Um, bought our house last May---a foreclosure.

Still have kitchen to finish, shop and sewing room to do, crown molding in whichever rooms, landscaping, three doors to replace/repair, two storm doors to replace, garage walkin door glass to replace, garage door opener to replace, and about three dozen pictures to hang.

Oh, forgot all the closet redo's---shelves in, some out, lights in some, two ceiling fans to replace, a new water softener to replace one that is broken, and maybe a new electrical service.

And then there is-----what?--------you don't give a rats patootie about MY problems? Ok, never mind----(Sigh)

How about 8,( that's right eight) months to re model a 10 by 12 bath??

I am having more and more of these days lately -- we are at the "end" of a what has turned into a whole house remodel. 3 story addition, every bathroom re-done, new kitchen, master, laundry/office/mudroom. When they finally leave there will not be a room in the house that has not been altered in some way! After being w/out a kitchen for 8 weeks, no laundry for 2 1/2 months we are getting ready to do that just "one more time" as we move out next week so they can take care of floor finishing. In theory, that should be the last piece of this project, but my punch list is growing so they are going to be coming back again, and probably again and again.

I will be over the moon to actually have my house back! I just want to wake up and not prepare for someone else to be here! The "end" is the worst part, it just seems to be dragging on foorreevveerr!

8 MONTHS for a bathroom? Oh my gosh, mine are just a few weeks behind schedule and I've already been tempted to tell them that I'm selling their equipment on Craigslist if they aren't done soon.

I find myself at work saying "if they don't have x done today, I'm going to lose it."

Our remodel 20 yrs ago (with a partner) was supposed to take two months and ended up 18+ months, at a cost five times what was estimated. Our partner went bankrupt (due to other obligations and a greedy now-ex-wife's demands for a 'secure' lifestyle) and we followed suit a year later. Took us almost a decade to dig ourselves out of the hole and I was beginning to think we would never, ever see any profit from this place!

Thankfully, the runup in RE equity in the last 10 yrs worked to our favor, and so even with the current pullback in house prices, we have our mortgage paid off and about half a million in equity.

The thing that really flabbergasted me was I recovered enough to do a SECOND round of remodeling 14 years later! This was relatively minor, no plumbing or electrical (did all that in the original painful gutting) - just new kitchen counters and sink, and updating the two bathrooms with nicer cabs and showers.

This second round was supposed to take two weeks and cost $17K. It finally ended three months later at a total of $23K. Had a very nice contractor who did good work, just ran into (yet again, you'd think I know better by now) unexpected problems when we broke into a couple of walls.

As one of my friends said ruefully when I asked him how his condo bathroom remodel was coming along - "Well, so far I'm on week 8 of a six-week remodel!"

8 MONTHS for a bathroom?

Hard to believe, but true. Very nice outcome, but would I recommend them? I don't think so.

I'm having one large bedroom completely remodeled as in new drywall on ceiling and walls, heat ducts run in and new electrical. Everything that was in that room had to be put somewhere, and I have furniture stuffed to the hilt in one other room, down through the hallway and the mattress set leaning up against the cabinet in the livingroom, knic-knacs and junk setting on every possible surface throughout the house. UGH! It's only been three weeks, and I'm about to go bonkers making my way by paths.

I swear I didn't even know I had this much stuff in that room, and half of it is NOT going back in. Painter comes tomorrow, then I'm priming and painting the trim, carpenter comes back to put that up - and I'm moving back in there no matter what!

To top it off, I have a crew coming in a week to begin repairs on the house foundation. Give me strength.

This is hilarious - I could have written this myself and in fact almost started a thread on the exact same thing today. The only way I've made it through the past SIX months is that the project was supposed to be completely finished in 6 months tops. Well, that's not happening and from where we are right now, it will most likely be a minimum of 2 more - if we're lucky!! So yes, I am ready to kill any contractor who walks through the door!

Jeanninepc99 - that's a GREAT idea of selling the equipment on Craigslist - then at least we'll have money to finally finish this stupid project! I know exactly how you feel!

