Not Quite
Yesterday the contractor was on site again, which was at least superficially exciting. As ever, I got home last night with a bit of trepidation as well. That emotion proved to be warranted. While they tried to install the appliances, they did not succeed.
Starting with the dishwasher, the layer of sound insulating material on the top has been removed. It’s also been installed too far back. On a practical level, if the (required) front cabinet panel were installed, it wouldn’t be possible to open the appliance. On an aesthetic level, the front of the dishwasher is supposed to align with the rest of the cabinets, so it blends in.
It’s fun to finally see my amazing new oven out of its crating. It’s less fun to see it installed the way it is. It was supposed to sit on a shelf, so that the small drawer could sit underneath. We even ordered a ventilated shelf and some super strong brackets to hold the weight of the appliance. Instead, the oven was placed in the bottom of the cabinet, and someone thought it would be a good idea to unilaterally move the drawer to the top. A location where I don’t think it’s going to fit.
Being able to open the oven is exciting, though. It’s a very nice piece of hardware. I love the 60 cm design the rest of the world uses, so the trays slide right into the side runners.
The refrigerator-freezer is perhaps the most frustrating and perplexing. It’s so obviously wrong, it makes me wonder what the people installing it were thinking.
Most obviously, it’s sticking out several inches from the cabinet. As with the dishwasher, the idea is that it sits flush with the cabinets, so it blends in and you don’t see it.
Thumbing through the very detailed installation guide created other moments of confusion. The bright red clips labeled “Transport only” on the doors, designed to keep the appliance safe during shipping, haven’t been removed. The plastic filler piece at the top of the appliance has been crushed and shoved into the cabinet, rather than set up to cover the small gap between the top of the refrigerator-freezer and the shelf above.
Not to mention, after the bottom of the appliance’s cabinet box was erroneously cut off, they didn’t add the remedial vent cutouts to ensure the refrigeration circuit gets the airflow it needs.
Needless to say, they’re going to have to make another trip to fix it. I’m also still waiting to finalize the countertops, and the inspector still needs to make another visit to sign off on the fire sprinkler work.