Deep breath and maybe a glass of wine! It'll all be fine in no time. Can't wait to see your beautiful reveal

Yea, this is normal. Grab some wine and think of all the things that could be a whole heck of a lot worse. You will get it all done soon enough and this will be a faint memory as you revel in your newfound love;)

R

Sounds like par for the course to me with everything I've had done in my house... I would like to work 930 to 4! To be fair my cabinet installers were working until 730 pm before calling it quits and coming back the next day. I wish they had stopped sooner because they only got sloppier.

My cabinets were supposed to arrive (with installer) on a Monday. They arrived the following Monday (without installer). Installer arrived on Tuesday only to discover that he didn't have enough to do for the entire day. He left early. Install was to take a week to 10 days. That was mid February. They are finally finishing up (fingers crossed) today.

Welcome to life. You would have needed to incorporate 'time is of the essence' clauses with penalties in your agreements to get their attention.

Sound like my entire reno.

I'm sorry you're going through this. It's the biggest pain because it does set everything back.

I know I felt like even though I was paying for everything, I was at the mercy of everyone else's schedule.

Deep breaths, and a good stiff drink (mojito?)

Thanks for letting me vent! I'm such a literal person that if someone tells me something repeatedly (and yes, I asked repeatedly as I was hiring and coordinating plumber and countertop people), I assume after 40 yrs in business they actually know how long they take to do things. Kitchen guy called and apologized for being "overly optimistic" - said this us an unusual job as nearly all of what he does typically are new-builds where there is GC, major remodels, again with a GC, or kitchens with new lighting, new floors, new countertops, new appliances, i.e. a 2-3 wk job. This one seemed so small but there are a lot of cabinets and just unpacking them and bringing them into the house takes a lot of time. If he hired 2 people to just do this, my cost would be much higher. Makes sense but disappointing, none the less.

After they left, I realized that one of the upper cabinets may be incorrect. Since its in a corner, this could be major - takes 2- 2 1/2 wks to get a replacement and I will have left on vacation by then. The thought of coming home to a huge dining room still full of dishes and glassware, is daunting and discouraging. Of course, it's the corner keystone cabinet that must go in first... I'll find out tomorrow...fingers crossed.

I really can't quite believe, as a member of this board, that you'd even dream they'd hold to that incredible schedule. I know I'd have laughed in their faces and told them i wanted penalties if they didn't finish on time. $100 a day, perhaps? Because there is NO EFFING WAY they'd ever be able to keep to that.

If they actually did? (I'd fall over dead.) I'd be forcing an inspection of the plumbing, electricity, and security of your cabinets. Because they'd just plain have to cut corners.

Get that glass of wine and dose it with a strong hit of reality.

I was thinking the same thing, C. No way could I see that schedule happening!

Welcome to reality.

You have a sweetly naive and optimistic perspective on project timelines.

Chill, this is no crisis this is a blip.

You'll be fine. I do find it interesting that you are labeled as a PRO and yet this was all surprising to you :P

Good luck getting the fix done. It will all work out I am sure.

R

Is this renovation supposed to be completed before you leave on vacation?

We too had things come up that created a stalling point. It sucks - to put it bluntly. We were supposed to be finished this week, before I leave for 8 weeks. They will finish sometime in the next two weeks and I'll just have to wait until I return to put our kitchen back together.

Plently of glasses of wine later.....

C'est la vie

We were the other direction on expectations. I would only ever schedule one thing per week in most cases, confirming thing #1 was done before thing #2 was "set". That is because I was coordinating, and we're a two income house (i.e. we move real slow in dealing with surprises that involve driving home from work). I figured we'd get surprises and probably screw something up, because I'm a newbie. So we scheduled some demo. And we had the plumbers come for round one. And then we took 3 weeks break for Christmas and New Year's travel. And then some more plumbing. Electrical. Drywall. GC called his flooring guy, and he was booked for a week and a half due to an injury. So we waited for him. And so on.

Part way through this sequence, there was a big winter storm (the "snowzilla" episode). Our GC for the demo / floors / drywall portion of the project has snow removal contracts with the city. So I told him just to call us back when he was sleeping again, and got to his most cranky customers; I could wait. Besides, there's no way to offload or load trucks in front or back of our city house with snow blocking the narrow streets. That caused a 2 week halt.

Funny coincidence: while I'm waiting for my GC to resurface, who do I find clearing my very own street of snow? GC and all his guys. He says, "Hey, I really am going to call you." I say, "That's OK, just get my car out." :p

Where was I going with this? Wine! Your schedule is really tight, which might be good because it means your project will take so much less time than mine! But its ambitious. So, wine. Wine, wine, more wine! And french bread.

It'll all work out in the end.

I've been working on this since early March. Soffits were removed then, wiring notched into studs, one more pot lighted added. In mid May, all the woodwork, walls and bay window were painted - know there may be minor touch-ups. Upper cabinets came out Thurs.. Electrical work for new undercabinet wiring, an additional outlet, and removing an outlet were fine on Fri, along with tile removal. Existing countertops/sink/faucet are being used. Same with existing flooring. One new countertop due to moving the refrigerator - knew ahead of time it might be next week before it's finished.

