david screws up

[quietann]

You know our wonderful carpenter David, who comes down from vermont to work on the house?

He brought us some sample pieces of stained wood so we could pick a finish. We chose a nice soft peachy wood stain called "Colonial Maple." We have countertops and flooring picked out to match (but luckily not ordered yet).

David came down during Arisia. One of the things he worked on was staining the cabinets he's installed. On Monday, when Ben and I got home from Arisia, we both had exactly the same reaction -- he'd stained the cabinets "Colonial Maple" but the result is a rather hideous dark burnt orange color that doesn't match anything, and is butt-ugly to boot. We were both pretty unhappy, and for the first time ever, David just didn't seem to "get it." He does think he can fix the color by sanding the wood (and restaining???), but I get the feeling this is an after-the-fact fix that may not really work. So we might have to paint the cabinets, but I really wanted a natural wood finish.

Seriously... we aren't the clients from hell. We like David, and he likes us (he and his family were at the wedding). We've been VERY patient about the kitchen as he's worked us in around other jobs in Vermont, and never pressured him to work faster. He is an obsessively careful master carpenter who takes pride in doing everything right the first time. And he's a genuinely nice guy. I have no idea what went wrong this time.

This seems so much like a "problem of the rich" ... I mean, we have friends who are unemployed, broke to the point of couch surfing, have serious illnesses, and/or are having all sorts of really serious life problems. And here I am bitching about ugly cabinets??? But still... this is *the* kitchen we'll live with for the next 30 years or more, and I want it *right*

Comments

[rmd.livejournal.com]

This seems so much like a "problem of the rich"

nah. everybody can have problems with contractors when they use them.

[scliff.livejournal.com]

Does he disagree that the sample is nothing like the actual units, or does he disagree that providing something different than was agreed upon is unacceptable.

Not knowing anything about the wood species or the finish, I can't say if sanding will fix it. One problem with stains is the outcome can be very sensitive to the staining process (quantity and duration). It's easy to "overexpose" a larger piece.

It may well be that he'll get a better match by sanding and re-staining. If you're lucky, the cabinets might even wind up with more character as a result. It sounds like he's a good guy and deserves a chance to make things right.

I think you've got every right to complain, as long as you do keep it in perspective. Home renovations can be really tough emotionally. Living without a usable kitchen for an extended time is surprisingly hard to deal with.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

He definitely agrees that the results are much different than the sample. The cabinets are maple, and I think the sample is, too.

Of course, he has let us know that he won't be coming down for a few weeks (he has a staircase to build in vermont, and needs to finish making our upper cabinets and cabinet doors and drawer fronts.) And no, we are not going to "get used to" the orange color in the meantime.

Our kitchen has actually been pretty useable throughout the process. David designed a removable plywood countertop with a hole for the sink, so we've even been able to do dishes most of the time.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

sanding and reapplying stain works just fine, btw. i did that three or four times with the cabinets in my bedroom (which i finished myself) while deciding what i liked.

[kkpixie.livejournal.com]

WAAAHHH. I read this before I went to sleep and ended up dreaming I helped you fix it, but then I got lost and all my stuff was gone and I had to get on a plane and I didn't want tooooooo. *cries*

So weird.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

oh dear.

That is about as bad as my last night's dream, which was that Anne foolishly left her baby in my care for some very long period of time, and I didn't feed him right, and neglected him in general, and she *didn't* get mad at me when she found out...

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

(Just because 5 million children die of malaria each year doesn't mean that other problems shouldn't be fixed *too*.)

Yeah, have him fix it. There's no point to living with something that annoys you. As far as I can tell, the only question is whether you should pay him extra for the extra work -- Is your level of concern for color excessive compared to what was expected when David set the price?

Not knowing the facts, I'd guess that David is charging premium prices for premium work, in which case there is a margin built in for fussiness on the part of the clients...

[quietann.livejournal.com]

David will fix it, eventually.

Actually, his per-hour rate is about half what I'd expect. But he works by himself, and hasno underlings to share the money with, which also means that he's a bit slow. There is a reason this remodeling project has been going on for almost a year!

He does very good work; this is just one of the very rare exceptions. And in spite of the time it is taking, we'd much rather deal with him than some contractor who is more concerned with the volume of business.

[deguspice.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to point out, that David has sanded all of the cabinet fronts and re-stained them.  They look much better now.