Because of water leaking all day from a pipe in the wall behind my kitchen sink, my bottom kitchen cabinets were damaged, as was the laminate flooring in my great room on the other side of the kitchen. The water also leaked into the master bedroom. The estimate to repair all damages was $15,471.52 minus my $2,500 deductible. I had a choice of getting a new floor or new kitchen cabinets, so I went with the latter. This was June 18, 2013.
I did not realize at the time I signed the insurance claim papers that I was authorizing Dry Wizard to make the cabinet repairs, nor was I smart enough to check if they were even qualified to do so. They are a water damage cleanup business, and to my knowledge have no experience in carpentry, electrical work, or even contracting. I found that out the hard way.
I don't even know the name of the company that made the cabinets. A man came over with the Dry Wizard people one day and made measurements. He said my cabinets would be made of ash. I chose a stain. I had two lights over my sink, and he suggested putting an arch there (which I agreed to) and putting crown molding at the top (which I also agreed to). I passed on soft-close doors because I was trying to save money, since I had to pay for the plumbing repairs out of my own pocket (they were not covered under my insurance policy and it cost almost $2,000 to have the water line rerouted through the attic to the washer and dryer). I wanted pull-out drawers in three of the bottom cabinets. I kept my existing countertops and sinks.
I didn't hear back from anybody until the second week of August just when I was ready to go back to school (I teach high school English). Two guys came and installed the cabinets in two days.
The cabinets are about an inch shallower than the originals, so some of my plates won't fit in them. I just assumed the dimensions would be the same. They also miscalculated the molding (didn't make it long enough), so he had to cut two pieces and fit them together) and it looks tacky. The cabinet over the sink and the one next to it aren't bolted together right, so there is a gap there. Some of the ends had finishing pieces (I don't know what you call them but it's like quarter-round) and some of them didn't, and the stain was really sloppy. There were no lights over the sink. The doors seem really flimsy and they slam and make a horrible racket even though there are rubber knobs on them.
There is only one pull-out drawer in each bottom cabinet; it's in the middle of the cabinet. What good is one pull-out drawer if there isn't another one underneath it?
They didn't vent my stove, and when they put the microwave back in, it didn't work.
The first time I washed the cabinets, some of the stain came off, and I don't have any more. They didn't stain the bottom of the cabinets.
After the carpenters left, I never heard from them again, so I had to make up a list of things to do and give them to Dry Wizard. Caleb Suszko would come and look things over and say stuff like, "Some hanging lights would look really nice over the sink," and then the Dry Wizard workers would come back from a department store with some cheap tube light.
Let's start with the light over the sink. When the cabinetmaker put the arch in, he made the cabinet quite a bit shorter than it had been before, so the new light was much higher (at least a foot). There was a foot-long gouge in the drywall (from the cord) that was so ineptly patched that I think my pug could have done a better job. Then the fluorescent lights were just stuck in there with no cover over them. When I asked that a cover be placed over them--like it had been originally--they GLUED it in place.
They couldn't explain why my microwave didn't work, so I had to buy a new one. When I asked them to install it, they said they were only obligated to install the one they took out. I finally got them to put the new one in, but they bolted it in crooked, so one side hung down lower than the other. Later, I had to hire a handyman to fix it and he told me the screws were stripped.
I also had a garbage can in a pull-out rack next to the dishwasher. They threw it away, so I told them I wanted another one. They told me they didn't make them anymore. I had to buy another one myself--from the almost dozen available at a hardware store--but they installed it, although it was set back so far that I couldn't remove it, so that was another thing I had to have the handyman fix.
When they put the dishwasher back in, they left half the insulation hanging out the side, and the door is broken on the right side.
It got to be ridiculous after a while. I would call, no one would call back. I would email. I would send pictures. I would be told I was asking for things that didn't need to be done. Caleb was sending Dry Wizard people to do the work, and they were telling me they were not qualified electricians or carpenters. I kept asking for invoices. I was ignored. The insurance check was made out to me and Dry Wizard and I finally wound up endorsing it because I didn't know what else to do. Do I have any recourse here? I feel like I got ripped off. Even though it is a year later, I am still angry, and on top of everything, I think my kitchen looks cheap.