Kitchen Renovation - Days 1-11
Renovation: (n) a painful, expensive, drawn out process wherein a person hands out gobs of money and wait patiently for contractors to show up whenever they please, do a minimum amount of work, and then disappear for long stretches of time leaving the homeowners with a barely functional house with nary a word to said homeowner. See also: masochism, insanity, DIY network poisoning, Axis of Evil.
Because there was so much electrical going on last week and the start of this week, I wasn't able to get online long enough to do anything other than a quick check of my email, and even that was spotty. Here's a breakdown of the whole project thus far:
(Bits bolded for the tl;dr crowd)
May 2 - They replaced the French doors which were leaking and not in good shape following two heavy duty hurricanes with a sliding glass door.
May 12 - They removed the wall between the living and dining room. (Which I wrote about here.)
May 13-20 - Nothing happened. Not a call, not a brief appearance. No emails either.
Everything was at a standstill because their company was focusing on another property - a $5 million dollar house getting a $100,000 kitchen makeover. The woman is being a diva and demanding all their attention. So much so that their electrician didn't have the time to come out and do any work on our place. Not that he even bothered to call and let us know.
Hating someone whose name I don't know and whom I've never seen or met is a new experience for me.
I hope the bitch enjoys her new kitchen.
Saturday May 21 - They stopped by with the drywall contractor so that he could take measurements.
Monday, May 23 - They arrived at 11am and removed the wooden paneling in the entryway and dining room. They also removed the beams in the living room and ripped out all the ceiling tiles in the entryway, dining room, and kitchen.
The ceiling in the living room after the beams have been ripped out.
The wall between the garage's entryway and the dining room.
Tuesday, May 24 - They arrived at 10am when they were supposed to be here at 8:30am. They gutted most of the kitchen and removed the flooring in the entryway.
This is the before shot of the kitchen.
This is after Mom, Dad, and I took down the doors to salvage the hardware. (We plan on using it in the laundry room when we paint it.)
This is the kitchen after work day 4.
Wednesday, May 25 - They arrived at 9:23am. They were supposed to be here at 8:30am. They spent the day doing a real hash job of doing the plumbing and ripping out the flooring in the kitchen and dining room.
First, the plumbing. The man that did it did an awful job. Dad is so seriously pissed off because, had he known what a crap job they were going to do, he would have called our plumber. Despite being a bit expensive, the people at our local plumbing company are competent and get the job done well.
The idiot caused a leak in the attic that had to be mopped up and the power shut off because of it as a just in case. Then his welding skills look like something I could have done and I've never held a torch in my life. Rather conveniently, the "plumber" didn't start work until Dad left for an appointment. (Dad's grandfather was a plumber by trade who taught both his son (my grandfather) and Dad quite a bit. Dad would have done the work himself, but he's too disabled to be climbing around in the attic.) I, however, am not as knowledgeable. I was also too scared of getting anywhere near the guy while he was working because 1) welding can damage the eye 2)hot bits can end up flying about, and 3) the worker gave me the creeps. (I would learn two days later that the man had just gotten off parole and 'has a bad temper that gets him in trouble.' Joy.)
The is the corner of the kitchen. Notice how he scorched the wood?
One of his welding joints.
Pulling up the floor was awful, too. It was so freaking loud. They used a saw and a electric chisel thing. It was nearly as loud as a jackhammer.
There were two workers who were supposed to be doing that, but one mostly just stood around and complained about all the work and how hot it was. The workers tried to get the guy to work, but he hemmed and hawed. Dad told him to work and he gave Dad an attitude. Dad called the contractor while the guy just stood there. The contractor came out and the two (who are brothers which we didn't know at the time) started screaming at each other. I didn't see the fight. I certainly heard it though. Dad said it looked like it could have easily devolved into a fist fight. I don't know why the contractor doesn't just fire his ass. I know the layabout is his brother, but there are a lot of hard working people out there that would love to have a job right about now.
Kaiko in the living room on what used to be the floor.
Thursday, May 26 - They were supposed to be here at 8:30. They arrived at nearly 10. (Sensing a theme yet?) They ripped up the flooring in the living room and ripped out the wall to the left of the fireplace. That group left at 2:30pm.
The "electrician" / "plumber" would have finished his work if he hadn't been flapping his gums.
