Argh!

I sit on a volunteer board and today they attempted to deliver some paperwork for me to read. They double-checked my address twice before sending the delivery driver, and then I got a call in the late afternoon saying "We're at {my address} but it looks abandoned so we don't want to leave the package. Please call and let us know what to do."

You have no idea how much I hate that and how often it happens! It bugs me that we've lived here over 10 months and the place still looks bad enough that people think that. It is also bad because places tend to get robbed when they look abandoned. Am I really the first person to live in a house undergoing renovations? Why do they just assume nobody lives here when all the signs of life are present, and there is a huge sign stating that renovations are going on?

Attic reinforcement

Today the new general contractor we are working with sent two guys out to reinforce the attic. They were done by 2:00, and it was very painless on my. Yay! This also bodes well for hiring this contractor to do a larger job later (replace doors, new back door and stucco).

Hopeful of progress

Today the new general contractor we are working with called and asked about the engineering plans we received on Friday. I was very impressed he called on a Sunday, and even more impressed when he wanted to stop by. It turns out he had a cancellation tomorrow and had guys who could do the work. What luck!

We gave our puppy his first bath today and we were very thankful for our big bathtub! He fit right in, along with the two of us so it was easy to keep him still and wash him. We only put a few inches of water in, and he didn't mind it too much.

Water Heater cabinet

Today I had the new handyman I've been using come in and build a water heater cabinet. Since we now have a large, active, smart puppy, it was a priority to get this done. Not to mention I hate looking at the water heater in my nice new kitchen. Most of the things I needed a licensed contractor for on my existing permit are done, so my options are wider for jobs like this. The new handyman I found is great, and has a lot of different skills. He used to be a furniture maker, so this was not hard for him at all.

Here is a before shot where you can see the water heater in the corner behind the fridge.



Here is how it looks now:



Not bad, eh? We kind of wish we had gone tankless and put the water heater outside, but at the time the decision had to be made we weren't going to remodel the kitchen so we just replaced the existing water heater. When we got into demolition and saw just how bad things were, we realized it made much more sense to remodel now, but the water heater was in place already. Oh well, live and learn. We will surely go tankless when this needs to be replaced.

A smidge of progress

Today the engineer delivered the plans for the back door and attic. Yay! I called the new general contractor and hope he can have the work on the attic done this week. That would be great!

I spent about two hours today sorting two brown paper grocery bags full of Ikea parts "leftover" from the kitchen. How scary is that? The prior general contractor put together the kitchen and there are leftover parts! That's like having extra parts after you put a car engine back together. It's not quite as bad as it sounds - some of the parts go to things he just never finished. He had a bad habit of starting something, opening all the boxes and packages, scattering the contents and then moving on to the next thing. But some of the parts are a big mystery - I can't imagine what they are for or why I have so many.

So slow

Remodeling sucks! Today I feel really frustrated, powerless and generally ready to scream! We've been waiting for structural engineering plans for almost 4 weeks for the attic. I keep calling and emailing, and keep getting put off. According the engineer, the plans are done. The contractor who connected me with the engineer is supposed to meet the engineer and get the plans and deliver them to me. He hasn't been able to connect with the engineer. It is so frustrating to just be waiting. Nothing major can happen until we get those plans. I only have until June 20th or so to close this permit and it can't be extended again. It seems like a long time, but consider that it should have been done last summer. I hate having to just sit and wait. We've been living in mess and junkyard conditions for almost a year, and have owned the place 15 months. It is ridiculous that the scope of work we wanted to do should take this long. The worst part is that we didn't we cause the delays. We've just had a run of really bad luck with our contractor choices, which in spite of due diligence can happen anyway. Now that we have a dog, things have slowed even further because I am not as free to work while watching him. Of course if the yard was done like it reasonable should have been a year ago, that wouldn't be an issue.

Blinds and drywall

Today the drywall guy was here to finish and we had a woman come out to help us with blinds for the windows. I went to the store to order one and it turns out they offer a free in-home consultation that includes measuring. With no downside, I said "sure" and scheduled the appointment. We have until the end of the month to place the order to take advantage of a sale. We are hoping to have picked our new doors by then so I can include those in the order.

Drywall and window patch today

Today I had a guy here to patch the windows and various drywall that isn't done. The contractor we had hired jumped from project to project, so lots of things are half done. It went well, and he even was really good with the new puppy.

Another reason for slow progress

Today was a big day because we brought this guy home from the shelter! We were going to wait for a lot more progress and for the yard to be done, but both of us wanted a dog so bad we decided to get him and just work around whatever comes up. My schedule will be changing come fall, so we knew if we didn't get him soon we would have to wait a long time. He is so great and we are so happy.

A week of small progress

While I continue to make slow progress, this week was agonizingly slow. Everything major is on hold until we get structural engineering plans for the attic. The furnace was relocated up there, and the city wants to see plans to show that the structure can handle the load. The engineer was here two weeks ago yesterday, and I am waiting for the plans. He called yesterday at 1 pm asking me for some information, but our home phone went dead (the cordless phone itself, not the dial tone). There was no indication anything was wrong, so I didn't know he had called and left a message on the voicemail on the phone line. I called him tonight at 9:30, but the delay cost probably cost 5 days because it will be Monday we an resolve this.

The waiting is hard - I want to do things but they have to be done in the right order.

An unpleasant discovery

Today I was back in action, refreshed and renewed from my long weekend. While nothing was completed today, I continued to chip away at the long lists of tasks I have. I was in the backyard late in the day, and found someone had put a bag of trash in the yard. This is not unusual - we have an apartment building next door, and there is only a loose hedge between us at the moment. I've found all sorts of things including cigarette butts. Nice.

The difference with this bag of trash is that it had a candy bar wrapper, condom box and an unused condom! Yuck! I don't even want to think about it. I immediately scoured the yard to see if the the other condoms were anywhere in sight and I couldn't find anything. I assume that someone from the apartment building ditched their trash there, although I constantly look for signs that someone has been in the yard since people mistakenly assume the house is vacant because it doesn't look good. I really don't want to find someone partying in my yard. I am always surprised when people make this assumption - if they took 3 seconds to think about it, they would see all the signs of life are there: cars in and out, mail and newspapers picked up, trash in and out, lights off and on, etc.

Needless to say, we are REALLY looking forward to having the yard fully fenced.

A few days off

Last week was a short week because I had an unexpected opportunity to meet some friends for the weekend. It was a much-needed break. Back in action tomorrow!