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.

More hurry up and wait

The cabinet was delivered yesterday afternoon. It's sitting in the garage. I called Home Depot twice yesterday and got no reply. Then today Shelley called to say that she'd already talked to Bob the electrician andhe can come over whenever Byron is here to do the installation. Was thinking I might hear back later today about when that might be... Nah.

Looks like I have another mouse in my office too.

This just in!!

The infamous MIA over-the-range cabinet has arrived in Edmonton. They will be delivering it tomorrow. I called Home Depot to tell Shelley or Sheila and get an install date, and neither of them was there today. Of course. I left a message, but that's not likely to be helpful, judging by past performance. Mike Holmes is SO getting a letter!

Finally photos

I finally have some photos of the countertop and some of the nifty organizers I've put in some of the cabinets.

And chaos reigns

Where to start? That's a recurring theme. The countertop was installed on Monday, while I was at work. Of course, I had the sickest patient in the unit and had to take a road trip lasting over an hour, right at the time that I knew Rick would be calling with some problem or other. He called while we were in CT and when I got the message some time later, I was just too busy keeping the kid alive to call him back... He couldn't find the new faucet. I had put it in the closet at the bottom of the stairs, only it wasn't there. He never did find it while the plumber was here, so I looked for it when I got home. Took me about 2 minutes to find it, in the spare room under a stack of his folded laundry. I ended up installing it myself Tuesday afternoon. It wasn't difficult to do the plumbing, but because the garbage disposal was already installed, and the faucet goes behind the smaller sink with the garbage disposal attached, I had to do it blind, lying on my back inside the cabinet. It looks fabulous and works beautifully.

Bob the electrician and his apprentice Matt came back on Tuesday morning. All that's left for him to do is to put in the outlet for the microwave when the time comes. He was in a MUCH better mood this time and was quite nice. The ETA on the reordered cabinet is November 23. Better be here before then! After they left, Rick and I installed the new track lighting, which has four halogen bulbs in it and is so bright you could land a 747 on my lawn.

Wednesday I spent most of the day pulling together facts and figures for my meeting with the director of nursing, human resources and the union that's happening on Monday. And it was Hallowe'en so the evening was occupied with candy distribution. We did get the new light fixture up in the dining room and the ceiling fan moved to the bedroom. (Yeah, he's not working. Something about not paying attention to the details, and quitting the job he had without making sure the job he thought he was getting was really his, and that he could take it.)

Today I cleaned out all the cabinets of sawdust and other grime and started putting things away. There are still tons of things that need to be brought up or in and put away, but it's a start. Rick scraped off the thinset from the wall under the glass-fronted cabinets and didn't make TOO much more work for me when I go to mud it for painting. The weekend will be mostly a write-off because of working days Friday and nights Saturday... the dreaded 13 hour night. How do I always end up working nights on Fall Back? Yet I never have worked Spring Ahead nights... only days on the Sunday, so I lose an hour of sleep on each end! Not fair.

Baby steps

I talked to one of the project managers (there are two, and they don't talk to each other...) yesterday about the electical and plumbing not being done, and not even having heard from the plumber. The countertop will be going in on Monday morning, one way or another, and the shutoff for the hot water is in a void between two cabinets. The plumber who was here last week knew that, and included that fact in his notes. It would seem to be easier to do the work while the top is open, but what do I know? I'm a nurse, not a plumber... Then there's the matter of the electrical connection for the garbage disposal, which is being installed by the same guy who's doing the countertop and the sink. Wouldn't it be easier to put the cord on the disposal while it's not attached to anything? The wiring for the dishwasher is accessible, so it won't be a problem. I hope. Of course I will be at work and Rick will be holding the fort. He hasn't got a hot clue... I'll have to leave him a long, detailed list.

