[Daph P]

Hello, we just had new kitchen cabinets installed, and due to a mistake in the plans, which did not provide for a wide enough filler at the start of the cabinets, the upper wall cabinets would not have been centered around the window. So my contractor used a 2.5" piece of the soffit board to put between the microwave and wall cabinet to the right, with a piece of filler on the front. That was fine with us, but one of the screws from the wall cabinet went into the filler at an angle, pushing the wood out and creating a bump on the filler. He says that, because of the way it was installed and how it's attached to the soffit board behind it, he can't replace it without taking the cabinets down (and crown molding and tile have already been installed). So he reset the screw, pushed the bump in so it's indented, and filled the indent with wax filler stick. It does not look good.

Does anyone have suggestions as to how to fix? Placing another piece of filler on top would probably block the cabinet door from opening and look weird. We haven't tried the touch-up paint yet because the match isn't great on pieces of scrap and not sure how it'll adhere to the wax in the hole. These are Kraftmaid cabinets, and they do sell quarts of touch up paint, so maybe the whole strip could be painted after removing the wax and using wood filler? I'd appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

 

[Daph P]

Thanks for these suggestions. Our contractor hasn't been helpful. Needless to say, it was a mistake working with him. We're bringing in a couple of other carpenters over the next week to see what suggestions they have and whether they can fix it. We'll discuss all your ideas with them. Very much appreciated.

 

[Daph P]

Be very careful with second contractors. First, you must give the first one the opportunity to make corrections.

Thank you. The first contractor has said he's done everything he can do, and that it would be too hard to remove the filler piece and replace it. So we're meeting with at least 2, maybe 3 other carpenters who were recommended to us.

 

[Daph P]

Tell the contractor he has two choices: install the cabinets to brand new condition like the contrwct calls for, or offer a price reduction. I would propose 50%, you might propose more.

When you say 50%, do you mean the portion of labor for the cabinet installation or the entire job? They demo'd an old kitchen, did tile work, some electric and plumbing, closed up an old door to the deck with new siding on the outside, painted, and a few other things. Most of their work was acceptable.

 

[Daph P]

Per OP post "He says that, because of the way it was installed and how it's attached to the soffit board behind it, ...."
I would think he knows the trouble it would cause. I would pay him his full fee and thank him for his work. As you say, the design was faulty. He had to devise a work around.
Then call a furniture refinisher. They are the expert for this job. Then be happy with your new home. None of them are perfect.
I think threatening your contractor is totally uncalled for and petty. I just wouldn't be that person. That would definitely cause me more grief than a bump on my cabinet. And don't ask contactor to pay for refinisher either. Some of the risks of homeownership has to be on the homeowner.
(When people do work for me, I just want to hug them. I want to be their favorite customer so the next time I call I get priority service. And when I need a different type of contractor, I ask them to give me a referral to their friend who does that type of work. It is best to have a good reputation as a customer. )

We didn't threaten our contractor and not sure where you got that idea. We're having discussions with him about the problem and how to correct it. We are holding back some of the money and will use it to pay someone else to fix it if necessary, which we think is appropriate and the contractor agreed.

The design error in the plan wasn't the cause. The contractor said he could address it by using the soffit board and filler to center the window between the wall cabinets, or we could have chosen for the window to be off center. We chose the former on his recommendation. The installer put the screw in diagonally and damaged the filler. We waited 18 years to update our kitchen, it was expensive, and we don't think there should be a hole filled with touch-up wax on the face of our new white cabinets. We're good customers, willing to pay for skill and quality service, we're nice to the people we work with, and we have long relationships with service professionals of all kinds. But I would not work with this contractor again. This wasn't the only problem we had with him, just the only one I posted about.

I appreciate your suggestion and that of MTN Remodel about furniture refinishers/restoration experts. I've gathered some names and ordered a quart of the cabinet paint from Kraftmaid, though the customer reviews says it's not a great match. I'm hoping that's more of an issue when people do spot touch-ups, and that the match will be good enough if we get a pro to fill that hole and paint the whole strip from top to bottom. We'll have to test it on a piece of scrap first.

 

[Daph P]

The contractor incurred significant cost, stress and time compensating for design error made by someone else. Did he charge you extra for this? Imo, he should have.
If the design error had not been made, he would not have had to retrofit soffit into a filler.
It is totally unconscionable to say that this bump is worth $1,000.
Whatever is done to it now will make it look worse. Imo

Yes he did charge us extra for it, and we gladly paid it because it was what he recommended and said he could do. If he'd said it would be too hard, then we would've let the window be out of center instead. It wasn't a difficult workaround, and it wasn't the design error that caused it - it was a badly installed screw. Also it's not a bump anymore, it's a hole filled with wax, which he did when he reset the screw before it pushed out the front of the filler.

 

[Daph P]

The cabinet guy sucks if he cant fix that without tearing apart the kitchen. I've finished "cabinet installers" installs, the hardest part is the fillers, transitions, moulding, etc. Any monkey can hang cabinets.

We're going to meet with a couple of other carpenters about it.