Dandylandy, I'm so sorry to hear about this mess. You unfortunately do need to talk to a lawyer now. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to file a lawsuit--sometimes a stern letter or three from a lawyer is all it takes. Also, depending on the value of this (what's the total cost of the cabinets?) you might find yourself in small claims court or in mandatory arbitration, which is a lot easier and cheaper than a full-on lawsuit. Where I live any dispute worth $25,000 or less goes into arbitration, which just means you and the contractor show up (with or without your lawyers, but obviously I'm going to recommend WITH, absolutely) and say your piece to a group of three local lawyers who volunteer as mediators, and that group of three lawyers decides how to resolve it. It's much cheaper and easier than an actual lawsuit. If you're in NY, perhaps the cap is higher than $25k. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you may not be looking at a lawsuit at all; that's not the only way the legal system has for resolving disputes like this. So, put plywood on your counters or some other temporary fix, DO NOT pay the guy another dime, talk to a few local lawyers who specialize in real estate or construction law (ask friends and your architect for recommendations) and pick the lawyer who seems best to you. The first step will probably be for him or her to write a mean letter to the contractor, and then you go from there. Oh, about this: **"Some of the things that really bother me could have been avoided with better communication - e.g. if they couldn't go to the ceiling with the cabinets b/c my ceiling isn't totally level (or something, I am just speculating), and they warned me about it, that would have been a lot better than telling me "Yes" and then not delivering."** I don't even see how that would be possible; if your ceiling's not totally level, then the cabinets would stop somewhere below the ceiling and it would be up to you to decide whether to build up the ceiling a little bit or put some moulding on to hide the gap. In other words I can't think of a legitimate reason that your ceiling would prevent you from having ceiling-height cabinets. I just mention this to cut through any BS you may have heard from the cabinet guy. Anyway, gather together everything you have in writing (including any drawings or mock-ups) and write down everything you remember saying to or hearing from the contractor. Have your architect forward you any emails she sent to or received from the contractor. Also go through your voicemail and see if he left you any voicemails that could be relevant. Then try and write up in one or two pages exactly what you understood he was supposed to build for you, in every detail (dimensions, materials, etc.), and then what he actually did build, and what problems that caused or will cause (e.g. plumbing messed up, plates won't fit, layout changed so cost increased). Also note any scheduling screwups that occurred. Go over it with your architect and your hubby (if any) in case they remember things you don't. Then send this write-up to the lawyer, along with a copy of your contract with the cabinet guy and any other really critical documents like emails where the contractor committed to something that wasn't clear in the original contract or where he said X but it later turned out he did Y. It will take less time (and thus cost you less money) for the lawyer to read this than for the lawyer to "interview" you to figure out what happened. Best of luck.

Does that really make sense? That this glue can only be used on sheet vinyl but not Peel N Stick (vinyl) tile because it won't dry? Isn't the key word 'VINYL'? Either way you have a solid piece on top of the glue. I would think it would be harder to get it to dry under a huge sheet of vinyl as opposed to tiles. DH didn't use the Roberts stuff but it was vinyl adhesive from Lowe's (I think it was called Henry). I only had like a couple of places that the glue came up on the side a bit and it was when he first started and wasn't sure how much to use. Yes, mineral spirits will take it off! That's what our glue said to use! I just couldn't remember because it's been about 5 years since we did the flooring jobs!

I want to thank all of you who posted in response to my questions around the workmanship of Seaway Pools in Markham, Ontario. This process is still ongoing. They have sent a new crew to replace the skimmer. They sawed out the concrete around the skimmer and replaced it with a new one. During this process we saw there is in fact no fibreglass mesh support in it. They then installed the liner and it didn't fit. They left it to dry in the sun for several days to shrink it. The liner manufacturer himself came to assist with the install. They got it in eventually. Last week they plummed the filter and pump. Seaway Pools refused to plum into my heater since I didn't buy it from them. Eventually the pool tech and the gas guy worked something out. Finally we were up and running. They are supposed to send someone to teach us how to use the pool, but no one has come out yet. They don't respond to calls or emails. Instead they have the pool technician call me back... sometimes. As far as they're concerned, the work is done. However, I emailed them asking if the pressure guage should be reading less than 5 psi... no response. From what I read it should be higher. So now I wonder if there is a leak in the lines... Needless to say I just wanted to follow up and let people know about my horrible experience with Seaway Pools in Markham and it's owner Gary Walters. I'm still working on this, but I've put a blog together so new pool owners can at least have an idea of what questions they should and what to get in writing before starting a pool renovation. http://seawaypool.blogspot.com/

Me 54, and my DH 63, we too are renovating a 57 year old house! Gutting everything, plumbing, electrical and putting in gas ( previously was oil tank and radiant heated floors!) New kitchen, floors, doors, insulation, everything!! We had no idea what we were in for!! Thank goodness we have a wonderful contractor that renovated my husbands store and so we knew we could trust him with a job this big!! And I am using a decorator to help me put things together! We are living in an apartment ( because we sold our house in 4 days and had to be out) and it is exciting to go over everyday and see the progress !! But we said, if we did not know how good our contractor was, we would be very nervous!! Our house looks like a bomb went off!!Good luck to you!! Try to enjoy the ride!!