Ok, this will be long so make a drink and pull up a chair.

I was posting here a bit back in the end of 06 and early 07, haven't been much enthused about kitchens since.

New cabinets, counters, some new appliances back splash and bay window. On a separate contract was new vinyl windows in the rest of the house. All together 2 weeks for the kitchen and 2 weeks for the windows. Supposedly.

To try and make this a little short.

Contractor was rarely on site. First his mother in law was sick, then he couldn't find enough help, then his daughter was in a diabetic coma, then he had heart issues.

Cabinets had issues from day one. Every person from the contractor, to his foreman to the various carpenters he had on site, all promised that issues would be fixed. No, put them up, covered the issues with molding or putty then put the granite counters on. THEN put the doors and drawers back on. Which is when the issues became really noticeable. Thinking it's the doors, contractor orders new doors.

This majority of the work was done in Oct-Nov 06.

January 07 - foreman comes out to try and fix cabinets. Supposedly adjusts all doors and drawers. Removes unnecessary trim, fixed broken hinges, etc, etc. Doors and drawers still don't close properly.

Windows aren't in yet, because 1st order were ALL ordered too small.

Foreman repeatedly drops tools on uncovered floor, resulting about 2500.00 in damage.

February 07 - Met with contractor, we wanted everything ripped out. Things weren't getting better, but worse. Contractor says no, but he will reface them for cost. ANOTHER set of doors, and cover the boxes in wood veneer. I've seen refacings that turned out really well. Um, not ours.

Meanwhile, finally get the bay window ordered, that was supposed to be installed back in the beginning. The guy that ordered the windows, wanted to build the bay, rather than order a pre made one. So, we had 3 loose windows, but no bay. But, contractor says that's my fault.

March-april-may-june-july 07 - refacing is started by contractor, as foreman has quit. To date there have been 6 different carpenters and helpers on site. During refacing, the girl in charge tells me "this is the first one I've supervised by myself", and the latest helper putting up the trim tells me "I was hired to install appliances, I've never done finish work before"

Windows are put in. Almost all interior sills are gouged and not repaired.

Sliding door put in. Has 3 black lines running in between the glass.

Supports for bay window. Big ugly supports crucial to support the window and granite top? Not actually supporting window. 1/8 gaps between them and window. Maybe they are supposed to catch it if it falls?

Veneer bubbling up on cabinets. multiple repairs attempted by carpenters, only making matters worse.

3 doors that will not take finish properly. Contractor to order new doors and get back to me.

October 2007 - Finish starts peeling and chipping off of cabinet doors. Worse in areas around sink or doors I actually open and close. Still no word from contractor.

Have our attorney, send him a letter giving him 45 days to finish and correct the problems or he's fired. Heard from him 4 days later, faxed him punchlist and never heard from him again.

Jan-Feb 2008 Filed complaint with contractors board and his bonding company.

No cabinet companies or furniture refinishers will attempt to repair the finish. Sears will remove the veneer and put their own on for about 19k. To replace everything with new, about 26k.

We don't want to put a 4th set of doors on these cabinets. The frames are already cracking and splitting.

Right now, we've got 7k from the end of the contract and his bonding company can pay up to 12.5k. Unless we sue him, we will eat the rest , about 6k. IF the bonding company pays the max. And I do have moments where I'm willing to spend way more than that to make his life miserable. But then, I calm down.

We're exchanging letters through his bonding company. He says it can all be fixed. I say he had months to fix it.

So, moral of the story. IF you think something is wrong, go with your gut, and push hard to get it fixed or not installed at all until it's right.