March 24, 2009, Multiply, New Kitchen no 7

At last the joiner is working in my kitchen. I should be pleased, I should be well on my way to a new kitchen, things should be moving along nicely by now………….unfortunately the reality is a little different.
This experience has really, really put me off ever having any one in the house to do any thing ever again.
It is now almost 10 pm, my house is freezing cold because the front door has been open most of the evening, there is a hole in my kitchen wall where the joiner removed the extraction fan on Sunday (today is Tuesday!!), I still have no kitchen unit or sink, my water is disconnected, the joiner is in the kitchen still using power tools and I am getting very afraid one of my neighbours will knock the door to complain about the noise so late at night. Remember, I live in an upstairs apartment with young children directly below me. I would love to tell the joiner to go home but with no water, no sink and no way to flush the toilet, have a bath or even make a hot drink I am at his mercy until he at least reconnects the water supply. This man is a friend of a friend, I thought I would be doing the right thing by employing a local self-employed man, sounds good in theory. The original plan was that he could give me three whole days, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, which should have been enough to break the back of the job. Turns out he had other commitments during the day and he asked if he could do a couple of hours in the morning and a few hours every evening. SO……….what could I say??
 I agreed because I want my kitchen done. I have been getting out of my bed every morning at 6 to get ready for him arriving at 7, he leaves to work in a shop at about the same time as I go to my work and then he reappears at tea time, after the shop is closed for the evening. He has been here until almost midnight Sunday and Monday and it looks as if he will be late again tonight. Yesterday I had to ask him to stop using power tools after 9pm because I was worried about the children trying to sleep in the apartment underneith mine. Tonight I have had to let him carry on because I need the water sorted out. Tonight he casually said he would need me to help him outside with the new work surfaces so he could cut them. Obviously it didn’t occur to him that he would need assistance for this part of the job and when he asked I didn’t feel as if I had much choice, I need this sorted out, so……..despite the fact my arthritis makes lifting and stairs  difficult , I stupidly agreed. I helped him carry a 3 meter length of heavy work surface down my stairs and out into the garden. Then I had to go outside and hold the torch and steady the work surface while he used his power tools to cut it IN THE DARK!!!!!!!. Yes, I know…………this story gets more and more bizarre. Once it was cut and carried back indoors he noticed damage to the edge, actually I wasn’t surprised, but he was!! He insisted I contact the supplier to complain and ask for a replacement. Which of course I did, only to be told they could not replace it because it had already been cut. I can’t help thinking that if he didn’t damage it, if the damage was already there, he would probably have noticed if he had been doing this work in daylight and at a reasonable hour like any sane work man. And of course the chances of him causing the damage himself would have been much less in daylight.
So …………..now it’s 10.30 pm, my knees are very sore, I badly need a long hot soak followed by bed, my temper is frayed, my patience is exhausted and still ……….I HAVE NO WATER.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Oh yes…………….the final insult, he wouldn’t even give me a quote for the whole job, he said he charges by the hour so it looks like this whole fiasco is going to cost me a fortune. And all because I thought I was doing the right thing by giving work to a local self employed joiner.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 25, '09 Oh dear. I don't want to stoke the fire of this situation but as a woman who lives alone, I'm oh so careful of being taken advantage of by tradesmen and service people. It's happened, believe me. When you do find someone reliable you hang on to them. Do you have someone that could really sort this guy out for you? I don't like to say it, but is there a male friend around who could come the bit of the heavy with this guy? The other thing is that you need to have a quote in writing. I've known some people to look me up and down, assess if I could 'afford' their invented prices and charge accordingly. There's a world full of flakes out there. You had such good intentions but this chap hasn't honoured. I would say to you to not feel intimidated by him and be assertive. It's a pity about the water situation, that's very bad (btw I'm having my toilet and outside pipes pulled out soon but it's my landlord's plumber and he's 'vetted' so I am assuming the job will be quick).

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Mar 25, '09 Oh I am sorry to read this - keep strong & I am sure your neighbours will understand especially if you explain how he worked!! (((Loretta)))

delete reply djdx wrote on Mar 25, '09 I hope all will soon be in order. When it is settled, you could give the neighbours a little something to make up for the inconvenience, like cookies or something.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 25, '09 You are right loretta they don't treat older single women very well but not just them my daughter she is 40 just complained about the same thing- I hope this nightmare will be over soon for you-to bad I am so far away or you coud come and take a nice hot bath here and us my spare room as long as you like-

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Mar 24, '09 It sounds just like a nightmare Loretta. Hope you have it sorted out soon. ((HUGS))

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Mar 24, '09 I love the look of the garden, how appropriate /:-) You kitchen project has been going so well. Sorry to read about the contractor issues (hope he is about finished by now!) I do hope the end is worth the trouble, and almost sure it will be. Do tell him you need an idea of the cost and when he will be finished.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 24, '09 off subject is a pleasant distraction in an otherwise revolting situation...............yes................planted in among the primroses and getting ready to flower once the primroses start to die off

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 24, '09 That looks like myosotis (forget-me-not) foliage. Is it? (This is off-subject.)

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 24, '09 Hi Frank and thanks, maybe i'm a bit paranoid but I also think workmen in general don't treat older single women very well...........its as if they know we are at their mercy and really there is nothing we can do. If I tell my daughters what this guy has been doing they will be so angry and I'm a bit afraid they may cause a scene, so I'll not be telling them the full story.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 24, '09 Thanks Bennett...............wel its midnight now and he is still working. We have just had a conversation and somehow I agreed to let him carry on working so he can get more done. He insits he has to be at this shop tomorow so no chance of him working through the day. I don't have to be at my work till late tomorow and if the worse comes to the worse I guess I'll have a day off sick. Oh I just want this over.............I've just phoned my daughter and my friend to see if I can go for a bath and sleep in the spare bed but..........well I left that too late too, they are both not answering the phone and probobly already in bed.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Mar 24, '09 No doubt in my mind that this doesn't help one bit, but l like Bennett have been in exactly the same place as you are now. A friend of a neighbor, one week became six weeks at double the cost. There came a point where I gave my neighbor the key, to let him inside, and went to stay with my daughter. The next time I contracted for a price and we signed a contract, he only ran over by two days. It is great to help local and independent contractors, but not when they have day jobs and odds and ends to finish from their previous jobs. So apparently home improvement contractors are the same everywhere. When it is finished, you will sigh a sigh of relief, have learned a thing or two and move on to enjoy your new, if not hard earned kitchen.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 24, '09 This is why my kitchen has not been redone in some time. Oh, Loretta, what can I say, I am so sorry. Your heart was in the right place, and I have similarly been in a spot of hiring someone who was so confident and independent but didn't really know what he was doing. At least you can find solace in your garden as it looks like you are doing.