Dad took off for another appointment this afternoon. While he was gone, the creepy worker told me he needed to get into my bedroom to do work. Having not heard of any of this mess and not knowing a thing about electrical work, I tried to call Dad. He had his cell phone off. After mentally cursing the hell out of him, I called the office he was at and got in touch. Imagine my surprise to find out he'd known this was going to happen and forgot to tell me.
The idea of having some strange, creepy bastard in my room gave me the absolute willies, but I cleared out the way for the ass to get to what he needed to. (Apparently, my light switch, the plug I have my mini-fridge in, and an old, obsolete plug in the kitchen were on the same circuit and tied into the kitchen lines. They were fixing it or something. I don't know.
What I do know is that the creep was so busy flapping his gums that he didn't finish that day so they had to do it the next.
My room is a freaking mess and besides which the idea of having him in there was filling me with so much anxiety I felt like throwing up. It's my room. My private space. And, because my closet is filled with all the super fragile glasses and stuff, my clothing -- bras and pants included -- are out for God and country to see. I didn't want that creepy SOB anywhere near my drawers!
Ugh.
I'm so done with this renovation.
Our makeshift kitchen sitting in the living room. We've got sausage and bean soup going in the crock pot and the rice pot running too.
Friday, May 27 - The electrical work continued. It's about half finished -- still some outlets to hook up, metal boxes that need to be switched out to plastic to bring them up to code, and the whole fuse box is going to be upgraded. Thankfully, the contractor himself did my room. Dad must have had a word to him about how creeped out I was about Parolee-Anger-Issues man or something because he -- the contractor -- showed up specifically to do the work in my room. (Not that having him in there was less upsetting, but at least the guy doesn't send off the serial killer vibe the other guy does.)
The drywaller arrived at 7am, catching half of us in bed. He started and was able to complete the ceiling in the entryway, dining room, and kitchen. He also started on the living room where we're having a more complex ceiling put in. (a tray ceiling)
The drywalled ceiling.
The start of the tray ceiling in the living room.
The odd, chicken feet texture that was applied over the spackling stuff he put on in the first pic. It's part of the tray ceiling technique he's using in the living room.
The lights were all taken down from all three rooms and all of our furniture but the piano, the fridge, and the stove were put out in the garage (without our knowledge mind you). They also went off to lunch and left the garage open with all our furniture out there!. Ugh.
There's now no lights in those three rooms at all which makes getting around at night interesting. Flashlights are your friend, yo.
They also put in the support beams onto the fireplace; we're covering the awful brick monstrosity and having it drywalled and some marble tile added.
I should also note that, while the drywaller arrived and left precisely when he was supposed to, the other works didn't appear until nearly 9.
The fireplace with the support beams added.
The furniture crowded in the garage.
Saturday, May 28 - The drywaller arrived at 8:30 to do a half day of work. (Our project is a little bit behind schedule and, since he wanted to get back on, he came. He did the second stage of the tray ceiling and put up one full wall and one partial wall in the kitchen.
The drywaller is the first person to work on this job that is actually fully competent. Mom has already gotten his contact information and is talking to him about future projects.
*head/desk*
The kitchen with about a third of it drywalled.
The living room ceiling - step two of the tray ceiling instillation.
Sunday, May 29 - The pipe in the wall shared between my bedroom and the kitchen wasn't braced down so it's knocking in the wall. It sounds rather like a headboard banging against the wall during interesting activities. Dad had to call the contractor about it. They're going to have to take the sheetrock down to fix it. Joy.
Monday, May 30 - The rattling pipe was taken care of when the "plumber" arrived at 8:40 to fix it. The drywaller covered every wall yet to be covered with the exception of the fireplace wall and a small piece to the right of the front door. He arrived at 8 and left and 3.
This is a view of the kitchen. The wall you see is where the fridge goes.
Tuesday, May 31 - The drywaller arrived at 8 and began work. The carpenter got here at about 8:30 and prepped the fireplace for the drywall and marble tiles it's going to have. The drywaller finished covering the entire fireplace, the wall around it, the small bit to the right of the front door, and got some of the trim work down on the tray ceiling. He left at 2.
This is a view of the tray ceiling which is a WIP.
Another view of the tray ceiling.
This is the fireplace now covered with drywall. The exposed brick areas will have marble tiles placed on them to cover it up.
Another view of the fireplace.