This morning I went back to Lee Valley Tools at 104th Ave. and 184th St. and got the slide-out insert for the skinny cabinet that was damaged in transit. It was supposed to have a divider but that was broken, so I bought a slide out with two baskets on it that will be more useful, I think. And I got the missing knob. How I miss-counted the number of doors, I'll never know. Then I drove over half of Edmonton looking for the Rona Building Centre I thought was on 170th St. and about 107th Ave. but it wasn't, so then I thought it must be on 156th St. and about 118th Ave., because those are the two streets I drive a lot, but it turned out to be a Totem Building Supplies. So I ended up driving all the way over to Darci's neighbourhood to the Rona I know is at 165th Avenue and 97th St. I wanted to look at tiles for the backsplash. They had a large selection and some very nice tiles, but the lighting was so poor I couldn't tell if they looked good with my microscopic countertop sample or not. So I came home, ate lunch and went back out, this time to our local Totem, where I had seen some tiles that I liked quite some time ago. I still couldn't decide, so I got the opinions of two ladies who were looking at floor tiles. They were really nice about it,a nd they ended up confirming that my first choice was the right choice. The trouble I could have saved myself... Must be the full moon. Anyway, the backsplash and countertop will look like this. Gotta call Bruce...

Week 2 and nothing I can do

It's looking like perhaps I've wasted a week of vacation time. The contractor called this morning to confirm the countertop installation for next Monday, and reminded me that the base cabinets have to be empty and the drawers all have to be pulled out. All 15 of them. And the stove. So I can't start putting things away, I can't paint, I can't tile, I can't really cook anything. So I'll be finding things that I can do... maybe sort out the storage closet under the stairs, get my garden settled, organize the paperwork in the file cabinet. Fun stuff. Yee hah.

Day 5 and the cabinets are in*

(2220 hours)

Byron is finally gone... for now. I had a face-to-face with the project manager when I went to pay for the electrical. I asked to see an itemized breakdown of the charges... oh look, he's charging for reinstalling the microwave and I've already paid for that. So she made a phone call to see how much his charge was out of the grand total and we decided that he'd do the work and the amount charged by the cabinet installers would be refunded. She told me that there will be a fairly substantial credit when the work is finally finished. The reordered cabinet should be here, she hopes, before the end of the month and it's priced the same as the too-short one. The broken divider and the remnant of the large panel are playing the role of countertop.

Tomorrow I start putting things back in the cabinets. After I clean them out. I'll have to figure out what goes where but that's the least of my worries!

Day 4... and more to come

Most of the work left with the cabinets, as can be done without the reordered one, is finish work. The toe-kicks, crown molding, light rail, knobs and drawer pulls... The wall cabinets can't be finished until the microwave cabinet arrives. Whenever that will be. And the project manager called to tell me how much the electrical is going to cost... I'll be asking for an itemized breakdown. $900+ seems like a lot.

Day 3 saw a lot done

Byron really got a lot accomplished, although it doesn't look like it. He's here from about 8:40 in the morning until almost 6:30 in the evening with only a short break for lunch and something to drink each day. The plumber was here around 2 o'clock to figure out what needs doing. He said he's done worse, so I'll take that as a good thing. It looks like I won't be able to put the garbage disposal on the left sink though, which throws my plan to put a rollout garbage receptacle under the sink into question. I'll need to do some measuring and revising. I think the cabinets might all be in by the end of the day tomorrow. What's already done looks amazing. (Amazing is in the eye of the beholder, of course!)

The KFC Rick got for supper was AWFUL! I think I'll have to go pick up the food from now on. Safeway deli is pretty good, so maybe tomorrow that's what we'll eat.

Day 2 is finally over... but there's still a long way to the finish line

Byron finally left at 6 o'clock. There were some mistakes on the drawings. It appears that one of our walls has grown since the measurements were done. So we had a lengthy discussion about how to adjust for the errors. Got it all sorted out. Then he went out to the garage to get the cabinets he was going to work on next and discovered that two of the small base cabinets for my fake buffet and hutch were damaged. Badly. Fortunately the damage isn't going to be visible, doesn't affect the structural integrity and won't affect the function of the pieces so they can be used. However Home Depot will be hearing about it and I will be getting money back, or something of value in its place. What sweet little add on can I think of that I just HAVE to have? The sink base is in its desired spot so the plumber can get that work done tomorrow. Unless they're just coming to "measure". Good thing I didn't plan on having my kitchen warming party until December!

