Monday, June 26, 2006 ... Kitchen, Day One
9:00 am sharp: Our contractor, William, showed up in a U-Haul right on time, as promised. Impressive start! We’re encouraged. Plus, he likes the dogs and has already promised Frances a treat tomorrow (from his own dog’s stash, apparently).
10:15: The kitchen is gone. Poof! Just like that. Cabinets are down and out in the U-Haul, appliances disconnected and whisked away by William and his partner “Dolly,” with no need to strap drywall to Frances’s back after all. As such, Frances has joined Stephen upstairs for a nap (of course, Steve was up all night with several car accidents and an active CPR so he’s exhausted). Scarlet, sucking it up downstairs with me, is, surprisingly, taking it all rather well, noise and all.
Noon: William has drilled, cut, and hammered away what was the pantry and the wall next to the pantry. This between cleaning up after himself (after several trips to the truck to remove the cabinets and various bits of wood and plaster) and fielding calls from Cabinet Discounters regarding what sounds like his other project, nearing completion. Didn’t bother me, I hope he’d do the same for us.
1:15 pm: After starting to tear out the wall next to the dishwasher, William utters (and I hear, unfortunately), “uh oh.” Seems there’s a 1-1/2” vent pipe hiding in there. Who knew? After calling Cabinet Discounters (the project coordinator girls, Lisa and Melissa), and trying to call Gilbert (to yell at him, I suspect), he warns me that he now has to call in our plumber Donny, at least one day early. He then warns me that while Donny is a fine plumber, he won’t be happy about this turn of events. William begins to wrap things up quickly so as to escape before Donny actually arrives.
2:00: William, fielding calls from Lisa, has not escaped. After Donny’s initial tirade, William generously agrees to stay and help flesh things out. As he heads out to his truck for a hand saw, he mouths to me, “I told you!!” Indeed.
2:30: After many rounds of “Well, we can … No we can’t … Maybe we can … How wide is that cabinet? Well shit, that won’t work! …” William and Donny are ready to leave. Uncertain, I ask where we stand. Donny thinks he can rework the vent pipe, though he’s made it quite clear that it will NOT be easy and that CD will be paying dearly for his trouble (CD, but not us, as we’ve signed a contract that did include the wall coming down – phew!). William has discovered that the cutout dimensions simply will NOT work, but promises that he will do his best to approximate what I want. Well that’s good news.
2:45: As William and Donny open the door to leave, the skies open up with a torrential downpour. We also hear over the din of the rain, “Move the damn trucks!!” It’s Ray, smiling as he pulls up with his partner in a CD truck with our cabinets! They waited in the truck about 5 minutes, but with no sign of anything lightening up. Ray, already sporting what looks like a plastic baggie on his head, asks if I have a garbage bag he can use.
3:30: After securing my (painfully large) check and eyeing the dining room and kitchen for any and all space for these boxes, Ray and his partner (who was quite friendly but whose name I didn’t catch) begin to cart in my new cabinets. Frances settles in to watch the show, satisfied to watch Ray and his dolly go back and forth (with surprising ease, despite the unwieldy size and, I’m certain, weight, of the boxes).
3:40: Quadir, from Chantilly Floors, arrives to measure the kitchen. His hand is swollen and stiff from a recent soccer injury, but he manages the tape measure around the boxes without my help. I show him a corner of one of the cabinets and he says “Wow, that’s different!” I show him my marmoleum runners-up, and he thinks the lighter shade, Warm Grey, would probably look better with the zebrawood. I think I agree, but am afraid Stephen will not. (Surprisingly, however, he does!)
Marmoleum Greydations
9:00 am sharp: Our contractor, William, showed up in a U-Haul right on time, as promised. Impressive start! We’re encouraged. Plus, he likes the dogs and has already promised Frances a treat tomorrow (from his own dog’s stash, apparently).
10:15: The kitchen is gone. Poof! Just like that. Cabinets are down and out in the U-Haul, appliances disconnected and whisked away by William and his partner “Dolly,” with no need to strap drywall to Frances’s back after all. As such, Frances has joined Stephen upstairs for a nap (of course, Steve was up all night with several car accidents and an active CPR so he’s exhausted). Scarlet, sucking it up downstairs with me, is, surprisingly, taking it all rather well, noise and all.
Noon: William has drilled, cut, and hammered away what was the pantry and the wall next to the pantry. This between cleaning up after himself (after several trips to the truck to remove the cabinets and various bits of wood and plaster) and fielding calls from Cabinet Discounters regarding what sounds like his other project, nearing completion. Didn’t bother me, I hope he’d do the same for us.
1:15 pm: After starting to tear out the wall next to the dishwasher, William utters (and I hear, unfortunately), “uh oh.” Seems there’s a 1-1/2” vent pipe hiding in there. Who knew? After calling Cabinet Discounters (the project coordinator girls, Lisa and Melissa), and trying to call Gilbert (to yell at him, I suspect), he warns me that he now has to call in our plumber Donny, at least one day early. He then warns me that while Donny is a fine plumber, he won’t be happy about this turn of events. William begins to wrap things up quickly so as to escape before Donny actually arrives.
2:00: William, fielding calls from Lisa, has not escaped. After Donny’s initial tirade, William generously agrees to stay and help flesh things out. As he heads out to his truck for a hand saw, he mouths to me, “I told you!!” Indeed.
2:30: After many rounds of “Well, we can … No we can’t … Maybe we can … How wide is that cabinet? Well shit, that won’t work! …” William and Donny are ready to leave. Uncertain, I ask where we stand. Donny thinks he can rework the vent pipe, though he’s made it quite clear that it will NOT be easy and that CD will be paying dearly for his trouble (CD, but not us, as we’ve signed a contract that did include the wall coming down – phew!). William has discovered that the cutout dimensions simply will NOT work, but promises that he will do his best to approximate what I want. Well that’s good news.
2:45: As William and Donny open the door to leave, the skies open up with a torrential downpour. We also hear over the din of the rain, “Move the damn trucks!!” It’s Ray, smiling as he pulls up with his partner in a CD truck with our cabinets! They waited in the truck about 5 minutes, but with no sign of anything lightening up. Ray, already sporting what looks like a plastic baggie on his head, asks if I have a garbage bag he can use.
3:30: After securing my (painfully large) check and eyeing the dining room and kitchen for any and all space for these boxes, Ray and his partner (who was quite friendly but whose name I didn’t catch) begin to cart in my new cabinets. Frances settles in to watch the show, satisfied to watch Ray and his dolly go back and forth (with surprising ease, despite the unwieldy size and, I’m certain, weight, of the boxes).
3:40: Quadir, from Chantilly Floors, arrives to measure the kitchen. His hand is swollen and stiff from a recent soccer injury, but he manages the tape measure around the boxes without my help. I show him a corner of one of the cabinets and he says “Wow, that’s different!” I show him my marmoleum runners-up, and he thinks the lighter shade, Warm Grey, would probably look better with the zebrawood. I think I agree, but am afraid Stephen will not. (Surprisingly, however, he does!)
5:00: Everyone is gone, including Steve, who has gone back to put the ambulance in service due to the horrible weather and, no doubt, busy night ahead. I feed the dogs, who don’t seem to care at all that their bowls are displaced.
posted by Kimberly at 9:48 PM
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