I am so sorry but I burst out laughing when I read your post. Ours was "That support beam in the floor of the bearing wall between your kitchen and DR is too short and isn't doing a thing which is why your floor is sloping."

Fortunately for us it was an easy fix. Our kitchen is on the second floor so they could access and add a second support beam from the basement.

When our builder walked off the job and we got a letter from the bankruptcy court.

We found out yesterday that the swimming pool that we hired a structural engineer to check out before we bought our Florida house cannot simply be resurfaced. The crack in the corner- the "minor" crack is a structural crack and not only that, the shell of the pool was never up to code to begin with so we instead need to pour a new foundation for the pool.

The structural engineer, whose letterhead reads 'Foundation Expert' responded as follows: "well, how was I supposed to know that."

uh...

The day after we sunk all our spare change into new countertops and cabinets, a leak appeared on our LR ceiling. The first contractor I brought in said, "Your entire roof is facing imminent failure, but for 30,000 we can fix it."

New kitchen? New roof? No choice as the guts of the kitchen were on their way. Luckily, the 2nd estimate fixed the leak for free and said we can hold off as 'imminent' to him looked at least 2 years away at a fraction of the cost.

He'll be getting a call from us after we digest the kitchen remodel.

The termites that ate the framing around the front door and a good portion of the studs AND lath in the adjacent wall - meaning the plaster is just hanging there.

We finally told the contractor to sister in some studs and close the thing up. Out of sight, out of mind....sort of....but the other wall we didn't open is being held together by dust.

Only good news was we didn't see a single bug.

The three "easements" that didn't show up in any disclosures OR title work... We found them through various destructive ways, augers, jackhammers...Camera in sewer showed a complete lack of water when toilet flushed, hmmm... Camara in sewer line showed another main line joining ours (under our house) hmmm... An ominous clunking/grating noise while using an auger for fence posts, hmmm... Could it be a major irrigation ditch covered over with 1 foot of fill? hmmm... We had so much water and other "stuff" leaking it boggles the mind. We seem to be water tight now and we'll just have to let the other sewer line we just found out about rest undisturbed for now. Sigh...

Could it be that yet another contractor I believed in and paid has disappeared and screwed me? That the multi-talented man who is doing my drywall when I have $$ is now going to fix the work the first guy did badly and in some cases, dangerously? Oohhh you said surprise!. It's no surprise that I have yet to have a job done that I didn't have to pay for again. Other than with my fantastic multi-purpose man, who fixes everything. I've decided to have him do everything first. Period. I digress.

Surprise.
How 'bout Thompson Creek (a local company) has declined to honor their life-time gutter system warranty, for which I paid "layaway" a year in advance? The water coming behind the gutters, soaking into the underside of my porch ceiling, already warping and rotting is not the responsibility of the gutters even though I didn't have that trouble when I had NO GUTTERS WHATSOEVER.

Imagine my surprise when with the 1st rain this started, I called them & they sent their sub (HUH?) to caulk: White caulk on my black roof. Imagine my surprise when TC had the the sub's insurance company call me, wanting details. (huh?) I referred them back to TC, since my warranty is with TC, not the sub, but TC NOR their sub will return the insurance company's calls.

Imagine my surprise when the roofer I called (Referred by my multi-purpose man) told me the shingles in my low valleys were on upside down.
That there was no rain shield in the valleys?
That my new roof (2006) will probably deteriorate within the next years as the nails are already rusting because the tar paper protecting the plywood was finally saturated to the point where it couldn't hold any more.
Again, no rain shield on my low roof.

Had enough surprises? That is only this last 2 months.

Don't get me started on my windows being installed wrong, to drain inside the walls. Or the siding nailed TIGHT to the house. Oh. Those little revelations were the last 2 months, too. Am paying my Multi-Purpose Man to fix this, too. Thank God he's anal and when I have a question, I get an answer. I don't doubt myself like these other people have implied I should. I have come to trust myself. If something doesn't seem right, it isn't. Period.

I think I'm gonna kill myself. But I'm finding these men, including my STBX who created this mess, and taking them with me.

