Having a spreadsheet of the info is great for you, but if you are sharing the info with the GC, you need a hard copy format. I'd recommend that you have all the contracts and contact info for yourself, GC and subs organized in one place-- either a binder or folder or file box. We needed the plumber's number asap when we sprang a leak, and we (GC and I) didn't have it handy. Nasty. Put it in a defined place, make sure the GC knows it's there, make sure they're copies, not originals (or they'll get lost). Also, I can't tell you how hard it is to make subs look at your notes/postings. You basically have to hand it to them and get them to acknowledge that they'll look at it. I stapled up the stove installation diagram right over the place where it was to be installed, and the electricians still ignored it and put the plug in the wrong place. The GC fixed it, but really, people, why do you think it was flapping away there? I don't know how to remedy this, but I offer it as a way of saying, you can't assume they'll look at your notes unless you tell them to. That goes for GC and subs too. I would also recommend that you post your work phone, cell phone and alternate contact info in large type somewhere permanent (so they know where to look) so that no one can say "I did it this way because I couldn't reach you." That's averted a few disasters at my house, and has provided me with ammo when things weren't done right. I can go back and say "Why didn't you call if you couldn't find something or figure something out?" Finally, try to establish a regular place where you leave notes for the GC and the GC leaves notes for you, either in a notebook left in a permanent place, or a clipboard or whatever. This has been really important in helping me to understand what's happening when I'm not around. Leave plenty of paper and pens -- they never seem to have them, and I get notes written on pieces of 2x4. Cute, but not what you want to take the HOme Depot when you need to buy a part. I kept all my printed purchase orders, confirmations, etc. in a binder for the kitchen. Make sure to mark old plans as old, or throw them out. Otherwise, you can end up relying on an old version of the cabinet plan. And keep checking up on the communication area - because the documents can walk away and get lost. This leads to tiny disasters where the cabinets get installed without the crucial 3" filler that makes them line up. Leading to cabinet installation take 2, take 3 . . .etc.

This was posted almost back at the beginning: > If a hot wire was shorted, then it shorted to a safety ground. No > current need pass through that hose. Why did current pass through > the hose? Maybe safety ground does not exist or was disconnected. > Most installers would not know how to test that. A missing > safety ground is a serious human safety threat. Somehow, they connected a dishwasher shorted to the hot wire. When power was applied, a safety ground would have simply tripped the circuit breaker. But that safety ground (that was required even in the 1960s) was missing. So current used a hose as an electrical conductor. (BTW grounding to water pipes is also illegal.) Well, that might have tripped a circuit breaker. But definitely should have tripped a GFCI type circuit breaker. A summary conclusion: A safety ground (that was required since the early 1960s) was missing. Devices that must have been powered by a GFCI type breaker either were not or were powered by a defective GFCI breaker. And installer connected that first dishwasher somehow with AC hot wires shorted to the dishwasher chassis. You have plenty of reasons to be disappointed by everyone (especially installers) who should have known better. This was really simple stuff. No reason for anyone of them to not understand this ... unless trained in some third world nation where safety grounds do not even exist. Wonder why so many jobs go to China.

The demo has started and I'm so relieved to report that we've been able to keep pretty much all of the dust out of our upstairs living area! Due to time and budget, we weren't able to put in place all of the controls I'd originally planned but here is what's working: Tape plastic sheeting over all doorways to/from construction area. The sheets of poly have been, by far, the most effective dust control we've put in place. VERY impressed with how simple and effective the poly sheeting has been! We used heavier poly for the areas that would see more traffic (e.g. over doorways, our fridge) and the light stuff for items that won't be touched (e.g. window coverings, furniture). Use zippers for doorways we still need access to. We also put one zipper wall at the bottom of the stairs and another at the top of the stairs. With that double layer I didn't have to cover up each bedroom door upstairs nor cover/pack up all our items upstairs... thank goodness!! Direct a fan outside to create a vacuum to pull dust out. This helps A LOT during very dusty work like demolishing our floor tile. I just used an old stand up fan that I no longer needed. Sweep and vacuum with a shop vac as often as possible. Pack up as many items as possible and cover/tape up anything that has to remain. So far our poly sheeting has held up very well. Even strong gusts haven't ripped them off the walls. It was very time consuming to put up but SOO worth it. We first applied painters tape to the walls/ceilings. Then we stuck the poly to the painters tape using contractor's "technical tape". Here in Canada the brand we use is Tuck Tape. I believe in the US Tyvek tape is equivalent? I hope this helps others also having to live in their reno.

Some comments on trip charges. They exist in all of the trades, not just cabinet installers. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, carpenters, and every Pro I know has a trip charge, even if they don’t come right out and call it that. Trip charges are for when an installer has budgeted an install to take 2 days, and due to the actions of others, it takes 3 days. Or more. It affects the wait time of paying customers downstream of the job. He is losing money if he has to show up again at a job without additional compensation. And he is pushing someone else’s job off until later to do that. Real life examples: For instance, he gets paid a trip charge when the plumber cut off the pipes too short, and he has to wait a half day for him to show up and lengthen the pipes to fit through the cabinets and be reached once the sink was installed. That trip charge was a chargeback to the plumber. Or, he gets a trip charge when the kitchen designer orders gray crown molding instead of white, and no one opened the package at delivery to check for damage and color. I paid for that trip charge, as well as the right color crown. And got chewed out for not opening the package at check in. That’s what happens at dealers. Or he gets a trip charge if during the install, the customer decides that she wants a tile backsplash after all, instead of the 4” counter splash she had planned. He has to make an unbudgeted extra trip later to install the light rail molding after the tile goes up. That was charged to the homeowner. Now, if the trade just under budgeted his time, and the job takes 3 days and he had budgeted 2? That is his problem to solve and to eat. And to apologize to the downstream customers. A tight schedule can’t have extra labor fit into it without a cost being paid by someone. Sometimes the dealer eats it if they could have prevented the delay that forces the additional trip. Sometimes the GC eats it if the issue is unclear as to who should pay. It’s the GC’s job to make sure that the trades keep to the schedule, and if it takes eating that trip charge, that’s what he does. So, the customer may not even be aware that a trip charge is happening unless the delay is their issue to own and pay for.