Oh and don't forget #8.. There is no bread drawer either. He blinked like I'd never mentioned it, even though I gave him a picture of it when I met him.

Sounds like you got someone else's order. Gawd that is just unbelievable. Apparently you have to police everyone at every step of the job...what idiots!!! Stand your ground and don't let them make you compromise. Hang in there and when it is all said and done hit the liquor store. :-)

Just wanted to say Happy Bday...take a deep breath and picture yourself standing in your beautiful finished kitchen, because it will happen one day, believe it or not. :)

Did you sign off on an order stating all those things? A layout of the kitchen with the dimesions? A list of the cabinets and "extras"? Most GCs or KDs will have you sign off that you and they agree that the order is correct.

Anyway, sounds like they will correct everything, but that seems to be an awful lot of stuff to forget. I know that I would tell my GC in passing that I wanted xyz, but they have a lot going on and may not catch it all. But if I give it all in writing, they really can't say they never heard me say it. Seeing as how you did that, I'm not sure why so much was missed. Good luck, and hang in there. It happens to all of us, especially the "only working 3 day" rule. That was my biggest complaint years ago... WHAT are they DOING? Do they not want the job done so they can get paid?

When all was said and done, DH tried to calm me down and I heard him tell his father when I got off the phone, "I'm a little bit afraid of her right now!"

Sounds like something I've heard my DH say - & then he'd stay out of my way, too!

Take a deep breath & get ready for the next round - don't give in on a damn thing. If they had drawings, explanations, etc there is NO excuse for these mistakes. And I'm with you on the cell phone thing - you'd think they were all teenagers!

wow! I can learn from that. Sounds like you need to make copies of agreements and give him one and keep one and tell hm your not paying until it matches.

Don't you have drawings of the plans, etc? I thought you would have signed off on them. This is so strange. I hope it gets worked out ASAP. I'd be livid.

Ugh, sorry to hear, but also glad that they appear to want to make things right. I would make copies of the signed plans and tape the appropriate portions to the areas that do not comply. There's really no weaseling out of what's written in black and white. (!)

I've only got a broken out-of-warranty vent hood to deal with, but I'm raising a solidaritous mimosa in honor of your birthday, nonetheless! :-)

Thanks guys... DH says that on Tuesday HE is going to talk to the GC. He says he's going to pull a Gordon Ramsey. LOL

He is ready to walk from them if they don't "make it right". In fact, he is going to be even harsher than I would be. God bless that man.

Happy Birthday!!! I hope you got to enjoy at least some of your day. Good luck on Tuesday and don't let them get away with this! We'll be waiting to hear what happens. . .

first, happy birthday!

then, don't let them wiggle out of anything! are they running a business or what? they'd get no money til every last thing needed was fixed. totally. that is just ridiculous.

I can see it happening in my situation - my gc is my dbf and he never listens - lol! but neither does he get any money for his work!

sounds like your DH totally understands what it takes to give you a happy birthday. I hope your GC has a "come to Jesus" moment and makes everything right after your DH talks with him.

Did you get drawings that show the type and dimension of each cabinet? Without that, I would suspect that there is no way to absolutely enforce your wishes other than relying on his cooperation in fixing it, hopefully putting the fear of God into him will work if so. Without a spec sheet of some sort (a cabinet listing, floorplan with dimensions, etc) then what he built was open to the interpretation of his understanding of your expectations, which could have been totally off. Verbal communication often fails due to interpretation. Hopefully you have something on paper to fall back on and I am sorry you are having such a terrible time. I hope it gets better quickly and happy birthday!

oh hell, what a way to have a birthday. i'm glad your dh is going to step in---sorry to say contractors sometimes need a guy to get on them. so much angst could be prevented if they would just pay attention, no? and i agree about the cell phones--i simply stop talking and wait for them to hang up--they get the message eventually.
anyway, try to have a happy bday--i'll have a drink for you too.

What a nightmare!!! I hope that your dh has a productive talk with the contractor. And happy birthday!

Bless your heart! hope things are better now. I know what you are talking about. we began our renovation April 12 and have been without a kitchen sink since May 1. we have moved the kitchen to another room and everything has been so slow!! It still won't be finished until Aug. Let me know how yours is going.

You guys have been great. The support here is awesome. I sure needed it.

After we spoke with the GC yesterday, I feel a LOT better. He showed up with the Cabinet maker and we went over everything.

I should add that the first "gotcha" for them was we found the front door knob had been installed backwards, which they quickly fixed.

They agreed to fix everything that was wrong, and are not charges us for any of it. I do wish it had been done right the first time, but in all fairness, I could not ask for a better outcome. I am truly impressed with the GC and the firm he is with.

Another funny note: the cabinet maker had the drawer pulls with him to show me at the end of the meeting that they'd arrived as well, but they were wrong too! They were in chrome (Everything I have is stainless or nickel)and were the wrong style. They are fixing that as well.

In addition, the GC is having one of his contacts repair the edge of our cooktop. I just could not be happier with this guy.

He assured us when he left that they would make everything right. He said all in all I hadn't complained about hardly anything during the process. He liked that we focused on "how to fix" it rather than dwelling on the bad.

