It Occurred to Me...

... that I never did finish the story here. The tiled backsplash was one of those life experiences that one may wish to consider a one-off! My brother Bruce was going to help me, but other than teach me how to cut tile, he wasn't really in the picture. The wet-saw I borrowed had a hole in the reservoir so the water that cools the spinning blade would just run out all over the driveway. (It was a good thing I was doing the job in February, outside, so the blade would just cool off by convection!) The mess was really something. I used a handheld power tool to make the fit better and to do curved cuts; those had to be done indoors and holy smokes... there was tile dust everywhere. I was cutting a tile outside that splintered a bit and, not thinking, I brushed the debris off the saw's platform... slicing my thumb and getting blood all over everything!!! It froze to the metal surfaces instantly, but the cold didn't seem to slow the flow. There were other challenges, like what to do with the light switchplate in the "buffet" that was going to be half on the tile and half not. And what to do with the kneewall and the area under the window. I also didn't realize that the grout I bought was a bit different from the "normal" stuff and set almost as I was applying it. So my grout lines aren't the most perfect in the world. BUT... and this is what matters... it looks great (from a few feet aaway anyway!) and is doing the job it was supposed to. This is what it looks like:

Fast forward to November 2009. (Yes. TWO years later. Call me the Queen of the Procratinators. Mea culpa.) Anyway, after much thought and consideration I decided how to install the undercabinet lights that I bought before Byron started work. I discovered that one of them was too long for the location I had intended it for and oh, gee, where is that receipt?? I called Canadian Tire, where I bought them to see what I could do and was stunned to hear that all I had to do was bring in the one that didn't fit and exchange it for one that would. So I did. Then I got out the new cordless drill I bought, and the huge Forstner bit that I needed to make the holes in the cabinets to feed the cables through... and promptly cut myself on it! After a lot of contortions and a bit of ingenuity the lights were in and functioning and it was all good. WooHoo!! Colour me DONE with DIY!!!

Better late than never

Heinz the cabinet installer rolled his truck on his way over here (no injuries) so a sub was sent in. Of course it was cold, snowing and windy that day. The sub, whose name I don't think I ever heard, didn't have his table saw with him, because he didn't know he needed it. He got here at 1230 and was finished by shortly after 1430, but that was too late to get Bob the electrician in for the microwave. So Bob, Matt and Jeff came on the following day, the 13th, and got the microwave up and running. So now all that is left is to have Dave the plumber fix that sink, and for me to do the drywall patching, the painting and the tiling. January will be a good time for that, I have vacation.

I spoke to Shelley the project manager on the 13th and again on the 17th. They're a confused bunch of people at that Home Depot. She wanted to know if everything was done now, and I told her about the sink and how slowly it drains. The reason for the slow draining? There's a rubber washer or flange of some sort that isn't supposed to be there; it extends out at least 50% of the opening in the drain basket all the way around and in a couple of places it covers 100% of the opening. So if there's anything in the sink besides water, it all goes nowhere. She said she'd call Take the Plunge and get them out to fix it... I also asked about the bulge in the countertop and she said she didn't know anything about it... Then the next call was about the cabinets that were reordered to replace the damaged ones... that we used anyway. The cabinets have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Edmonton because I told them not to deliver them, I didn't want them in my garage for the winter with the other one that is still sitting out there. So I explained it all to her again for the fourth or fifth time and now I think she gets it. And I asked about Dave the plumber again... she said she had faxed them a workorder, but they hadn't actioned it. She'd fax them a reminder. So now it's December 21... and they still haven't come by. Good thing it isn't a leak. I have a feeling that it will be months before I'm finally though with the Home Depot. But finished I will be.

All might not be lost

So. Monarch has "had a cancellation" and Heinz the installer can come in on December 12 to hang those two cabinets. And Bob the electrician is free later in the day to put in the microwave. So the kitchen will be useable on Christmas Day, Thank God (and lots of threats). I won't have time to do the tiling and painting until after the holidays, but that's okay.

The Kenmore guy was here yesterday and could find absolutely NO leaking from anywhere under the dishwasher. He says there's a water spot on the floor from the original leak... right under the connection for the water intake! Go figure. He thinks that David the plumber tightened the connection when he was here and rather than say, "Oh yeah, this hose was a bit loose", he blamed the machine. I'm out another $80 in unnecessary expense.

Nobody seems to have heard anything about the problem with the countertop. Ryan the assistant manager at Home Depot passed the buck and said he'd let Susan (who as far as I know actually has nothing to do with any of this other than relaying phone messages) know about this and see if she knows what's happening. Of course, we haven't heard anything from Susan... If they think it's just going to go away they are sadly mistaken.

Gonna need to change this blog's name...

Dennis, the countertop guy came to inspect yesterday instead of today. He's stumped as to how it got like that, with the bulge that it has where it has it. He says there should NOT be moisture penetration and he's never seen a symmetric swelling like that from moisture ever. He also said it wasn't caused by heat, so the microwave isn't at fault... I knew that! He was supposed to talk to the manager at Home Depot today and call me back, which never happened. He also said he'd talk to Belynda, the project manager at Monarch and see if she could expedite things with that cabinet. Looks doubtful, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, I can't put my car in the garage because all the stuff that should be in my cabinets is divvied up between there and the family room... where the Christmas tree is supposed to go. I'm doing a slow burn and getting an ulcer, I think. I'm gonna need antipsychotics before this is over. Oh, and I dispatched another mouse yesterday, a big fat one. Bailey isn't quite as antsy in here today as she has been so I'm hoping that was the last one. The trap is baited and waiting...

