Boyz and a Hood

Tuesday, November 17. I'm home waiting for the kitchen guys to install the range hood that was finally delivered along with the rest of the wall cabinets in the kitchen. I'm also waiting for the contractor's guys to come and put up the roof-mounted blower for the range hood, along with the ductwork. I'm up early - even though I knew I'd be going in late - so Shaw can get Logan to school and out of the house by 7AM.

Around 9:30 the kitchen guys arrive and begin doing their thing. The range hood cabinet looks worth the wait. An hour later the others get here, and begin digging through the appliance boxes that have been sitting on the kitchen floor for over a month, trying to locate the external blower. All of these appliances had been ordered from the kitchen guy.

After several minutes and lots of mumbling, the contractor guys look glum. They confab with the kitchen guys - who happened to have been here on the day the appliances were delivered - and after trying to avoid speaking with me the truth comes out that the blower is the wrong model.

We all stare at each other. The kitchen guys call their boss, he says he'll call the appliance supplier and call right back. The contractor guys look lost, and finally decide on their own to start hooking up the washer and dryer in the basement until word comes back about the blower. I realize my staying home at this point is totally useless and leave.

About an hour after arriving at the office I call Kitchen Guy, who tells me he sent one of his men to the supplier and the correct blower will be at our house by two o'clock. I ask him if the contractor guys were told so they don't leave out of boredom, and he assures me that his guys are on top of things, However, since they were also the ones "on top" of approving the appliance delivery in the first place I'm not exactly feeling the love. But at least this problem is solved.

Around 3:30 Kitchen Guy calls me. It seems that our contractor is very unhappy that his guys had to sit around "all day waiting" for the right item, and he wants Kitchen Guy's crew to install it. Kitchen Guy tells me he usually charges about $1,500 for this type of installation, and thinks that the contractor never really wanted to install this item in the first place as it's far more involved than the contractor anticipated - making a large hole in the ceiling, running ductwork through the attic, cutting a hole in the roof, installing the blower and making sure it all lines up. He wants me to know there may be a problem here with the contractor. If there is, I reply, it isn't ours, as they need to work this out between them and get our kitchen finished after more than three months. I ask him if he has a crew available to install the blower, and he replies that he really isn't sure when they'll be able to schedule it due to the holiday next week and all his customers who want their kitchens done before Thanksgiving. Not to put too fine a point on it, but, duh.

That night I get home and Shaw shows me that one of the wall cabinets the kitchen guys actually did install is the wrong one.

The next morning I wait home again, so I can review the range hood situation with the contractor. He tells me that he spoke with Kitchen Guy whose boys will do it. When, we don't know. We also find out that the kitchen crew won't be back until the right wall cabinet comes in, and the correct cabinet fronts for the dining room wall. After Thanksgiving. Cancelling ours was obviously a good idea.