When they demoed the kitchen, the plumbing in the two upstairs bathrooms had to be redone....both bathrooms had been remodeled in the last three years by two different contractors!

my biggest surprise: that the cabinetmaker I hired turned out to be an utter idiot and managed to completely screw up the job, which required major timeline delays, money and stress before getting it resolved. i can understand stuff happens - the thing that was most challenging about dealing with him was his argumentative attitude-it was maddening. i still get angry when i think about him.

Mine was minor compared to the others. The cabinet above the stove was ordered and installed and was too short. I would have to climb a chair to use the microwave.
I can't understand that something so basic could be ordered wrong. Luckily my husband told her how to resolve it. She claimed the size needed was not available.

My biggest surprise was a good one. I had to vent the stove hood through the ceiling, into the attic, with a 90 degree turn out the side, above a sloped porch roof. I duck-walked under the sloped roof, found the two floor joists closest to where I thought the hood would be mounted, measured, then drilled a pilot hole, hoping that I wouldn't need to vent around one of the joists. I went back downstairs to check the hole, and found that it was within 1/4" of center, with plenty of room for a vent pipe. Doesn't sound like a big deal now, but I was so relieved!

CEFreeman, you forgot your ;). Right? ;)

Mine is minor also compared to the stories above.

I had a GC but I also provided several of the subs. One was the sheetrock sub. He was referred by my cab guy...that should have been my first warning. But no I went ahead with this guy. He got it all up and managed to finish hanging it on a Friday at 4 PM. He then wanted his money. I gave him a check and then asked him when he was going to be back to finish it. He looked at me as he walked out the door and said " I don't sand sheetrock, I am allergic to the dust...your painter will do the rest . " WHAT ! ??

No I didn't get to grab him by the throat, and yes he did get the money for hanging it. But if you could have seen my painter and GC's faces when I told them what this idiot said...whew. They did do the sanding/finishing and it looks good but what a lesson.

That after the flooring was pulled out in our whole house re-model, we discovered animal urine & feces so bad that the all of the sub-floors and bottom 1/3rd of drywall had to be replaced, and a CSI-like biohazard company had to come in to treat the house. Not sure what the neighbours must have thought when, the house had to wrapped in yellow biohazard tape with skulls & cross-bones covering all the entrances because of the severity of the issue.

We knew there were animals in hothouse when we bought, but stupidly thought new flooring and fresh paint would resolve the problem.

I have never been so grossed out in my life. DH & I still can't understand how people could live like that ~ in a seemingly 'normal on the outside' suburban neighbourhood.

Oh, no.
I have a cat that's peeing and I know she's ruining my hard wood floors. I'm using Nature's Miracle like it's going out of style, but I know I'm doomed.

She is not optional, but $47K of floor evidently is. I am still hoping it will "only" be in a couple of rooms. Talk about having to pay to have things redone!

Just another thing.

Christine - Cats--grrr! I just had my 7 month old LR sofa steam cleaned this morning. Kitty "claimed" it the first week the sofa was in the house. Kitty is in "detention" while the sofa dries.

My reno started right after New Year's, cold even in the Bay Area. Workers in and out, leaving windows and doors open because of the dust/spray paint/etc. My heater's circuit board kept going out. After replacing it three times in just over a week, I bit the bullet and got a new heater. It's what that emergency stash is for. I'm thrilled with it.

(Christine: Is your cat peeing due to age/illness/incontinence or is it behavioral/territorial spraying?)

CEF - amen on getting screwed by contractors!

Asbestos tile under the ceramic tile in our kitchen. Luckily it only took a couple thousand to get it removed and delayed the project a few days. We also had to replace a section of foundation, but that was less of a surprise.

linelle, no. If anything, behavioral.
I have discovered at 10 or so, she doesn't like litter.
She'll pee on anything lying on the floor, including the floor.
She mostly contains it to paper towels I put in a few litter boxes, but I can't count on that. She uses 2 of her beds for poop, and anything else that's around for peeing.

Unfortunately, a very bad install of my gorgeous flooring leaves space enough that liquid immediately pours down to the sub floor thru the cracks. (1st contractor - STBX.)

I had her confined for a long time, and know that room is ruined. She's now starting on other places.

So far, the other 3 haven't followed suite.

Kick me.

Our biggest surprise was how our whole kitchen reno got started.

