Monday, October 29, 2007

Is it Safe to Come Out?

After last week, I'm almost afraid to peek my head out from underneath the covers. I'm happy it's behind me. It's not the same here without Roo following my every step, her happy wag of the tail and just general being here. We had her for twelve years, and it's going to take a while getting used to a house without her. The cats are trying their best to fill her shoes though. Dave is feeling much better this morning and is actually scrapping with Bella. Bella is attacking poor Abby who screams bloody murder each time she does. I'm hoping to get some normalcy back into this haphazard place we call home. Thanks to my friends who helped me collect acorns last weekend by Mobile Bay. This is my fall decor this year, I'm afraid. It does bring a smile to my face though with memories of a wonderful weekend with special friends.

{WARNING: Rant ON}When I found barely any work having been done {in the kitchen} in my eleven-day absence, I just about blew a gasket. Well, actually I did. Maybe even two. As the hub says, "I ripped them a new one," if you get my drift. The entire kitchen could have been finished in that time. Truthfully. And it was supposed to have been. I had been promised the tiling of the back splash would begin that Friday and finished the following Monday. Therefore, I Fedx'd (as in almost $40 to overnight) the switch plates for the light switches. Do you think it was done? Don't think I have to answer that question for ya. Was anything done? Well, one thing. All of my cabinet doors are inset, meaning they are flush with the cabinets. I then ordered panels for all of my appliances so they looked like part of the cabinets. Do you think they were flush? Nope. So, the entire wall of cabinets where the refrigerator is had to be pulled out. Yep. Pulled out. They tried to tell me it was supposed to look like that. The appliance folks told them otherwise. It seems the entire project is three steps forward, ten steps back. My blood pressure goes up just talking about it. Today, they have to come out and move the island because it is not centered with the stove. OMG. They tried to tell me IT was right also because they used the measurements from the ALMIGHTY BOOK. OMG. Do I have IDIOT written on my forehead??? I don't care what the flipping book says, open your eyes and take a look. Do they not eye the stuff also? Guess not. C'mon. Another gasket lost on stupidity. Friday, I had to call them twice to make sure they were coming out. They had promised everything would be finished on Friday. I had to call them TWICE. OMG. They finally arrived and finally connected the dishwasher and ice maker. Do you think they worked? Forgot to take the plug out of the dishwasher drain so my first load never drained, just sat in the muck and dingy water sat in the tub all weekend. Loverly. The ice maker was on all weekend and never produced a cube of ice. It has almost become comical. That is, if I weren't living through it. I threw my hands up on Friday and just began putting things away. Finished or not. Over it. When I put my mixing bowls away, the door wouldn't close. Yep. They are not deep enough (with the inset doors) to fit my mixing bowls. An 11 inch plate? Nope, they don't fit either. When I called the woman, she said "well your plates are too big." Hehe. I could have reached through the phone for her throat. These are plates from Pfaltzgraff. Normal dinner plates that I have had for over 17 years. Tried another set that I had bought from Target several years ago. Again, pretty standard plates. No go. OMG! I then gave her a lesson in kitchen remodeling. 1. If you suggest to a customer they get inset doors, explain to them that normal things like mixing bowls and plates do NOT fit in a 12-inch cabinet because the door takes 3/4 inches of the depth of the cabinets. 2. If a customer orders inset doors and order panels for their appliances, adjustments need to be made, either by the manufacturer of the cabinets or by the designer, that compensates for the panels and makes them flush with the rest of the cabinets. (At this point, the guys have to finagle the wires behind the dishwasher and ice maker in order to push them back to the wall so the doors are flush. What a waste of time.) You can see the dishwasher drawer panels are not flush at this point in the picture above. (They're supposed to look like that--NOT!) They better well be by the end of the day.

I haven't mentioned the countertops, have I? They were installed the day before I left for Riverside. After coming home and ordering a pizza, I noticed the oil was actually staining the Silestone. Yes, Silestone. The substance that has no upkeep whatsoever. I wanted marble or soapstone but the woman talked me out of it--too much upkeep. OMG! Are you kidding me? So the countertop people came back and rubbed and rubbed, brought out the special cleaner I had never heard of--nothing. Then brought out the bottle of alcohol. After really rubbing it, some of the fingerprints came out. Then he wanted to seal it. Seal Silestone? Wha??? He did. He left. The fingerprints are back. I'll be damned if I'm going to walk around with two bottles of cleaner and scrub each finger print that shows up. The manufacturer just happens to be coming in from Italy this week. He's going to bring him by. The kitchen people want to tear it out and start over. OMG. I'm beside myself. Remember Billy Crystal's character on Saturday Night Live, Fernando? "It's not how you feel, darling, it's how you look. And you look marvelous." I guess that's my kitchen. Functional? No. But it will look marvelous. Just shoot me now.

