The 20,000 Swear Word Kitchen
This post has been a year in the making. 12 months ago I was pregnant with Baby G. 12 months ago we made the decision to not move instead a new kitchen & bathroom would refresh our home. A second maternity leave in three years and savings diminished from the first, staying put meant we wouldn’t have excessive pressure for me to return to work until Baby G’s first birthday.
We had agreed our kitchen design and on 1st July 2009 work commenced. I moved into my parents with Lil’ H, our old kitchen was ripped out and skipped in the front garden, most of the new kitchen was delivered. Mr L had a week off worked to re-do the bathroom. Taking advantage of the skip in the front garden the old bathroom came out and the new bathroom was delivered into the living room. The first week was going well, we were on schedule. Then nothing much happened, phone calls placed, apologies received, concerns raised, promises made. A couple of days of activity followed and a few of the missing bits were delivered. Irritating? Yes, but hey that’s what new kitchen projects are like, right?
Mr L was cracking on with the bathroom, I was 7 months pregnant and living with my parents which meant lots of help, its not all bad. The kitchen was commissioned to be completed in two weeks, after 1o days it was clear we were no where near achieving this. No one could be contacted, the showroom was locked, eventually I got hold of the guy who had previously been fitting the kitchen, at last someone who could tell me what was going on and he did, he’d not been paid and the firm had gone to the wall.
Sh!t! F*ck! B*llocks! Sh!t! F*ck! B*llocks! Sh!t! F*ck! B*llocks!
The old kitchen is in the front garden in a skip. The new kitchen is part fitted, part in the lounge and part who knows where. The old bathroom is in the front garden in a skip, the new bathroom is part fitted and also part in the lounge. The family are part at my parents, part at the building site our home has become. The worst part was the kitchen was mostly paid for, fortunately by credit card.
The amount to do and stress of the days, weeks, months that followed with the burning platform of Baby G’s arrival was immense. I have been unable to speak about it, occasionally I may have tweeted about it. IT HAS BEEN A TOTAL F*CKING NIGHTMARE.
Mr L stopped work on the bathroom as we have an ensuite but only have one kitchen, by night and by weekends he fitted the kitchen. By day, be email, by phone I located, sourced and bought the missing doors, handles, fittings & fixtures. This was time consuming however for the most part people were supportive and willing to help. By letter I started the claim process with the Liquidators and the credit card company. This was time consuming and for the most part people were completely useless and unwilling to help.
Two weeks before Baby G arrived I had a new finished bathroom and a new kitchen, well there are a few finishing touches but there always are. One baby, 11 months, 26 letters from me, 32 letters from credit card company, 1 independent assessment report, umpteen phone calls, copious tears and approximately 20,000 swear words the matter is resolved. On Friday I received a credit to my account for the disputed amount.
It’s over. Thank f*ck for that.
Category: Personal & Family | Tags: credit card dispute, home improvements, Lancaster Towers, new kitchen 7 comments »
June 13th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
Oh my God… we’re having a new kitchen fitted now. I’m running for the hills.
June 14th, 2010 at 12:05 am
What a nightmare! Glad it’s all sorted now though, now you can get on with enjoying your new kitchen and bathroom!
June 14th, 2010 at 12:24 am
S***, F***, B******* & C***. I hate my Kitchen and Bathrooms. Actual hate. I fantasise about them being ripped out and replaced with the Plain English kitchen and Fired Earth bathrooms of my dreams. Neither of which is likely to happen unless we win the lottery. It seems even a lottery win is not enough to protect one from a company folding and errant workmen though. For now, I shall confine my fantasies to the mood boards in my head…………….Xx
June 14th, 2010 at 8:35 am
Glad it’s over & you can move on, with any luck you’ll *never* have to repeat the experience!
And well done for managing all of that on top of a pregnancy!
June 14th, 2010 at 9:08 am
And you have been amazing sorting all this out. well done you and I hope your new kitchen and bathroom’s are looking fab to ease some of the frustration it caused. xx
June 14th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I feel your pain, when we moved in to this house the whole ground floor had to be dug un and relaid as it was uneven – nightmare
June 14th, 2010 at 9:25 pm
Only 20,000 swear words? You did well lovely
What is it about having a baby and getting house works done? We were thinking of doing our kitchen (and all the downstairs floors) this year but think it won’t happen now – money and a lack of desire for more disruption probably!