All I can say is I'm so sorry.
I think what you're stating is one of the very big lessons this forum could teach if people were listening.

I learned that the hard way, too, but have since had the problems address -- at great cost to me. Of course.

Stay on them, though. And make them fix it.

I'm so sorry!!!! You poor thing. How incredibly frustrating.

I had a complete nightmare of a kitchen remodel years ago and learned never, never, never assume the contractor knows what you want. It amazes me how often they will make a decision on your behalf without even consulting you. Amazing!! I am doing everything in my power to be home as much as possible during this remodel so I can watch, watch, watch and talk, talk, talk about what I want and expect. If we make a change in the design, I insist on new drawings. They are taped on the wall of the kitchen for all to see.

Stick to your guns and make them fix this. It isn't your fault they messed up. It isn't something you have to live with unless you choose to at a great savings in $$$$. Good luck and let us know what happens. Hang in there!

Wow, such a disappointment. The GC should make it right upon return. Cutting the granite wrong is a huge mistake that they
should take responsibility for. Removing a foot from the backsplash shouldn't be difficult. They'll just need to fix the drywall behind it. Good Luck! Please post pics.

I'm really sorry you've had such a bad experience, but maybe it will still turn out ok.

But some more warnings for others--

Be there all of the time if at all possible! During our house build, each contractor promised to do everything we asked for. They had the plans. Some of them didn't look at the plans--just put things where they thought they should be. I didn't exactly stand over them ;o) but I did check during their lunch time and at the end of each day, and immediately told them if things weren't right.

I tried to anticipate every detail--got most things done correctly. We were owner-builders. Our framing contractor and finish carpenter were the worst--and they're the most important. A builder that we used as a consultant told us that most finish carpenters were prima donnas, and ours definitely was. He tried to make himself unapproachable with his attitude. I always hated having to talk to him, but I forced myself, and he redid some things that were his fault that I know he would rather not have.

The advantage we had was that most of our subs had been recommended to us by our builder-consultant. The economy had come to a dead halt, and once he knew that we weren't going to hire him for the complete job, he wanted to try to help out his subs. They knew that we would be talking to him about whether we were happy with their work.

The disadvantage was that the trim carpenter was recommended by a different builder (so was the framer) who absolutely kept to a strict schedule. The trim carpenter rushed our job, because he knew that a house that the builder was working on was just about ready for him to do his part. Obviously, he had to keep the builder, his bread & butter, happy. But he also made the comment in reference to our project that "This is just another job" in the sense that, bangity-bang, slap it together, don't stop and look at it from an aesthetic point of view.

I'm convinced that a lot of subs choose to do the work that they do because they hated to read. There was no point in writing notes on the plans or elsewhere--they had no effect. The only thing that worked was to be there and show them what we wanted, and always check to see if it was done correctly ASAP.

BTW, husbands don't usually look for the same things that wives do, especially in a kitchen. And for the most part, they, and most subs seem to be more interested in the construction part than the design part of a project.

Anne

So sorry, there have been many problems on our reno to our bathroom and the new granite in the kitchen. It's so discouraging but I hope it can all be fixed. Good luck and much empathy sympathy coming your way.

I feel your pain too. I went through some problems myself and it was awful. I hope it gets taken care of to your satisfaction.

Just reading your post re-electrified all those horrible memories of our marble counter debacle, the damaged hood, the cracked Rohl's sink that had to be removed after the marble had been installed . . . .

Not without much gnashing of teeth and lost sleep, but it does all eventually get resolved. The tile can be taken off. The GC should make good on the counters. Try to just take good care of yourself as you wend your way through this.

Thanks... today is day 9 of our 3 day project. I've decided to let the backsplash go, though I plan to point out to the GC that because he gave me the amount of tile to buy for the smaller area (that I expected) I had to drive 40 miles after work last night to buy more tile.

I just want the granite fixed and a working sink/cooktop. My college son comes home for spring break starting today.

I know in the scheme of things this is nothing, but I'm feeling borderline homicidal :-(. Thanks for all the sympathy. It is very appreciated.