Walking into our (pre-reno) kitchen after summer vacation I noticed that the white linoleum floor was strangely black, and the cabinets were strangely green and fuzzy. While I was still staring stupidly at that, DD (then aged 18 months) raced into the DR and fell flat on her face on the strangely wavy hardwood floor.

Moral: Turn off the water (at least to the DW) before leaving on vacation!

Water - Good idea for all!
Even though there are newer safety features, still a good idea - unless you want a new kitchen!!

Now a twist - We turned off our water for vacation and came back to a mess under the fridge and in the basement. The fridge had a faulty pressure valve and when we turned off the water, the 2nd floor house water drained into the drip pan of the fridge.

Needless to say, the drip pan majorly overflowed - but the damage was limited to under the fridge and a few wet items in the basement. The floor boards warped but who looks under the fridge...

Our surprise was the echo of sound that occurs, especially when we have guests. Parties are so loud they drive me out of the room. We're attempting to add sound-absorbing features--wall hangings, window treatments.

The biggest surprise i received is that our contractor took a signature from my husband in official work starting document which had this line - Due to the nature of the work, there is no end time.(I thought he want to work on our house restoration project till infinity,) thank god the insurance woke up after 7 months.

Wow! I really feel for all you guys! I haven't had anything that bad lately, other than people not showing up when they were scheduled! I have just about came to believe lately, that there are very FEW people left who TRULY take pride in doing a job well done, and done honestly! It is unreal what some people will do these days, even under 'contract'....No one takes pride in their work anymore! So Sad!

Wow some of these surprises are really awful. Hearing your stories makes me count my blessing and feel extremely grateful. So now I guess my biggest surprise is that I had no surprises
Bama12: I have to say that all the tradesmen that worked at my house did take pride in their work. They showed up on time, did exceptionally good work, cleaned up after themselves and were polite and friendly. I wouldn't hesitate for a minute to use the contractor and his subs again. I have highly recommended them to others. Again I guess I was very lucky.
Wish everyone could have a remodel experience like I had.

My biggest surprise? How much that I, in the end, was willing to pay for a range!

2nd biggest: How long it takes to set 6"x6" floor tiles.

Two surprises for us:
1.) Going off of what Angie DIY said, I was shocked when the cost of our fridge alone nearly TRIPLED what our original appliance budget was set at. Yikes.

2.) "All of the plumbing in the back of your house needs to be gutted and completely renewed." "Well, that's just great," I thought.

It's not a proper renovation unless something goes terribly wrong, I suppose.

Behind one cabinet that was getting demoed there was a wet pile of chewed up looking wood. Turns out there was a leak in an upstairs pipe that was coming down 3 2x4 in the wall behind the cabinets. Two feet of 3 of the 2x4s were missing. So was part of the plate they rest on. Down came the wall board, insulation and outside siding. Up went the cost. We were glad we found it before more damage was done and the upstairs bathroom landed in the kitchen.

I won't go into details, but lets just say I will never hire a general contractor again. We'll do owner builder if we have a project too big for DYI.

Despite due diligence in checking references we ended up dealing with bond companies and state consumer protection agencies and out a LOT of money.

Plumber broke a relay switch on the instant hot water heater in the cabinet below the vegetable sink. He flipped the breaker off, and told me not to flip it on or it "might burn out after while"--something like that.

I discovered that evening that 2 bathrooms and the laundry room had no hot water. So, I figured that breaker switch also fed our other tankless water heater.

Well, I have to flip the switch, I thought. How bad could it be? He didn't tape the breaker into the off position or anything...he just said it might burn out after awhile. I'm not even sure *what* exactly might burn out, but I'd really like a hot bath...

Went out to garage and flipped it on.

While still in the garage, I heard a freight train running through my kitchen. Hmmm...

Ran into the kitchen and it was a disaster scene. The tankless water heater was screaming (like a terrorized woman!) and steam was billowing out. The whole kitchen island seemed to be quaking. The steam had become so hot, that the all the plastic parts for the faucet under the cabinet were blown to smithereens, and water started spraying EVERYWHERE.

The water hit the electrical parts of the tankless water heater, and a HUGE BOOM sounded...then a giant FLASH...followed by SMOKE...

Oh my goodness!! I ran back and flipped the breaker off again, ran outside and turned off the water main, and grabbed the cell phone to dial 911. Came back into the kitchen...and all was quiet...

