCB. I don't want to write his name for fear he will come after me. He used a guy to lay tile named Juan. The whole experience was a nightmare.

Oh, Melissastar, I laughed and laughed over your post. If your kitchen ever gets finished, you definitely have a future as the next Erma Bombeck. Just think of all the great stories you'll have to tell at cocktail parties for the next ..... FIFTY YEARS!!

Good luck to you, and please keep your sense of humor and your sanity. And let us know how it all turns out.

MELISSASTAR,
The more I'm thinking about it, the more convinced that it was the same guy. Some of his whining about an operation sounds familiar to your guy.

He lives in S --- point.

Sounds like a guy I worked with a long time ago. He was a very heavy drinker with doozy excuses for missing work. My favorite: "the dog needs dialysis and the only vet that does dialysis on German Shepards is 800 miles away so I was gone to the vet and couldn't call because the dog was throwing up in my car." It was so far out you almost considered believing it.

Update: Bank inspector is due here tomorrow at 11 AM. Carpenter has not yet shown up to finish doing the trim (it's 3:30 PM). Original cabinetmaker and GC showed up about 45 minutes ago and have set up shop in the back yard. They have 4 side panels to put on , 10 drawer and door fronts, about 3 feet of beadboard and paint to apply to parts of the cabinet frames. And that's just FAKING the job. The interiors of the cabinets won't have been started (they need finishing, dividers, appliance lift, lazy susans, etc. The "please save me" cabinetmaker contracted less than two weeks ago is here installing the doors and custom hood, then he'll be done. His work looks perfect.

I talked to a lawyer this AM.

dirtybloomers...not the same guy. Mine is initials EDR in Essex. Baltimore must have it's share.

My cabinet maker also got a cancer diagnosis in the middle of our home remodel (he was building cabinets in our kitchen, family room, study, dining room, master bath). We hired him directly, so all of his issues came to us. I was so, so frustrated with him (I posted about it here) because his cancer was a basal cell carcinoma that he left untreated for 15 years. He had no health insurance, and did not have the $250K to pay the special hospital he now needed because the tumor had grown through his skin, into his shoulder bone and he required a very complicated surgery in order to LIVE, not to mention continue working as a carpenter.

My take-away lesson was that, when acting as your own GC, you do need to ask skilled subs for a doctor's letter saying they are fit to complete your job (in addition to making sure they're bonded, right?). And probably you need to send them to your OWN DR, not let them fudge one on their own.

We made it through. The cabinet guy finished our job. With the help of the designer who refers him to most of his clients, he finally convinced the special cancer hospital to take him as a charity case. He got his surgery and is now apparently back at his cabinet business with his son.

I also forgot to mention that after the usual annoying issues everyone goes through, our kitchen contractor blew us off for days, and then told me his son had been murdered.

It turned out to be true. It was in the paper for days.

God, did I feel like the lowest kind of heel for thinking he made that one up.

Update...the GC never showed up for the bank inspection last Friday! When I reached him later in the day, he said he was sick. Meanwhile, the derelict cabinetmaker had told me late Thursday when he finally showed up, that there was no way he would be anywhere near done by 11 AM Friday for the inspection, but intended to be there all day and to finish everything that day, as he has a job opportunity out of state and was planning to leave shortly. Needless to say, he hasn't been back.

Meanwhile, the carpenter/tile guy hasn't made an appearance since he disappeared on Thursday saying he had to go back to his shop to fix some of the trim which wasn't right.

The electrician and plumber are on board, but no one is returning my calls.

So...looks like I may need another finish carpenter to do the last bits of trimwork and someone to patch a bit of drywall. And I've got to get someone to clean up this mess with the cabinets. The good news is...if they all abandon me, they can hardly expect to get paid, right? BTW, the lawyer says if I have to hire someone else to finish the jobs, I AM entitled to withhold what I must pay them from the original contractor. So maybe I won't end up too hurt...just still lacking a finished kitchen!