Been waiting a long time for th is: Kitchen is done.

Yukon Mike

Yukon Mike

Well-known member
Join me on a journey through the ages of the evolution of Jane's kitchen.

When we bought the house years ago it looked like this.
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Functional, but not stylish enough for a girl from Northern Ontario. (PS. I didn't mean to catch Jane fixing the plumbing in that one.)

SO she decided we needed to up grade the counter top and repaint. So than it looked like this.

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Then we sprung a leak under the sink while we were away for the weekend, and it looked like this for 4 months.

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We lived at the cabin for most of that because it had a kitchen but when we were in town we used this setup to cook, and did dishes in the bathtub. We ate a lot of microwave popcorn - just like university days.

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So then in the fall, some guys came with spanky new cabinets, and we just finished tiling the floor this weekend with some long distance advice from Rutgers (thanks so much Paul!) and it looks like this.

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We were able to salvage the old cabinets and took them down to Jane's cabin for an upgrade there.
 
We had one tile crack after we laid it down. I don't really know why it did, but it is such a small crack in a shadowy area that I think we'll leave it for now. I don't think I can lay another one down and get it as level as the rest.

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We're at the stage of our insurance claim now that we are getting paid back for money we put out in the summer, like storage additional living expenses, and its time to buy new stuff to replace what got damaged. It feels great to be getting done with this. We still have to lay hardwood in the living room upstairs and tile a lot more around the entrance way and wood stove room, but I've managed to get all the painting and trim pretty much done.

I still haven't decided if we should take our scuzzy gen contractor to court over his work or not, but that's a whole 'nuther story. He made $35,000 for 2 1/2 weeks work by cutting corners everywhere. I had to have all his mud work redone, finish up all his painting, get an electrician in to fix stuff he wasn't supposed to touch because he's not qualified, fix his crappy plumbing that he's not qualified to do but too cheap to pay a plumber and do a bunch of wood trim over because he didn't take the wet drywall off before he went ahead with the wood. He didn't even pull the proper permits with the building inspector so he could pocket that money. Everyone involved with this project - inspector, electrician, plumber, drywaller, and the insurance adjuster - are all aware of his actions, I just haven't decided if I want to sue him of not. I don't know anything about that stuff. I was the dumbass that paid him before it was done because I'm a dumbass and trusted him. We had to leave for Jane's dad's funeral and when we got back two weeks later he was "done" and gone.

Mike
 
Looks nice Mike. I would sue the General contractor, sounds like you have a pretty good case. Especially if the inspectors are involved. Just watch those leaks from now on. :)
 
Mike a slightly uneven bed of thin set might be the cause. It is not to hard to replace a tile; just a pain in the butt as you have to remove all of the old thin set.

Matt
 
When we bought the house years ago it looked like this.



Functional, but not stylish enough for a girl from Northern Ontario. (PS. I didn't mean to catch Jane fixing the plumbing in that one.)
Click to expand...

I thought maybe Jane came with the house...that story might have made sence.

Anyway, looks good Mike,

I'm not the sueing type, but you could check with your inspector. Here, if you hire a licenced contractor, and they do not fufill their end of the deal, the building inspector will take them to court for you. Seeing as he didn't even pull the permits, I'm surprised the inspector isn't already after the guy.

Chuck
 
That last photo looks like it's from a magazine article on kitchen makeovers. Jane did a nice job.

Tim
 
Where's all the pics of the kids on the refrigerator? How come no muddy paw prints on the floor? Oh, yeah - frozen north. Where's the dishes in the sink? potato chip sacks on the counter? You livin' in a museum? Looks good though. Give it a day, the kids will make it their own!
 
I guess you should have called that Mike Holmes guy and have him do one of his shows up there.

On the few projects I did not do myself I always put in the agreement a 20% retainer paid on final inspection passing, or a 60/40 split on payment. I manage multi million dollar contracts at work so I really upset the little guys for $5,000 at home, but in the end I don't have issues.

On a project I volunteered to oversee I learned that if the inspector and the contractor are friends you better watch out for field modifications to the permits or plans that neither guy documents with the building safety department. Causes problems with the final inspection if it is performed by someone else or your insurance company asks about it after something happens.
 
You guys know it wasn't all Jane on this project - I helped pick out the color of the counter top. : )

Having the guys install the cabinets made this a piece of cake really. The biggest setback was a leaky dishwasher. I've been working on that for over a month. You can't just go downtown and pick up parts all the time. But its not leaking today. Just in case, when we tiled under it we made a 3" high baseboard of tile so that in case of water leaks it would run out the front instead of down the back wall, because now we know our house tilts that way.

You are right though, she's a very handy woman to have around.

As far as the legal stuff goes, I really don't want to sue anybody - I've got enough going on right now with this LTD and insurance stuff, but I'm still bitter that he got away with such a crappy job. Taking him to court wouldn't make his repairs any better, and neither Jane or I want to start over again. He cheaped out on the number of 2X4's he put in an interior wall - one every 24". He put the drywall on the ceiling in the wrong direction and didn't cut it properly around the windows, so there will always be cracks. He had to rebuild a little storage closet and made it 5" longer than it was supposed to be, hence it doesn't line up with the other side of the room. That's going to be interesting tiling around. The one door he had to frame and hang is out 1" from bottom to top so it doesn't open properly. Stuff like that would be major fix ups and we'd be living in a mess again. Its not worth it to me. I do love pointing out the quality of his work to anyone who drops by and was thinking about doing some reno's to their place.

You are absolutely right Ray, I should have held back way more than 10% on this job. I just didn't know. I was on him right from the beginning about the permits and hiring qualified people for stuff like the electrical and plumbing, he just outright lied about it. Some people just have no work ethics at all.

The girl has good taste in decorating though eh? Thanks for all the compliments guys.

MIke
 
The place looks great Mike.

I'd sue the SOB in a hearbeat. There's nothing worse than someone cutting corners to steal from you.

-D
 
Mike, Your wife does really nice work, the kitchen looks great. As far as sueing the guy, YES you should. Never let something like that slide, it just makes it that much easier for him to do it to the next poor guy. SUPPOSE....some of that faulty electrical had caused a fire and hurt someone, or worse, killed somebody. Take him to court.....you will win..!!!!
 
For said contractor:
Just use him for a temporary boat anchor when fishing this spring......nothing vindictive, just tell him it is a test to see how long he can hold his breath, plus he can tug on the anchor line when he sees a fish about to bite so you are ready. Just be sure to provide him with the occasional chance to breath........

I will have to tell the wife that even though she hunts, fishes, a great cook, fun to hang out with, and has such wonderful attributes, she still better get with it as she is not a plumber like Jane from the Yukon....that should raise a ruckus...HAHAHA!!

Again I would like to say "NICE JOB"...

How much of a gap is there between the sheetrock and the window casing?
 
Mike you dont want to sue so how about an ad in the local paper on how good he is as a general contractor? the other thing you might want to do is talk o the inspectors some more maybe they can get his liscense pulled.
 
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