The (Endless) Saga of our Kitchen Cabinet Doors

The BBQ Pit
1

My wife and I bought a house last year in January. We had major work done on the house, including the replacement of the entire kitchen.

We signed a contract with a local contractor in March (2004). In short, we ordered a custom kitchen, with plenty of cabinets (you can never had too much cabinet space). The person came recommended (from a close relative too), was a local person from the neighborhood and we had seen an example of his work. So, we signed the deal.

By August the other work on the house was finally done (that’s a separate horror story!) and we were ready to move in. The kitchen was in, except for the cabinet doors. Well, we figured, that wasn’t so bad, we could live without kitchen cabinet doors for a few weeks.

A few weeks has turned into a few months. Long months. It’s now April and you can still see all of our dishes, pots and pans in our kitchen. Those of you who saw the Purim picutes I put up know what I mean.

It’s always been one excuse after another as to why the doors haven’t come in yet. One time he said that his supplier went out of business on him, stiffing him for the doors (which he paid for). Another time it was that his workers took off for the holidays. There always seems to be one problem or another.

It wouldn’t be so bad, however, if he was somewhat communicative. Unfortuantely, we never hear from him unless we call. And then, if we call (whether at work or home) we might get him, we might not. And if we don’t, he might call back in the next few weeks, or not. There have been times when my wife has left messages for him for days straight without an answer. Not nasty, mean messages, but simply messages to find out what the heck is going on.

Last Thursday was supposed to be Door Day. Alas, there are still no doors on the cabinets. The excuse this time: “The doors came in warped.” :rolleyes:

Today was supposed to be Door Day. I forgot what the excuse was this time, but they’re not coming in either. Maybe next week.

What makes the problem worse is that Passover is coming. If the doors are not in by Passover, we’ll have to either (a) clear all of the pots, pans, dishes, etc. out of the kitchen (a major pain in the neck) or (b) cover over every open cabinet (another major pain). And he (being Jewish) knows this! He’s guaranteed us the doors by Passover. I’m not holding my breath… :frowning:

Zev Steinhardt

2

Well, maybe that Door Day will be different from all other Door Days.

3

That happened to my mom (actually it was all the cabinets, not just the doors) and she figured out that a lot of these guys make a fairly small profit margin and don’t have a lot of extra cash at any one time. So they take an order, don’t have enough to get the cabinets, and have to wait for another order to pay off the first one. Her guy did great work when he finally got the cabinets in but the wait was excruciating…

4

Whats the problem with Passover?

5

Does Door Guy have a brother out in California that repairs clocks?

Just wondering as the repair of my grandfather clock has been going on for a very long time. I probably could have learned how to work on clocks and do it myself in less time.

At least I don’t have to worry about keeping the everyday kosher-enough dishes out of sight when it’s time to use the extra-kosher stuff. (Or at least, stuff that can be kashered)

6

:smiley:

The question isn’t whether it will be different, but how is is that day different from all other days! ;j

Sam

7

Well, if he is local. Show up at his house/shop at 7:00 am and ask to see the doors. Keep stopping by. Show up during dinner. Hit on his wife. Act strange around his kids. Have fertilizer delived to his front lawn. Put Xmas decorations on his garage. Give his dog non-kosher treats. Eventually he will get tired of this and just get it done. You just have to become the squeakiest wheel.

cj

8

Not much different from Doris Day though:

9

Ah yes, the ol’ contractor it’ll be here tomorrow and by tomorrow I mean the day after hell freezes routine. I know it well.

Kitchen cabinet door related story (well, sorta):

When I was having my house built, I wanted stained oak cabinets. It was included in the contractor’s price for building the house. At closing, I was presented with a bill for a little over $700 in “Contractor Overages.” When I asked what that meant I was told that it had cost the contractor more to stain the cabinets than he had quoted so that was the difference. I asked just how that was supposed to effect me. They thought I would just pay it. They were wrong! The price was guaranteed and there was no allowance for overages in the contract agreement to build the house. I would not sign until those charges were deleted. Matter of fact I walked out of closing and waited em out. Three days later, we met again to close and those charges had disappeared. Ain’t my fault he underestimated.