Which leads me to our situation: After 6 months we thought we were close to the "end" also. We were ready to have floors go in, then kitchen cabinets, granite, etc could go in, as well as all the tile work in a bathroom (which is sitting around ready to go). Well, since our contractor (who came highly recommended from several similar projects right before ours began) can't seem to manage anything, much less his finances, we've come to find out that we've paid him too much already at this point, however he somehow "doesn't know where the money has gone"!!!!!!!!!!! So...that means that he has no money for the floors to be put in and nothing else can happen until then! Unless we want to pour even more money into this and buy the floors simply to get it finished (as well as everything else that he should be paying for at this point), we're stuck with waiting until God knows when. And in the meantime, he's piddling around doing practically nothing every day. He might as well go and work on some other job and get paid since he's of no use with our project right now - then at least maybe he'd have some money to put the floors in. I'm so mad I honestly just want to tell him to get lost and that I never want to see his face again. But that would mean we would be out even more money and still not finished for months. There's just no good answer!

Alice462 - are you saying that your 3-story addition is almost finished in just 4 1/2 months?? If so, I'm extremely jealous! :) Not that 4 1/2 months is not long enough and that it isn't horrible dealing with all the hassles, but our similar project will end up lasting at least 8 months if not more. We were supposed to be doing only an addition, however got into changing a lot in the existing house, as well as updating all systems, deciding on floor refinishing, painting, etc. Until the above debacle, so now we're in limbo...

Thank goodness our condo board hasn't formed yet (can't happen until something like 70% of units are sold). If they were in place, I'd have a fine right now. There's a honkin' big vanity sitting outside my condo along with buckets, tile bits, and shower backer board.

They took the granite top of the vanity...which I'm fine with, as I don't want to be responsible for getting rid of any of this stuff, but without the granite top, I'm not sure anyone's going to want the vanity. Instead of posting it for free on Craigslist, I have to wait for them to take it away.

Argh!

We turned a corner, though. They seem to be picking up the pace. Maybe they read these forums!

How's this one. On Wednesday our contractor literaly turned our entire back yard into a pond by leaving a water hose on full blast overnight (at least 14 hours). Yes, I want and need them out of my house ASAP (we've been out since Oct.) - should have been done by mid-February for a kitchen and baths remodel.

I'm going to write a book about our experiences remodeling which will be a best seller and completely halt the entire remodeling industry.

This year is my third in our 90 day remodel project (I can't tell you how many times I heard 90 days LOL) During the remodel we've lived in our basement, lived in a hovel we rented for six months (when we just had 30 days left) hint...don't try to rent with two cats and a baby during the height of Alaska's tourism season! We purchased another house to live in because it was obvious our home would never be finished and we've fired...I don't know the number...close to 8 contractors of different kinds. And it's still not done.

Two magazines wanted to feature the house and kept calling to find out when we were ready...they don't call anymore.

When I fired contractor number something, I decided to take on the plaster work myself. I couldn't find my ladder (new) and had to use the one left by the contractor instead. It had been recalled, collapsed (sturctural failure was the recall reason) and threw me a few feet, landing on my left hand (I had a plaster knife in the other hand) and shattering my wrist so badly I had to have a donor bone replace part of mine. I now can't go through airport security without setting off the metal detectors. (Screws and pins and a plate to hold the donor's bone in). And to make the event really special, we lost a baby because I fell off that ladder (I didn't know I was pregnant and the test came out negative at the hospital but it was too early to have known). We lost the baby due to the anestisia and some drugs given for pain which damaged the fetus.

We've been swindled out of thousands, literally thousands of dollars by contractors who took our payment in full and then sold our product (tile, counters, etc).

I'm on my last contractor, who promises on his life to have the place finished by May...I asked what year and he gave me a funny look :) But he is doing great and maybe, just maybe, we'll be finished in may without anyone dying on site.

I've given up on seeing the tools leave the site, instead I've named them so they feel more like family :) I also dress them up in baby cloths over the weekend. Their diapers are never wet. They don't poop and they never talk back...they're the perfect child.

