Can’t Catch a Break

Why should I now be surprised that I can’t catch a break with this kitchen remodel?  We are at three and a half weeks, after having to wait a whole week to get a replacement cabinet panel.  And now, once I get the final wall cabinet assembled and I go to install the corner support braces I notice that there are cracks in the face frame, going all the way down to the hinges on both the top and bottom of the face.  I didn’t see it at first, because I was looking at the cabinet doors, but as soon as I opened the doors to screw the braces on, they were clear as day.  At first I thought it wasn’t too bad, especially if it was on the top, where it would be next to the ceiling and you wouldn’t notice it, but then I saw it on the bottom as well and thought it is ridiculous that I would accept that, just for the sake of putting it up and getting things back in order.

So then it was back to the phone to call in a warranty claim again.  They sent me an email to which I had to reply with photos of the damage.  The worst part is now I will have to wait another week before I get my replacement part to put the cabinet up.  I was holding off on attaching the base cabinets until all the wall ones were up and I wouldn’t have to worry about leaning over in order to attach the cabinets to the wall.  This in turn puts a delay on having the place come out and measure for the countertop, which also delays installing the floor.  This is just insane! I am so over this remodeling!  I realize it had to be done, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it!

Ready To Install

I had the electrician stop by tonight to go over a couple of things before running to FedEx to get my replacement panel for the last cabinet.  I actually have (2) cabinets that I need to put on the wall, the one that that requires the replacement piece, and the one that goes over the sink.  The one that goes over the sink has a couple of things going on with it.  First, I need a light to mount to it.  Since we are putting a cabinet over the sink rather than just going with a filler piece like there was before, I need to make sure I get the right kind of a light.  So I asked the electrician for advice/examples of what I can get.  I don’t want to buy something, or cut holes and then have it not be correct and he can’t use it, or worse, I have ruined the cabinet and will now require a replacement.  Second, because this light will be feeding off the wiring that was there for the old light that was mounted to the ceiling, I need to cut a hole in the top of the cabinet to have access to the junction box.

And that leads into the next thing.  I have a flexible metal conduit for running the wire from the junction box to the light hanging out of the wall.  I needed to talk to the electrician to make sure that I don’t end up covering something that he needs, or will end up having a flexible metal conduit hanging out of the wall. When all is said and done.  I needed to know exactly how I needed to cover, or mount the wires to be useful as well as aesthetically pleasing. 

I think I have it figured out.  I am going to secure the junction box and then just let the flexible conduit sit behind the cabinet since it won’t be seen anyway.  That is less wall patching, and will allow for easy movement if I end up making a mistake.  Hopefully all goes smoothly.

The replacement side panel looks good, but by the time I picked it up, it was getting late, so I am going to wait until tomorrow to get it together and up on the wall.

On The Way

Good News!  My replacement panel is on its way.  The bad news (there is always bad news with the good) is that it will take two days for it to get here.  And unfortunately, that is business days, so I won’t have it until the 26^th.  In the mean time, all the electrical boxes are in.  It took a little bit of doing, and I told the electrician to feel free to make some searcher holes if he needed to do so.  Well, he did.  So now I need to patch up the walls.  Technically, I don’t have to do too much, since many of the holes he made are going to be covered by the cabinets.  But since they are there and I don’t have anything else that I can do, I am going to get them filled in and spackled over.  I hesitate to feel good about getting things moving along.

Electric Work

Today brought good news and bad news.  The good news is that I think we’ve settled on an electrician to get the wiring fixed in the kitchen.  The bad news is, well it will require more waiting.

The first electrician came out on Monday to look things over and give me a quote on what it would take to do all the work I wanted done.  WOW!  I was not expecting things to be as costly as they ended up being.  Then the second guy called and I asked him if he could come out and go over things.  I was simply going to plan on the first place and pay thru the nose as a “this is what it costs” type of thing.  I wasn’t planning on mush with the second electrician.  But he quoted me about half to do the same work.  AND he said he would be able to start tomorrow.  Again, we were going to have to wait a little bit to get things finished as he said it would be easier for him to put in the outlets once the tiling and everything was in and finished.  But he was going to get all the boxes and wiring in place, and said it would take him about half a day.  BOOM!  Done!  Now I just need to wait for that replacement panel to get here and we can get everything set in place.  But at least we’ll have light in the kitchen and switches that work!