To be so sad new kitchen damaged already

[Picturesoflilly]

I just need to vent. Kitchen not even a month old and there’s damage to the corner of the sink. Kitchen fitter claimed no knowledge, but I don’t think it was damaged when received, we checked it.

Then the father in law dropped a tool on the work surface and caused a small chip. Whilst doing DIY for us so can’t complain.

But I want to cry, this has cost me all my savings and I just see these two flaws now!

Talk me down. Has anything similar happened to you? Please don’t feel the need to have a go at me, I know these aren’t life altering issues but I can’t help but feel disappointed.

AIBU to want to cry / scream ?! 😆

This might sound a little cheesy but I try and think that the scuff marks add to the history of the place. You live there. It's not a show home, so each little chip and scratch tells a story, so long as it isn't entirely ruined. If it's the kind of scar that only you will notice, then think of it as part of the history of the house and of your family living there.

Oh yeah, he also bashed my brand new fitted wardrobes with the hoover and knocked the corner off them

My DH is also incredibly clumsy/careless with the hoover. Every single door frame, table leg, chair leg, corner cupboard etc is gouged, bashed or even left with splinters hanging off them.

I’m very precious about new stuff so I feel your pain. That said I’ve got a dent in my newish kitchen sink and no idea how it got there.

I turned around and whacked our new granite counter with a pan the day after it was fitted, chipping it. It was painful for a couple of days but now I don't notice it. It is bound to happen and there will be more damage over the years!

I think of it as a kind of kitchen wabi-sabi:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

When we got our new kitchen, 10+ years ago, I remember almost being in tears when on day 1 dh heavily moved a pot across the fancy pants, expensive, shiny new induction hob and a huge scratch appeared. Upset that dh had done it through carelessness, but also that it appeared very fragile!

It was so noticeable for months, but the well used and much loved 10 year old hob still looks great today after a quick wipe and it would take me time to work out where that first scratch went!

How bad is it really? Is it just because it is so new looking it stands out?

How bad/obvious is the damage? Could you claim on your house insurance?

Someone slightly dinked the back door of my car a few weeks after I bought it. I was annoyed, but in a strange way relieved as I could stop being paranoid about it being and staying perfect. In the end it is just a thing.

Yep we ended up with chips in a brand new kitchen.

I told myself I'd get them repaired but actually by the time I got around to pricing it up I decided I didn't actually care any more 😂.

Could you give yourself a deadline of say 3 months and promise yourself that if it is still bothering you then, you'll get it repaired.

That way you can tell yourself now that it will get repaired but in reality you may well not care too much by then.

My kids still joke that I love the kitchen more than them after a meltdown caused by damage to a brand new kitchen seven years ago

So I understand, but it will pass. Remember that this is a kitchen for you to live your lives in, not a show home. There will be many more dings all by the way, but also much fun and joy

I worked for someone who thought that way. She bought some beautiful antique oak panelling and had new kitchen cupboards made with them. Absolutely stunning but she deliberately had no protective treatment put on the wood because, as she said, she wanted the kitchen to show its 'journey' so she welcomed dents and greasy finger marks. I should add that she was really into wabi-sabi and all things Japanese.

In a similar but different scene, I got an old drop-leaf table from Freecycle a few years ago and it arrived with quite a few scratches. There are three deep gouges in the shape of a curved tick, old enough now that they're black. I've imagined what might have happened - maybe a child cutting out shapes on the table top, using a knife, and the damage being discovered by a furious parent, followed by the accusing shouts of a furious mother/wife and the dismayed wailing of the vandal. Who knows what went on. It quite pleases me that these imperfections are there.

i dropped a frozen joint of beef onto my new granite tiles and broke one.In my desperate struggle trying not to drop it i managed to push the expensive fridge freezer door backwards too far and gouged it on the wall to the back door.

It's horrible - it always makes me think I can't have anything nice. Soon you won't notice it, but I really feel for you while you can.

Oh I have had many things damaged during two house renovations mostly done by tradesmen sadly

This is why I won't have tradesmen in the house (that and I'm tight). No-one is as careful with your stuff as you are, and that's a shocking list of damage you suffered.

Mind you from reading this thread it looks like many people's DHs are just as careless and cack-handed!

I feel your pain OP. It's gutting.

