Been remodeling the kitchen since January. My wife and I tore it down to the studs. We are on the pay as you go plan so we have to save up the money to pay for parts.
Hired a contractor to put it back together, yes, this was part of the plan. He proved to be incompetent after I discovered some wiring mistakes. I fired him.
My brother, who lives across the big lake in Wisconsin, calls me asking if I need help. Perfect timing. He is a contractor and has done all the work on my house up to this point, but at the time we needed him he was booked. Now he is here, rewired almost everything the previous electrician did and will be done in another week.
I took tomorrow off to help him put up the wall cabinets.
This has been the most frustrating home improvement project I have ever undertaken. I feel ripped off.

Glad my brother is here! Family is the best!

You really need to go on a bike ride.

went to the supermarket today and they were out of keilbasa

Be thankful that you discovered the electrical deficiencies before running the in-sink-erator. I mean seriously, electrical work isn't rocket science, even with following regulations and keeping it up to code. You have to WORK at being bad at that...

No keebassa??? oh the agony...got one in the fridge right now...gonna cook it up tomorrow...mmmm

Any perogies to go with the Keebassa? You might as well make a meal of it.

There is always the worry about contractors doing jobs for you and Not only around the home. How about your car? And even more--How about servicing the bike?

I know I am a practical person and will turn my hand to almost anything. It may not be the best looking job but I will do most things.

But Wood and me do not get along. The welding gun doesn't work on it and I keep having to replace material. For that reason i was loath to fit our kitchen about 10 years ago and asked a local decorator/ plumber to suggest someone. He got a carpenter to properly fit the units and it cost me a lot less than getting the specialist contractors in.

But back to the bikes--and my Local LBS has been going downhill fast. There is a shop that has been recommended and I went to visit them yesterday. Took back the wheel a mate of mine had new bearings put in last week as there is still play in them. The reason is that it is an old wheel and the bearings are not readily available so he had to use his current suppliers to get the best that are available. B.S. and I let him know that as a 2 year old Hope Hub is not old and Hope sell the right bearings. Have the wheel back and never stripped a Hope hub but did it yesterday and ordered direct the bearings from Hope.

If supposed specialist's can mess up a simple job- you have to be very careful on the major items like kitchens

Finding a good home improvement contractor is a scary business. There's just not a good resource for finding good, reasonably priced people. I am certainly glad you found the electrical issue immediately and not after a house fire.

Sometimes, having the ability and knowledge to build things properly yourself is a curse as well. I have been renovating the kitchen (building all cherry cabinets) for the past 6 months. Prior to that, all 4 restrooms in the house. It has taken a lot of time away from cycling this year but it saved enough money to buy a new fleet of bicycles.

That was your first mistake.
If you can brave going to Irvington, try the Olympic Market on 40th street.

So many "professional" these days are so in name only. These days everyone wants to go to college and be a rocket scientist, and what the country really needs are real craftsmen that know how to do outstanding work.

Angies' list? I had a contractor do some basement wll work. He spent a bit of time and charged me over five grand for it. That was about 12 to 13 years ago. As he was leaving he says, " I'm still not convinced that will fix your problem." )(*#&&)*% Golly gee Wally.

I have worked in the building trades (a company that built stores for a major chain of convenience stores). We planned everything in great detail before even starting any demolition. Even then there were surprises and overruns, but they were manageable. Designing a project on the fly is a recipe for disaster. It only works on those HGTV "reality" shows.

If you could see the errors! Unreal what some call good enough and others call quality yet others call unacceptable. We planned the kitchen before starting the demo. Ripped everything out so there were no surprises for the contractor to up charge us on. The workmanship was inferior and unacceptable.

Sadly he was recommended by 2 people who know how picky I am. Here's the laundry list:
Recessed lights out of line. I watched the chalk line being set and the lights varied +/- 1 to 2 inches from line
GFCI was tripping when load was put on the line
Refrigerator was removed from its own dedicated line and put on a shared line
Late to work every day
2 hour lunches
Nuts to him.

Yea its a mixed bag, I also have a very completewood shop in the garage,,and have built the kitchen(including the cabinets and the hardwood floor and most of the furniture in the houseand then a bunch of billiard cues,to go with the3 cushion table Irebuilt in thebasement
people are amazed at all the stuff in the garage,the only car we can put in there is wifessubaru(its.smaller
Bud

Tried to get my wife to go along with me building the cabinets, but since I had not done them before it would have taken me quite a bit of time to make them. She wanted it done before summer. I have always gone by the tried and true: If you want something done right, do it yourself. How right that really is.

Haven't ridden in a couple of weeks. Really need it right now, but no relief in sight till it is done. One benefit is I know every square inch of this kitchen!!

[QUOTE=TiHabanero;15647074]Tried to get my wife to go along with me building the cabinets, but since I had not done them before it would have taken me quite a bit of time to make them. She wanted it done before summer. I have always gone by the tried and true: If you want something done right, do it yourself. How right that really is.

Haven't ridden in a couple of weeks. Really need it right now, but no relief in sight till it is done. One benefit is I know every square inch of this kitchen!![/QUOTE]

I don't know...that could be a good thing or a not so good thing. Hope you get it squared away properly and soon. It's not good to be off the bike too long.

If you don't have family in the construction business, heaven help you!

Did you brother arrive on a bicycle?