how much does it cost to rent a storage unit?

I agree w/ you, that you'd told him "a few months," and he could have waited to start your project (it's not even quite two months).

On the other hand, I'd be glad my project wasn't going to get put off so long that it was rushed at the end, or not started at all; I might consider chipping in for the storage unit rental.

Can you check with your insurance company and see if they will be covered before they are installed if you store them there? he can probably shrink wrap, bubble wrap or wrap them up in such a way that they would be fairly well protected.

If you decide to go the storage container route- I would get him to wrap them up and get one of those units that they drive to your location- you pack it up (your carpenter would), and they drive the container to storage. When you're ready, they will drive the container to your house.

I would look at the flipside of things. If you say NO, that you might end up being lower on his list of priorities when it comes to installing the doors of the cabinets - delaying your job. Just a thought..... Unless it's a major PITA for you to store them, I think I'd be just as agreeable as possible. That little bit of flexibility on your part could go a long ways in terms of future "ooops, I forgot to order this or that and need it NOW" - or - "oops, we're ready to have them installed a week before we contracted you for" kind of deals with the cabinet maker.

You said you signed the contract the 1st week of January. It will be the 1st week of March this weekend. 2 months has passed. I agree with boxiebabe that you should try to accomodate his request.

We had the same issue when we had our cabinets made. We were not ready for cabinets but the cabinet maker did not have any room to store them for us. I was able to store them in my garage.

I know you could inventory what is delivered, but there are too many chances for mischievousness onsite if you still have workers there. Plus, he could say that he did bring you 'x' cabinet with 'y' puck lights but someone stole them or switched them.

I had a cabinet maker that was a shyster. He lied, delivered junk, and then tried to blame me. I'm so sorry that I'm not trusting.

Furthermore, your cabinetmaker should know how to book appointments and jobs. This is his baby to protect and store until he delivers and installs. If he does not have room to store these cabinets, then he should be renting a climate controlled unit to store these cabinets until ready for installation. I would NOT take possession of the cabinets until I was ready for them. Period.

Is this issue covered in the contract terms?

How can you expect the cabinet maker to wait through any and all delays that would be holding up the installation of the cabinets?

If you agreed on 2 months and that time is up then you need to take possession of them.

If the cabinet guy is willing to take care of transportation, then why not offer him some space in your current house - i.e. where you're currently living? He can drop them off now, then move them over to the new house when you're ready for them to be installed. Just tell him you're not comfortable with them being in the new house due to all the construction and workers running around.

IMHO, it shouldn't be too much hassle for you unless you're in a cramped apartment, and it's always a good thing to build some advance goodwill with your subs.

Just to clarify - yes, it's been almost two months since we signed contract. However, he was well aware that it could be more than a few months before we were ready for them and he said it would be no problem for them to store them. No mention of this in the contract.

There is no way we can even consider them in our current home since it's for sale and it's filled out the wazoo with stuff we've already accumulated for the build.

Oh, they are also building a huge kitchen and other rooms for a large home that will not be complete until 09/08. They have no other place to store those cabs.

I should mention that we do have a very good rapport with cabinet maker and I have no intention of letting that go south. My builders risk ins covers $10K per incident. Doesn't even begin to touch the $55k spent for cabinets.

OP wrote that she said she'd be ready in "a few months", which does not mean two months. A couple of months means two months. IMO, the cabinet maker should have called prior to building and looked at his schedule and scheduled accordingly. He knows how much room he has in his shop! OP does not. IF he was just 'not busy' in January and knew he had other kitchens coming up and would rather work on OP's cabinets anyway rather than delay, then he should be responsible for storing those cabinets if she does not want to or can not store them.

OP's cabinet maker is surely aware of the pitfalls in time management. He knows that working with DIY is totally different than working with professional builders that can give a spot on date that cabinets would be needed in a project.

If I were the cabinet maker, Plan A would be to ask OP to store them, too. If she said no, then I'd go on to plan B, which would be my responsibility. We all like to save money. You just have to decide how much you trust you are willing to put into all of the responsibility factor should you assume it.

I'd contact the Vatican.

Seriously.

Because for a tradesman to be ahead of schedule on anything is some kind of miracle...

I don't see the problem, once you get your door installed. We stored ours for almost 2 months in the garage and basement until the kitchen and bathrooms were ready for installation. They were completely boxed and wrapped, so they were well-protected. And they were too heavy for any one person to easily remove from the premises.

If it's only one month until they are ready to be installed, you are doing well. I'm assuming you are carrying full insurance on the house during construction and renovation, including contents, fire, damage, and vandalism (and don't forget bodily injury to any of the construction workers). If not, you need to talk with your insurance agent and get as much coverage as you can afford.

"My builders risk ins covers $10K per incident."

You need to change that NOW. That is completely inadequate. One act of vandalism or theft could easily exceed that. A friend of mine is currently building a house, and it was vandalized this past week. Someone broke in during the night and used a 2x4 to smash out each and every window and glass door. They also did a bunch of other damage. People break into houses and rip out pipes and wiring, steal tools and appliances, etc.

A "few" months means, IMO, no more than three. Since it's already been two, maybe you can split the difference on the remaining month tell the cabinet guy you can take possession in two weeks.

I'm guessing that the cabinet maker is ahead of schedule because he doesn't have a lot of jobs piled up and waiting. So he's faced with the choice of filling the contracts he has or laying off workers.

Were me, I'd be really happy to know that waiting for cabinets wouldn't be holding up the job and would be looking for ways to accommodate the cabinetmaker.

Those terms should have been covered in his contract. I have a special section just for this exact scenario. I would try and work with them on finding a space in your home. As mentioned 10k site coverage is woefully inadequate. I am pretty sure that is his storage space was not a problem he wouldn't be asking. Yes timing should have been more decisive then a verbal "few months" but much better to be early then late. Do what you can to make sure to work this out, but now is the time to put it in writing on the rest of cabinetry for the house that you will not store it and define an exact delivery date that you can both live with.
Anything stored on site should be kept in an area that is not high moisture (basement or garage) and stacked neatly and out of the way of other trades.Blanketed with a tarp with a big sign on it saying "Do not use as work bench". Any horizontal surface on a job site is an inviting work surface to other trades.

We ordered our cabinets too early, as it turned out. The kitchen shop held them for us for a few months before getting testy. We took delivery Monday. It's been a problem for our GC. He's been trying to get around them to paint and has been very frustrated.

Frankly, I'd rather have the kitchen shop irked than have the GC annoyed.

Add to that, I've got a great, respectful, careful GC who is doing his best to protect the cabinet boxes from overspray, damage, etc. Will all the people in and out of your house be careful enough?

All that said, if you can find a space in your home where no one has any work to do, it ought to be fine.

Our cabs were done early, too. I actually offered to have them delivered and put in our secured storage facility, but our cabinet guy said that he felt responsible for them, so even if he didn't have the storage space, he would work something out. He used to be a GC, so he knows what a build can be like. He ended up storing them at his friend's house, but I can admit it was a bit of a relief that I didn't have to deal with them. I bet if you pushed your cabinet guy a little bit, he would work something out. Just tell him you don't want his lovely cabinets ruined.

Agreed that it's better to have nice cabinets done early than late. A few months is ~3 months, so it's not that much earlier than originally indicated. So after the front door is installed, it might be best to take the cabinets into your new home. Good luck with things and hope everything works out for the best.

oruboris, ROFLMAO!

I snorted wine out my nose and baptized my screen.

A miracle, indeed!