Wednesday, June 1 - Gutters were installed in the back of the house and the front of the house to carry water in such a way that it wouldn't sheet against the back door/leak into the house.
The drywaller came and began the process of taping and seaming everything.
The contractor stopped by to touch base and pick up another large check.
Because there was so much electrical going on last week and the start of this week, I wasn't able to get online long enough to do anything other than a quick check of my email, and even that was spotty. Here's a breakdown of the whole project thus far:
(Bits bolded for the tl;dr crowd)
May 2 - They replaced the French doors which were leaking and not in good shape following two heavy duty hurricanes with a sliding glass door.
May 12 - They removed the wall between the living and dining room. (Which I wrote about here.)
May 13-20 - Nothing happened. Not a call, not a brief appearance. No emails either.
Everything was at a standstill because their company was focusing on another property - a $5 million dollar house getting a $100,000 kitchen makeover. The woman is being a diva and demanding all their attention. So much so that their electrician didn't have the time to come out and do any work on our place. Not that he even bothered to call and let us know.
Hating someone whose name I don't know and whom I've never seen or met is a new experience for me.
I hope the bitch enjoys her new kitchen.
Saturday May 21 - They stopped by with the drywall contractor so that he could take measurements.
Monday, May 23 - They arrived at 11am and removed the wooden paneling in the entryway and dining room. They also removed the beams in the living room and ripped out all the ceiling tiles in the entryway, dining room, and kitchen.
The ceiling in the living room after the beams have been ripped out.
The wall between the garage's entryway and the dining room.
Tuesday, May 24 - They arrived at 10am when they were supposed to be here at 8:30am. They gutted most of the kitchen and removed the flooring in the entryway.
This is the before shot of the kitchen.
This is after Mom, Dad, and I took down the doors to salvage the hardware. (We plan on using it in the laundry room when we paint it.)
This is the kitchen after work day 4.
Wednesday, May 25 - They arrived at 9:23am. They were supposed to be here at 8:30am. They spent the day doing a real hash job of doing the plumbing and ripping out the flooring in the kitchen and dining room.
First, the plumbing. The man that did it did an awful job. Dad is so seriously pissed off because, had he known what a crap job they were going to do, he would have called our plumber. Despite being a bit expensive, the people at our local plumbing company are competent and get the job done well.
The idiot caused a leak in the attic that had to be mopped up and the power shut off because of it as a just in case. Then his welding skills look like something I could have done and I've never held a torch in my life. Rather conveniently, the "plumber" didn't start work until Dad left for an appointment. (Dad's grandfather was a plumber by trade who taught both his son (my grandfather) and Dad quite a bit. Dad would have done the work himself, but he's too disabled to be climbing around in the attic.) I, however, am not as knowledgeable. I was also too scared of getting anywhere near the guy while he was working because 1) welding can damage the eye 2)hot bits can end up flying about, and 3) the worker gave me the creeps. (I would learn two days later that the man had just gotten off parole and 'has a bad temper that gets him in trouble.' Joy.)
The is the corner of the kitchen. Notice how he scorched the wood?
One of his welding joints.
Pulling up the floor was awful, too. It was so freaking loud. They used a saw and a electric chisel thing. It was nearly as loud as a jackhammer.
There were two workers who were supposed to be doing that, but one mostly just stood around and complained about all the work and how hot it was. The workers tried to get the guy to work, but he hemmed and hawed. Dad told him to work and he gave Dad an attitude. Dad called the contractor while the guy just stood there. The contractor came out and the two (who are brothers which we didn't know at the time) started screaming at each other. I didn't see the fight. I certainly heard it though. Dad said it looked like it could have easily devolved into a fist fight. I don't know why the contractor doesn't just fire his ass. I know the layabout is his brother, but there are a lot of hard working people out there that would love to have a job right about now.
Kaiko in the living room on what used to be the floor.
Thursday, May 26 - They were supposed to be here at 8:30. They arrived at nearly 10. (Sensing a theme yet?) They ripped up the flooring in the living room and ripped out the wall to the left of the fireplace. That group left at 2:30pm.
The "electrician" / "plumber" would have finished his work if he hadn't been flapping his gums.
Dad took off for another appointment this afternoon. While he was gone, the creepy worker told me he needed to get into my bedroom to do work. Having not heard of any of this mess and not knowing a thing about electrical work, I tried to call Dad. He had his cell phone off. After mentally cursing the hell out of him, I called the office he was at and got in touch. Imagine my surprise to find out he'd known this was going to happen and forgot to tell me.
