Countertops and Floor Tile

And the house progress trudges on. Countertops and floor tile was installed the week of the 13th thru the 17th which will hopefully be followed by exterior flatwork, interior wall tile, electrical and plumbing trim out, setting of the electrical meter, and finally, installation of final exterior doors and interior trim in the kitchen and other tiled areas. I took a couple of pictures, but I left Sherman having fogotten to get my camera from my mom, and I won't see them again until Thanksgiving, so no pics in this post. I'll post them next week, along with the new ones I take next time.

Let me now take a little time to vent about one of the trades…

We used one company to select all tubs, countertops, and tile. Now while I have no problems with the actual installers, the people in the office couldn’t schedule the proper order for their own morning constitution, let alone manage material orders and installation labor in their small part of the construction process. Here’s the general run down:

1. I informed them of the date of cabinet installation, and asked that they come the following day to measure for countertops. They didn’t get the appointment on the schedule, so when they didn’t show up, they had to be rescheduled for the following day.

2. I informed them when the interior paint was to be complete, and requested installation of all countertops for the following day. When they didn’t show up, they swore I told them a different day. When they didn’t show, they had to be rescheduled.

3. They were a day late starting tile install as well (Notice the pattern?)

4. The powder bath countertop was cut too short.

5. The sewing room countertop was cut too long.

6. We were given a free sink because they cut the granite for one of their sinks, which we told them we were not using, as we had selected a different sink from a different supplier.

7. We ordered a jetted Jacuzzi tub, but they delivered a non-jetted garden tub.

8. We informed them multiple times to pick up the utility sink from the supplier so it wouldn’t be sitting out to be stolen off the job, however they showed up to install the countertop in the utility without picking up the sink, then asked us where it was. This also happened with the master bath and kitchen faucets, and on different occasions. We finally picked up the fixtures ourselves.

9. They cut both a granite countertop and a cultured marble counter top for the powder bath.

10. When trying to install the hall tub, they broke off one of the tiles, so they had to pull the tub so the tile could be fixed. They then were supposed to reinstall the tub so the tile installation could be completed on the walls. The only problem was they planned to install the hall tub at the same time they were going to install the master Jacuzzi tub, but that forces the tile installer to loose a day, as well as a plumber.

11. When helping with material selection, they failed to allow for access to the Jacuzzi tub motor.

And that’s just the short list I could think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more. All told, this company has cost me about a week of construction time. Needless to say, I would not recommend them to anyone (though again, I’ve been pleased so far with their subcontractors.) It’s because of them that inspired the quote of the day…

Quote of the day "There is always one more imbecile than you counted on." -- Red Green