I think it's more than reasonable for you to ask for (i.e., politely demand) this to be done. Period. End of story. It's a freaking backsplash which many people go without. Taking the faucet out and reinstalling is something they can do in their sleep. You are without a kitchen. Make them do it.

Thanks Linelle, that's my point of view too but I thought it best to ask here. Always possible I'm missing some nuance.

I think that you have been reasonable to wait. Now he can be reasonable and give you water while you continue to wait for the marble.

What are his concerns? Is he worried you might incur some water damage on the drywall behind the sink? If it's along those lines you could try to allay those fears, if it's just because of extra work then I'd insist on installing the faucet. Actually, I'd insist anyway!

I'd insist he install your faucet and hook up the plumbing. You've been more than patient. We had a 3 month delay in our counters due to the west coast dockworkers contract dispute. My contractor found me a temporary sink and faucet, and hooked up our plumbing even though we didn't have counters much less backsplash.

I'm not sure what the concern is. He just keeps saying that he's waiting on the stone guy. Thanks for the input everyone. I will ask if I can have a faucet and the dishwasher hooked up while we wait.

Two weeks?!? You've been more than patient. Don't ask. Demand. I was w/o backsplash in my previous kitchen for over a year until we finally got around to installing the tiles. No damage to the drywall. If he's worried about that, tape up some painter's plastic or something else to cover it and get to using your kitchen.

Is it possible that your GC is caught in a cash crunch, can't pay for the the stone, and stone guys won't extend him credit? If so, he may be waiting for a payment or deposit on another job in order to get caught up. I'd ask point blank after this otherwise unexplained delay.

smiling, it is possible but I don't think so. He has continued to order and receive other supplies and his crew has been here a couple of times working on non-kitchen parts of the remodel. I believe him that the stone guy is the cause of the delay. I doubt that accusing him of lying would be productive in any event.

I also feel sure that he has almost entirely moved his crew on to a different project and that he wants to have them come back when he can finish the whole deal in one shot. I get that it is more efficient for him to do it that way, but I'm not happy with the lack of a functioning kitchen.

Thank you for the input everyone!

Tell him he will install a temporary sink today or you will hire it done and take the cost off his final bill. The only downside to this is that it takes the pressure off him and the fabricator to get finished.

It is not unusual for a good GC to save the original top, faucet, and sink after demo and reinstall them temporarily after the new cabinets are in.

I hope his GCing skills exceed those of his excuse-making.

I've got a sink and a counter, just no backsplash on the sink run. Unless I'm missing something he just needs to hook up a faucet and the dishwasher. Then when the marble slab backsplash comes in he would need to take the faucet back out and then reinstall it.

You know, there were a few times when my crew would go over to another job for a day to deal with something -- they always told me in advance, made sure that it wouldn't cause me a problem, and when I was the cause of the delay, let me know what else they would do in the meantime (includIng working on another job) so we all could plan and be on the same page. One of the things I really liked about them.

Just updating. I emailed my GC yesterday (Thursday) morning and said I wanted a functioning kitchen and asked for a faucet and dishwasher to be connected and the refrigerator to be moved back in to the kitchen. He responded in the afternoon that the backsplash will go in Friday (today) or Saturday.

I responded late yesterday night that I expect a functioning kitchen by end of day Monday whether the stone cutter shows or not.

Not happy. Thanks for all the feedback!

I would not be happy either. How hard is it to install a faucet? I wouldn't care about the DW, but I'm only one person and don't mind washing dishes by hand on a temporary basis. It's all about having a water source in the kitchen.

Perhaps they will install today and all will be well.

You need a water source!!! Is he taking advantage of what seems to be your good nature? DW one thing, but a faucet is pretty easy for someone who knows what they are doing.

Poor excuse on his part, hooking up a faucet is about a 15 minute job.

This was my temporary set up for several days while the counters were being fabricated...

Oh that's pretty! So glad for you:)) looks super functional too.

Thank goodness!

Hooray!!

Wow-that's beautiful. And you have water, X2.

When you wrote that you were waiting on a slab marble bs, I did not envision one so small. What bloody took him weeks to finish? It's 8" tall. It's also gorgeous, as is the sink. Enjoy! I can't wait to see your reveal.

crl, you go girl!!!

H2O squared! the counter and backsplash behind the sink up to the window is so good -looking! There's a kitchen reveal coming, I can sense it!

That looks so good! Happy to learn you finally have water.

and a backsplash.

Looks beautiful!