kaih36•21d ago

Lost a drawer face to a cat mid-install in Denver

I was fitting out a custom built-in at a client's place in Denver last Tuesday, and their orange tabby decided my freshly sanded maple drawer front was the perfect napping spot. I turned my back for 30 seconds to grab a clamp, and he was on it, claws out, leaving these tiny gouges right in the middle of the grain. I had to re-sand the whole face down to 120 grit and reapply the finish, which cost me an extra 2 hours on site. Client thought it was hilarious, but she did offer to pay for the lost time. Anyone else ever have a pet wreck a piece mid-project, or am I just unlucky?

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1 Comment

kevin_west20d ago

Man, that cat really did a number on your timeline, huh? I feel your pain, I've had a dog knock over a whole can of stain right onto a finished cabinet door, and I had to strip the whole thing and start over. The client's dog was so proud of itself, too, just wagging its tail while I was ready to pull my hair out. And yeah, the client offering to pay helps a little, but it never puts the hours back in your day. You're not unlucky, you're just working with critters, they don't care about your sanding schedule. Hope the maple came out clean in the end, though.