andrea, your first paragraph is almost exactly like mine on my thread "waiting, waiting..."

I'm only 2 or 3 weeks behind , but the delay came after we had ripped out the old kitchen, so it's a few extra weeks ashing dishes in the bathroom and baking pizza at the neighbor's.

Hang in there!

Just think of the positives of September work. No AC so dust won,t be in your HVAC system. Kids are in school, if that matters. Most people will have their vacations over and can work steadily.

Don't worry about forgetting the details. I just went through that with our windows install, and between knowing my standards and the contractor's notes everything was fine.

You need to get the "many, many details that [you] talked about" IN WRITING, IN DRAWINGS, NOW. Verbal discussions about details is probably why so many people in this forum get one thing when they were expecting something else.

Ouch. Your GC may have an apropos word a little stronger than "ouch." The good news: you'll survive.

A couple of years ago almost to the day, we finally ordered our cabs (from HD). It takes about 6 weeks for them to come. As we were mostly DiY, we were good to go. Then my DH, a retired elementary principal, got a call from the school district. One of the elementary school principals quit, the school was moving locations, and school started the next week. Could he come hold the fort for a few days until they hired someone new? Sure. The cabinets arrived and he was still holding the fort. The cabinets were settling in there in the garage and very little work was happening in the kitchen, but school was going great. Eventually, he told them, "Ya know, really...". They did hire someone, but there was a transition period since the person was from out of district and didn't know the ropes in our district. Meanwhile, I was doing all the stuff I could do on my own. May I say that removing wallpaper that has been in place for 25 years is not for the faint of heart? Buying a pop-up tent from Costco and establishing an outdoor kitchen was one of my better ideas. I had lots of time to unload and sort through all the stuff that had been in our cupboards for 37 years, BUT those cabinets in the garage were just taunting us. DH got cut loose eventually and we finally got our cabinets installed. A major bonus was that those few weeks of work paid for several bonus upgrades on the project! The date on our granite install photos says Oct. 1, 2011. It was worth the wait.

Before:

Sorry you're going through this, but I, too am screaming "GET IT IN WRITING!" If you did, your original post didn't sound that way.
There's always going to be something forgotten by you or him. The problem is not only the forgetting, but when you remember something, it's an extra and costs ...$$.

Hang tough.
I'll happen and be gorgeous.

I agree...get it in writing! Even the best intentions may not give you the kitchen you're expecting.

On the other hand, it's going to be a wonderful kitchen and you'll hopefully have it done for the holidays! :)

Yes, I agree with everyone else. Please get all details in writing.

As for waiting, it's a natural part of the remodel process (you couldn't have told me that while I was waiting.)

Please know that you'll have a fabulous kitchen when you're done.

I'm so sorry. Totally understand how you feel!!!

Andrea, how incredibly frustrating! You've been planning this so long. I'm almost as anxious to see it as you are. It will be wonderful, but get everything in writing. I learned that the hard way.

Oh how I know your pain! Our cabinets were to be installed mid-May 2012. The first base cabinets arrived June 8, 2012 (yes, I still remember the date). The rest arrived the week of Halloween 2012. We waited and waited for our custom cabinets. It was worth the wait, but it was so frustrating!

Thanks all! As much as I don't like to hear that other people went through the same thing, it's also a little comforting to know that I'm not the only one.

As to the cautions to "get it in writing" - that's part of what we are finalizing - and where the hold up has been. When we last talked in May, he said that he anticipated cabinet install in July. He has been quite busy with work - which is a good thing and he's had a vacation scheduled too (can't blame anyone for that! I want one as well!!! I'll NEED one by the time the kitchen is complete!)

The cabinet maker gave us an estimate based on my drawings...there have been a few minor things that I have changed since then with the cabinets, and he has my updated drawings on that. But he wanted to come in and do his own measurements and his own drawing (which I encourage wholeheartedly...I want him to be responsible if there's anything that is off, not me) - which will be attached as part of our agreement. As well as all the "details".

Ours is not a small project. There are a lot of cabinets and a ton of details that we have gone over (thanks GWers!)....to be fair, his admission that he might not have all the details clear on some of the interiors is far superior to his saying "oh yeah, we're good". Honestly, it's hard for me to remember all the details and with it being in the agreement, it will be way less of a potential issue.

So yes, I've heard you all loud and clear on the "get it in writing"...and that's where we're at our hold up is right now. We'll get there. Disappointment is that it took him this long to tell me that he re-needs some of my details so he can get everything finalized. And a fair additional dose of disappointment to find that we aren't just a few weeks out, but a few months from getting our cabinets.

I will be recompiling everything and getting it sent out via email here shortly. We'll get there, just going to take some time....I feel as if this is the never-STARTING project. :( And it keeps giving me time to doubt some of my decisions and pain myself over them.

Our custom cabinets were installed on time but, after 2 months, we're still waiting on our backsplash. It is frustrating and looking back, I wish now that I had insisted in writing that we be given a discount of 2 to 5% for every week the project was delayed beyond the promised date. Does anyone ever do this?