ARGGGGGGG!!!!
Okay, I got the bright idea back in the fall to remodel the kitchen. It's a long story, but I blew up the dishwasher and decided after a couple of weeks that I clearly was not intended for a dishwasher-free lifestyle. I have an 80 year old farmhouse, so I should have known that the remodel would not be a piece of cake. Nothing in the house is square or plumb or straight. But who knew that it would be such a !@$%^$# load of trouble?!!! The people that owned the house before me installed the dishwasher by dropping an extension cord behind the countertops and wiring that sucker up with some electrical tape and wire nuts. To use the dishwasher you had to plug it into the wall outlet. Obviously that wasn't up to code. Sooooo... to get a new dishwasher I was going to have to have a new outlet installed behind it, and if you have a new outlet installed you might as well have new countertops and if you have new countertops you need a new sink and faucet and if you have a new sink and faucet you might as well get new floors. My life has turned into a giant kitchen "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" episode.
Anyway, I foolishly thought that I would jaunt off to Home Depot and Lowe's, get some quotes, pick the lowest and then efficiently schedule the install. I did my research homework for a few weeks (meaning trips to all the places in town that might have countertops, sinks, faucets and vinyl flooring), got a list of quotes and picked Lowe's as having the lowest prices. I scheduled measurements for the floor and sink and thought, "Yay for me! We'll get the kitchen done by Christmas!" NO, NO, NO! I have angered the kitchen remodel gods and they have frowned upon me. Sigh.
Lowe's was quick to come measure, but when I went back to schedule the install, they jacked their rates up by an additional $300-400. What?!!! (And I had given them exact measurements, etc. the first visit.) Home Depot did the same thing, saying that they now were estimating prices using a new system. I said my kitchen was still operating under the old system from two weeks ago. Didn't matter.
I finally found a counter installer at a small local company. He quoted more or less the same price I expected AND threw in a bunch of extras (like anchoring the dishwasher, installing the sink, etc). What he did tell me was that the formica sample I had agonized over and finally chosen was discontinued. After a bit of wailing from me, he allowed as how he could get it, but it would take 6-8 weeks. Fine. That I can deal with. The kitchen won't be done for Christmas, but hey, we will all just deal with it and have countertops and a sink in January. 'Tis the season of love and spiked eggnog. No one will notice I'm sure.
The floor install was to happen on the Thursday before my annual Christmas cookie party. Herds of women come to my house this one time of year. We've been doing it for almost a decade now and it is a huge deal. For some, it is the only time of year that they make it out here. Yes, yes, I'm a fool for scheduling the install so close to the party, but it was the only free day I had to babysit the installer. The floor man said he would be here between 7am and 9am so I drug my sleepy tookus out of bed before the crack of dawn to have the kitchen emptied. At 11am he called and said he would be here at noon. At 1pm he called and said he would be here at 2pm. At 3pm I called the installer company and asked what time he was really coming. They called back at 4pm and said that they were sending a new guy and that he would be here shortly. He arrived at 7pm. The floor was finished at 11pm. I had elected to do the quarter round myself so it was done except for that. My mom showed up on Friday and decorated and cleaned my house while I nailed down quarter round and put everything back in the kitchen. We beat the party deadline, but only by about 2 minutes. But at least the dang floor was in. Still no counter or sink.
The sink I actually had. I splurged and ordered a porcelain covered cast iron sink. That sucker weighs 80+ pounds and is huge. It's been sitting in my bedroom for about a month now waiting for the new countertops to get here. I foolishly did not open the box to inspect, other than a quick peek. I didn't want to run the risk of messing it up.
So the countertop man arrives today with the sparkling new countertop. It is a thing of beauty, I tell you. He fights the non-square house and gets the old counter out. He hauls the sink outside to measure the new hole and then bops back in to inform me that the sink is cracked. Yes, cracked. The porcelain has a huge gouge in it and about a 4 inch long, very sharp crack.
I am not sure what I need to sacrifice to the kitchen remodel gods. Clearly I haven't shown the right respect or humility. This remodel is destined to NEVER END. Years from now I will still be trying to get all the parts done and then the dishwasher will break and I will have to start all over again.
The sink is in the back of my car and I will haul off to the sink store on Monday and throw a tiny fit. In the meantime, I have a lovely new countertop with a huge hole in the top and no running water in the kitchen. In addition, the dishwasher won't work because the water is disconnected. Eight weeks and a zillion dollars later, I am right back where I started at the cookie, as it were. ARRGGGGGG!!!!
If ever you hear me musing over building a house, please come hit me on the head with a chicken and lock me up....
