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 ?! 😆

I was a single parent with two teenage children and I’d just bought a new hall, landing and staircase carpet. My 17 yo son dropped his curry just outside his bedroom and I just sighed. He said, “That’s what I like about you mum, you don’t make a fuss”. He didn’t realise that I was just too tired and shell shocked to say anything. I thought getting angry wouldn’t change anything, it was an accident after all. I’m not saying it works every time though!

If it’s a visible part of the kitchen, I’d get it repaired. I’d also not let FIL do DIY again. I insisted that DH repaint a windowsill after FIL put tools on it a couple of days after painting - evidently not fully dry. I warned him about the risk of repeats on later jobs so he could keep an eye on FIL. As we’ve had more money I’ve insisted we’ve used pros for jobs like radiator fitting. All done very well with no problems. Previous home efforts aided by FIL - every single one involved a leak or other problem.

Bathroom scratches on the sanitaryware - try barkeepers friend. That gets off marks caused by belt buckles which we thought were scratches but which actually transfer of the metal into the white ceramic.

Car dint? I couldn’t care less!

Oh you are a model of restraint!!

I suspect I would have gone ballistic. The banned substance near our carpets is lucozade. The pro carpet cleaner told me it won’t come out.

Oh dear, you just dredged up a long repressed forgotten memory. Had just finished decorating my bedroom. Light carpet, white textured wallpaper and freshly painted white ceiling. I walk in with a cup of chocolate custard and manage to drop it. The cup fell straight down and the custard just exploded, -on the carpet, in the textured wallpaper and dripping from the ceiling. I have no idea how I managed it. I have never ever before or since dropped something that exploded so violently. I kind of managed to wash/rub it out of the carpet but couldn't get the wallpaper clean or the ceiling. I had then also flattened and ripped the textured wallpaper where I had rubbed too hard. After a few decades, I barely notice it. I just don't look at the wall or ceiling when entering the room and I don't like chocolate custard anymore.

I spent a lot of money on doing my house up last year, from top to bottom, mostly new furniture everywhere and it's already getting scuffed. I noticed a scratch on my dining table the other week and added some new marks to it last night. I just keep reminding myself it's a welcoming, comfy home that is lived in, it's not a show house. It's annoying it but if there's nothing you can do to fix it, let it go.

Nowhere near the same or the same cost but there was 5 of us in the house when the kids were little, and we only had a small round kitchen table with 4 chairs and that was second hand. I saved up and finally bought a table with 6 chairs, it wasnt a very expensive table for was for me as i didnt have any money spare and it took months to save up for it.

Table got delivered and i was putting a metal fruit bowl on it, but was just looking to see if it suited, young son, said "you need the fruit bowl in the middle" and dragged the metal fruit bowl across the table putting a deep scratch down half the table. I wanted to cry, i only had it half an hour.

I bought a table runner which covered the long scratch.

I did similar but got a tester pot made up at b&q for about £4 to touch up!

I am going to go against the grain.

I think it’s all about perspective.
You are alive. Probably in good health. You made it through today; as did your friends and family. Not everyone has this privilege.
No kitchen lives forever. In 20-50 years it will be ripped out and modernised.
While I can understand your frustration, it’s not the end of the world, is it?
And part of the living process, is the deterioration of all living and inanimate things, is it not.
I really can’t get worked up about a minor dint / scratch / chip.

Unlike the 75% of MN’s who said YANBU, I feel it speaks of skewed priorities having regard to what is really important and valuable in life; ie our connections, well-being, as well as platonic, familial and intimate relationships.

Just a thought

The very first house we owned, we spent a week and a half redoing the front room. Broke 20-something's, so no spare money, so we did everything ourselves and it took all the spare money we had after the move.

Brand new laminate floor - cheap, but the best we could afford and had literally only been finished a couple of hours - DH's knob of a brother insists on 'helping' us move the washing machine in.

Scratched the whole width of the room. I was heartbroken and had to live with it for about 10 years until we could replace it.

I had a beautiful floor laid. Reclaimed parquet. It’s one of the most expensive things I’ve ever bought to this day. Within a week of its completion, my daughter picked up a piece of cast iron out of the grate (to this day I don’t know how she lifted it. She was 2 and a half and it’s insanely heavy) and she threw it. One massive gouge later and a big cry from mum…

We just had a new kitchen done, and the seal somehow snapped in the new (and very expensive cooker) we didn't realise and turned it on, and the steam subsequently has cime out of the side of the range and warped the paint/wood on the unit to the side of the cooker. I literally cried. I will probably try and get it replaced, but not sure how easy it will be as the quartz worktops are now in place, don't want to risk damaging anything else, trying to fix this! It's so soul destroying when something that's cost you so much money, and looks so lovely and new gets damaged almost immediately 😞

I had a bath with a massive chip, size of a £2 coin - bought the house like it, they left kids toys in the bottom so it wasn't seen on viewing or by the surveyor.

I painted it in very carefully with Humbrol enamel - I matched it by mixing white and a touch of cream to get just the right shade as white was too bright, and you could barely see the join. Sold the house with the chipped bath without resorting to toys in the bottom.

My husband used to repair damage like this. He's retired now, but you can call the company. They are called The Plastic Surgeon. they are not cheap but you won't see the repairs and the work is guaranteed.

If you bought the sink /worktop on credit card some have a 100 day insurance included. Worth a check.

Thank you all for your stories and sympathies, I feel more realistic about it all now. I appreciate the solidarity during my dark mood! And thanks for the repair suggestions and advice. Will look at my options there.

I feel your pain ☹️ , we ( I) decided that we didn’t need a stone worktop and a cheap one would look absolutely fine …. Needless to say it looks crap , DBIL fitted it so have no come back to the rough edges and visible joins . I cried , to my shame . Talk about worlds smallest violin ! Coming up a year later and it still looks utter shit . So job on the list for this year is getting an overlay maybe? But fingerprints? I think just get in to the Grove of wiping when you do the tops and jobs a goodun !

Yep first day moved into our new (to us) house
The old place shower screen used to pivot inwards.
We were just fitting a mirror in the bathroom, just sat on the edge of the bath to admire it and pushed it inwards then there was a crack and the whole thing dropped slowly and literally exploded into thousands of pieces.
Unfortunately the door was open and we even had to vacuum to the bottom of the stairs, the chunks of glass were like a million razor blades and filled a (very heavy) bucket, and finally we discovered the dent in the bath.
The dent is still there. The new shower screen can hinge both ways!