A Functional Kitchen ... almost.

Back in May, Jeff and I ordered new granite countertops for our kitchen from Home Depot. We waited until mid-August, when we finally got the call that they were ready. The plumber (contracted by home depot) came out to disconnect the cooktop and sink. The installers came out, removed our existing countertops, kitchen sink (which they broke in the process - which at the time seemed no big deal since we had bought a new one anyway), and cooktop... and then told us they couldn't install the granite countertops because the cabinets weren't level ...

And they don't do that.

So we called up Home Depot, and they said

"Yes, that happens sometimes."

"No, we don't have anyone who can level the cabinets for you".

"No, we don't have anyone to recommend."

Their recommendation was that we contact the better business bureau and pick someone listed with them.

Hmmmph.

This was something that the Home Depot guy who came out to take measurements for the countertops was supposed to check and tell us about, but he either forgot, or chose not to do it.

I asked our daycare people if they knew of anyone who did this kind of work. As it happened, one of the other dads has a construction business and does "handyman work" on the side. So he came out, and after much discussion, we decided the best way to level the cabinets was to put plywood across the top of them and level that. GREAT! He did the work for us that week.

The countertop installers came out a week later (when they were back in our area -- Home Depot contracts out the countertops to a company who is not in the New Orleans area ...hmmph). They were supposed to be there between 1 and 3 so Jeff took the afternoon off. They showed up at 5:15 ... and said the cabinets still weren't level, so they couldn't install them. What!!???!!

At this point, Jeff had taken time off work on 3 separate days, and we still didn't have a kitchen. Well the Home Depot people got an earful at this point, with the conclusion that they had 24 hours to find a solution to this problem, otherwise we were cancelling our order, disputing the charge with our credit card company (who Jeff had already talked to and said it was okay but we should try to work it out), and getting our money back. They called Jeff with a recommendation for someone to level the cabinets the following day. He came out the next week and un-did everything the first guy did, and then leveled the cabinets without the plywood, in 1/2 the time.

The countertop guys came back out last week and finally installed them!

The plumber was out the following day to hook up the sink and the cooktop, but the cooktop connection had a leak. The plumber didn't have the correct part to replace it, but said I could pick it up at Home Depot and hook it up with no problem. I got the new part (I tried Lowes first, but they didn't have it), hooked it up, and can still smell gas under the stove. Hmmmph.

So we've been using the stove but turning off the gas when it's not in use, and the plumber is coming out again on Wednesday, but he suspects the leak is actually in the unit itself and we'll need a new cooktop.

Uggghhh!

So we have a functional kitchen again, for the most part, which is a relief after almost a month of cooking on the grill and in the microwave and washing dishes in the bathroom sink.

And we've learned two major lessons:

• We will not use Home Depot for any of their "installation" services EVER again.
• We will shop at Lowes whenever possible.