Let my mistake be your warning

12 years ago

I've gained much needed warnings & advice so let me be one to pass something along.

REVIEW the countertop template!!

I didn't and the breakfast bar is off (as in SMALLER). I'm going to live with it & get some narrow stools but I admit I'm pretty disappointed. DH is a VERY glass 1/2 full guy and he says "looks like you can get the stools you wanted even quicker now" (instead of using old ones).

I keep reminding myself of what we lived with before & how this whole project is MORE than I could ever dream. So I'm thankful and will get over it.

I just wanted to pass the warning along.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

AilsaM
12 years ago
I can agree with this wholeheartedly. We put our trust in professionals to do what we want correctly. If they make a mistake or do something differently due to miscommunication or misunderstanding then the onus is ours to verify and confirm our desires are communicated and met. Trust but verify is my motto.
aloha2009
12 years ago
Luckily I'm not having to continue to live with the mistake from a template error any longer, but I did and I'd always remembered it every time I looked at it.

Because they had mismeasured the desk area (measured it bigger), they couldn't use the same slab as the rest of the kitchen, when ultimately they could have if they had measured it correctly.

I agree with having a second pair of eyes go over the template.
Related Discussions
How do I rectify my mistake with my garden soil?
Q
Comments (1)
I would leave the fabric in place and just keep a goodly amount of mulch on top of it. Understand that as your mulch is digested by the Soil Food Web other "weeds" will grow in there, but they are easily dispatched
...See More
Your Biggest Gardening Mistake
Q
Comments (31)
When I make new gardens I do not plow or turn the soil. I lay down about six layers of newspaper right on top of the grass where I want the new bed. On top of the newspaper, if I have grass clippings, leaves, straw, etc. then I put those on. I top it off with a 4" to 6" layer of mulch. So, when I made a garden last spring for my "prize heirloom tomatoes" I used this method. At the same time we were making the tomato bed we were in the process of uncovering the pool. A light bulb immediately lit up in my brain! The leaves from the previous fall were on the pool cover and had already started to break down. Absolutely PERFECT for my new tomato garden so we piled them on! About a week later, I went out to check on my tomato plants and there were at least FIFTY maple trees coming up in my newly planted garden. Then another little light bulb lit up.......along with those maple leaves were hundreds of maple seeds......DUH!!!! I pulled maple tree seedlings out of the tomatoes all summer and they are STILL popping up this year. No wonder the deer did not bother my tomatoes. They undoubtedly thought the stupid woman who planted all those trees certainly did not have tomatoes worth eating!! :-)
...See More
PART 2 ...Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes.... oh my
Q
Comments (38)
Good job on the fireplace it looks GREAT moved down.... and no one but you will ever know it's not perfect. It fits the wall much better. Gorgeous actually. But more important is that it was IMPORTANT enough to both of you to have it lowered. That's all that matters. As far as the granite....Both edges, the one you wanted and the one they're forcing on you, look to me too substantial for the edging you have on the rest of your granite (again it's a personal thing). One suggestion... have you asked them about other edging styles? One that might satisfy you but less chance of breaking the piece if changed? Several people here have talked about detailed granite edges. I had one in my other home and agree it's a pain to keep clean (toothbrushes helped). But you mentioned the reason they don't want to give you the right one is it probably will destroy the piece. And like you said they have no more pieces in stock. If they cut and break it then have to get another piece it could take several weeks (or months) for the piece to be shipped and fitted. And even then it might not exactly match the pieces already installed. Are you willing to wait for that to move into your home? Or is it such a personal thing that it will truly drive you crazy for years to come if you leave it like it is now? If that is the case rather than the granite place just not getting it right then you owe it to yourself to not give in on this one either. Or give up on the $600. While we were building 3 other couples divorced over their builds. In each instance it was in the final phase of the build when things were getting ripped out over and over to meet one idea of perfection over the other's. I'm not even saying that applies to you... in the least... so please do not take it as such....all I'm saying is sometimes it's more stressful holding on to an idea than it's worth. On my home DH and GC both wanted to do a poplar ceiling painted white in my "rustic" kitchen. I fought tooth and nail over that one and won. I've never regretted it for one minute. You have to decide what to fight for and what to give up. Good luck.
...See More
Lets get rid of the Middleman, Warning
Q
Comments (4)
Where on earth did you find this clown? Around here a guy like that would be out of business within a month. I would always tell someone to go to a reputable stove dealer. One with a storefront. And a showroom. When we installed our stove we had a dealer less than 10 minutes up the road. But went with a dealer 50 miles away. Why? Because the local dealer sold stoves only certain times of the year and had independent contractors do the work, while the other dealer is a stove shop all year round and sells nothing but stoves and stove related items. And they have cerified employees that do the installation. Eliminate the middleman? In the case of a stove installation, unless you are certified to do the work yourself, you NEED the middleman (retailer) simply because they know what they are doing and have passed the necessary tests.
...See More
breadandsuch
12 years ago
There was a thread a while ago about dealing with your mistakes and something a poster said really helped me. I discovered the opening in my upper corner cabinets was only 7 inches and was so upset. The poster said that when the Amish make a quilt, they make a mistake (if there is not one there already), because apart from God, there is no perfection. Someone else said that if you wanted perfection, you should have hired God. When I realized that perfection was an unrealistic goal, mistakes were much easier to deal with.
ellendi
12 years ago
I guess their might be some people out there that have a perfect kitchen with no mistakes, but for the most part I think we are all living with something.
One big mistake that was corrected was an upper cabinet that was ordered too short. This was the one my microwave had to fit under and it would have looked ridiculous. The annoying part was that the KD wanted to split the cost of the reorder. She thought that we were going along with her on this, but rest assured when the final bill was paid, that was not on it.
I am glad for you that you can correct the situation by getting smaller stools.
We(that is most) of us are not the experts. We count on the professionals to do the right thing. Ths forum is great in that we can all learn from each others "mistakes."
Enjoy your Kitchen!
enduring
12 years ago
Thanks for the cool reminders, Breadandsuch. Very helpful.
Capegirl05
12 years ago
Yes, I too am worried that everytime I open my beautiful painted cabinets, I am going to be looking for chipped paint on the hinges (see earlier post)...that is one of several during this house build. At some point, you do have to accept things and move on...being grateful for the opportunity to have a NEW kitchen that we have created from the ground/or bare walls up.
So, OP...what kind of stools are you going to get now? I have been stool shopping and I like the ones at crate&barrel that swivel...
pharaoh
12 years ago
The first rule of kitchen remodel (or any other remodel) - Supervise!