PS I just received a phone call from the appliance folks. The refrigerator that was installed a month ago--yes a whole month--that had a broken shelf has yet to be fixed. They were scheduled to come by this morning (second trip because they didn't have the right parts last time they ordered them) and fix the shelving unit, again. They looked at the parts this morning and figured out they still don't have the right parts. OMG. If I hadn't already shot myself, I would have to do it again. OMG. Pass the Advil, please.{Rant off.}

I kicked myself this morning and am pushing myself to get back into the swing of things. Halloween is a couple of days away. This is my all-time favorite time of year. I need to enjoy it. I am trying to keep a happy face, but last week was just one of those weeks.

Congrats to my Pammy who is a big Red Sox fan. Wooohooo. What a game last night. I stayed up to see if the Rockies could pull out, but it wasn't to be. I was rooting for the Red Sox, but it would have been fun to watch a couple more games. Bet there's some hangovers this morning up Boston way, ya think? How fun for them. Did you see all the players wearing goggles in the locker room when the champagne was flying. How funny is that! I guess it would burn the eyes. Think I'd rather drink the stuff, myself. Pass the bottle please. Please?

17 comments:

Vallen said...

Why is it so hard to get even adequate service on these kinds of things? I have yet to go through this kind of project without dozens of headaches and nightmares. Doesn't anyone care about doing a good job anymore? It says alot about the state of the world. I hope that all is fixed and finished soon. Doesn't make you want to do anymore remodeling, huh?

Tammy said...

I'm so so sorry to hear about Roo dog...my moms dog is going through the same thing getting older and hard to walk and such...I dread the day she has to let him go and pray he dies peacefully in his sleep!

I'll be glad when they get your kitchen done for ya...please don't stroke out about...think happy thoughts =)

Love YOu!!

Peggy said...

I really should have not read your post today. We are starting the kitchen tomorrow.. oh dear LOL

Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka said...

OMG - I think MY blood pressure went up just reading this! I cannot believe what you are going through...plates won't fit? WTfraggle? I would have ripped them a new one too...more than one!! I swear I am picturing the contractor from that movie The Money Pit.
We had our kitchen done 17 years ago this month....I sub contracted the cabinets, floor, tile myself. It truly needs to be updated now but OH I am not sure I could withstand it again!
I feel for you and I'm passing you a big ole Margarita and a hug!
XOXOXO
p.s. there is NO such thing as customer service anymore!! (my biggest pet peeve)

Blondie ~ Vintage Primitives said...

just found you through A Happy Miscellany - oh dear girl, I have GOT to come back to read what the man from Italy will have to say about your counter top!
Plates that need to be smaller? As in the size of their reps. brain? Stand your ground! Have a large sweet tea on me.
Blondie
ps -love the squirrel.

Shelley said...

Dear...hang in there. But I'd rip em too. Hugs. (looks beautiful, though.)

Motherkitty said...

It's a wonder you didn't go "postal" with that kitchen person. I would make them pull the countertops and install granite just like you wanted in the first place. My sister just put in granite, sealed it and it's beautiful. I think you will be very unhappy with the Silestone. I put in Corian and couldn't be happier with it. I almost got a stroke just listening to you rant about all your troubles. Those guys should be held accountable until the entire job is to your satisfaction. I certainly hope you haven't paid them in full yet.

So very sorry about your dog. I know you are sad. I have several cats that are about 14 years old and getting almost to that point in their lives. It will be sad when their time comes.

Hope your kitchen woes get fixed pronto.

Beth said...

Well my Rosie,,I do believe you do need a bottle after the week you had last week. My goodness, what a horrid time you had after having such a fun time with your gals. I am so sorry about Roo,,he was a sweet baby dog. I can sympathize after just losing our Ranger this summer, but Roo and Ranger are having a great time chasing butterflys. And by God,,you give those contractors HELL,,they better get that kitchen ready for your Bro to come cook for Thanksgiving. Love ya Girl!! I will see you soon!
xoxoxooxox

Lena said...