Hang in there Zev_Steinhardt. It will eventually happen. Or follow cjfinn’s advice and put Christmas decorations on his garage during Passover. I’m gonna giggle about that the rest of the afternoon.

10

STMFA - sue the motherfucker, already.

Well, that’s my immediate reaction - I can’t imagine waiting months on end while he’s perpetually blowing you off with excuse after excuse.

Here’s what I would try. Draw up the papers for a small claims court filing, and fill them out fully. Date them 15 or 30 days in advance. Show them to the contractor and nicely tell him that if he can’t perform the work by that time you will be getting your money back. Maybe that will put the fear of G-d into him.

11

That’s exactly what I came in here to say. Except that it may not be a small claims court filing, depending on what the value of the doors is.

I’m not sure what the consumer fraud laws are, but my guess is that some sort of criminal charges might apply, too.

You can also file complaints with the relevant organizations (BBB, any licensing authorities that apply, etc.)

I’d put all that stuff in the letter.

12

My bet’s on, it won’t be different enough to bother with the ‘how’ part.

13

When cleaning my apartment for Passover, I make sure that I seal shut any cabinets with non-Passover dishes, pots, etc, so that I won’t accidentally use them on Passover. With open shelving, this is much more of a PITA, because you have to cover over everything, rather than just taping shut the cabinet doors. (Last year, I ran out of tape and band-aided all the cabinet doors shut.)

14

Whats the difference between a Passover and Non-Passover dish?

Jews can’t remember not to use the dishes in the cabinet? And people think they can rule the world! :wink:

15

I thought the dishes had to be sold? What are the real rules?

16

I have a similar problem. Except the contractor is my husband! We started remodeling the kitchen in June 2003. He still has 5 (out of 16) cabinet doors left to sand and paint. :frowning: And then install new baseboards. And reinstall some track lighting. He says he’ll be through before Christmas, the smartass.

At least I don’t have to deal with Passover rules!

17

For those of you who asked:

A very brief overview of Passover laws

On Passover, Jews, in accordence with the commandment in Exodus, eat no chametz. Not only can we not eat it, we cannot own it or have any benefit from it. Chametz is defined as the leaven that results from when wheat, spelt, barley, oats or rye come in contact with water.

There is a general principle in Jewish law that dishes, pots, pans, etc. absorb the flavors of hot foods that come in contact with them. They subsequently release those flavors when new hot foods come in contact with those same dishes, pots or pans. That’s why Orthodox Jews have different sets of dishes for meat and milk during the year. Well, the same principle applies to Passover and chametz. Since my dishes, pots and pans have absobed chametz during the year, they cannot be used on Passover because (a) it will result in my owning chametz on Passover - a no-no and (b) it will cause the chametz to be absorbed into my chametz-free Passover food.

In order to be rid of one’s chametz on Passover, one has three options:

a. Eat it all before Passover
b. Destroy it
c. Sell it to a non-Jew (for whom there is no prohibition - Passover rules only apply to Jews).

The custom has become to sell one’s leftover chametz. In addition, one sells the chametz that is absorbed within the dishes, pots and pans (one does not sell the dish itself for different, unrelated reasons). But these things must also be put away on Passover, lest one come to use it.

As a result, all of our pots, pans, dishes, etc. must be put away. In 99.99% of households, people usually just close off the cabinets containing these items. For the 0.0001% of us who don’t have cabinet doors, however, this becomes a bigger problem.

Zev Steinhardt

18

If you don’t mind one more question, zev, how do you sell the chametz absorbed within the dishes, etc., given that, for purposes of your faith, you regard it as so indelibly bound up with the object as to be ineradicable?

If the answer’s too complicated to be worth explaining to a Gentile, feel free to say so. Some things are just that way.

And I won’t ask why you don’t have to sell the dish. There’s a really strong SEP field around that question right now. :slight_smile:

19

Home renovation is akin to painting the Varrazano Narrows Bridge. By the time you think you’re all finished, you have to go back to the beginning and start all over again.

20

It’s always the contractor’s house that gets put off to last.