And So It Begins!

I'm really not a rookie when it comes to home repairs, or remolding, but this reconstruction or restoration from a flood seems to be something completely different!

I am not one to hoover over the workers as they work, but I will inspect their work when they are done. That being the case last evening after they had cleaned up and left. Yes, I said they cleaned up! Every dust of saw dust, piece of wood, to even dusting the cabinets and counters within the kitchen. Every morning they have put up a plastic barrier to contain the dust, and every evening they take it down as well.

The minute they left I walked out to the kitchen to see what they had accomplished for the day. As I walked on the area of flooring they replaced, I had a feeling something just wasn't right. It felt weak and it didn't line up with the existing underlayment. Plus there were big, I mean like 1/4 in gaps, at the seams and one corner was broken. Plus he used 4 different pieces like he was doing a puzzle of some kind.

I addressed my concerns with hubby when he got home and he confirmed my suspicions. If the floor doesn't go down perfect, the cabinets won't fit right, creating a domino effect that could possibly crack the granite. He just couldn't believe they thought this was acceptable! First thing the next morning he was on the phone to them.

One can wonder when you receive comments like, "That's how we do it all the time!" Self leveler will fix the problem!" Well, just because that is how you have been doing it doesn't make it right. And that self leveler they planned to use, said right on the package not to be used on particle board. "That's a manufactures suggestions because they don't want to be liable, we use it all the time!" he said. He will need to figure something else out because that is not going down on our underlayment.

After a call to hubbies contractor brother, we made the right call! We will relay the product information to the foreman on Monday.

Now back to how the rest of the morning went. After the foreman had made a few calls they began removing everything that had been done the day before. Imagine our concerns when it was pulled up. The laborer hadn't even used the proper thickness of underlayment and used over a half inch of shims on the joist trying to bring it up to the right height. We just shook our heads! The foreman apologized for the below standard work and immediately had them replace it ALL with the proper underlayment.

We are so HAPPY with what we came home to last evening!

Today we looked at flooring and paint. Picked out the new dishwasher and bought new air vents for the kitchen, bar area, and dining room.

5 days later, they still said "2 WEEKS!"

Our Journey Through LIFE while under reconstruction!