April 6, 2009, Multiply, New Kitchen no 9

TIME FOR A NEW KITCHEN NO 9

This stage of the kitchen is finished and I am feeling so much better about things. My kitchen was always going to be done in stages because it would have been far too much to cope with having the whole kitchen ripped out and dismantled in one go, also of course I need to make sure I can afford each stage as it gets done. BUT…………the first stage is done and dusted, the whole of the back wall is tiled and grouted, the new unit, sink, taps, washing machine and dishwasher are all installed, plumbed and in good working order. The first length of black work surface is fixed and sealed. This is only one wall but it is the most important wall and the wall with the most work. The whole of this wall is tiled, all of the plumbing happens on this wall and both windows are on this wall. My new blinds were delivered tonight but I’ve decided not to hang them until the whole of the kitchen is finished, just in case they get damaged.

My stress levels have returned to normal and my relationship with the contractor is much better. Once he had finished and I had the bill, which was very reasonable, we had a chat and managed to straighten out a couple of the things that concerned me. Now that it’s done, and in spite of all my moans and raising stress levels………I have to admit, he has done a very good job!!! Maybe trying to live a normal life, get up and go to work, come home and cook tea;  etc etc……….all while chaos reigned and my kitchen disappeared was a little unrealistic and maybe unreasonably optimistic.  Almost as soon as I regained control of my kitchen the memory of how awful it felt getting here began to fade. I am so very happy to have my kitchen back, even if it is a temporary reprieve, I have spent the day baking. My daughter and granddaughter came over for tea this evening. We had carrot and sweet potato soup, home made seeded bread, mixed fruit cake and cinnamon biscuits. It’s a very long time since I have done so much cooking and baking all on the same day, it was wonderful to have my kitchen back and nice to have family to cook for.

Now I am busy negotiating a start date for the other side of the kitchen to get fixed. I think the next lot of work is due to start in about three weeks. Guess that gives me time to do the wallpapering

March 27, 2009, Multiply, New Kitchen no 8

Time for a New Kitchen no 8

As the weekend approaches I am feeling more 'utterly depressed and despondent', than stressed. I suppose I have developed some sort of grudging respect for the guy I employed, that's because he was so good about the mistakes that had been made in the tiling. He told the tiler to take out the tiles that were wrong and re-do it as I had originally requested, all at no extra cost to me. The tiler tried to argue with him, just as he had argued with me and tried to fob me off with excuses as to why his way was better, but I have to admit, the chap I employed was having none of it and insisted it all be re-done exactly as I wanted.  That renewed my faith a little, unfortunately it didn’t prevent the tiler doing exactly the same thing again on the other wall. This time I stood up to him and insisted he re-do it, which he did but only after telling me, yet again, why it looked better his way.

The kitchen is almost at the point where you can see what it is going to look like. My nice new shiny white doors are still covered in protectice blue plastic. The tiles are almost up on the back wall, the double sink unit is in and working, the washing machine is plumbed in and in the picture you can see the dishwasher waiting to go in next. On the left side of the picture you can see my black and white cooker with a shiny black ceramic top that is going next to the washing machine. That one wall will look rather nice.
 Now I can get some idea of how nice the back wall of my kitchen is going to look it makes me realise how shabby my other units are going to look no matter how well I paint them but there is no point thinking that cos no way can I afford to replace all the units. No …………they will be painted as planned, have new tiles above them and a new work surface on top. It will look a lot better than it does now so guess I should be happy.

But of course……………..not all is as well with this work as it should be. This morning I had a chance to inspect the work on my own in the full glare of the morning sun.
OH NO !!!!!!  My nice new black work surface is very badly damaged; it has terrible deep scratches covering an area of about 8sq inches (10sq cm). The tiler who arrived has just told me I can use a childs wax crayon to cover the scratches  !!!!.  AND………..then I noticed the ceramic top to my cooker (that I had left covered in a thick towel) is also very, very badly damaged. It is covered in very deep scores, it almost looks as if this guy has cut his tiles on top of my ceramic hob. I could never prove it of course but that is what it looks like . Ceramic top cookers do no come cheap as I am sure you know. The tillers response was along the lines of oh well it can’t be helped I suppose. Remember this is the guy who thinks kitchens should be completely stripped out to have any work done in them. Last night there was a bit of a rush to get the sink plumbed in and working which resulted in an old reused piece of plastic pipe being split. Of course it wasn’t replaced, for a start he doesn’t seem to carry any of the stuff he might need, and secondly……….well he has some tape which he says fixes every thing!!! Let’s hope it does. That is something else I have noticed about him, he doesn’t seem to plan ahead, every so often he says he just has to pop out for something, sometimes he has done this a couple of times per night,……….all at my expense no doubt. The final nightmare is the bill…………….I still don’t know how much they are going to charge for this nightmare.

