We've had three home improvements projects in the works since August. One was replacement of an windowless exterior door with a new door with a window. The door was in stock (no "supply chain" problem), but it took until early December for the installation.
The second was conversion of a fireplace from wood-burning to gas log. The fireplace already had a gas supply, making it a "simple" project, except for the custom-built, and very expensive, glass/steel doors that had to be ordered. The installation was scheduled for before Thanksgiving, but we had to reschedule it for just after Christmas. The company called yesterday and said they'd had a cancellation and they could do our job today. Today, the installer appeared, set up the gas logs and burner, and discovered the custom-made doors were lacking the expected brackets to securely anchor it to the fireplace. So, he re-boxed the doors and they'll have to be shipped back to the factory for the brackets. No idea how long that will take.
The third and largest project is remodeling our main, circa 1977, bathroom; walk-in shower, widening of walk area so it can handle a wheelchair if/when needed, new toilet, etc. Back in August, the contractor for Home Depot projected installation in January, depending on them obtaining all the materials ahead of time. Today, we were updated that while they can't find the toilet they ordered, they reordered another toilet and will contact us in the next week to set a date in January to begin.
So after 4 months, one project was accomplished, one project is half accomplished, and one may begin 5 months after we started planning. It's exhausting, depressing, and frustrating. And the pandemic is blamed for 90% of these delays. I'm not so sure. Home improvements are not for the faint of heart.
Posts