Day 2 off with a bang

So Bob, the electrician, shows up at about 9 o'clock with an apprentice (Matt) in tow. They start looking at the wiring issues... Of course they aren't as simple as the project manager has said. The light switch didn't have any slack on the wire so they had to cut a hole in the wall near the ceiling and put in a new junction box then run new wire from it to the switch. They ran a new length of wire for the dishwasher and used the previous dishwasher wire for the switch to the garbage disposal. Then the microwave wiring created a problem. It had to be brought out through a hole further up the wall and an outlet box attached to it. There are holes and holes and more holes. All the while Bob is grumbling and muttering about how this was supposed to be a "simple" job, "piece of cake", "only take a few minutes"... and how he had so many other jobs on the go and he really didn't have time for this and Home Depot wasn't going to be getting his services any more. Then he got me to sign a work order and he's coming back to finish up the work after the rest of the cabinets are in.

Byron pointed out a problem with the drawings. The cabinet that the planner put in over the microwave isn't tall enough and the microwave will end up being over my head. So we called the project manager and ordered a taller cabinet. Which will be here in three weeks. The skinny cabinet that goes in next to the stove has a divider in it for trays and baking sheets. Well, the box it was in was completely intact, no dents or dings, but the divider was damaged when Byron took it out of the box. Great. Don't really care about the divider, but I PAID for it!

The contractor's coordinator just called to set up the final measure for the countertop. They can't do that until all the base cabinets are in place and secured to the walls. The guy is coming on Friday morning to do that. But the countertops can't go in until the 29th... the day I have to go back to work. Do I let Rick supervise? And then that means I can't start tiling until after that. But I can do the measurements, buy the tiles and maybe do some of the cutting in advance. Wunderbar.

Poor Bailey is once again tethered to the coffee table so she doesn't get in the way. She's being really good, even with all the noise and confusion. Better than I am, probably. Oh well, it won't last forever.

Day 1 is done. How can I be so tired? I haven't done anything!

The day is finally over. Byron has moved a bunch of the new cabinets into the house and hauled all the old ones away. We uncovered some more problems... the light switch for the dining room light needs to be moved, the wiring for the old range hood is tucked into the wall and it's still live, the wiring for the dishwasher is in the wrong place and there isn't any slack on the wire so stretch it over, the switch that should supply the garbage disposal has no wires attached to it (it's just sitting in the face plate), the drain isn't going to be in the right spot to line up with the sink... The project manager at Home Depot told me that I should have hired an electrician and a plumber... So now she's calling around to find someone to come in and do the work.

Demo's done

Have you ever wondered what 's behind your cabinets? Maybe you don't want to know. We had mold. Rick thought treating it with Lysol spray would be good enough. (There's that phrase..."Good enough". I hate that phrase.) When I returned from my meeting, I washed down the walls where the mold lives and then washed them again with straight bleach.

Ready for demolition

Thank God for moms!! My mom was here visiting her sisters and offered to help me empty out the kitchen so the work could start. It would have taken me three times as long to do it all by myself. I just wish she would still be here when it's time to put it all back!

The BEFORE Shots

This is how the kitchen looked before any work started. Not horrible, but not efficient, not really user-friendly. I have a LOT of junk that needs to be housed (no DUH!) and when the job is done, I'll have more than enough space for my existing junk. I guarantee I'll fill every cubic millimeter of space soon enough.

And so it begins...

The final major upgrade to our house has begun. With any luck it will be completed within a week and life can get back to normal. There are stacks of things from the kitchen piled up in every room in the house. The kettle I use to make my tea is in the main floor bathroom... thank heaven for GFCIs! The microwave is sitting on the sideboard in the dining room, the toaster oven on my dresser (temporarily) and the poor dog is tethered to the coffee table. Day 1 is done. On to Day 2.