March 25, 2009, Multiply, New Kitkhen no 7 + a continuation

And so the saga continues............
Last night I ended up boiling  the last of the water left in the kettle that we had saved for drinks, and using it to wash with..........no bath for me last night. I threw the last of the bucket of water down the toilet followed by half a bottle of bleach and resigned myself to a very long bath-free night. He finally left in the early hours of the morning after connecting the water to the bathroom and switching my water heater back on. He left the water turned off in the kitchen which was irrelevant really since there was (still is) no sink in my kitchen!!.

This morning there was a bit of a reprieve, he didn't turn up before work which meant I could stay in bed a while longer and have that longed for soak in the bath. Oh bliss
Short lived bliss though. Tonight I returned from work not sure what to expect, what I didn't expect was to find a man I had never seen before, alone in my kitchen putting tiles on the wall. But that is exactly what I did find. This strange man had used my bucket, kicked water all over the floor, soaked the laminate, used my towels to mop it up and then trodden on the bucket and broke it........none of which seemed to matter very much to him.  He assumed I was in the process of moving in to the house, he obviously thought of my house more as a building site at his disposal than my home. I did end up telling him that these premises are primarily my home and not primarily a building site or his place of work, I suspect it fell on deaf ears. Once he realised I have been in this house for six years he said.........''oh have you only just got round to doing it up then?? of course the best way to do this is for the kitchen to be completely emptied out of cupboards and every thing''. What a horrible man and to add insult to injury I have just noticed he has not put the tiles up as I requested. He has put two white tiles between the black in some places and three white tiles between the black in others, it looks awful. He said he is going to return tomorrow to finish the tiling along with the original joiner who is supposed to be fitting the sink tomorrow.............oh I just want this to be over. This has to rank up there with divorce and moving as one of the greatest stress factors of all time.
And for every one who agreed with me.......yes now I am 100% convinced that workmen treat single women (of all ages but especially older single women) with utter contempt and disregard..........

delete reply sandycaar wrote on Mar 31, '09 "Calgon, take me away!"

delete reply sandycaar wrote on Mar 31, '09 omg!! i cannot believe the trouble and stress that you're having to put up just to get your new kitchen, loretta,,and the way the workmen are treating not only your house, but you,,there's no excuse for this, but people will take advantage when they can, i guess i should say some people will,,i would say do whatever is allowed over there to get this 'gone wrong' tiling, and any and all else, retrified,,i agree that you'll not be happy with it the way it is now,,and you shouldn't have to,,i certainly feel for you!! i'm certainly glad you had that nice soak :) and hope it helped.........

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 26, '09 Loretta, I'm really feeling for you. The stress factor is high in my situation right now too (still trying to get my painting back from that failed print/photography shop business). I had something else happen too earlier in the week ALL adding to the stress factor. This tiling guy at your place takes the cake! If the work is substandard - kick him out, that's my advice. You don't want to live with something you're not going to be completely happy with. The water is the issue right now but this tiling guy must be short of grey matter. Just hanging in there is hard, I ought to know, but you've got friends!

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Mar 26, '09 It sounds like a terrible trial to your nerves, Loretta. I suppose such fellows as your tiler get away with all they think they can & then some, knowing you are needing them to finish up & get back to normalcy. This guy acts as if he'd been pre-paid. He hasn't, has he? Because I know what my husband or I would do after such shenanigans, & it would be a decrease in payment, if any, to such a churl. Surely there must be some kind of competition for this guy, a woman peferably, who would be more considerate. Best of Luck & congrats on the lovely soak, which is one of life's great pleasures in my book.

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Mar 26, '09 Loretta,I feel bad for you-reading all this-I agree with others here, you need to cause a fuss-this man must have a boss-let him know this is not acceptable, especially the way he treated your home-I would definately be wanting a redo of the wrong tiles as well. I will be thinking of you today-hugs

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Mar 26, '09 Loretta!!! This is awful. Can you not approach the council & ask about trading standards etc? You do have rights - call the citizens advice bureau too.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Mar 26, '09 I used to know a plumber, believe it or not, who was very understanding or he said he was because his wife worked. Loretta, he should have to redo those tiles. They've not been put up like you wanted and I imagine you'll never be happy the way they are. I'll send you some positive energy like DJ - that is if I have any to spare. We have another homeowners meeting this weekend. Anyway, I wish you luck.

delete reply artimisia wrote on Mar 26, '09 all i can say is i know i know i know...... i could write a book on this subject....n whatever one does...it wont make the blindest bit of difference to them...they have an answer to everything

delete reply djdx wrote on Mar 26, '09 I am very sorry you are going through this. Workmen will often do as they please, even with a man in the house. I think I would blow a gasket if I were in your place. After one has gone to all the trouble of planning something the way one wants it, it is very frustrating to have it messed up like this. I am sending some positive energy to the situation.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 26, '09 I hope your nightmare ends soon loretta-

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Mar 25, '09 I do hope your ordeal is soon over,. It sounds like a bad experience and there seems to be little recourse.

delete reply veroniquemariquita wrote on Mar 25, '09 Hugs Loretta . Sounds like you are having a rough time. Hopefully it will all be finished soon.

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Mar 25, '09 I so agree about the workmen.... they can rude, insensitive and obnoxious..... this sounds like a nightmare..... and I read the previous kitchen blog but did not get to comment on it.... I have spent the last 2 years in various stages of updating my house.... and I want to get out of here.... the next time I move I want new.... someone said "new?" and I said: I don't EVER want to go through this updating process again.... and quite honestly I never had any real problems with any of the projects.... it's a nightmare even when all goes well...... sorry about your tiles too.....

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 25, '09 From time to time one's own husband may treat his spouse like a nincimpoop. Rarely, but it does happen.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 25, '09 I really do hate to trash men, but I must say that there is a certain sort of man - oh heck Loretta, you are right. If there was a "Mister" hanging around I do think you would have been treated better by these cretins.