I drink a lot more now. It helps. I also swerve my car towards any truck that looks like it might be carrying a contractor...it makes me feel better to see the look of panic on their faces.

We're buying a new house...it needs to be remodeled

I'm obviously a mental patient. But then again, anyone who's been remodeling their home as long as we have would be easily certifiable along with me.

We are just adding a screened porch and replacing 2 doors. It started in early December and was supposed to be finished quickly. It is nobody's fault. In fact, I was slow to pick out some things because so much was coming at one time--Christmas, birthday, anniversay, 3 trips to see elderly mother, volunteer commitments, husband's work, taxes--I don't know how anybody stands a whole house renovation. Then picking out exterior paint when there is no sun and all rain for weeks was a nightmare. I would make my next guess, wait for a sunny day, wait for the painter to come climb his ladder, wait for it to dry and then realize it was the wrong color. After trying several creative choices, I ended up with a version of white--a custom version--but nevertheless, cream/white. I need some encourage on the decision I have made. Will post some pictures, tell you all my mistakes so far and ask you to tell me how to make lemonade out of lemons.

Oh, I'm so there. DH and I sit around in the evenings, weighing the pros and cons of murdering one tradesman versus another. I've been telling him, I'll do the deed and if I get the right grand jury, I won't even be indicted.

Our six-month project started on July 1 and is now going until June 1 (architect's laughable estimate). We moved into a two-month sublet on July 1 so the messiest of the work (a/c ducting, heat pipe installation) could be done. Two additional sublets and six months later, we moved back into what I call the Dust Bowl, figuring our irritated and constant presence would make everyone work harder, faster and better. Hah.

During the course of this, we fired the painters and the first air-conditioning contractor due to gross incompetence bordering on contempt (painters) and outright thievery (a/c guy). We were on the brink of firing the carpenter until he saw the light and our architect and construction manager are on warning that NO ONE on this job is indispensable.

The deeper we get into this, the more we realize how badly our construction manager and architect have done their job. These guys could not coordinate a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, and they are making a continuous hash of our project. I'm the de facto CM at this point, calling the contractors myself to make sure they have the materials they need and the guys available to do the work for the upcoming week.

The joy of all this is, this is only Part One of a three part reno (Part 2 is the kitchen, bathroom and basement), so in a year or so, we get to do it all again!

Four and one half years without a kitchen (or liveable first floor really)

and I mean NO kitchen. a microwave and a small cube refrigerator with no freezer.

And if I had ended up with the downstairs it was turning into with the first contractor, I would have moved by now...it was a blessing in disguise. You can get fast and you can get good, you can rarely get both.

What the heck have they been doing for FOUR YEARS?!?

The first general contractor and I parted ways by mutual agreement. It took 6 months to find someone whom I both liked and would agree to take on a started project. And then I waited for them

The historic plaster contractor fired his apprentice and they literally put their stuff down and went home. They never even took their equipment. I would have worked with him but he didnt want to undo the mess his apprentice made. It took me six months to find someone who DID historic work beside him, and I waited six months for him to be available.

There was about 18 months where absolutely nothing happened at all, and there were other periods where y couldnt be done because x wasnt done etc.

At some point you just shut down and live with it.

However, the thing that I Don't quite understand is when things are done Wrong toward the end of a job and my clients don't want the contractor to fix it because done wrong is better than not done yet. To me thats kind of like saying you want to have your baby after 6 months because you are tired of being pregnant and if its only a little disabled as a result youre cool with that because you are tired of beign pregnant.