The idea of having some strange, creepy bastard in my room gave me the absolute willies, but I cleared out the way for the ass to get to what he needed to. (Apparently, my light switch, the plug I have my mini-fridge in, and an old, obsolete plug in the kitchen were on the same circuit and tied into the kitchen lines. They were fixing it or something. I don't know.
What I do know is that the creep was so busy flapping his gums that he didn't finish that day so they had to do it the next.
My room is a freaking mess and besides which the idea of having him in there was filling me with so much anxiety I felt like throwing up. It's my room. My private space. And, because my closet is filled with all the super fragile glasses and stuff, my clothing -- bras and pants included -- are out for God and country to see. I didn't want that creepy SOB anywhere near my drawers!
Ugh.
I'm so done with this renovation.
Our makeshift kitchen sitting in the living room. We've got sausage and bean soup going in the crock pot and the rice pot running too.
Friday, May 27 - The electrical work continued. It's about half finished -- still some outlets to hook up, metal boxes that need to be switched out to plastic to bring them up to code, and the whole fuse box is going to be upgraded. Thankfully, the contractor himself did my room. Dad must have had a word to him about how creeped out I was about Parolee-Anger-Issues man or something because he -- the contractor -- showed up specifically to do the work in my room. (Not that having him in there was less upsetting, but at least the guy doesn't send off the serial killer vibe the other guy does.)
The drywaller arrived at 7am, catching half of us in bed. He started and was able to complete the ceiling in the entryway, dining room, and kitchen. He also started on the living room where we're having a more complex ceiling put in. (a tray ceiling)
The drywalled ceiling.
The start of the tray ceiling in the living room.
The odd, chicken feet texture that was applied over the spackling stuff he put on in the first pic. It's part of the tray ceiling technique he's using in the living room.
The lights were all taken down from all three rooms and all of our furniture but the piano, the fridge, and the stove were put out in the garage (without our knowledge mind you). They also went off to lunch and left the garage open with all our furniture out there!. Ugh.
There's now no lights in those three rooms at all which makes getting around at night interesting. Flashlights are your friend, yo.
They also put in the support beams onto the fireplace; we're covering the awful brick monstrosity and having it drywalled and some marble tile added.
I should also note that, while the drywaller arrived and left precisely when he was supposed to, the other works didn't appear until nearly 9.
The fireplace with the support beams added.
The furniture crowded in the garage.
Saturday, May 28 - The drywaller arrived at 8:30 to do a half day of work. (Our project is a little bit behind schedule and, since he wanted to get back on, he came. He did the second stage of the tray ceiling and put up one full wall and one partial wall in the kitchen.
The drywaller is the first person to work on this job that is actually fully competent. Mom has already gotten his contact information and is talking to him about future projects.
*head/desk*
The kitchen with about a third of it drywalled.
The living room ceiling - step two of the tray ceiling instillation.
Sunday, May 29 - The pipe in the wall shared between my bedroom and the kitchen wasn't braced down so it's knocking in the wall. It sounds rather like a headboard banging against the wall during interesting activities. Dad had to call the contractor about it. They're going to have to take the sheetrock down to fix it. Joy.
Monday, May 30 - The rattling pipe was taken care of when the "plumber" arrived at 8:40 to fix it. The drywaller covered every wall yet to be covered with the exception of the fireplace wall and a small piece to the right of the front door. He arrived at 8 and left and 3.
This is a view of the kitchen. The wall you see is where the fridge goes.
Tuesday, May 31 - The drywaller arrived at 8 and began work. The carpenter got here at about 8:30 and prepped the fireplace for the drywall and marble tiles it's going to have. The drywaller finished covering the entire fireplace, the wall around it, the small bit to the right of the front door, and got some of the trim work down on the tray ceiling. He left at 2.
This is a view of the tray ceiling which is a WIP.
Another view of the tray ceiling.
This is the fireplace now covered with drywall. The exposed brick areas will have marble tiles placed on them to cover it up.
Another view of the fireplace.
Wednesday, June 1 - Gutters were installed in the back of the house and the front of the house to carry water in such a way that it wouldn't sheet against the back door/leak into the house.
The drywaller came and began the process of taping and seaming everything.
The contractor stopped by to touch base and pick up another large check.