No fire had caught, thank God!

The steam cleared, and I was left with a few gallons of water on the kitchen floor and below the island, and about $1200 in damage between needing a new faucet and new tankless water heater.

Could've been so much worse!!

Amazingly, I had been persistent about calling my plumber about 2 months earlier, so that he could come to the house and show me how to shut off the water main--"in case of emergency," lol!!

So, lessons learned:
Always know where to locate the main water shut off
Never, ever flip the breaker when the guy tells you not to.

Duh!

My biggest surprise was when I asked a contractor to quote me for some relatively minor repairs to the roof of our gazebo and ten minutes later he told us "it isn't worth it, there are termites everywhere"

bama12, that's not fair, although I get the generalization.
I think good GCs or workmen with pride are 1 in a million.

I count myself blessed that finally, I have a multi-purpose man who gets as angrier than I when he uncovers more crap work. I am paying the man a fortune, but everything he's repaired or done has been beautiful, right, the way I want it, and safe. I do not anticipate having to have any of his work redone.

Termites. That's another story....

Madeline616, your surprise may not have been as expensive as others, but in my book--you win. Thanks for the visual. :o

Pregnant?! I'm on the pill and we used a condom!

Oh, you meant kitchen wise? The seven layers of flooring that we ripped up. Under this crazy vinyl, is some even crazier linoleum, under that is...

That baby that really wanted to be born is doing a countdown to his 16th birthday now.

Well....today they were SUPPOSED to begin by taking out a "non-weightbearing" wall between the kitchen and dining area of our condo. The GC isn't here, but the worker who was supposed to start by removing the wall and cabinets has determined that it IS weight-bearing. (Since it is a 20+ year old condo building, the plans are not available.)

So.... now we are having to re-figure everything, including our angled cabinets (at least uppers and probably lowers, too) at the entrance to the kitchen. UGGGGG..... Electrician is "on hold" (and not happy about it) and we now will need a beam and supports which will change whole the look...and size... of the custom cabinets that are already built and ready to go in tomorrw! Trying to stay calm.... Deep breath.....

>(Since it is a 20+ year old condo building, the plans are not available.)

Have you asked someone on the board? You'd be amazed what they have on file.

Wish we'd had that info earlier, but now that he put a hole in the ceiling and can see now that it needs to be supported w/ some other beam, there is no turning back. Trying not to freak out....and curious to know what the final "look" will be after they modify or redo the cabinets.

Reading through everyone's "surprises" has shown me that they are inevitable, though..... Stay tuned!

My funny surprise was to discover that the great finish carpenter was the one who brought his trash daily to empty in our construction dumpster...Not just the beer cans, old kids toys, old broken furniture, but at least 2 kitchen bags - every day!! We moved one of our security cameras to point at the dumpster because it was smelling and should have only had our construction debris in it.

My $$$ surprise was a plumbing one...Turned out that the shower above the load bearing wall had its drain exactly where the new beam was to be placed. Had to buy a new shower pan, rip out a tiled shower 2 feet above the shower pan, install a shower pan with an offset drain, retile the shower...$4,000 later, had a shower that looked exactly as it did pre-construction.

Ouch, Library Girl.... Now I don't feel so bad! (But we still don't know how they will remedy our situation or what it will cost to do so! Sigh....Tomorrow will be another day....

P.S. Glad you caught the "culprit"!! Bet he had some fast-talking to do!?

Thanks, Mama Goose ;) I knew as soon as the water was cleaned up that I had a heck of a good story for the future.

Library girl--Laughed out loud when I read about your dumpster!! Did you show the carpenter the video? What did he say??

So last week:

Tonight:

"Wow, looks like there is some clay under all that sand."

Oh, and the back addition in the first picture, GONE. Now the foundation under it, GONE.

Holy c**p Beanie! And I thought my missing plaster was bad.

1929Spanish - my thoughts, last night/this morning, included "Well at least it doesn't look like there were any dead bodies in there!" I have a WAY too overactive imagination and of course, burying a murder victim quickly would naturally be one reason to construct such a slapdash foundation!

Who needs concrete, when you can stuff ROCKS! and PAPER! into those holes? Isn't that what they're for?