LOL Palimpsest, I completely agree with you on that baby annology. I am always suprised when I read that people recommend "just live with it and see if it grows on you" or "it's not that bad, you won't notice it a month from now". BS baby! I notice that crap, and I didn't let any of it stay. That meant the tub deck was done three times, the shower twice, the bathroom floor three times. The cabinets twice (the first order was returned due to quality...severe quality issues!) blah blah blah. I also had down periods while finding another contractor. And you're right, you live with the mess because it's worth it to get it right...even if that takes years LOL

I'm cautiously optimistic that we will actually finish this year. Our current (gad fourth general contractor I think) is fabulous. He is fixing all kinds of things that went wrong with our woodwork (cabinets, trim etc) and doing a bang up job of it. :) If this guy stays this fabulous...we're going to kidnap him and keep him for all future work (don't tell him ok?) I might consider loaning him out on occasion, but we're not telling his wife and baby where he is...we have another big house to do and don't want him to be distracted heh heh

I was supposed to come home today to find my new toilet installed.

I have no toilet. In a one bathroom condo.

The bathroom is actually where I thought it would be on day 4 or 5. No shower, no sink, no toilet. WTF.

(*Snort*) and hugs to you, JeanninePC99 - been there, lived through that. I have a construction management meeting tomorrow at 8AM, at which my CM is supposed to explain why major bathroom work (mud pour, start of tiling) which was to happen the first week of February is still not done. Did I mention that the tiler still isn't scheduled, since the CM is running into problems with the electrician, a/c guy and insulation crew, who need to be out of the bathroom area before the tiler comes in??

Yet the work schedule which the CM just emailed shows the same completion date as he was promising in late January.

WTF indeed. That'll be my first question to him. The second: what color is the sky in your world?

[imagine head-banging-against-wall icon here]

This thread is seriously keeping me sane. If I didn't have your stories to make my situation seem manageable, I'd lose it!

Realistically, they can't be putting that toilet in today, right? They have to lay tile, let it dry for 24 hours, grout the tile, and then put the toilet in. I probably won't have a toilet for at least two more days, right?

My boyfriend cleaned his place up big time so that I would feel comfortable staying over there...better let him know I'll be coming over tonight.

I'm one of those people who say, "It's not exactly what I wanted, but I'd better be glad it's getting done". I'm too nice. I'm always volunteering to help (?!). I stay out of the worker's way for fear of bothering him. I hate hurting their feelings. Feel it's my fault for not making it clear what I wanted in the first place. The whole business stresses me out.

I haven't lost as much as some people here, but I did have a guy agree to repair my front porch who left with $900 of my money and I never saw him again. And the porch never got repaired.

After reading this thread, I don't feel so bad that remodeling 2 bathrooms took 6 1/2 months. You'd think the Great Recession would have the contractors on their toes, with only the best workmen finding work. Good luck to everyone!

I don't feel so bad now, reading these stories!

We're 5.5 months in to a total inside out remodel - the outside took about a month - all landscaping removed, new hardscape, replacing rotten clapboards and trim, paint.

Then in November we moved out and the interior was completely gutted, walls moved, staircase relocated, 1/2 bath added downstairs. So far two 1 month delays - first for the foam insulation guy to come and then come back to fix it, second for our inept old timer plumber trying to figure out our fancy new technology furnace.

And of course our contractor has a ski house, so he's taken a few long weekends. But now finally things are moving again, and he seems to think that an April 24th deadline (because of our builder's risk insurance running out) is doable at least for our occupancy inspection. Not that we'll be moving in then, of course - but we could. ;-)

We are doing this long distance, so thank god we havent' had to be living there while it's being worked on - not that we could have, since it was totally gutted. It's our second home so we can at least live in the comfort of our other house - though not being there and trying to do things long distance has probably slowed things down quite a bit.

Of course the budget is out of control - but most of it is our own doing - picking fancy custom mouldings, doors, and stair parts. Choosing to put a walnut border in our quartersawn oak floors. So DH is manifesting his stress through physical symptoms (pining over the minute details, fretting about the budget, etc. etc.) and so it can't be over soon enough.

It's our summer house, so as long as we can be somewhat settled by Memorial day.....we'll see!

O.k. this posting immediately caught my eye. I was ready to add my list of complaints as just today our plumber (the 3rd one so far)left early because he was sick. (I guess whatever he was sick with for 2 days last week came back). But there are people here who have it much worse than I so I do so I don't feel right adding my complaints. I do sympathize with everyone here and send out positive thoughts to everyone!!!

