What was supposed to be a simple upgrade turned into a four-month project. In the grand scheme of things, my experience was not nearly as bad as what some have had. I am in the building material industry, so I know the challenges. I guess I should have expected these setbacks, but it is still frustrating. It just feels like if more people took pride in their jobs, things would go a lot smoother for the consumer.
Yes, I know, I am constantly going on about work ethic, but it is the root cause of many of today’s problems in my mind. When did people stop caring about their work performance? If one person drops the ball, there is a ripple effect that trickles down effecting everyone else’s performance and ultimately costing the consumer more time and money. But this doesn’t seem to bother anyone else nowadays.
Finding the Right Contractor
Finding the right contractor has always been an important step in any project, big or small. Home repairs and remodels are often pricey, and many things require the proper skills. It used to be that you reach out for word-of-mouth recommendations, research qualifications, and view before and after pictures of projects completed. You would have several contractors meet you at your home to go over the proposed project in detail so you could make an informed decision.
This all seems like the way of the past. Now you are lucky to get anyone to return a phone call or email. If you are lucky enough to hear back, now you have to get them to show up. Even being in the building material business, I struggled to have contractors show up to view the project. Some that showed up, never got back to me with the estimate like they said they would. I question if my project is not worth their time.
You would think for a kitchen remodel, gutting and installing a new 12×14 kitchen should be worth it. I am not working with cheap product or looking to cut corners. I’m offering a decent labor budget. My only conclusion is that many really do not want to work. This should have been a simple upgrade.
Creating the Right Design
In any project, creating the right design is key. Therefore, you need to come up with something that not only fits your space but gives you the look that you want along with the functionality that you need. So, me working for a company that sells kitchens, sat down with my coworker to come up with a design. I showed her the sketch of what I was thinking. With some minor tweaks and upgrades to give better functionality and resale value, we all agree that the layout would work for my kitchen.
After a three month wait for the product to come in and the contractor to get me on his schedule, I am clearing out my old kitchen. I move my old fridge to the location of where the new fridge will go to not only clean under the fridge, but to get a bit of a visual of my new layout. Yes, my new fridge location has the fridge a bit over four foot from the corner wall, but over two feet of that is the corner countertop. Yes, my stove is over three feet from the adjacent corner wall, but again, over two feet of that is the corner countertop. This leaves about a foot of space for me to stand in the corner between my fridge and my stove.
Obviously, this is not the functionality that I was looking for. This just made the majority of my countertop unusable space. Here we are just a day before the project begins, and I realize that this will not work. I do not want to be spending the kind of money that I am putting out for this on a kitchen less functional that what I have. This was supposed to be a simple upgrade.
Additional Work, Additional Materials
My goal at this point was to come up with a revised layout. One that limits the number of cabinets that I have to reorder. And of course, a layout I find useful. After several panic attacks and working with the designer and the contractor, we come up with a game plan.
We decide to close in one of my kitchen windows. This will allow the refrigerator to go where the window used to be. Doing this increases my cabinets and countertop space. I am able to use every cabinet that I have already purchased. But now, I am purchasing additional cabinets to fill in the space that my refrigerator was originally going to go.
At the end of the day, I am happy with the additional storage and countertop space. I am less happy with the additional cost for cabinets and granite countertop. And of course, the additional labor and materials to close in my window. Not only did this add more expense to the project that I wasn’t expecting, but it was the beginning of the delays. This is not turning out to be a simple upgrade.
Two Weeks Become Four Months
The decision is made to begin the project as originally scheduled. Since the layout change does not affect the water lines, it is recommended to gut the kitchen and begin on time. Sure, they are the professionals, it sounds great. My kitchen is empty, and my temporary kitchen is set up in the spare room. Out go my old cabinets and appliances other than my fridge.
My kitchen is bare, now it is time to close up the window before the electrical and plumbing work can begin. Apparently, the drywall and siding subcontractors are not available. Now I have no kitchen and no work for two days. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but this delay now delays the other subcontractors. I was on the electrician and plumber’s schedule, but they are both booked for other jobs two days after they were scheduled to be at my place.
The domino effect continues with all of the subs on my project. Now I have the electrician, plumber, painter, cabinet installers, and countertop guys coming so sporadically over the next few months as they can fit me into their schedules. When they finally finish up and I have a functioning kitchen with a gap between some cabinets and my fridge, three months have gone by. About a month later, my add on cabinets arrive and to my surprise, the cabinet guys were able to come install them within the week. It is finally done, even though not the simple upgrade I was expecting.
Crazy Babble or Just My Voice of Reason??
Am I crazy to think that these delays should never have happened if people took more pride and detail in their jobs? What ever happened to a simple upgrade? I feel like a kitchen designer of 15+ years should have noticed the unusable space. I feel like the kitchen installer of 25+ years should have noticed the problem as well. In addition, that kitchen installer should have reviewed the schedules of his subs to make sure that ripping out my kitchen when originally scheduled was the best thing for his customer and what should have been a simple upgrade.
I can’t say it enough that there is so little pride in a job well done anymore. No matter how old this makes me sound, work ethic seems to be a thing of the past. Let me know if I am just spewing crazy babble or if this is a reasonable assessment of the times. And as always, be sure to check out the next Worst on the First. We will see how ambitious I get, but I’m thinking that December will cover both October and November articles.