Give it a week and if it's really still making you feel sick, find out about a repair and just bite the bullet.

I once scraped a new car driving at home and it wasn't worth paying the excess to make a claim (and lose no claims), but it COMPLETELY sucked the happiness out of it, so I paid on a credit card to get it fixed (around £600) and paid it off monthly. Honestly couldn't drive or look at the car till it was all shiny and new again.

Oh dear, its gutting isnt it.

I've scratched a new floor 2 days after it was laid, actually - gouged is a better word.

Also my dog has done their fair share of lovingly "improving" new things that cost me a lot..

Embrace the disappointment and the sadness, and itll pass - pretty soon you won't even notice it.

Also - price up repairs.

@Picturesoflilly Depending on what materials are damaged it might be possible to do repairs yourself. I've used Sugru to make long term repairs to lots of things, including a ding in our kitchen worktops - I'm the only one who can find the mark. I've also repaired damage to new LVF in the kitchencaused by dropping a hammerusing Araldite dripped into the hole. Before it was totally dry I used my finger to rub in some kid's poster paint, which took the shine off the glue and made it almost impossible to see.
The several crockery chips I've repaired with Sugru survive the dishwasher. There's also Milliput porcelain repair putty, which works brilliantly.

It can be repaired,

https://www.plastic-surgeon.co.uk/

if that particular company does work in your area there are other similar ones.

I feel your pain. Just a few days into our brand new kitchen, stepson makes himself some toast and cuts it using a massive knife (I mean, why use that knife anyway) straight onto the surface and gouged it. It looked hideous. We got it replaced as the fitter said it wouldn't be too much trouble to do so, but oh my word, I was absolutely fuming. I don't know why people can't take fucking care of things that cost a shit ton of money.

Dropped a shampoo bottle in my month old shower cubicle and gouged the enamel. Was upset at the time but it’s still the same a decade later and I don’t even notice now.

Our decorator dropped a ladder and it gouged out a long line from one of our week old high gloss cupboard doors. The kitchen had taken a year to complete. I was aghast and then just laughed - something is always going to get damaged first - it’s character building.
It does feel crap in that very first instant though, we had spent an enormous amount of money on the extension and I had an initial 😱 moment.

Yup had this happen to us

New tiled kitchen floor and mil stood on and slid three tiles which have never looked the same again,right in the main traffic area.

Fil chipped and marked our new sink within five mins with his watch

New American fridge freezer got scratched by an unknown dc within a week

I used to do snagging for new builds as part of my job (and had pretty much daily arguments discussions with tradespeople, some were so fucking rude and condescending as I was a woman but I loved the job, it was very satisfying. Once though I accidentally put a lot of small dints in a very expensive floor wearing very high heeled shoes (also very expensive shoes, this was many years ago ) and the whole floor had to be replaced at my company's expense.

If you contact the original company they will have someone to do repairs (as they would have someone to do these in the warranty period) and you'll just have to pay. Depends how important it is to you.

I'm amazing no one has snarked first world problems yet! I know how frustrating it is though, I always felt my clients should walk into an absolute "show home" and there should be zero defects, even really minor ones. It just takes the shine off. I felt clients should have a 100% thrilled feeling with something new they had looked forward to so much. It was worth all the arguments with the tradespeople

I don't count a redecoration done until something has been damaged!

I genuinely mean that. As upsetting as this might be, this is your home, and where people live, accidents happen and not everything is pristine.

Once you accept that things won't be perfect, you can start living rather than trying to keep everything pristine.

(Coming from someone who's brand new vinyl floor had a gouge out of it before we even got the whole floor down, and someone who's dad kindly fitted a new bathroom but drilled a hole through the brand new bath! <facepalm>)

I feel your pain! Our kitchen is now, admittedly, 2 years old, but very quickly we ended up with:
-A chip on the edge of the quartz worktop
-Two chunks of paint chipped off the bookcase thing at the end of the peninsula (thanks DS!)
-A huge stain on the worktop where oven cleaner leaked 🫠
Thank fully where the stain is, the window is behind so casts a shadow and makes it a lot less noticeable!
I've just had to accept that a kitchen is to be used and lived in, and accidents happen. Also don't get a white work top/dove grey units/light flooring with a toddler and black haired dog 😂