I am trying very hard to be philosophical about this and treat it as an expensive (very) learning curve. In future I think I will have a check list before letting any one start work, it should go something like this

•      The one thing I have learnt is that if I EVER have to employ any one again it will be someone I do not know which will make it a lot easier to complain when things go wrong.
• I will always insist on an estimate for the job NOT an hourly rate. 
• At the first sign of something not being quite right I will say so. 
• The one thing I should have done with this guy right at the start,  was to tell him that he needed to make my house a priority and not try to fit in my work in the evenings, in the dark, without any one to help with the heavy bits. 
• He should have made sure he had every thing he needed to the job, including dust covers for my other kitchen appliances and the floors, pens pencils, note pads, buckets, brooms, brushes, measuring tapes, and all the other things he has ‘borrowed’. Pencils get lost and brooms brushes etc end coated in plaster and unfit to use indoors

     From now on business will be business…… what a shame cos I would rather be friends with people but now I see that is not always a good idea. In this particular case it’s even more difficult cos the guy I employed seems quite a nice friendly chap. He is really a rather nice person, he is pleasant, honest and works hard to support his young family. He has taken on far more than he can cope with but all with the very best of intentions and all in order to support his family without hand outs from the state.


     OH BIG SIGH……Isn’t life difficult sometimes?? And I still feel sick with anxiety about it all.

delete reply edtrain5 wrote on Mar 28, '09 Siiiiiiiiigh What a headache.... Sorry for all your troubles. Peace & ((S))), Eddie

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 28, '09 I just had a memory of something I learned when I did an applied arts course in interior decoration. There's a tradesman's ethic called 'making good' which entails the completion of all work with the cleaning up after the actual work - which in itself is part of the work and thus included in the whole commission. I'm not sure if you said that this guy was a registered tradesman. If so, and you are not satisfied, you could take that dissatisfaction to his guild.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Mar 28, '09 Your kitchen will look quite nice I think, but oh! at what a price. I am thinking just of the anxiety, not the money. I think your resolutions are good. The one thing I learned, having an older house that frequently must be worked on, is to agree to an estimate of the cost and then a contract spelling out exactly what is to be done, whose responsibility is the clean-up, and what is the arrangement for "cost overrruns". But even with these contracts, we, and people we know, have been through similar nightmares with remodeling. I won't even start to go into car repair projects.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Mar 27, '09 From the look of things it seems your kitchen will be very nice, I hope you like it. As for the damage -- it's up to the workers to pay for or repair. Your plan for a breather and back up sounds great /:-)

delete reply djdx wrote on Mar 27, '09 You are on the right track. I am still sending positive energy to you and the situation.

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Mar 27, '09 Poor you, Loretta. Anybody who's reading your blogs will certainly gather a lot of information. How true the saying about familiarity breeding contempt is! I know there's something to cover scratches on ceramic cookers, but at the moment I can't think what it is. When I do, I'll let you know. I'll bet you're right about the tiler cutting the tiles inside. In my opinion, he gives others in his profession a bad name. Anyway, as Diana says,your kitchen is going to be a nice place to be when it's finished.

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Mar 27, '09 Yes, I would definitely deduct for the damage these clowns have done. Here in the states we might have to take it to court, but eventually we would get a fair deal. I do hope you have something like that there? Glad to hear you have the water hooked back up, so you can at least get a shower now. LOL Your kitchen is going to be awesome when it is finished!! ((HUGS))

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Mar 27, '09 Thanks guys...........tis really nice to have your support, the tiler has finished so I won't have to have him in my house again, thank heavens for that. The original guy has a couple of bits left to do, he needs to put the sealer around the sink, put the extraction fan back in the wall and finish off connecting the waste pipes under the sink. Not sure when he will be back but I have made up my mind that when he bills me I will just say the bank needs a couple of days notice for me to access funds. This will give me a breathing space and let me think about his charges and what I think I should pay him. My friends partner is in the building trade and she said he could come and have a look at every thing when it is finished and to be here when I pay the guy and point out every thing wrong. Hope he agrees.. Maybe I will feel better after the weekend but right now I am feeling quite depressed and overwhelmed by it all.

