Construction - The Saga of the Pedestal Sink

The new upstairs bathroom was supposed to have a vanity sink like the one in the downstairs guest bathroom.

When it was time to install the vanity sink, the contractor asked if a pedestal sink might be considered. I stated that a pedestal sink would be acceptable, as long as it was one that had enough space to sit items, such as a soap dispenser & cup.

On the day the plumbers came for the trim-out, said contractor drove up, handed off the toilet and the pedestal sink to the plumber, and then drove off without comment. Within 15 minutes of his departure, the plumbers had finished installing the sink and toilet. They had arrived before the contractor, and they presumably did some preliminary work.

They, too, left without comment, at which time I went upstairs and saw a large hole in the drywall behind the sink. I also noticed that the pedestal sink had absolutely NO place to sit a soap dispenser – or even a toothbrush! The sink was 24 inches wide, which was not as wide as the medicine cabinet/mirror I had already purchased.

Trying to be agreeable and hoping to get the project behind me, I took the medicine cabinet back.

The contractor said he could fix the hole in the wall behind the pedestal sink and he proceeded to patch and fill the hole with Spackle. He planned to sand, texture and paint it. – It did not seem like the result would be satisfactory, but, again, I acquiesced.

After a half gallon of Spackle was applied - but before the repair was finished - I noticed that the pedestal sink was not level. I called the contractor, and the plumber eventually came back. He grabbed the sink with both hands and twisted it counterclockwise until the sink was level.

During this adjustment, it was obvious that the pedestal was wobbly. The plumber stated that he did not care for pedestal sinks because they are not stable and might fall over if bumped. – That seemed rather scary, so I went to the computer and started looking for information about the installation of pedestal sinks.

ALL literature states that the sink must be installed like a wall-mount sink. The sink must be anchored to TWO studs. It is also preferred - and safer – to also use good-quality wall brackets. The sink must be installed securely and the pedestal should NEVER be relied on for any significant support.

Additionally, MOST of the online literature about pedestal sinks says that the pedestal should be bolted to the floor. Only one site stated that an adhesive caulk could be used to secure the base to the floor.

HOWEVER, in the case of my pedestal sink, the pedestal was not anchored to the floor at all.

WORSE, the plumber admitted that the sink was NOT bolted to TWO studs; only one side was anchored. There were NO brackets. Withiout question, they were relying ont he pedestal to support the sink.

THE PLUMBER STATED THAT HE HAD TOLD THE CONTRACTOR that he was not able to install the sink on two studs -- because there were not two studs.

So a Master Plumber and a Licensed Contractor knew the installation was not proper and they walked away, evidently hoping we would never notice and ignoring the blatant safety concern.

It is my perception that this all came about because the contractor decided that a pedestal sink would save him money. For about $100 or less he got the pedestal sink, rather than having to pay about $250+ for a vanity cabinet and vanity top.

The plumber had done the original rough-in for a vanity sink and was then asked at the trim-out to make changes necessary to accommodate a pedestal sink. – But when he realized it could not be done properly, due to the lack of studs to anchor it to, why didn’t he refuse to do it?

After I told the contractor that the sink was only anchored to one stud, he said he could go behind the wall and add more support pieces. WHY didn’t he or the plumber do that in the first place?

But the concept of safety was challenged by the contractor. When he looked at the sink, he pushed straight down to demonstrate how sturdy it was. Of course, that motion would cause the pedestal to support it… but if bumped, the sink moves and so does the pedestal.

Because I had zero faith that the pedestal was ever going to be stable – and after the contractor didn’t show up for a 10 days, I called him and said the pedestal sink was not acceptable. I asked him to order the vanity cabinet, which he did. He said he will return the pedestal sink and credit me for the refund.

I paid $180 for the vanity cabinet and $115 for the vanity sink. Since I was supposed to have the vanity and a cultured marble sink to begin with, does he seriously think I am going to pay the difference?

Construction Project - Going Nowhere Fast!

Now that I am sixty, perhaps I am not as sharp as I used to be in judging character.

When I hired the contractor to manage this addition to my house, I went with my gut feeling that he was sincere and trustworthy. And, after all, he was a MINISTER. Nothing better than that to seal the deal!

When he told us that the Parish didn't really require a building permit for this type of project, it all sounded reasonable to us at the time. Essentially, we were just adding to the interior of our existing home, he said.