BTW, Schoolhouse - I'm alot like you - except for the volunteering part but I think I'm a bit too nice and wimpy. I got stuck talking for 45 minutes with one of the guys as he told me his whole life story and all his woes - from his wife's weight (and I quote "I remember when her whole a$$ fit in just one of my hands" !!!) to his daughters and their boyfriends & having to watch the grandkids and a pyscho dog and a story of him running down the street in his underwear chasing the boyfriend and now one of his daughters thinks she is bi....

All the while as I'm being sympathetic and offering words of encouragement I'm thinking about all the stuff that is not getting done.

Good luck to us all!

All the while as I'm being sympathetic and offering words of encouragement I'm thinking about all the stuff that is not getting done.

LOL when I read this - sooooooo true!

Why do some workers pour their souls out to us? LOL

My tile guy is sort of friends with my boyfriend, but my boyfriend has no idea that the tile guy's daughter had a trampoline accident, that his ex-wife left her 10 year old dog with him, that his girlfriend's son is a terror, etc.

My plumber still misses his 60 lb. boxer that died 8 years ago at the age of 13. I've heard story after story of their adventures together. My dog loves him (and the tile guy, for that matter) and greets they joyfully when they come over, follows them around, and watches them from the bathroom door. I think that makes the plumber miss his old dog. Poor guy.

There are times that I think I'm providing counseling serivces.

I feel terrible reading these posts and thinking - OMG we are SO lucky!! And also getting a chuckle or two ;-) All my subs are friendly but TG the personal stories have not run quite so personal - wow.

I really do feel for all of you and know that I really should be so very grateful for our moody but way above average GC. His cabinet maker is a bit flakey and has to redo a lot - which he does do at his expense. He is sometimes a few days - not weeks or months - late. Every single other sub has been on time and finished the work exactly when we needed them to. They are all also great people who I have really enjoyed working with and talking to.

We had plans drawn up for a whole house remodel after we bought our current house. I thought my husband was joking when he called them the "10 Year Plan"...He wasn't.
We are on year five.
So far, we have added two bedrooms, redone two bedrooms and one bath, ripped out one bedroom and one bath, and ripped out one fireplace. Two baths and a kitchen are in progress.
We have also added three children since moving in, which helps explain why progress has been slow (we are doing much of it ourselves) and the race is on to see if at least one more bath and the kitchen get finished before the baby due in May arrives.
One positive, though: The tax assesser had to lower our valuation for taxes since we are down to one bath, 4 bedrooms, no fireplace, etc!

I think this thread should become a 'sticky' to be read by anyone thinking about remodeling -- especially anyone doing *extensive* remodeling.

I'd like to make an additional remodeling caveat to all the 'time & turmoil' so well expressed above. It's this: What do you have at the end of your project? What is the MARKET VALUE of your remodeled home? (Let's leave out anyone subject to California's peculiar tax laws.)

OK, so I *am* the self-appointed Teardown Queen, but unless you have a historic home, I doubt many of the posters in this thread are money ahead by remodeling instead of buying a better existing home or doing a teardown and having an all new home.

I hear your pain, everyone!

Dare I say that there is hope at the end?

We just finished remodeling our 36 square foot kitchen. The most frustrating part was quiet time laws. We had to stop at 5:00 every night. We weren't even allowed to use power tools on Sunday. Sooo frustrating. The project took forever. We just tore down the tarp.

Like Chisue said, you have to want to remodel for the love and hope of your space. We loved everything about our home except that kitchen. Here's the before/after below if you're interested. We just can't stop staring at what we've done.

Here is a link that might be useful: our Just Finished kitchen remodel

Katie,

I thought that your 36 square-foot kitchen must be a typo, so I clicked on the link to your blog. Yep, that's a small kitchen. But what a great job you did with it. Congrats! But explain to me how, as tenants, your landlord allowed you to tear out the old kitchen and put in a new one. Has or will the landlord reimburse you when you move? I've heard that home ownership in Germany is relatively low, so has renovating an apartment you don't own just become an accepted way for Germans to improve their abode?

