Our contractor worked for five weeks, which is three weeks longer than estimated. The entire time was spent without shower facilities and nearly two weeks without a toilet.

Over budget and over patience, we suggested that the contractor's job was done. Oddly enough, after paying the final bill, he is asking for more money. I feel that it is unreasonable for me to pay for his forgetfulness, but his forgetfulness will probably also spare me from payment.

What is remaining should be easy for the two of us, but we find ourselves repeating much of the complete work. Here is a partial list of things that the contractor should have done, or should have done right:

• install door knobs properly
• install all of the trim (not just most of it)
• plumb the pedestal sink such that it does not leak
• install a lights to code
• clean surfaces before applying caulk (so that it does not fall off)

That said, we are making progress. The second toilet is now installed. This sounds easy, but there was a manufacturer defect which took time to diagnose.

I propped the tank on a ledge and filled it with a hose in order to find the issue. I had originally thought that the two metal screws were the source of the small deluge hitting the bathroom floor. This photo shows the real culprit: water leaking from around the plastic nut. Luckily Lowes allowed me to exchange just the tank so I didn't have to unseat the toilet bowl.

My current problem is proving more troublesome. Water is leaking from the trap assembly under the pedestal sink.

I don't yet have a solution for this problem, but I suspect shortening the pipe into the wall may help ease tension on the faulty connection.