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Mar 27, '09 your new appliances look awesome.... and I am glad for you that the tiles will be the way you want them... but the rest of your nightmare just doesn't seem to end.... there are good lesson learned, and I guess that always happens.... anything that was damaged by workers should come out of their pocket.... I'd be pretty firm about that... and I doubt I would give any references for these guys.... I had a painter [wallpaper stripper] who worked pretty cheap, but left messes and borrowed things too... I knew how he was going into the deal and the labor he performed was worth it to me, even if I had to 'fix' up behind him... but you were not expecting that... now I am doubly sure I don't want to fix up anything anymore... next time I want NEW or I live with the old... - hugs....

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 27, '09 veryfrank said This is very solid thinking, I refuse to hire anyone who only works for an hourly rate. When my kitchen was renovated, the contractor wouldn't work until everything was removed. For the new large appliances, he had me change the delivery date until his work was completed. Then he was there when they were delivered and had the men carry the units into the kitchen and not drag them across the new floor. I now empty a room or cover things myself before any work gets done. I fully understand your anxiety, but as you are seeing, it is the same trip to completion, with or without anxiety. I strongly advise replacing that plastic pipe instead of taping it. Tape is a temporary patch, not a repair. Plastic pipe, once split, could further split above the tape line sometime in the future and you don't know it until you have a costly leak. Hugs, F. so true what frank says happened to me when they fixed a leek but didin't replace it just taped it and a couple of rears later water water every where-

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Mar 27, '09 HUGS, i sure do hope things will work out well for you.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Mar 27, '09 forgetmenot525 said I will always insist on an estimate for the job NOT an hourly rate. This is very solid thinking, I refuse to hire anyone who only works for an hourly rate. When my kitchen was renovated, the contractor wouldn't work until everything was removed. For the new large appliances, he had me change the delivery date until his work was completed. Then he was there when they were delivered and had the men carry the units into the kitchen and not drag them across the new floor. I now empty a room or cover things myself before any work gets done. I fully understand your anxiety, but as you are seeing, it is the same trip to completion, with or without anxiety. I strongly advise replacing that plastic pipe instead of taping it. Tape is a temporary patch, not a repair. Plastic pipe, once split, could further split above the tape line sometime in the future and you don't know it until you have a costly leak. Hugs, F.

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Mar 27, '09 How awful about the damage, I feel so bad for you. What do you think of this...if he charges you an outrageous bill then you might say, 'well, what about the damage to this and that...?' Only this week I had to be assertive with someone in a position of authority in a medical situation. That was hard, but I stuck to my guns (I was raised to believe my my mother who comes from another generation's thinking that doctors were 'infallible', but I have since learned otherwise!) Actually this week has been quite the experience for me too. I find that assertiveness takes effort, sometimes more than one wants to expend, and it can be a battle but sometimes one just has to do it anyway. Just hold that thought 'this too shall pass'. :-)

delete reply kathyinozarks wrote on Mar 27, '09 Loretta, this is a nightmare, make sure they replace all that is damaged Before you pay any bills. Do not accept what is not right. and I have never heard of someone not working for the customer. this is your kitchen, these guys are working for You. If they do not want to replace what they have damaged tell them you are not paying til they do, does your country have a watchdog for business that you can report them too. good luck to you, this should have been a wonderful experience for you-hugs

delete reply starfishred wrote on Mar 27, '09 At least you are moving ahead-try not to think of the bill till it comes and like you said we learn don't we.

delete reply hedgewitch9 wrote on Mar 27, '09 I still think the C.A.B. and the council need to be spoken to - and if the damage isnt repaired, advise the 2nd chap that his bill will be reduced accordingly. Maybe get a male friend/relative to have a word with him? :) Much good luck and many huge hugs to you!

delete reply wulfshado wrote on Mar 27, '09, edited on Mar 27, '09 My hubby does this stuff for a living and, boy, is your guy an idiot! He's also probably soaking you for some extra cash on that hourly wage. Have your 'chap' beat the other guy up or something. lol There's really no need for such shoddiness in work or for damaging your things. When you get the bill make sure you double check everything and meanwhile, check to see if you have any recourse for damages and such. Here in the US we have the Better Business Bureau and the Labor Dept to call on for such things. Having a kitchen redone is stressful enough without this sort of crap making you more upset.

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.