* UPDATE *

About two weeks ago here, I mentioned some things that were up to. I figured I'd let you know what's been going on since then. As I'd mentioned, the contractor we found came very highly recommended, and was very easy to work with prior to us leaving for vacation. At his suggestion, we made all of our choices for both our bathrooms - lights, tile, vanities, fixtures in about 5 days, so that we could go away on vacation and they could do the work while we were away. At the very same time, I was called out of the blue from my recruiter, with a job offer that I couldn't pass up. So, I accepted the offer, was doing all the paperwork and drug tests, and quitting my other job, while packing for our trip. To say those 5 days were insane, might be the biggest understatement of all time. Anyway, the contractor made us feel confident there would be no issues and we'd essentially come home from vacation to two updated bathrooms. They were completely gutting ours, and redoing the floor, replacing the vanity and adding bead board into our main bath.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.

First - we had the most amazing vacation, the best in years. The weather was perfect, and the time with both our families was just perfect. So, I am very thankful for that, and blessed that we were able to get away at this busy time for quality time together. The day after we got back, I started my new job, and so far, so good. So, that's the good update.

The bad - So, here we are about 2.5 weeks later, with absolutely nothing in our master bath but sheet rock and a partially completed tile floor, and a partially completely floor in the guest bath and barely-functioning toilet and a leaking sink. Granted, 7 days seems like a quick turnaround for our updates, but he was so sure. He's been doing this for 25+ years, so, of course we trusted him and expected little things might pop up. While we were away, he was keeping me posted, writing with updates on Saturday and late at night about their progress. We couldn't wait to get home to see everything.

My mom happened to pop over on Tuesday night, the night we were do in, just to check and she texted me with a "call me if you can." Ut oh. She assured me our bathroom had nothing in it, not even floor tile and the toilet to the guest bath was in the hall, and that room had a partial floor down. I quickly checked in with the contractor for an update, and he casually wrote - yes, make arrangements not to stay at our house tonight, it's not done, but at least the guest bath should be done tomorrow (Wednesday).

So after an annoying experience at the airport and a frustrating delay getting out of JFK, we returned exhausted at 1am - to sleep with the girls and Q, at my parents house. I went to our house on Wednesday to check in and the (one) worker, mentioned the floor tile was short and they needed more, that's why that floor wasn't finished. He then proceeded to lay the master bath floor that day. When I checked with the contractor, he said the extra tile should be in any day... I come to find out, they hadn't even ordered it - and it takes days. We're finally expecting it tomorrow - Monday!

I requested a meeting at the house with the contractor to go over everything and get a better idea of what's really going on. He shows up with a s*&^ eating grin, as nice as could be, like no big deal. I asked why it was taking longer than planned, and he brushed it off. Said its a big job, and no question, everything will be done by Friday - 2 days from then. Friday, came and the vanities were finally ordered - only to be delivered NEXT FRIDAY 4/24. We still do not have bead board, grout, the extra tile, etc. We stayed with my parents for the next few days, I started my new job and we tried to get back into some sort of routine. I mean, re-entry is hard enough after vacation, right? This was brutal.

We came home Friday night to NO progress since Wednesday. Nada. I can't for the life of me figure any of this out. Is he lying to my face, does he think its a joke? Why on earth has he fallen short on every time line and promise of completion. I know this kind of thing happens to people all the time, ironically my parents are going through something similar with a small addition that's taking far longer than expected. But, it just seemed like our work was so simple, and he has been so confident in his plan and timeline. We provided all of the information, and a nice big check, before we left on 4/7 so that we wouldn't run into any hold ups. There is no excuse.

So, I proceeded to write a not-so-nice email to our contractor on Friday night. With 10+ years in customer service, its hard for me to actually be mean, but I certainly was straight forward and to the point. He had written asking for money, and I told him we aren't paying any more, until there is progress. He's usually pretty responsive, and I haven't heard from him since... what do you want to bet, they don't come back? I might really lose it then! Hopefully, sometime in the next month, there will be an update and I'll be able to post some before and afters :) Until then... I'm putting it all out of my mind, and focusing on other stuff!

Happy weekend to you!