They came and got the cabinets today to be re-worked that need it, and should be back on Thursday with the new ones. Then the granite guy comes back Friday. We may have a week delay on everything, but at least I can sleep now and know its going to be ok.

Burgers for one more week! :)

Shew !!!! Sounds like everything is being resolved. Congratulations. Just goes to show you've got to watch & document every step of the process. Then out of the blue- you've got an honest decent GC. Not everyone is that lucky ! BE sure to post pics when all is done & right in your world.

A great model of an assertive customer who won't settle for anything less.

Well the cabinets are back and they are right. The new hardware is being ordered and the granite is going to be fabricated on Monday.

I was a tad p'o'd that when the granite guy came back today, he told me the first slab had already been cut.

I had EMPHATICALLY told him I want to be there when it is cut. The GC was present when he said that.. and I gave him a "look". He hung his head.

I swear what is wrong with these people??? The granite guy is the same guy I said had 2 cell phones at one time when he was templating.

I told him I dare him to cut anymore granite (or his firm) when I am not present. DON'T DARE DO it.

So Monday at 7:30 am I'm going to be there when they cut the 2nd slab for my island (which I've not even SEEN).

These guys are just pissing me off left and right. And I suspect it would not matter WHAT gc i'd chosen.

OK I'm over the granite-glitch too now. I go on Monday morning early to watch him cut the second slab. That is the most important part anyways, since that is the piece that will go on the island.

I'm so close to the finish-line now that I can taste it! (oh lord it does NOT taste like a grilled burger.. lol).

Granite gets cut on monday a.m... electrician and plumber back on wednesday.. the aquamix grout colourant "fix" for the wrong grout color should be in at the end of the week. Since it was on back-order, that tells me it has been a problem for a lot of people. Thank you Bill Vincent for that old post on that fix!

All the appliances are already here.. and my GC says he has an auto-body guy that does classic cars that he thinks can fix my dented corner of my cooktop. I have to give my GC guy credit -- he rocks!

My backsplash tile arrived from the Big O and I'm in love with it. It is perfect with the paint and I think will be perfect with the granite. Glad I got it, because I just read online there was only one box left!

Since the light fixture is in the basement, I told DH tonight that we should put it together ourselves (there are a lot of parts to it). That way I can't blame anyone else other than ourselves if its wrong.

Cross your fingers guys.. I feel like I've run a triathlon.. and I'm approaching the finish tape!

I will soon get to join "the club" of finished kitchens!

Ok we're almost there.

The granite guys cut two different holes wrong in the slab, and I've been very accomodating about it. Of course, I blame the cell phone thing. This was the guy on two cells at once.

One I accepted a repair for -- the mockett. We just won't see it that often - only when the mockett is "up". It was irritating because they actually had the cutout sheet from the mockett company specifying exactly what size that hole should be, but cut it larger anyways.

The other I did not, the prep sink faucet. We ordered a new different faucet tonight and just were not willing to accept another "patch job" on the granite island. They cut the faucet hole so close to the prep sink that the spray would splash over the front edge of the small sink and onto the floor. And they (the granite subcontractors) had the faucet and small prep sink in their possession at the time. DH is going to talk to the GC about purchasing that faucet from us - a Grohe Ladylux Plus in Realsteel with dual spray pullout. We got it at half-price from IraWoods and it was a bargain at the time ($300). GC ought to take us up on it since the warranty goes with it, its never used, and he'd be getting a bargain and so would his customer. Plus, it was his sub's screwup. We'll find out on Monday, but they've been more than fair so far.

My husband commented tonight that since I "went off" on them, not one guy on the job has been answering a cell call in the house -- LOL.

All in all, it will be ok I think. The repair job on the floor grout worked great. They hand painted that aquamix colourant today and its a great match to the den and bathrooms (same tile and suppose to be same grout color). Plus, its also now sealed with that.

I'm almost hoping something else goes wrong because your rant was awe inspiring.

Way to remind them to show some dmn respect.

LOL Dyno, when we were talking with the GC yesterday his cell rang.. he glanced down at it but did not answer. DH was standing there and then laughed out loud and looked at him and said, "it's ok dude, you can answer it.. she's leashed now."

After all of this.. and we're not at the ribbon yet... I must say that my GC has been awesome. I would NOT have wanted to coordinate all this on my own.

I do project management myself - but for software. It's like "herding cats". I just did NOT EVEN want to take on trying to coordinate a new kitchen project. I think the satisfaction aspect has a LOT to do with picking your contractor wisely. We were on a limited budget - but we did not pick the cheapest GC. Cheaper isn't always better.

This GC has gone out of his way for his company to make sure we are happy in the end.

BTW... his "buddy" DID fix the corner of our cooktop and you'd never know there was ever a dent in it.

If you are in the Nashville area and want the name of a great GC, at this point, I'd be happy to recommend them.

Great to hear things are working out! There's nothing like instilling alittle fear to get these guys' attention. I snapped at my arrogant electrician a few days ago to remind him who's in charge but your fury would have made him cry. God how I'd love to see him cry.

Sounds like you are nearing the end. Can't wait to see the pics.