Okay, I got the bright idea back in the fall to remodel the kitchen. It's a long story, but I blew up the dishwasher and decided after a couple of weeks that I clearly was not intended for a dishwasher-free lifestyle. I have an 80 year old farmhouse, so I should have known that the remodel would not be a piece of cake. Nothing in the house is square or plumb or straight. But who knew that it would be such a !@$%^$# load of trouble?!!! The people that owned the house before me installed the dishwasher by dropping an extension cord behind the countertops and wiring that sucker up with some electrical tape and wire nuts. To use the dishwasher you had to plug it into the wall outlet. Obviously that wasn't up to code. Sooooo... to get a new dishwasher I was going to have to have a new outlet installed behind it, and if you have a new outlet installed you might as well have new countertops and if you have new countertops you need a new sink and faucet and if you have a new sink and faucet you might as well get new floors. My life has turned into a giant kitchen "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" episode.
Anyway, I foolishly thought that I would jaunt off to Home Depot and Lowe's, get some quotes, pick the lowest and then efficiently schedule the install. I did my research homework for a few weeks (meaning trips to all the places in town that might have countertops, sinks, faucets and vinyl flooring), got a list of quotes and picked Lowe's as having the lowest prices. I scheduled measurements for the floor and sink and thought, "Yay for me! We'll get the kitchen done by Christmas!" NO, NO, NO! I have angered the kitchen remodel gods and they have frowned upon me. Sigh.
Lowe's was quick to come measure, but when I went back to schedule the install, they jacked their rates up by an additional $300-400. What?!!! (And I had given them exact measurements, etc. the first visit.) Home Depot did the same thing, saying that they now were estimating prices using a new system. I said my kitchen was still operating under the old system from two weeks ago. Didn't matter.
I finally found a counter installer at a small local company. He quoted more or less the same price I expected AND threw in a bunch of extras (like anchoring the dishwasher, installing the sink, etc). What he did tell me was that the formica sample I had agonized over and finally chosen was discontinued. After a bit of wailing from me, he allowed as how he could get it, but it would take 6-8 weeks. Fine. That I can deal with. The kitchen won't be done for Christmas, but hey, we will all just deal with it and have countertops and a sink in January. 'Tis the season of love and spiked eggnog. No one will notice I'm sure.
The floor install was to happen on the Thursday before my annual Christmas cookie party. Herds of women come to my house this one time of year. We've been doing it for almost a decade now and it is a huge deal. For some, it is the only time of year that they make it out here. Yes, yes, I'm a fool for scheduling the install so close to the party, but it was the only free day I had to babysit the installer. The floor man said he would be here between 7am and 9am so I drug my sleepy tookus out of bed before the crack of dawn to have the kitchen emptied. At 11am he called and said he would be here at noon. At 1pm he called and said he would be here at 2pm. At 3pm I called the installer company and asked what time he was really coming. They called back at 4pm and said that they were sending a new guy and that he would be here shortly. He arrived at 7pm. The floor was finished at 11pm. I had elected to do the quarter round myself so it was done except for that. My mom showed up on Friday and decorated and cleaned my house while I nailed down quarter round and put everything back in the kitchen. We beat the party deadline, but only by about 2 minutes. But at least the dang floor was in. Still no counter or sink.
The sink I actually had. I splurged and ordered a porcelain covered cast iron sink. That sucker weighs 80+ pounds and is huge. It's been sitting in my bedroom for about a month now waiting for the new countertops to get here. I foolishly did not open the box to inspect, other than a quick peek. I didn't want to run the risk of messing it up.
So the countertop man arrives today with the sparkling new countertop. It is a thing of beauty, I tell you. He fights the non-square house and gets the old counter out. He hauls the sink outside to measure the new hole and then bops back in to inform me that the sink is cracked. Yes, cracked. The porcelain has a huge gouge in it and about a 4 inch long, very sharp crack.
I am not sure what I need to sacrifice to the kitchen remodel gods. Clearly I haven't shown the right respect or humility. This remodel is destined to NEVER END. Years from now I will still be trying to get all the parts done and then the dishwasher will break and I will have to start all over again.
The sink is in the back of my car and I will haul off to the sink store on Monday and throw a tiny fit. In the meantime, I have a lovely new countertop with a huge hole in the top and no running water in the kitchen. In addition, the dishwasher won't work because the water is disconnected. Eight weeks and a zillion dollars later, I am right back where I started at the cookie, as it were. ARRGGGGGG!!!!
If ever you hear me musing over building a house, please come hit me on the head with a chicken and lock me up....
