"What did I ever do to you?"

That was the question I asked as I looked skyward Tuesday.  That was the day our final piece of the puzzle in the bathroom was going to be installed.  It's been a long road...two years from the time we gave it our first passing thought and seven weeks since we'd bought the sink that started the ball rolling.  It felt like seven months, to be honest.  I'm pretty sure contractors new job descriptions are to break every human they come in contact with by either not responding (which according to online reviews from places like Home Advisor and Angie's List is an epidemic nationwide) or providing you with half-assed work that will leave you in tears or dead inside.  You find yourself thinking...

That was about how I felt come Tuesday night when the list of the things that needed to be finished/fixed was adding up.

1) They left a huge circular scratch from the WOODEN template they used to cut the sink on site.  Literally, they made a shim wreath and let the edges vibrate into the top of the counter as they cut.

2) The front of the countertop is nicked.

3)  Countertop looked nothing like the large sample in the store.

4)  They left caulk and greasy fingerprints all over the top that wouldn't easily come off.

5)  Juvenile caulking job around the sink that I will see every time I sit on the throne.

6)  Sink leaked.

7)  Plumber refused to call us back leading to me having to call Home Depot at 8 pm and having some dude who probably just happened to answer the phone as he was walking by, talk us through why our sink was leaking since no one with authority was there to do anything about it.  I will have to ask if they still give away plumbers licenses in Cracker Jack boxes because the effer didn't put any plumber's putty around the bottom of the drain (as the directions SPECIFICALLY stated that the Mr handed him) and he chose to ignore.

8) Yesterday morning as I was brushing my teeth, I discovered they took a huge chunk out of my brand new, freshly painted chair rail.  It was at this point as I slapped wood filler into it knowing it would never look as perfect and beautiful as it did, I went numb inside.

Did I mention it's hormonal week?

Basically, this whole piece is a nightmare.  I'd give anything for my old sink back.  I hate the way ours looks.  It's too shallow and wide.  The faucet had to be offset, which is fine, but not my ideal placement for it and when you turn it on, it's like Niagara Falls, Frankie Angel.  (Points if you got the reference.)  I know I'll get used to it but still.  The countertop looks fine from a distance but up close there are these swirls in it that were NOT present in the sample at the store that was about 11"x 6".  Certainly large enough to see if something like that was prominent.  It looks like PAAS egg dye floating on water.  Now, it doesn't look quite as bad on top to me as it did when I initially saw it and had to walk away before I started crying in front of the installers.  But yeah, it has this concrete look to it that was NOT part of my mental design.  The whole thing just looks way more modern than I anticipated.  On the upside, the Mr loves it and I'm wholly glad for him.  I guess I got what I wanted the past 12 years and now it's his turn.  But I will never be able to unsee the hideous swirls that are on the side of the counter that I have to see every time I'm in the bathroom for business purposes.

So yesterday, late morning the plumber came back and the Mr schooled him on his absence of plumbers putty and made him feel inadequate.  He's racing out the door as I type. Our job was to keep an eye on it all day to make sure that the putty, that the directions said was required to be there, kept things dry.  As suspected, we were good to go.  I will refrain from making jokes about men reading directions especially since mine does almost every time.

After several calls to both the plumber and countertop people with no response, we got Home Depot involved and we have an appointment Monday for them to come back out and fix the scratches and nick.  The Mr has sent an email to the HD liaison that mama ain't happy and we don't want them to touch the chair rail.  We had to pay $50 for nothing because they had a minimum cost to even do the job so our solution is to get that money refunded to us so that it's enough with having to work around yet ANOTHER appointment to get done what they screwed up.  Oh, and did anyone say they were sorry for the inconvenience?  Only the plumber after the Mr pointed out that the directions said putty was required.  Our sales rep and no other points of contact even bothered which makes us think this is pretty common.

I'll admit, I was tempted to just take pics and post the reveal like it all went smoothly but it's important that you know that even the smallest of renos don't always go as planned.  Also, given all of the BS we've put up with all contractors for the past 7 weeks, the only thing that got these two contractors to respond was once Home Depot was involved and quick.  If you get enough complaints then you have potential to lose that major contract so I would consider doing any kitchen/bath reno through a place where you have a "middleman" who can advocate for you.

I'm so done.  :-|

Any reno horror stories to share?

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