Construction Update (Stolen from Scott)
I've uploaded pictures of the construction (the new ones start on Sept. 29th):
http://flickr.com/photos/69179658@N00/sets/72157606709589091/
We moved back in this Tuesday after having spent a week in a hotel (the University Inn -- two thumbs up). The drywall is finished, except for one small area... Before we moved out, the temporary walls were taken down and we piled up everything on the first floor in the basement or on the sun porch so the floors on the entire floor could be sanded and refinished.
The fumes from the refinishing were *nasty*, which is why we had to move out. The smell is still seeping out of the house -- our bed and pillows smell, the heater smells when it turns on, the ice in the freezer smelled, Renee found a bag of chips that smelled, and I just had to throw out some cheese (which was in a ziplock bag) which smelled. The floors turned out fantastic, though -- the kitchen floor, which hadn't been coated before and had gotten gray and dry, now looks warm and buttery along with the rest of the hardwood floors.
The interior is primed but not painted yet -- there's still finish carpentry to be done. The exterior is mostly painted, with just a few doors and windows left. The front steps have been removed and are being replaced by bigger, better front steps that aren't half-rotten inside.
Last week's fun occurred Friday morning, when we were woken up at the hotel at 7:30 by the alarm company calling. We frantically tried to get ahold of the foreman and the construction company but didn't have any luck, so we hopped in the car and drove over to see what was up. Turns out a guy from the construction company had unlocked the back door, opened it to make sure it was unlocked, and not realized the "beep-beep-beep" noise meant, "turn off the alarm!". Better yet, we found out later in the day that the reason we couldn't get ahold of the foreman was that he'd been fired -- he'd been ignoring some of the specs and doing things his own way and eventually they had a big blowup about it. That includes putting a window at the wrong height in the new bathroom (not a big deal) and building the little half-wall of the shower a foot too high. That needs to be changed -- it's the small area of unfinished drywall I mentioned above -- but they're not charging us for the work.
They've got a new guy in charge of the project and work seems to be proceeding, so it looks like the firing won't be a big deal. They tell us the project should be done by Nov 15th. I'm trying to batten down my mental hatches and WAIT IT OUT.
Oh, and Renee's laptop died last week. Because this is a GREAT time to have to spend more money. Anybody have any recommendations (or contrarecommendations) for laptop brands and models?
http://flickr.com/photos/69179658@N00/sets/72157606709589091/
We moved back in this Tuesday after having spent a week in a hotel (the University Inn -- two thumbs up). The drywall is finished, except for one small area... Before we moved out, the temporary walls were taken down and we piled up everything on the first floor in the basement or on the sun porch so the floors on the entire floor could be sanded and refinished.
The fumes from the refinishing were *nasty*, which is why we had to move out. The smell is still seeping out of the house -- our bed and pillows smell, the heater smells when it turns on, the ice in the freezer smelled, Renee found a bag of chips that smelled, and I just had to throw out some cheese (which was in a ziplock bag) which smelled. The floors turned out fantastic, though -- the kitchen floor, which hadn't been coated before and had gotten gray and dry, now looks warm and buttery along with the rest of the hardwood floors.
The interior is primed but not painted yet -- there's still finish carpentry to be done. The exterior is mostly painted, with just a few doors and windows left. The front steps have been removed and are being replaced by bigger, better front steps that aren't half-rotten inside.
Last week's fun occurred Friday morning, when we were woken up at the hotel at 7:30 by the alarm company calling. We frantically tried to get ahold of the foreman and the construction company but didn't have any luck, so we hopped in the car and drove over to see what was up. Turns out a guy from the construction company had unlocked the back door, opened it to make sure it was unlocked, and not realized the "beep-beep-beep" noise meant, "turn off the alarm!". Better yet, we found out later in the day that the reason we couldn't get ahold of the foreman was that he'd been fired -- he'd been ignoring some of the specs and doing things his own way and eventually they had a big blowup about it. That includes putting a window at the wrong height in the new bathroom (not a big deal) and building the little half-wall of the shower a foot too high. That needs to be changed -- it's the small area of unfinished drywall I mentioned above -- but they're not charging us for the work.
They've got a new guy in charge of the project and work seems to be proceeding, so it looks like the firing won't be a big deal. They tell us the project should be done by Nov 15th. I'm trying to batten down my mental hatches and WAIT IT OUT.
Oh, and Renee's laptop died last week. Because this is a GREAT time to have to spend more money. Anybody have any recommendations (or contrarecommendations) for laptop brands and models?