I should have tripped over the red flag that immediately popped up on DAY 1. That is when the contractor came and glued and bolted treated 2x4s to my patio. The DAY BEFORE, he had stated that he was going to pour a concrete footer, transporting the concrete to the back of the house in wheelbarrows.

Naturally, I was skeptical about the bolted 2x4s but I thought maybe it was going to become the form for the footer - or something.

Not wanting to appear overbearing, I waited. Then the next thing I knew, there was a framed wall built on the 2x4s. I asked what happened to the footer and the contractor said: "The patio is sloped and the concrete would only be this thick" (indicating about an inch with his fingers). It seemed to me that the floor in the house was about 4 or 5 inches deep where it met the patio, and the patio sloped down as it went toward the grass. Common sense says that when a footer was poured - LEVEL - the concrete would be at least 4-5 inches deep where it met the existing floor, and inches thicker at the outer part.

This contractor's standards dictated that he follow his chosen course and build on the patio with no footer. I stated at the outset that water was a problem there and I did not feel comfortable having only a treated 2x4 to keep the water away from the stairwell.

Trying to be positive and think the best of him, I ignored that huge red flag. Besides, this contractor is a minister and he seems to be the nicest and most honest person on the face of the earth.

Otherwise, things started out great, mainly because of the excellent work ethic of the Mexicans, but also because the weather was good and there were no delays in getting the new upstairs room under roof.

By the end of the second week, it actually seemed like the entire project would be completed in another two weeks. The room was framed, the siding was on, the window was in, the roof was on, the electrical and plumbing rough-ins were done. A carpenter came and put in the insulation.

At the beginning of the third week, the sheet rock people came and spent a week getting the bedroom, bathroom, closet, stairwell and stairs done.

That is when things started going downhill.

The sheetrock sub was a young guy and had started his own business. He needed to get established, I think, and had to keep his prices low enough to compete with the illegals - which means that he is not making much. In this case, he got this job via his cousin, Leland. My contractor is in the same church as Leland and they have "worked together for 37 years."

Leland is also the contractor whose Mexican crew did the framing of my new addition, the siding, sub floors, etc.

Leland had been here at my house prior to the framing and he saw the scope of the project. My contractor asked him to get a bid for the sheetrock job and that is when Leland contacted his cousin, the young guy. Leland described the job and the guy gave him a bid that was apparently low enough for him to get the job.

Unfortunately for the sheetrock guy, when he got here, he found that the job was significantly more extensive than he had been told. Yet, he was locked into the bid he quoted. When he pointed out the extra work to the contractor, the contractor indicated he would be compensated. However, when it came time for the payoff, the contractor failed to pay him the additional $500 incurred, stating, "I'm running tight on this job." - This upset me because I felt like the young guy had been exploited. However, I said he should learn from the experience and in the future make certain that he went to the job site prior to bidding.

Politics play a big part in such scenarios. The sheetrock guy was misled about the scope of the job and he probably did a day of extra work without pay. But he can't afford to alienate the contractor because the contractor might be a source of future jobs.

The sheetrock guys had worked about 20 hours on the weekend because they had been told by my contractor that the wood trimout for the crown & base molding, stairs, etc was scheduled for the next day. - These guys worked very hard for long hours, all the while breathing in the sheetrock dust. - Such a hazardous occupation!

They needn't have worked the weekend because the trimout didn't get started in the new room until the end of the week. In fact, now into the 8th week, the molding is still not done.

My contract is not detailed but one thing in writing is that I am to have double crown molding in the new room. When only single crown was done, the contractor said, "I decided not to do double." Without consultation.

Did I mention that I got sick with bronchitis from the demolition dirt and sheet rock dust? I coughed for 5 weeks and, at times, I was too sick to argue; I just wanted them to get done and get out!

The painter came at the beginning of week 4. He was surprised to find that the stairs were not completed (treads & risers, trim, spindles, rails), the molding in the stairwell not started. He was dismayed to learn that the oak treads are to be stained and the risers, spindles and trim to be painted white. This is all time-consuming detail work, of which they had not been informed. There were also other painting tasks for which the contractor was responsible. When these were pointed out by me, such as the attic stair pulldown, the back door frame, the touchup of the white paint on the patio ceiling, the painter was understandably annoyed.

Always generous to a fault, we had already bought the paint and painted the ceilings in our two downstairs bathrooms that had been "stepped through" when the furnace was being moved in the attic, when the plumbers were up there, etc. - My generosity continued when I paid the painter to paint the walls in my kitchen that had to have new sheetrock after a window was removed for the construction project. An additional $50 was required to repair a major seam crack in the kitchen that also occurred during the removal of the window.

