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My wife and I are currently in the middle of renovating our kitchen. This was a dream project that is turning into a nightmare. We did our research on Angie's list and talked to 6 vendors. We selected a mid-size company that had glowing reviews. They were not the cheapest but we were willing to play a little premium for quality product and great service that we read about from the reviews.
We have a small townhouse kitchen. The completion target was only 1 week. We are now in 2.5wk mark and it's still not completed. There were long stretches where no work is done (no crew sent out). We even lost 1 day when we were told the crew truck had issues and couldn't come out - I told my wife that I didn't believe this excuse....the company probably sent the crew to a bigger project. With the snow storm, we lost about 2.5 days. Somehow, we are now 1.5 week behind with no end in sight. We have been living at home with a bare kitchen (no appliances, no counter, no sink) -- unable to cook at home. I feel trapped by the situation.....we are already financially invested (they took 1/3 deposit to sign contract, 1/3 at beginning of project)....and my kitchen is already torn up so I am depending on them to finish it.
Another issue during the project was a surprise increase in costs. My wife wanted a specific granite. We went to warehouse with contractor to take a look. That granite was darker than the picture when we saw it. As a result, she selected another one granite she loved at the warehouse. The project was underway the next week. Then I get a phone call saying the granite my wife picked was in a higher price category. We budgeted 4.5k and were told we need to add 2k more. I am not sure who made the mistake...perhaps the warehouse mislabeled the slab or my contractor did not double check on prices to make sure both granite are in the same price class. In any case, I was not happy to hear but I was stuck in a jam. My wife loved the 2nd granite and I didn't want to disappoint her. I offered to meet them halfway...cover 1k difference. I was waiting for them to respond on my offer but they kept stalling for 3 days without answering whether they would absorb the other 1k. Meanwhile, my kitchen is torn up and my wife is getting antsy. I eventually caved in and told them to go forward....I wanted my wife to be happy. That was two weeks ago....they had the measurements and decision to go forward back then. But now, they are using snow storm as excuse and saying we are at bottom of the backlog.
I went back and re-read the contract. They gave us a completion target date of 1wk but there was a 18 day cushion they gave themselves for all projects. Additionally, there was no penalty clause in contract to punish them if they are beyond 18 day cushion (ex: $200 per day tardiness, etc). Looking back at Angie reviews, this company mostly deal with projects in the 20k - 50k range. My project is 10k. We are getting tossed around like a rag doll in terms of priority.
I have never had a reno done on time and on budget.
I would not expect a kitchen to be done in 1 week.
You extended the timeline with the granite changes and negotiations.... and yes, the snowstorm messed things up for many people.
Patience.
Yours is not a nightmare!
A nightmare would be that your cabinets came in wrong, your granite slab cracked, and they found termites... actually happened to a friend!
Next time, don't use Angie's List. Have a gander at the reviews against Angie's List, specifically, how contractors can post pages on Angie's list for free, while reviewers have to PAY to leave a review. Also, contractors can leave their own reviews for free.
And the biggest of all: Angie's List only ranks those contractors who have paid for advertising on their site.
The reason it is only one week is that we left the cabinets in place....no changes there. We only did new countertop, backsplash and install vent hood.
Right now, there is little to no communication with contractor. I left voicemessages...texts. I have no idea what the plan is and when our kitchen is done. This is totally unprofessional.
A nightmare is:
paid contractor 100% up front
kitchen demolished and no longer working (and the plywood covering the window is so annoying)
contractor just made TV news: scams you should be aware of
city has just informed you that due to the electrical work in the kitchen, the entire house must be brought up to code
city has just informed you that due to the plumbing work in the kitchen, the entire house must be brought up to code
So, I don't want to pile on, but this whole Angie's list deserved another comment.
I don't completely understand her scam, but the reviews on there are just about worthless.
First, you will only find a couple of comments for any particular provider.
Second, she apparently has some scheme about contractors paying her to get their reviews published, and she edits out the 'bad' ones by harassing the original writer until they agree to drop their comments.
I also hear that she gives precedence to contractors who advertise through her site.
Whether all of that is completely accurate, it just means that Angie's list service is suspect.
Much better to use any of the free services on the internet...just type in your contractors name and a bunch of things will come up....for zero cost, unsolicited, and more independent it seems to me.
Now, on to your project. Not a chance you are going to demo, dispose, measure, order and install even the few items which you cited in one week. Takes that long just to measure, cut and polish the granite. Installing a vent hood also takes time. It's not that one week of "work" won't get it all done, its that after the demo is done and the new measurements are taken it takes time to fabricate/order the new stuff.
And lastly, your contractor is a dud. Sorry. But when people don't return phone calls, they are hiding. Either trying to juggle several jobs, or out spending your deposit money (you paid quite a bit up front, didn't you?), or buried in complaints/redo's, or simply a slacker.
It does take time to do a kitchen, so at this point, you have to hang in there. Hold onto your money until you get progress, and only pay as you go. You are already "had", so yelling at the contractor is only going to make him further aloof. Snow, granite changes, lazy contractor...it all adds up to time....frustration...and a desire to strangle someone.
For everything else there is a BIG cocktail! (And thanks for trying to keep the Mrs. happy).
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