Bathroom Renovation Update

To say I'm burning the candle at both ends would be an understatement. With a looming deadline for finishing the bathroom in my basement, interrupted by a vacation to Gettysburg, PA, I'm napalming the candle at both ends.

Each night for the past 3 weeks I've been up till about 1 a.m. Nineteen of those nights I've been hard at work. One of those nights we saw Indiana Jones Quatre (that means 4), and the other night we went to a CD-release party for our friend, Dave Gould, who is the most phenomenal drummer I've. Ever. Seen.

Period.

However, thanks to my long nights and early mornings, the framing for my bathroom is complete, including some heavy duty forms in the shower. I even built myself a little inset shelf that will also be tiled. And when it is, it will be more than little. It'll be so small I'll be forced to wash my hair with either Pert Plus, Head & Shoulders, or basically anything that comes in a single bottle.

I didn't really misjudge that so much as I ran out of room because of the foundation of the house. Sure, moving the shelf was a possibility, but the Smurfs came on TV and the next thing I knew I stopped caring.

My neighbour, a Master electrician, is basement-bound this week for the wirification of the illumination devices. Insulation and drywall will hopefully be completed on the weekend, giving me just enough time to have Atilla the tile dude finish the job before we head to Pennsylvania.

Don't Bet On Decolav

Let's play a game. C'mon, it'll be fun. Okay, here we go. Guess who won't be buying anything from what company ever again. Give up?

It's me. And Decolav.

Suz and I decided that when we finish our bathroom in our basement, it will be both very nice and very modern. With that in mind we bought a very nice and modern vanity with a vessel sink and black granite top.

I began assembling the vanity so that I could determine precisely where it would fit in the bathroom, and exactly how much clearance the door had swinging past it. These are important things that needed to be addressed before I finished the framing. Plus... ah, who am I kidding? I just like to sit 'n look at stuff.

Anyhoo, while the putting together of the vanity was taking place I ran into what I like to call a problem. This came as a surprise as I wasn't expecting anything to go awry thanks to Decolav's corporately-thunk-up-and-agreed-upon mission statement which includes the phrase "consistently offering high quality products", AND their three fundamental principals, of which the first is "to deliver the highest-quality product at unprecedented prices."

But Decolav's principals and mission statement don't match their behaviour. A piece of furniture of the highest quality would not split and bulge when the consumer tightened the machined screw into the predrilled hole only three-quarters of the way, leaving the side panel both loose and... well... split.

See where I'm going with this?

And a company that abided by its mission statement to consistently offer high quality products would certainly ensure that all four predrilled side panel holes lined up with more than just three of the predrilled base holes. Wouldn't they?

I decided to write to the Decolav company, explaining my problem and my frustration in the little box right beside the must-be-high-on-shrooms-because-nobody-in-the-world-is-that-happy-picture of the President and CEO, Robert Mayer.

I'll let you know if they live up to the 2nd of their fundamental principals, and "establish and maintain unparalleled customer service." You know where my money's riding.