Sorry to hijack this thread. I'll post at a later time with one of my not-so-horrible tales regarding my whole-house reno.

Soooo...my last end date was last Friday. Turns out the tile work wasn't done until yesterday, but that's pretty good timing.

The plumber was supposed to show on Monday evening to install the shower fixtures and sink. No show.

Then he was supposed to show on Tuesday evening to install the shower fixtures and sink. No show.

I've been promised that he is coming today.

It's so annoying to see a finished shower with no means for running water in it! I haven't taken a shower in my condo in a month. I've been going next door to my neighbor's place. Argh!

These guys are used to working on big projects and a lot of new construction. I realize that working in a small place and for a new homeowner is different, but they have promised so much and left me hanging. What's worse is that the main guy is a friend of my boyfriend's!

If I don't go home to a working sink and shower, I'm going to scream.

I've come to find that the mindset of a contractor is very different than that of the general public - when they say they will be somewhere on a specific date/time it really means:
1) If they feel like showing
2) If something else doesn't come up (and don't expect a call!)
3) If they even remember they told you they would be there in the first place!

Jeanninepc99 - We've had the same experience with a plumber. You would honestly think that he was doing the job for free out of the goodness of his heart since every time he has shown up (and it usually involves at least 5 no-shows before he actually does) he has complained non-stop - as if he's doing us a favor!!! Can you tell I am SICK of contractors??!

It's supposedly done...but why are their things still here? Why is my place a mess? Why would I want calk? Grout?

BAH! I don't want to tackle this on a Thursday night after a long day of work.

I wonder what size bathrooms and kitchens you all have.. that it takes that much time. Or you are mostly redoing everything up to the frame?
No to be disrespectful, but we did our kitchen andour bath in 2 weeks doing it on evenings and 3 weekends. Bathroom - took away old tile, put in new tile, changed faucets (total 4 days). Kitchen - we had oak cabinets, my DH sanded them to the bare wood (all doors, sidez, insides, outsides), repainted all shelves, covered cabinets with polishade, changed vynil floor to hardwood, changed appliances, installed over the range microwave himself, put under-cabient lighting, removed old countertop and we had a granite guy install new one, put new crownmolding on the top of the cabinets, put new tile-stone on the wall between cabinets and the countertop. Well, our kitchen is not a big one, just a condo eat-in-kitchen, but still we did it all ourselves, on evenings and some weekends (can not do noise on weekends) in 2weeks... Maybe I do not udnerstand the "remodel".... maybe it is something much bigger than what we did.

Every day I come to this site just to see the title of this post--it gives me a laugh and helps me stay sane through this seemingly endless bathroom remodel.

Bathroom - took away old tile, put in new tile, changed faucets (total 4 days).
You did a cosmetic reno (tile and fixtures). We did more of a tear out. The only thing I kept was the bathtub.

Or you are mostly redoing everything up to the frame?

I shall answer this in pictures.

Bathroom - took away old tile, put in new tile, changed faucets (total 4 days).You did a cosmetic reno (tile and fixtures). We did more of a tear out. The only thing I kept was the bathtub.

Another tear out here. Our prior bathroom, the only one on the bedroom/3rd floor of the house, measured a whopping 5'x6', with the pedestal sink overhanging the toilet on one side and the clawfoot bathtub on the other. You could barely sit on the toilet without your knees hitting the doorknob (old house, tall skinny doors with low-placed knobs). No tile anywhere in the bathroom, only refinished pine subfloor serving as floor. No ventilation either. Bathroom in need of a tear out, believe me.

