Never Leave a New Worktop in a Damp Garage

28 July 2011

You'll remember last week that I said I would be going to a mates house for a day to fit his new worktop and new kitchen doors. It was supposed to be a simple job, but it couldn't have been further away from easy.

The first thing I did was remove all the old cabinet doors, saved the hinges to use again and then set about measuring up the worktop. Of course he had just bought a length of worktop for me to cut to size. Fair enough.

Only he had decided that it was a great idea to store the worktop in the garage, sitting on its side for several weeks. With the ups and downs in temperatures lately and the fact that his garage shifts from a freezer to a sauna at the blink of an eye, it was fairly obvious to me at least, that the worktop would be ruined – and it was.

I know I said that this guy was a no-hoper when it came to DIY, but this seemed like basics to me. Even the delivery guy should have clued him in on the best place to store it.

Anyway I pulled out the worktop and it had a bow in the middle like you wouldn't believe. There just isn't anything I can do about that. I guess he could try putting something heavy on it and waiting another few weeks, but I had already taken off the old work surface.

So after much discussion it was agreed that I would try and get a refund or replacement.

I argued at the store until I was blue in the face that they should have warned him about the damp issue, but they weren't having it. Finally I told them that there was no way of knowing that the worktop wasn't damaged before it was delivered and I expected them to do something about it.

Eventually I got 50% off a new worktop and they kept the old one. So just a polite warning: never leave your new worktop in a damp or humid place. Lesson over...

Needless to say my day had just about disappeared by this stage. I hadn't even started on the doors – which turned out to be a doddle in the end – and I was hacked right off. I ended up having to go back on Sunday and missed part of the Formula One. But watching Louis Hamilton win the race with a few beers was recompense I guess!

The school holidays have now started and so I am on a tight schedule. Late nights and weekends are out of the question, so I have to be very organised. The kitchen I am working on this week is going really well. Already up to the electrics stage and should have the cabinets in tomorrow. Then it is just the tiling and it is nearly completed.

Thank goodness for a calm and relaxing job from time to time. Still waiting for something to go wrong though. But that's just me...