Kitchen cab install while on vaca? Good or bad idea?

15 years ago

I have a 167 year old stone house...I knew nothing was going to go easy when we decided to do the kitchen.

Long story short, cabinets were delivered yesterday and there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before they get installed. This is a DIY with a contractor doing the installation of cabinets and sheet rock. We are responsible for the rest. We are leaving for a 10 day vaca to Disney on April 9th. DH had a *great* idea to have the cabinets installed while we are gone. I think it's a BAD idea because I really think one of us needs to be here. Mainly to make sure things go smoothly and in case changes need to be made (again 167 year old house!!)

Am I being unreasonable? Should we leave or push to have them installed prior to leaving??

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Comments (14)

bethv
15 years ago
You're right... it's a bad idea. You never know what you could run into and there's a million little choices to make even when there's not a huge surprise. You really need to be there. Why don't you just do the install after vacation?
sarahandbray
15 years ago
Your instincts are right...DON'T DO IT!! I opened this thread thinking....well, if it's new construction, then maybe. But our house is 140 years old and TONS of tweaking and little issues came up upon cabinet installation. And we had who I called "Bob Vila's twin brother" doing the cabinet installation--someone I loved to pieces and totally trusted with old houses. Still, there were questions, problems, issues, etc.

I was so glad I was actually HOME on maternity leave when he installed them--not even at work! That in itself would have been tough.

Good luck--enjoy the trip, and have the cabinets wait until you get back. If I were you, I wouldn't be able to relax on vacation anyway if I knew my cabinets were being installed!!

:)
Sarah
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The everyday dishes to DW distance would bother me also. If you have your meals in the DR, I can understand wanting to have the hutch close to the access portal to the DR, although I don't know where that is but I assume that you have the hutch where it is for that reason. If so, I would plan to have your DW close to the hutch. But then you do realize that on your way BACK from the Dining Room, you're going to be going all the way to the far wall to the sink? Methinks you have a lot of walking around with dishes in your future with this plan. My $0.02: If you're putting in a "prep" sink in the island, then plan to have the dish washer there too. In fact, is there any reason the hutch couldn't be in whatever is the cabinetry that is next to the fridge? Of course, what that means is that your "prep sink" will become your cleanup sink, too. :-) and the purpose of the "main sink" becomes indeterminate. Would you consider making the main sink the prep sink with the fridge closer to that wall of windows? If you're going to bump back that dare I call it, South wall (wall for the breakfast area) you're going to have to move your doorway down too, so that window wall notch translates down and if you keep your 3 windows then you get an additional 12-18" just above the notch on the "West" wall. That plus the 2 or 3 feet you presently have that is not window, should be plenty for your fridge, no? Then your fridge at least is close to that window-sink. It is also close to the public at the breakfast area. Your 8' island will then allow you 2' (DW) + 3' (sink) + 3' (storage) and it still works.
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positano
15 years ago
I agree, don't do it. We have an old house and had many issues with unlevel floors. Lots of decisions had to be made that day.

Have a great trip!
laurielep
Original Author
15 years ago
Ahh, thanks! I am hoping to have them done BEFORE we leave but if that isn't possible it will be done after we get back.

I talked to DH and got him to see the light!!! He had a DUH moment when he agreed to have it done while we were gone.
gemini615
15 years ago
Absolutely agree - do not have cabinets installed when you are not home! There are always questions or problems that arise and you can be there to address them. We recently had cupboards installed and they built a Lazy Susan instead of a Super Susan. We were able to get it changed out right away but had we not been home... Good luck on the install.
laurielep
Original Author
15 years ago
Gemini...sorry your post gave me a question!
I have a "super susan" which is made of wood, what is a lazy susan? is that the kind with the pole in the middle of it?
I often wondered what the difference was!!
Buehl
15 years ago
Yes, LaurieLep, the term "Lazy Susan" is generally used to describe a "susan" with a pole down the center. A "Super Susan" is one that has turntables sitting on the floor of the cabinet and a fixed shelf with no pole down the middle.
kitchenredo2
15 years ago
Bad, bad idea. This is where you should follow your intuition.

Here's my experience. In my last kitchen we did a simple remodel. I was upstairs with my toddler while the contractor was installing the cabinets. I come downstairs to check on the progress. To the left and right of the kitchen window were upper cabinets with the sink centered on the window. The right upper cabinet was further from the window than the left upper cabinet. It looked awful - it was off-balance and threw off the room. When I asked the contractor why he didn't position the cabinet the same distance from the window as the one on the other side, he told me b/c the layout didn't show it that way.

I asked him, don't you think it looks a little off-balance and he agreed that it seemed weird to do it that way. I asked him to take it down install it the same distance from the window as the other cabinet. He got a bit huffy with me and I reminded him that at the beginning of the job if there were any questions regarding the layout and the installation or if something did not seem right to him, he had been instructed to ask me before he did anything.

Granted in the scheme of things this probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but my point is that I was in the house and he still didn't check with me.

I can't even begin to imagine what would go on if I was out of town. To undo things and redo costs not only money, but time. I would suspend the installation until I returned.

Have a great trip!!!
palimpsest
15 years ago
Don't be away for longer than one work day on a project like this.
pluckymama
15 years ago
No way. Be there and check their work. There are always mistakes and you want to be able to catch them right away.
Enjoy your vacation and then have them install.
igloochic
15 years ago
I'll take the answer one step further...because I've done it and ended up with a purple floor (was supposed to be cream). It would be frankly stupid to leave your fabulous old home in the hands of anyone for any major step!
laurielep
Original Author
15 years ago
We're still going on vaca but think we can get the cabinets done before we leave.

Our contractor is also a very close friend and next door neighbor so I do trust him with everything when it comes to my house BUT I think we need to be here just in case.
Thankfully DH saw the light and agreed.
danielle00
15 years ago
Bad idea.
pharaoh
15 years ago
WORST idea!

Remember the first rule of kitchen remodel - SUPERVISE.

The moment you turn your back, things will start going wrong. There are countless threads about this on this forum...

Kitchen cab install while on vaca? Good or bad idea?

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Kitchen cab install while on vaca? Good or bad idea?

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