Looking for legal representation now

Rick spoke with the manager of the local Home Depot today. He of course took no responsibility and refused to be held accountable for this unnecessary delay. He said they have no control over Monarch Home Improvements. (I think they do... they pay them to install cabinets and countertops, and money speaks loudly, doesn't it? Seems odd that a company the size of Home Depot would have no control over their subs, and that they only have one sub doing cabinet installations in a city this size.) He also said that if we hired our own installer to hang those two cabinets and put up the crown molding and light rail that would void the warranty for the work already done. Since I don't have any kind of warranty in writing and haven't been impressed with the degree of concern I'm seeing from them, that hardly rings true. In the meantime I will be doing my Christmas entertaining in a disaster zone instead of the beautiful new kitchen that should have been done a month ago already. And it would have been completely done November 1, if the kitchen planner had just paid attention to detail and ordered the over-range cabinet in the correct size. We're tempted to take them to small claims court. May just end up there.

You have got to be KIDDING!

More rounds of telephone tag. More chats with people at Home Depot who have no authority or accountability. Finally the call from Rose at Monarch. "I'm calling to confirm our installation of those two cabinets for the morning of January 15, 2008." WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She then proceeded to tell me that there is no way they could come any sooner, they're swamped with work. Okay, my contract (and my very large cheque for payment in full... up front!) has a July 22, 2007 date on it... what dates are you working on right now? Should you not finish your older jobs first? Particularly since I can't use my microwave now, never mind the cold wind blowing in through the exposed vent where it will eventually live, and my car is parked on the street in the snow because there ins't room for it in the garage. Oh and let's not forget the week of vacation I wasted while waiting for things to get done that didn't get done. "Sorry. We're trying to hire more installers and if we get someone sooner we can move it up."

Then a discussion with Shelley, the project manager at Home Depot. "What do you want us to do?" I want you to send someone over to install my two cabinets, put on the crown molding and the light rail so Bob can come and finish the wiring for microwave and let me get on with my life!!! If Laurie would have ordered that cabinet in the right size in the first place, everything would have been done a month ago!!! I'm not waiting another six weeks. I'm NOT. "My hands are tied. All I do is schedule things and keep track of what's happening." Oh yeah? Okay, I will hire someone myself to do this maybe-2-hour job and Home Depot can refund me whatever it costs me for that. "Well, I can't authorise that. Only a manager can do that. I'll have to get one of them to call you back." I have to go to work in 90 minutes, so when will that happen? Let him talk to Rick. (His response to January 15? "Are you F***ING KIDDING ME?!!!") "I'm so sorry about all this Jan, I know it's very frustrating. But we really have nothing to do with the actual installations, we have subcontractors for that. It's the Alberta Advantage, you know, too much work and too few people to do it." Shall I puke now, or restrain myself until I'm off the phone? It's been more than an hour since I talked to her and I'm still furious. And the manager has yet to call. Rick has found the contact information for Mike Holmes and he's getting things together to tell him our horror story. Seriously, Mike needs to consider whether he wants his reputation tied to this outfit. Mom told me today that Bruce told her that people in the industry know Home Depot is a fly-by-night operation. They don't take responsibility for anything but collecting the money, they hire companies like Monarch without checking the credentials of their installers, and then when there are problems, they pass the buck. I think things would have gone better if I'd just done all the work myself, even knowing what little I do about it. I think I need to call the Better Business Bureau too.

What next?

So after many calls to Home Depot we still don't have a date for hanging those two other cabinets and the microwave... But Rose at Monarch promised that she'd be calling me with a date "by the end of today". Okay...

On Saturday morning when I came home from work, I stepped in a puddle on the kitchen floor. Something was leaking under the dishwasher. Rick had already stepped in it, but hadn't mopped it up, of course. So before I went to bed I did. The plumber came back yesterday and determined the leak isn't from any of their connections but from the motor mount, so Kenmore has to fix it. Soonest they can come is December 7... In the meantime I've mopped up three more puddles and washed a dishwasher full of dishes in the sink.

Also yesterday the people from Abal Building Products, who did our windows, finally came to investigate our complaint of the windows in the kitchen not fitting properly. We've only been calling them 2 or 3 times a year since 2003... The guy put new weather stripping on the double-hungs, which still don't look like they fit in the frames properly,
but I can't feel a breeze anymore, so maybe it'll be okay. If I can lock them without needing Rick to push up on the top pane, then it'll be good.

While those guys were here, we discovered a big swollen spot along the seam in the countertop.There was a little bit of water on the counter, and it looks like it got into the seam and causes the MDF to swell... So Theresa at Monarch has been informed of this and hasn't called me back yet.

Haven't trapped any more mice. Have seen tracks in the snow along the north east wall.