Thanks for reiterating this.
Buehl
12 years ago
To be honest, it's not the mistakes that necessarily bother me so much, it's how they're handled.

Yes, we all make mistakes (some more than others), but if you are willing to admit you made a mistake and take responsibility for it as well as agree to "make it right" without drama or trying to blame someone else or trying to get someone else to pay for the fix, then that's one thing.

It's when someone refuses to admit it and/or take responsibility and does blame someone else, tries to get you to pay for their mistake, or causes major drama over it...that's when I have an issue and I start getting tough about it.

Been there... :->
countrygirl217
12 years ago
I learned this the hard way too! Our fabricator cut a sink in the wrong spot in our bathroom. Luckily he took the blame and had to buy a whole new paperstone slab. Though we didn't have to pay for the mistake monitarily, it put the bathroom back 6 weeks. This is the same fabricator I had lined up to do our kitchen (who is coming on labor day to do that template) but I made him sweat it out if we would continue to use him again. If he messes up the kitchen it would be way more disastrous. So I'm planning to be there tomorrow to oversee. "Trust but verify" is a great motto!
NewSouthernBelle
12 years ago
It also helps when you can catch mistakes early. Sometimes this isn't possible but that is why you want to check the work every day (which is obviously easier if you are living in the house while the work is being done and not always possible if you are somewhere else).

For example, when we re-did our master bathroom, while this wasn't really a mistake I am glad I caught it when I did. After the shower was framed, I noticed there was a foot of "wasted space" between the end of the shower wall and behind where the door was when it was open (So not useful for anything.) And I was like - "wait, why is there so much space?" And basically the contractor built it like I had designed it but once I saw it IRL, I knew I wanted to use the space for inside the shower. I think it cost $400 to have them re-frame it and a day's work but I am so glad I had them redo it. If I hadn't caught it that day though, it probably couldn't have been redone.

Let my mistake be your warning

Comments (10)

AilsaM

aloha2009

Related Discussions

breadandsuch

ellendi

enduring

Capegirl05

pharaoh

Buehl

countrygirl217

NewSouthernBelle

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US