Dining room update: The saga continues.
At first glance, the wainscoting that the first contractor, Neil, (who advertises himself as an "Artisan Craftsman") built and put under the dining room window are fine. But then you look a little closer and realize they're not so fine.
1. Construction: Neil was given explicit instructions that they match the originals in the house. Meaning that he should use the same construction method, same proportions, with the same details. He did neither. The original wainscoting was built using a method called Mortise and Tenon. They assemble like a jigsaw puzzle and once put together become a solid piece without using nails. Neil, however, simply cut the pieces of the wainscoting and nailed them to a frame he built behind it. He also was completely off in the dimensions and the detail around the inset panels.
2. Quality: This one just baffles me. He could have very, VERY easily bought poplar to match the rest of the woodwork to create this wainscoting. Instead, he chose the cheapest pine you can get at Home Depot and tried to "hide" it with caulk.
3. Structural integrity: The original window stools were a solid piece of wood. Because every window is slightly different, we went with a 2-piece stool that once assembled correctly should look like a solid piece. With Neil's work, however, from day one there was an obvious valley where the two pieces joined. It wasn't until recently when one of the noses fell off that I discovered why. First, he hadn't cut the front of the stool in a straight line and second, it was attached with tiny nails that barely held it on.
So, it's all coming down.
Two weeks ago I did what I should have done in the first place. I went back to the people who did all the other woodwork for us and asked if they could build a couple wainscoting panels to match our originals.
Of course they could. And they could do it in poplar to match the rest of the woodwork. I brought in a section of original wainscoting from another room in the house which they used to get the dimensions and details right.
The sad part is, it was cheaper than what Neil charged us.
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