DAW Users With ADD

My latest adventure involves going to leave my house last night. I go to open my storm door, and it won’t open. WTF? The handle turns, but the door won’t budge. Like the deadbolt was engaged - except it wasn’t. This becomes more of a nuisance because there are only two doors in my house. The front door (where the storm door is located), and a set of sliders in the back. The sliders allow me to get out, but they can’t be locked from the outside. So the only way to leave my house is to leave it unlocked.

Long story short, thank god for the Internet. I find that this is not an uncommon problem with Pella storm doors. It appears the locking mechanism has failed, and when you turn the handle, the latch does not extract from the door jamb.

Fortunately Pella has designed the door with a manual release. Unfortunately the dumb SOBs put the release behind a section of the door so that you literally have to cut a piece of aluminum out of the door to access it (see photo). C’mon! :mad:

Anyway, I followed that suggestion, and was able to get the door open and remove the handleset. I could only find replacements online, so I ordered one but now have an unsightly storm door with no handles on it until the replacement arrives. But at least I can leave the house. I’m hoping the piston closers are enough to keep it shut in the interim.

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dachay2tnr said:
The main issue is the counters on the left and right of the stove. From front to back they’re off about 3/8”. In otherwords the overhang at the front is 3/8” but but the time it gets to the bsck there’s a 3/4” overhang. That’s on the left, the right side is the opposite. The overhang is larger in the front and in the back there is no overhang at all and the top of the base cabinet is exposed slightly. Interestingly the stove opening between these pieces stays the same at 30” both front and back. So the error is consistent between both pieces. Which leads me to believe there was a measurement issue somewhere. So what you end up with is a stove opening that is 90 degrees at the cabinet level, but something other than 90 degrees at the countertop level - meaning the stove will slide in crooked, or cocked somewhat.

At this point the stove has not been put in place. And to your coverup point, it MAY not be too noticeable once it is. It very obvious now, because the “line” of the countertop does not match the line of the cabinet sides. However, with the stove in place, you won’t see the cabinet sides, so it may look ok.

That’s probably the plan for Monday. We’ll put the stove in and see what it looks like. It galls me to maybe have to accept this kind of work for this kind of money, but it could be the lesser of all evils. Ripping it all out and starting over comes with it’s own set of problems. Plus it will delay me getting my kitchen back - which has been over 3 weeks already. Once this is setlled, all thats left is a day for the plumbing. After thst, aside from painting and cosmetic stuff, I’m back in business.

Shoot me please if I ever decide to this again (which at 70 is not likely anyway :eek: ).
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Latest update: There are two sections that are at issue. They were here today and agreed to completely replace one section. The other they feel they can fix on site. Not sure how much delay we’re talking. They already confirmed they have no more of this material in stock. Waiting for them to contact me once they hear back from the mfg.
 
Sounds like a "Why did I ever agree to this?" moment...
Is the section they CAN install at least going to make your kitchen usable?
 
BroKen_H said:
Sounds like a "Why did I ever agree to this?" moment...
Is the section they CAN install at least going to make your kitchen usable?
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Nope. The one that is being completely replaced is the one with the sink. Pretty much out of luck without a sink.

Actually they just called, and we’re scheduled now for Friday. That’s not horrible, but that means no plumber until Monday, so another weekend without a kitchen. :rolleyes:
 
Being in the construction industry I can tell you that there is a mind boggling amount of fuck ups. IMHO it's mostly too many cooks spoiling the broth. If I could measure, order and install everything myself, things would improve drastically. Instead I've got a handful of knuckleheads who can't do my job checking, measuring and explaining things to others about stuff they know nothing about. Then after they fuck it up they ask me to fix it. Easier to put out fires than prevent them I guess.
 
Cheesehead1 said:
Being in the construction industry I can tell you that there is a mind boggling amount of fuck ups. IMHO it's mostly too many cooks spoiling the broth. If I could measure, order and install everything myself, things would improve drastically. Instead I've got a handful of knuckleheads who can't do my job checking, measuring and explaining things to others about stuff they know nothing about. Then after they fuck it up they ask me to fix it. Easier to put out fires than prevent them I guess.
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You wonder how anyone makes money if they have to fix up half their jobs. Unless there’s just that much profit in this stuff. Or unless they just walk away from the problems.

That was my worry card with the countertops. “It’s not that bad. Shit happens.”

The main contractor on my job was great. Perfectionists. And they even did a few things above and beyond my contract. Thr electrician, hired and paid thru GC, was pretty decent, as was the plumber (although I still have a round 2 with them).

Not as thrilled with the countertop people - although at least at this point they seem to be stepping up to the plate aftef their f-up.

Flooring people were pretty bad. They were hired by me and outside the GCs contract. Most of thir crappy work was covered up by baseboard and shoe molding and a refrigerator - but I still know it’s there.

What I love is when they try and BS you. Well the original walls weren’t straight. The cabinets were installed incorrectly. In other words, it’s somebody else’s f-up. I asked the counter guys if the corners were supposed to be square next to the stove. They said, of course. I then asked them to put a square on it. They weren’t even close, and yet they still tried to tell me it wasn’t their problem. :rolleyes:

Like you said, AR, if I could do it myself...

Anyway, stay tuned. Down to the final steps. Reinstall countertops on Friday. Complete plumbing on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.
 
dachay2tnr said:
You wonder how anyone makes money if they have to fix up half their jobs. Unless there’s just that much profit in this stuff. Or unless they just walk away from the problems.
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I could just explode into an uncontrollable rant right know, but I keep reminding myself about how the checks always cash and that whole thing about eating and keeping the lights turned on.
 