So, this really is a simple, easy job. I spread it out intentionally so I'd be without a sink the shortest possible time. Unpacking the cabinets in my garage and carrying them in across the terrace and up the stairs to the kitchen took 3 1/2 hrs this am. He should not have left early yesterday, nor should he have planned to arrive at one when both the plumber and countertop people told me it would take about an hour to do their removal/disconnect and it did. If done of the cabinets had been brought up yesterday, he'd have been fine. Aldo installer has his 20 yr old niece working with him - she can't do much - he needs another helper. As a sub, he doesn't want to pay for one - wouldn't make as much on the job. And he admitted that he's slow.

I 'm an interior designer, not a kitchen remodelers. I've done lots of kitchen redecoration - even replacement of tile, but not kitchen remodeling. I know the right questions to ask, the order in which they must be done. I know what might crop up and cause delays - wiring that had to be notched into studs and junction box replacement, happened and delayed installation of new ceiling. I knew that was a possibility.

I've done major remodeling on two houses 4 times over the years. The first time, I had a great carpenter/ contractor and he was on schedule the entire time. Second time, had some issues with subs who were no-shows. Third tine was a disaster as GC ended up being horrible even though highly recommended by friends and neighbor's - they later admitted that they weren't entirely honest as they did not want to speak ill of a fellow country club member. She had terrible subs, was terrified of them, never visited the job, and I could never reach her by phone. I was my own GC the 4th time and it went very well.

They just underestimated the time to get cabinets unpacked and into the house. Plumber is being a pain as he wont do a reinstall except first appt of the day "in case it tajes all day". It better damned well not - reinstalling what it took an hour to take out! It might take 2-3 hrs to put it back, but no longer as there are no changes except turning the handle of the faucet around - very easy.

I'm still worried about size of 3 cabinets - don't think they're right - know one unit is several issues smaller than the one it is replacing - can't imagine why. Remember - only change to layout was replacing a 36" upper & lower with the refrig in a cabinet, and adding a new 36" upper and lower where it was.

When I ask multiple times what is a realistic timeline, I assume professionals will know this. In this town, even large commercial jobs will not accept a tine commitment in a contract - most places won't. My daughter new builds and remodels boutique hotels/restaurants for her small hotel change. Contractors in all 9 cities do far have refused time commitments in contract due to local permitting vaguaries. No one wants to be accountable these days.

Of course they don't. Because setting an unreasonable time line makes the home owner/hire-er feel better. It's easy to deal with someone mad, while on the phone later, vs. up front and in person.

There are incentives for finishing early...
But then again, would you trust the product?
Not me.

I still think you were nuts, er, overly optimistic to think that was remotely realistic.

This is why I hired a GC instead of being my own GC. I'm sure I'll have delays but at least I'm not the one who has to coordinate all the trades.

There is a reason Chase Bank can turn a used car lot into a state-of-the-art facility in 90 days without fail. There is a reason General Motors can have the concrete foundations replaced and a new front end alignment machine calibrated and ready to go over a two-week Christmas shutdown without fail. There is a reason homeowner's can't get contractors to stick to a schedule.

If I started a one-month-or-your-money-back kitchen remodeling business in which I'd have to pay top talent and have top talent on the bench for back-up there would be Houzz participants advocating for potentials to get three bids, comparing me to Craiglisters. Homeowners won't pay what it takes to attract this type of company to the marketplace, but they have no problem complaining when they get what they've paid for.

This is like complaining that there's too much sex and violence on television. You've gotten exactly what you've demanded. The marketplace, like gravity, will not be denied.

I was my own gc, so I allowed plenty of time for each step. DH and I did the demo and painted the walls: I allowed 2 weeks for that, and scheduled the electrician for the second week. Cabinet maker had a crucial piece of equipment in the shop go down, which set us back two weeks - I had to reschedule the flooring guy. I was without a kitchen for 2-1/2 months.

I just assumed that everything would take longer than it did, and I assumed that I would not be able to get electrician and flooring guy in on a moment's notice. The cabinet maker coordinated with the counter template guys, so I wasn't part of that (but it was done as soon as the base cabinets were in).

Actually, my GC was brutally honest with me after the 4 month timeline was missed (it took almost a year and still not 100% completed).

He said he has contracts with local companies, and when they call needing something repaired or new done, his private clients fall to the side and need to wait.

They're the ones that pay his bills year round, not the person who needs one renovation done in once every 15 years.

I did work with a contractor when we gutted our condo 6 years ago. That was during the height of the recession when subs were begging for work. Our contractor told us it would be finished in 3 months. That was the beginning of June.

We left and I turned to my DH and said, "So let's figure we'll be able to finally move in the beginning of December."

Sure enough the condo wasn't ready until the beginning of December.

I agree with Joseph.... the majority of people won't pay for the service required to keep sub schedules perfect. So most businesses are not set up that way. When you hire subs, you are at their time mercy. It is very expensive to have electricians, plumbers and carpenters on staff.

That's not to say this company did a poor job in managing your expectations. You're right...they need to plan and communicate much better.

Ellie RK:

I make your point to people contemplating being their own general contractor all the time. I've been a GC and a sub. Subs know whom to take care of first. This is why once-every-fifteen-year "GCs" have so little clout.

AnnKH said: "Cabinet maker had a crucial piece of equipment in the shop go down, which set us back two weeks"

LOL! Our tile backsplash people had to build a new kiln before getting on with our order! I think that was 6+ weeks.

And a shout out to electricians, plumbers, tilers, etc. who are willing to give you a call when they have an unexpected free moment. Of course, this means you have to be retired or otherwise at home, but this is great. He/she fills a day of work and my job gets done sooner than expected.