The painters did a cursory job of painting and could not even complete phase one because the contractor had not finished his work in the stairwell. When they left here at the end of week 4, they were supposed to come back in a week to do the punchout.

At the beginning of week 8, the painters have not returned because the trim/molding is still not done.

Meanwhile, for 4 weeks the floor in the stairwell was not built. We had no idea what the plan was but we found out. - A carpenter was hired to bolt 2x4s to the patio floor, now inside the stairwell. He seemed perplexed and asked me why no footer had been poured. They had to be cut in such a way (tapered) to make a level floor, to which thick plywood was nailed. The space beneath the floor is my old patio. - Is this an acceptable building practice?

At one point, the contractor was supposed to put the siding on the exterior of the newly built stairwell. At the outset, I said I wanted stucco. He insisted that Hardie Plank was the way to go. He said it would line up with my existing and would "not look like and add-on." OK. - When I saw the siding, I didn't see how it was going to work, mainly because the planks are higher than the existing. How could they possibly line up? -- The answer is they couldn't and that was proved when he put up the first piece... So, I stopped that and told him it had to be stucco. He agreed but I had to pay the difference in price between siding and stucco -- $400.

The stucco is good but they buried the rough-in for the electrical outlet and that has to be found and the stucco repaired. Water could still get under the stucco and possibly into the floor of the stairwell, so we had a gutter put on the roof above it - $250.

While the contractor was still on course to put the oversized siding on the exterior stairwell, he addressed the water problem by placing metal flashing - like that used on the roof - around the bottom of the structure. The flashing would forever protrude onto the patio --- and since the concrete on the patio is not smooth (it has stones in it) the water even ran under the flashing. - His answer to eveything is to "caulk."

A major problem is that the contractor seems to have mentally left here when the painters did at the end of week 4 and he has never returned. He has done some work on the stairs but it is really a half-assed job. As I always say, if I would be satisfied with a half-assed job, I would do it myself.

The problems with the steps are these: (1) Some are not close to being level, front to back; ergot they pose a hazard. (Did I mention that my husband already fell down them?) (2) The trim for the treads was nailed to the wall BEFORE the treads were put on. Therefore, instead of the tread being neatly surrounded by trim, the tread is simply up against the trim molding - somewhat - and an abundance of caulking is placed in the multitude of gaps. I told the contractor that he needed to take the trim off and put it over the stair tread. He didn't do it. - This inferior work will not be rewarded.

The contractor had a carpenter install the wood floor in the new upstairs room. - The first problem was that the contractor left here to go to Home Depot to pick up the floor I had specifically chosen, per allowance in my budget. Within 30 minutes he returned and had the painters help unload the boxes. He drove off. I immediately recognized the boxes as having come from Sam's Club -- cheaper than my choice of flooring at Home Depot. I told him I was upset that he substituted without consultation - but, again, I let it go.

Then the installation: Unfortunately, because the wood could not be inserted under the door frames, there were major gaps at the 3 doorways. Yesterday, the beginning of week 8, the carpenter came back, cut the bottoms off the door frames, and improved the appearance. However, a casualty of the re-do was the bottom of the closet doorway that was cut off too high and completely crooked. "Caulk it!" said the contractor. - This morning, I cut a small piece of molding (like the door frame) and glued it in. It might look OK after it is painted.

Did I mention that the electrician didn't come back to do his trimout? Well, he left his family and evidently his personal problems threw him off track. A week later, the contractor found another electrician, Jonathan. When he came here initially, he said he would do the job the next day, which was a Saturday. That was postponed to the following Wednesday and then to the next day, Thursday. He came that day but (1) the contractor had forgotten to buy some of the materials needed and (2) the electrician had failed to realize the scope of the job and needed another electrician to assist him with dropping the lines to the electric box. He left and said he would return "on Saturday or Sunday." He scheduled for Sunday but canceled. He said he would be here "mid-week" but that came and went and no word from him since.

It has been more than 3 weeks since the electrical work was scheduled to be completed.

The next issue: The first major rain occurred at the beginning of week 7 and we have leaks in the roof around the furnace vent on the roof. Naturally, the roofer moved on long ago but he needs to come back and fix this.

The bathroom is the VERY SORE subject of Part 3, particularly as it pertains to the "Saga of the Pedestal Sink."