Our remodeling is taking long for many reasons, of which I have to remind myself frequently to avoid going too crazy. We are rearranging the layout of 3/4's of our main level, while needing to keep it livable at the same time. Also, we are doing it as available cash and time allow. Dh also changed jobs, and has to travel a bit more as a result, slowing things down a bit. We also took last summer completely off from working on the house, so we could enjoy the summer with the kids.
Also, there is no way we could afford to do a teardown and rebuild, while renting a house large enough for our family at the same time. As it is, considering what we paid for our 4 acres, we got the house for free. The property would have sold for more as bare land! The 70's rambler was solid and very livable, though, and met our needs for a house that we could make our own over time.
Another benefit of remodeling is that it provides a "hobby" for both of us-for me, I get to do the design work, although we did hire an architect to help with the layout; and for dh, it gives him a physical outlet after spending hours at a desk every day.
The risk of actually completely this remodel is that then we will have to start all over, although our next house we will start from scratch and build a timber frame. :-)

....Uh ohhhh...., oh, yes I get it! You're kidding, aren't you? Ah levity, I so love it! It's a good thing because we break ground on our humoungous remodel/build-out next week. What's that? You're not kidding? "Honey, honey.......did you mail that check to the contractor yet?"

As an optimistic new recruit I say let's soldier on brave remodelers! You're a hardy bunch!

I am glad to know that we are not the only people frustrated with the remodeling industry!! When the contractor says 3 months, I laugh and say do you mean real months or contractor months. Our last remodel (3 months) lasted two years! LOL about the personal family history comments. It is true---you find out stuff that you don't need to know about! igloochic, my heart goes out to you. You sure have had more than your share of challenges. I hope that it is smooth sailing from here on out. BTW we have already fired our first contractor, we will see how the second one does.

i've enjoyed the humor - hard to believe you have any left tho.
it really makes me want to just throw up - I haven't really started yet. I guess that's a premonition? I was hoping to be in the new place by now - even if the work (other than cleaning) wasn't done yet...
it'd take a miracle for it to all come together (for the move) in month. oh dear me.

omg we are not going with the second contractor either. now we are on to our third. wish us luck!

We started our remodel in January and it was supposed to be done by the end of May. Here we are halfway through July and have at least several weeks to go. We added a garden garage on the basement level and a family room above. We added a laundry room on the main level and expanded a big closet into another bedroom above the laundry room. We also annexed the old laundry room to add a desk and butler's pantry to the kitchen, swapped the kitchen sink and dishwasher locations, reused old cabinets, and added some new cabinets and new counter tops.

My biggest problems have been the contractor's health issues, the framer's health issues, the trim carpenter's mother's health issues, rainy weather, and bad attitudes. Also, money. The general asked for a payment in advance of when it was due (red flag) because he had bills due on other jobs that were done before mine. All of the subs have told me they won't work for him again because he doesn't pay. I'm preparing lien releases this afternoon.

Also, I purchased most of the items that were in allowances (like kitchen cabinets, counter tops, appliances, lights and plumbing fixtures, carpeting) myself because I got better prices on everything or at least could get what I wanted when the suppliers for the general didn't have what I wanted. When I said I was going to subtract the money that I was out-of-pocket for the allowances from the second draw, he flipped and said that would be a breach of contract. I did some quick calculations and figured if I went ahead and paid the entire draw, I wouldn't owe anything at the end, so I stupidly did pay it all. Now, with all the mistakes that have been made, I think he will end up owing me money at the end!

Here's a short list of the problems.
They poured the foundation wall for the laundry room wrong and now the laundry room (and the bedroom above it) are 6" less deep than they should have been.

They poured the floor of the garden garage sloped the wrong way so it doesn't drain if we get water in there. Then they cut grooves in the floor so water would drain when we washed off the mower, but they are crooked and jagged and overlap at the doorway leaving a little "pillar" of concrete that will surely break off.

They left the downspouts off the front of the house for months, so with all the heavy rain we've had, all the water washed under the foundation and soaked through the walls of the garden garage, ruining the drywall and paint with mildew.

The gutter installer ran a downspout so it washed uphill on the new family room roof and caused a water leak the first time it rained after that. They had to repair the drywall and repaint half the room, as well as extend the downspout to the gutter below as it should have been done.

