During the project design phase everything seemed to be going very well. Duke, the owner, was very involved and helpful. We signed the deal around Christmas of 2012 and the project started on time in late February. During the demolition of the kitchen bulkhead, his crew punctured a hole through the drywall into the next room. Unfortunately, that next room had a custom paint job on the wall, which they destroyed. While they repaired the drywall, they were not able to reproduct the color or pattern on the wall. They did a terrible job leveling out the ceiling, it was lumpy and wavy. A few days later, when most of the demolition was done, they discovered that there were manufacturing defects on the at least 4 or 5 of the new upper cabinets. The cabinets were a frameless style with a recessed bottom so that no rail was necessary along the bottom of the cabinets. Except the the wood pieces which were used to create the recessed bottoms along those cabinets, were installed backwards and updside down (rough/unfinished side out). The pantry cabinet was the wrong size. One of the bases for the peninsula was too big because it was not properly planned in the design. (It would not have allowed the fridge back into the kitchen). The manufacturer replaced that base for a smaller one at no cost but still had to remake all the cabinets with the defects.
So we were once again waiting 6-8 weeks for the cabinets to come in, except since Duke and crew did not check the original cabinets BEFORE starting demolition, we were now left with absolutely no kitchen and living with a demo zone! Also, when he first resubmitted our defect claim to the manufacturer he went ahead and ordered the cabinet type that didn't have a recessed bottom and we would have to have the traditional rail installed. That is not what we paid for and he went ahead and changed this without getting our agreement or telling us until I figured it out when he started asking me about rail type we wanted. I understand his intent was to prevent the same defect from coming to us again, but that was not the cabinet type we wanted. So he had to cancel that warrenty claim, and then once again create a new one. So were delayed again, and starting the 6-8 week wait all over. Waiting about 10 weeks now!. Our old kitchen was dated but fully functional, so this made us extremly upset at both the quality of the manufacturer as well as Duke's lack of foresight to check the product before tearing everything out. Under the circumstances, he did act very professional and attempted to do everything in his power to get us the replacements we wanted. The cabinets which were done right, were absolutely beautiful and everything we had hoped for. Quality hardwood, no styles, soft close, all the bells and whistles.
So while waiting for the replacement upper cabinets, counter top people came out did the template for the counter. We chose to do a Wilsonart HD laminate countertop. It was because and the incredble cost was 1/5th of the stone. Since we spent so much on the cabinets it was worth it. Also I really don't like my glasses and dishes clanking against stone surfaces. In addition, I could get the no-drip edge with a laminate,which I couldn't get with a stone. We received a forwarded sketch of the countertop from Duke/counter company, everyone agreed and we went back to waiting for the replacement cabinets to come in which expected mid April. A few weeks later we get a new sketch from the countertop company, saying they needed to build a triangular raised shelf in the corner of the countertop where the two pieces met in the kitchen corner. They said because the edge style and seams would look funny if they didn't do this. We said WHAT? We didn't want/expect this at all. If we didn't choose the 'shelf' then their would be a baseball homeplate shaped piece of countertop which would have to join the two larger sections. What? Both options ridiculous and they could not explain to us why it was necessary even after we spoke to the counter making company ourselves. We did eventually figure out the reason, but sadly it was by talking to a home depot worker, because neither Duke nor his counter people could explain why a normal seam wouldn't work there. So the only option to avoid either of the ridiculous looks was to choose a different edge style for the counter, which meant I wasn't getting my no-drip edge. Annoyed and frustrated, we agreed to choose a different edge style.
While waiting, Duke also discovered the sink which was chosen was now discontinued so we had to choose a different sink, again, annoying, but not a big deal, we chose a different sink.
Finally in May, the cabinets had come in and he found a new crew to finish the job. They seemed a little more competent. First they had to redo a 5ft area of the ceiling which was left lumpy and uneven because they could't even hang the cabinets there straight. They also found the manufacturer still messed up the recessed bottoms on a few of the cabinets, they actually re-made those small pieces on-site and replaced the badly installed ones from the manufacturer. They looked great and we were ok with that. They worked hard to hang and adjust everything to our liking and worked out any minor details I asked them to do. Unfortunately, they scratched an entry way wall when bringing in one of the new cabinets, so they had to repaint that area for us, which turned out ok. They also had to repaint around the ktichen entryway where the first crew got primer on the living room walls just outside the ktichen.
So then the countertops were brought in and one of the pieces wasn't done right, so it had to be remade. Waiting again...
A week or so later, that piece came in and we were good to go again. Sadly we noticed later that while installing the countertop, they managed to scratch the side of the one cabinet that went all the way from ceiling the the counter. We felt so weary with this project at that point, we didn't say anything and just let it go.
When they crew moved the fridge back into the kitchen, a nearly brand new stainless steel $3K fridge, they left 3 small dents on the fridge door from the strap they used when putting it on the dolly. They refused to own up to causing the damage. We asked Duke to simply cover the cost of the replacement door, he not only refused us, but told his crew they need to get us a whole new fridge! We never asked for that but that is what the crew guy told us when we talked to him again. We said we only asked for the door to be replaced and Duke was giving them misinformation. Either way, it was never done, we still have a dented door. Nobody took care of it.
Part of the redesign involved putting the fridge in a new spot in the kitchen and running a new water line. They removed a copper line and refused to put in a new copper line for the new location, only a plastic flexihose! A plastic line deteriorates and leaks much faster. We only asked to replace with same quality of product as he removed, he refused. Plus, it was several feet shorter. There was also an air return in the wall where the fridge was moved to. We asked to simply put the air return vent in the floor directly below/behind the fridge as the main return duct runs directly below the fridge, he refused to do that, after tearing out the air return from that wall. He said he never agreed to do this, but we never agreed to lose our return competely.. so this was never done and we are left at a standstill on the issue.
We found that there were dings along the edges of some of the cabinet doors, he said these would be replaced under warranty. We never got the replacements.They also never installed the hardware on these doors either, so several doors have no hardware still. His guy installed a handle on one door where the drawer next to that door was hitting the handle, so that door had to be replaced because it now had holes on the wrong side. We never got the replacement. We also have one cabinet which is still missing shelves.
There is still a hal