Well, as I said in the beginning, you should expect some unexpected issues to arise on every project. As much as I planned and tried to anticipate anything that could possibly go wrong, there's no way I could've foreseen the obstacles we've encountered.
On the last post, I posted the good news about our countertops. I was so excited and relieved as all the decisions had been made! Then, a few days later, our contractor's truck was stolen along with all of his tools (saws, power tools, etc.). They found the truck in another city with it's engine stripped out. This means he need time to turn his focus to itemizing everything for insurance and then waiting for them to replace everything. Thank goodness I didn't let him tear out my kitchen yet! (I have a policy of not letting demo happen until we are ready to work in the area. He was just beginning the cabinet assembly.) Unfortunately, this meant I needed to find a good contractor who could start immediately on this project! That's quite a tall order given the fact that most good contractors are booked months out. I had waited a few months for mine.
I quickly called Dale at the Marble Yard to let him know our project would be delayed. I felt bad. He kindly gave me some names to call. After a few interviews, through contractors who know other contractors, Maples Construction in Huntington Beach came to my rescue! I'm so pleased with them so far. They are a father/son duo with a positive attitude and skills to boot! This delayed the project a few weeks but I'm so glad to be back on track! I now have another contractor I enjoy working with to help me with my jobs so maybe it was meant to be!
Unfortunately, the problems didn't stop there. I had such high hopes for Conestoga (the supplier for my cabinets). As I mentioned earlier, they happily replaced damaged items,
though I had to wait a few weeks to get the replacements. We just received the last shipments last week on an order that came in August! Things happen, so I could understand. However, the issues didn't stop there.
These were supposed to be RTA cabinets. Meaning they're ready to assemble. Nope. Not these. We had toe kick notches that needed to be cut out, wrong sized pieces, mislabeled pieces, dovetails routed in the wrong places, missing toe kicks, and a whole peninsula with the wrong configuration!
Of course, the company would probably replace most of the items. I just don't have time to wait for them to get the pieces to me, so we will have to improvise. For one of the cabinets that wasn't routed where it should have been, we were able to make it with pocket screws, but there are two cabinets where we will need to wait for parts to be remade. My guys were able to cut pieces to fit and pocket screw the cabinets together to make the carcasses ("box" part of the cabinet). However, the painted parts will need to be remade.
This means we have to wait a few more weeks for door and drawer fronts. I've asked that the face frames be expedited so the countertops are not delayed. We will see... I'm losing faith that this company will pull it off in time. Fingers crossed. I'm determined not to delay the countertop installation or use of the kitchen again, so we are trying to modify the cabinets where possible. We will just wait for the finished pieces that are wrong. I am really surprised at all the mistakes that were made by the cabinet company given their history and reputation, but that was my experience. Maybe I'll have better luck with the next place. If possible, I'll just use my custom cabinet guy in the future. Still, when it's done, I know I'll be happy!
Next up: Demo Day and Progress!