The electricians installed a ceiling fixture 10" out of alignment with the one across the room it was supposed to line up with. Now they have to move the fixture, repair the drywall, and repaint the ceiling.

They tore up the daylight drain that ran across the backyard and caused it to plug up. Wasn't a problem until it got hot and we turned on the air conditioner. Then the condensate had nowhere to go and flooded a room in the basement.

They tore up the TV cable that ran across the yard even though I told them where it was before they started. They also tore up the dog fence wire in several areas. Now they say we are responsible for getting them repaired.

They put vents to the outside in the crawlspace under the new laundry room, but they are blocked off with tyvek and now the whole basement smells "like a basement".

The plumber was re-routing the pipes under the kitchen floor for the sink/DW swap and got called away to an emergency. He didn't come back to finish that day and when one of my kids took a shower upstairs that evening, water started pouring into the floor of the kitchen and the ceiling of our theater room in the basement. Luckily I got my hand over the open end of the pipe before it flooded the electronics, but the ceiling was ruined and the chairs and carpet got wet. In his favor, the plumber came back that night to cap the pipe that was accidentally left open.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. If I'm not standing watch every second that someone is working, something gets done wrong. Yet I overheard the drywall guy say to another sub, "I wish [the GC] would grow some b---s and not let the homeowner get involved in our business." This from the guy who slung drywall mud ten feet away so it got on kid's toys that should have been well out of harm's way. He also tracked it all through the house on our hardwood floors (that are not being refinished) and did a lousy job to boot.

I'm so done with these morons. I've lost my sense of humor, I don't trust anyone, I just want my kitchen back. If I hadn't overpaid, I'd tell them all to get lost and hire someone else.

A word of advice to anyone else contemplating a remodel, put deadlines and penalties for not meeting them, into the contract. Add that things you buy on your own get subtracted right away from the allowances.

jjanddk,

Yes I hear you, so we had to get rid of the next gc. We are working with the next two for bids. We hope to find one that can do the work without the drama drama!! Plus, I had to pull my own permits, because of some timing issues. We are so frustrated! Where are the honest decent contractors who want to be paid fairly and who will do what they say they will do in a timely manner!!!

Oh no, I'm back to this thread three months after my last post and we're STILL not done. Latest estimate is September 1. Construction Manager remains mired in incompetence, Architect has mentally checked out of the project, we hate most of our tradespeople and we had a theft from the house two weeks ago, engendering even more mistrust and anger on our parts. Two crews, plumbing and plastering, were on site when the theft occurred; the plumbing crew boss had the nerve to tell us that most of the people who work for him are relatives, so naturally it's impossible that they could be the thieves. Yeah, like that's the imprimatur of honesty, Buddy, that they're related to you. (*insert eye-rolling smiley here*)

Jjanddk, what a mess. Hang in there.

I am frustrated and we haven't even started our remodel! Think about how "postal" I might go when we finally start working on this project!

Have had our plans with the City for four months and can't get them to issue our building permit. We hired an architect that has a lot of prior of experience with them and a GC/contractor who has done two jobs with them before just because I wanted the city to feel like we had hired people they endorsed....and so far these guys have been wonderful. But the City--sheesh they could care less if we remodeled or not (even with the extortion fees!). I am blown away that the two city plan checkers wield this much power. My painter, my drywallers, my craftsman and the window people have expressed their interest in working and paying their own bills.....they WANT to work but are waiting and waiting for my project to start. Know how we can jump start the economy? Get the darn City Building Depts to get going!?

Honestly, the number of tests, geotechnical reports and various "experts" who have had to consult on my 1,000 sq ft addition is mind-blowing. A one-story rancher staying a one-story rancher but without the 1950s small kitchen....you'd think I was building the Taj Mahal.

After reading your posts above, at least I know now that the worst may still be in front of me! :) Here I was thinkign that once we finally get approval it will all be great!! Man do I need a reality check!

heck, I'm tired of it and haven't even started yet. just reading, asking, learning all about this has plumb tuckered me out! if anyone was here i'd tell them to LEAVE! lol!