Well, I have to admit that I was thinking you could probably use a margarita just about now! Or maybe, two!
My guys were pulling for the Rockies, but was happy to see Boston win. I can't believe I just said that! LOL!

Lena said...

Ooops! I was just working my way up to the kitchen post....I didn't notice that the Boston congrats were a part of it! I'm just having my morning coffee, I swear!
The kitchen is so beautiful. Eventually the memory of these kitchen guys will go away, and you can just enjoy it.
I love your autumn vignette. Sometimes simple is just enough.
xoxox

Peggy said...

say a prayer as we started the kitchen today ;(

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Your kitchen is amazing! I really love the way it looks and the atmosphere within!

Cheers,

Rosa

Corey said...

I'm so glad you like the book so far!

I had to comment on this post. We're at the tail end of a bathroom remodel,and I can definitely empathize. Among other things, we had our plumber try to claim that he was doing things the proper way, even though our fixtures were sticking out the wall an extra two inches- yeah, I don't think so. My husband demanded he come back and redo it all for free. And to add to things, we just realized that he turned off the water to our sprinklers several weeks ago. We unfortunately didn't realize this until going out and buying a new sprinkler control board because we thought ours was broken! Argh!!

ShabbyInTheCity said...

Ooo I have a neighbor with a beautiful kitchen!!! Lets eat :)
Sorry about your pet. I recently also lost a dog of 12 years...our pastor's wife ran over him!!!

beth said...

We have built and remodled and it's never easy...but I have to say you are really having one heck of a time.
YES...they should have told you recessed doors take up normal space that people don't think about...that was a no brainer !!!
And the countertops...I know nothing about silestone other than I've always been steered away from it and onto the granite. This is my third time with granite, before then was corain, and I've never had a problem with either of them...although corain can scratch. BUT nothing and I mean NOTHING bothers the granite !!
I even put it my laundry room !

Working with sub-contractors is one of the most difficult things I've ever done. They really should offer a class in college for that !!!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about your counters. If you selected Silestone in the matte finish, what you are probably seeing is the shine from the oil/grease, not a stain. Grease and oil is extremely hard to remove entirely from a surface, and if you have a matte finish, solid dark color or a combination of the two the grease shine will show.

You don't see that on granite because its imperfections distract the eye or on Corian because (well its plastic). Granite would have just soaked up the oil and then left you either a small stain or an odd odor in the kitchen for 10 years.

I would try getting a specific grease cleaner (or laquer thinner if you want to go hardcore). If the shiny grease prints don't come off then, there is a manufacturing defect with your top and the Silestone warranty should cover a new top for you.

Shame on your K&B dealer for not explaining dark colors, matte finish issues with you. Its like stainless, those colors/styles just show more.

Anonymous said...

I purchaed a Silstone product because I felt the product offered protection against defects. I was wrong and if I were to replace or chose a coutertop today, I would chose granite.

We purchased a Silestone quartz surface countertop in 2002 with a ten year warranty. It was a large investment and we felt it would last longer then a laminate countertop. However, we found a defect in the stone (chip) within six months and now we have two cracks and a seam that is easily noted.

The installer said not to worry about the initial chip in the countertop and said we had the ten year warranty to do anything about it. The choice I had was to drill a hole into the countertop and replace the area where the chip is in the countertop and I was afraid it would look worse then it does now.

We contacted Home Valu in the summer of 2007 and they sent out the installers who actually sent the pictures and description of the cracks to the Silestone warranty department. In September 2007, we received a letter from Oscar Jimenez, General Manager, stating the cause of the cracks was due to "settlement of your home" and would not be covered under the Silestone Limited Warranty. Our house was fifteen years old when the countertop was installed and this would not be an issue. I question if I would put this product in a new home since homes do settle in the first year. We have placed no heated objects on our countertop, however, one crack is close to the dishwasher.

I have been in contact with Home Valu, where we purchased the countertop, and they contacted Silestone also. Home Valu manager said a Silestone representative was to call and set up at time to look at the Silestone countertop in our home, however, we've never heard from them (September 2007). I have my third call to Home Valu to inquire why we have not heard from Silestone.

Silestone is an expensive product and in my opinion, Silestone is not living up to their warranty. Unless they change and honor their warranty, I would not purchase this product. I would also be concern placing this product into a new home due to the Limited Warranty which Mr. Jimenez stated would not cover "cracks due to structural movement, settlement of your home, building etc.

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