Countertop reinstallation happened this afternoon. Went better than I expected (but I always fear the worst). I’ve been concerned all week about the kind of damage they could do removing these heavy stone slabs that are tightly sandwiched between walls and cabinet panels. But so far I don’t see anything. All the angles and cuts appear to be right on. :thumbs up:

Still no kitchen, as the plumbing won’t be done until Tuesday, but dare I say I can see the finish line? Or at least the final lap flag. This began on Sep 20, so tomorrow will be a full month. :(
 
Brew Crew have their backs against the wall tonight. I guess you could already call this season a success for them, but you get greedy when you get this far. :)
 
Hey Dachay2tnr!

Quartz has been my gig for the last 18 years... prior to that I was a Tile contractor that evolved into K&B remodeling and such...did a lot of Corian and Granite prior to quartz. Sounds like you just a got the short stick on the fabrication install...To get it right is really simple and based upon what you've written there were novices involved on this one.

Curious which brand of quartz you used...I was the person who developed Q premium natural quartz from MSI and MSI has a big presence in Jersey...Glad they got ya straightened out (pun intended) Quartz tops are EZ maintenance...be careful around the sink edges cause they are prone to chip from pots n pans...No Hot stuff directly on them...always use a trivet...other than that ENJOY!
 
TAE said:
Hey Dachay2tnr!

Quartz has been my gig for the last 18 years... prior to that I was a Tile contractor that evolved into K&B remodeling and such...did a lot of Corian and Granite prior to quartz. Sounds like you just a got the short stick on the fabrication install...To get it right is really simple and based upon what you've written there were novices involved on this one.

Curious which brand of quartz you used...I was the person who developed Q premium natural quartz from MSI and MSI has a big presence in Jersey...Glad they got ya straightened out (pun intended) Quartz tops are EZ maintenance...be careful around the sink edges cause they are prone to chip from pots n pans...No Hot stuff directly on them...always use a trivet...other than that ENJOY!
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Thanks TAE. I used a brand called Emerstone. Seemed to be the most reasonable price-wise, and from what I understand, aside from the patterns, most quartz is produced using the exact same process. Some of the other brands had really nice patterns/colors, but fortunately I was able to find something I liked in the Emerstone line. (Still not cheap, btw. :eek: )

My take on my problems was the guy who took the measurements. He shows up with a $50k piece of equipment, which should have done the job to perfection, but as we know, even billion dollar airplanes crash. Stuff is only as good as the pilot. :)

Thanks for the tip on sink edges. I knew about the heat issue, but wasn’t aware of chipping issues.

Btw, I’m in the market for backsplash tiles if you feel like a trip to Jersey. :D
 
dachay2tnr said:
Brew Crew have their backs against the wall tonight. I guess you could already call this season a success for them, but you get greedy when you get this far. :)
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Well today is the day.

As boring as I find baseball in the regular season, I find the playoff games too intense. Every pitch is a big deal, the slowness of the game milks the drama.

Your remodeling woes are a timely subject. I've had a bunch of fuck ups to deal with this week, all simple tasks that were sabotaged by people shooting from the hip. One of the bosses tried throwing me under the bus in order to cover for a mistake his buddy made, but it blew up in his face. Then yesterday I go to a major fuck up that had his name on it and he's begging me to bail him out. He can't ask his fuck up buddy to bail him out, because he's a fuck up who can't do my job. It's getting a bit like my last job where politics are playing a role in the decision making process. Sucky.
 
Cheesehead1 said:
Well today is the day.

As boring as I find baseball in the regular season, I find the playoff games too intense. Every pitch is a big deal, the slowness of the game milks the drama.
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These are the games why you play for home field advantage. Key is not letting LA jump out to an early lead. You don’t want to get the crowd out of the game.

I’m feeling better about the remodel now that the countertops are straightened out. But here’s an example of what passes for craftsmanship these days. It’s since been covered up by baseboard molding, but still. Who does work like that? Apparently the school these guys went to only taught 45 and 90 degree angles. :rolleyes:

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It was exciting for about one inning. Their worst game of the playoffs from a competitive standpoint, I knew it would be their bats that would let them down.

My cousin went and paid $$$$ for his tickets, I guess that's the chance you take.
 
Hey, how ‘bout those Giants. :rolleyes:

Can’t believe, with the offensive weapons they have, how they struggle to put points on the board. If I have to point fingers, it starts with the O line, and ends with Eli.

I’ve never been a big Eli fan. Despite two rings, he’s never been a very accurate passer and certainly isn’t mobile. So at 1-6 I say tank the season and go for a young QB in the draft.

They also have a QB on the roster they took this year in the 4th round. Might be time to see what he’s got. (Hey, wasn’t Brady a late pick?). :)
 
dachay2tnr said:
Hey, how ‘bout those Giants.
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I'm rooting for a team with a great QB and no other talent. I blame the GM and coach, but I also blame Rodgers salary. With the cap an elite QB costs as much as two to four really good players. People had talked about getting Kahlil Mack, it wasn't so much about picks as it was salary. Had they signed him half of the team's salary would've been going to two players.

I thought the Badgers were going places this year, but they took a step backwards. Can't get excited about the Bucks either as the NBA is more show than sport IMHO.
 
Kitchen is finally done. Yay!! Actually, finally functional is more accurate than done. It still needs backsplash tiles and paint, but at least I can use it. What a torturous process. And that was with a general contractor. I can’t imagine those poor souls who try and be their own contractor.

In the end it came out pretty good. But there were times I wondered if we’d ever get there.
 
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Well,....get cookin'! Just don't get any grease on the walls/ceiling before the painting and splash are done or you might not get a good bond.

I'm not exactly a floor guy, but hopefully they left a little (expansion) space where those sweet 45 cuts meet the bottom plate of the wall framing. Can't tell from the picture, but looks a little tight. You should be alright, but hold on to your picture for future reference should there by any problem.
 
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