Not impressed

Well this week had a lot of potential when it started. Ended on shitty note. The whole cabinet thing was one of the worst experiences that i have had.. I already posted that they started a day behind schedule, and that they short shipped the cabinets, and that the corner cabinet arrived damaged.. back to our story...

well they had a new cabinet so they brought that out and it looked like things were turning around.. well not quite. the replacement cabinet had a broken piece (not the same one as the first broken one) so they basically had to make one cabinet out of the 2 broken ones. Ok no big deal right, they can hang the uppers till that got all sorted out.. So they did, then I notice that the upper cabinets after being hung there was a 6 inch gap at the end of the wall. I asked the question if I had all this left over room why the cabinets between the fridge and the stove had to be so small. Originally they were 18 inch but after they did the final measure i was told that they had to be 15 in. so I call home depot and ask them. They say there should be filler pieces between 3 of the wall cabinets so that everything is centered over the stove. well it turns out the installer didn't see the need for these (ie didn't read the plan well enough) and didn't add them. So the owner comes by tuesday nite to look and he shows the installers where there the fillers go.. Ok everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.. Wed morning they are back and take off the upper cabinets. He had to take them off and add the fillers. Fine. 4 hours wasted but whatever right? we are back on track. Oh i almost forgot while all of this was happening on tuesday they go to put in the sink cabinet that goes next to the corner one.. the 2 cross braces on that cabinet break.. now I am about ready to lose it.. .. ok no problem they say they will get the new pieces on wed and all will be good..


Day 3 (2nd day of them working) they are back they they re hang the uppers with the fillers,looks good... they they get to the fridge cabinet which has panels that enclose the fridge side.. Well apparently the wall is off square by about 1 inch by the time you get to the end of the wall. so they had to shim out the back corner of the cabinet . Shouldn't be a problem since fortunately I had gone for the fridge panels that will hide this gap. they just had to cut the end fridge panel wider to hide it and you would never know. Well this installer was having a hell of a time shimming it... (this is when I realized half the problem was the installer who wasn't a regular cabinet installer,, but rather a sub contractor who picked up work occasionally for the cabinet company) I was quickly losing confidence in his ability.. I mean really should it take 2 hours to hang a single cabinet?? Well he goes to attach 1st side panel and ends up putting a screw through the finished side.. Fuck.. I was ready to kill him.. now we have yet another damaged piece and this basically destroys any chance of having the kitchen completed on time.. because these pieces are special order and take 3 weeks to get it. They also can't do the crown molding till it arrives.. So the installer gets on the phone with his boss and they are having an argument about money because the installer gets paid a flat rate and he has already been there longer than he should have and still has 2 cabinets to install, the light rail and the toe kick, nevermind the crown molding.. It is 1pm on wed and he comes back in the house and tells me that basically it was up to me whether he stays or goes. I said what the hell does that mean, my kitchen is not finished why would I want you to go. I call home depot and speak with the project manager, and she tells me that Kelly the owner said that I told the installers to leave.. I did no such thing.. I tell the home depot lady this. (I don't think she believed me though) I think the installer told kelly this b/c he wanted to leave cause he was losing money now.. The installer also told me that Kelly said I should realize that this isn't a 50000 dollar kitchen and basically that i shouldn't be so picky.. This really pissed me off, because I wasn't being picky, I shouldn't have to accept damaged shit just because I didn't spend $50000 .. I spent alot, these werent' cheap cabinets... Everyone including the home depot made me feel like all of the problems were my fault. when in fact I had done nothing wrong.. This is about the time when I had a little breakdown... ....
So anyways, after talking with home depot they said let them finish the job..(I reiterated that Of course I would let them finish , never asked them to stop) So the installer finally installs the sink cabinet after receiving the broken pieces, and he installs all of the doors. Thankfully this was all completed cause that is the stretch of cabinets that I needed finished to put the counter top on..
So at the end of wednesday I am left with the fridge cabinet and panels not installed..
The owner kelly came by on thursday to assess what needed to be finished.. let me tell you his tune had changed cause he was kissing my ass. so he took the damaged fridge panels and wrote what needed to be fixed etc.. and said when these things were in they would set up a date to install them.. I actually have to call them again cause yesterday we were cleaning the cabinets and we noticed 2 of the cabinet doors have flaws.. looks like they weren't sanded before the finish was put on them or dust was on them when the finish went on.. so they are going to have to be replaced.. I am sure they will say I am being picky ,but whatever,, those doors are 200 dollar doors and I am not accepting crap..
So the moral of this blog is to not buy from Home Depot.. from my experience the product, this was Mills Pride is crap.. the contractors they hire don't know shit... and the customer service up to this point has been less than impressive..
When this is all done and installed to my satisfaction I am planning on having a meeting with a manager at home depot to get some sort of financial compensation.. this has been bullshit, should have been the easiest part of the whole kitchen reno.. An expert installing them, should have been done in a day and a half....
This is the first time I actually paid someone to do the work.. It makes me think the old saying that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself....
I mean really look at the window that we installed.. Didn't have a clue what we were doing and that window looks good.. Even though there is a factory defect that has to be fixed.. but the install was flawless.. Even the centering of the window.. We were going by the rough cabinet measurements when we framed it. and its only 1/2 inch out from being perfectly centred between the new cabinets.. I mean is that talent or what.. ;)

So anyways,, the saga continues.. Rochelle and I are now trying to lay the counter top. Have the plywood on and the sink hole cut out. We are halfway done cutting the tile, still have to cut the sink hole in the tile, that is what we are doing today. God willing it will go alright b/c if we fuck up we will have to order more tile and that will be a few days to get in.. if all goes well we should have the counter top set today, then we can grout tomorrow.. then hopefully sometime this week I can get the sink in and plumbed without any leaks..that part is kind of stressing me.. I might get a plumber in just to make sure its done right..
The backsplash will probably go in this week or this weekend.. We miss measured so we had to order 3 more tiles yesterday and they won't be in till sometime this week..
The next steps will be the tile on the floor..that will be a big job. one that I am not looking forward too..
I hope to have all this done b4 xmas.. I will keep yall posted with pics as we complete things..
Still waiting to hear from JT if rachel had the baby yet.. let us know when the big day comes JT..

Oh almost forgot.. the strike is over.. 64% yes vote... thank god for that..


Margo