Progress Report: 88 Days Since The Fire
My last Progress Report was way back on December 26th (!!). How did so much time slip by with no progress to report? Well, in part that was because not much was getting done, but in part what was getting done wasn't being communicated to me. So on January 21st I wrote the following e-mail to Paul (my Allstate adjustor for the structure) and Rich (Allstate's sub-contractor for post-fire clean-up), both of whom are nice guys, pleasant and helpful, but both juggling lots of projects. Hey, Allstate's staffing levels are not my problem.
Dear Paul and Rich,
Today is Wednesday, January 21st, 66 days since my fire, or a little over two months. One significant step forward has been taken: Bosch has been out to examine its dishwasher in place and the dishwasher has been removed from the house. Aside from that, the only progress I see has been some desultory cleaning. While Allstate has provided us with more than adequate housing, my goal is to get back into my house as quickly as possible. In the interest of achieving that, I would appreciate setting goals for completion of the following steps:
1.) Cleaning the third floor so that it can be painted. Are you planning on removing the carpet on the stairs or will it be cleaned in place? Will I need to replace the blinds on the door to the balcony?
2.) Cleaning the second floor front bedroom so that it can be painted. Will the blinds need to be replaced?
3.) Moving the large workstation in the second floor rear room into the second floor front bedroom so that the back room can be cleaned. Are you still planning on removing the carpet?
4.) Cleaning the laundry area for painting.
5.) Cleaning the remaining hallways, stairways, and bathrooms prior to painting.
6.) Removing all the dishes, pots and pans, etc., from the kitchen so that they can be cleaned and stored until I return home. There are a few of those things - especially my knives - that I'd like delivered to my temporary housing.
7.) Demolishing the kitchen.
8.) Completing cleaning the first floor, including removing the carpet. Will I need to replace the shutters? .
I would also like a progress report on the furniture being cleaned so that custom items can be ordered, if necessary.
This is a lengthy and time-consuming list. Please set a firm date when you expect to complete each step so that I can plan my part of the renovation.
I appreciate your cooperation. njs
One week later to the day, on January 28th, I had a meeting with Rich at my empty house:
Living room.
Third floor bedroom.
Rich went over my punch list item by item with me and, lo and behold! only a few items were still to be done. Do I think this was a coincidence? No, although as I said above, part of the problem had been lack of communication. The carpet had been taken up in the second floor rear room (my office), and the living room carpet was scheduled to be removed later that day, the 28th. All the walls had been cleaned except those on the first floor and were ready to be painted. Rich was waiting to hear from Allstate as to whether to pull off the carpeting on the stairs to the third floor.
The blinds in Samantha's room cleaned up nicely ("I gather your granddaughter doesn't like cleaning blinds?" Rich said.), and so did the shutters in the living room. They will come back and clean the dining room shutters and the walls in the living room/dining room after the kitchen has been demo'd. The kitchen had been emptied, but demo hadn't been started. That was the big question: who would do the demolition? Rich's organization could do it, working directly for Allstate and paid by Allstate, or my contractor could do it.
I was finally forced into making a decision on my kitchen contractor and my painting contractor. I had eliminated my son John's contractor; he came back with two sketchy bids, with very little detail and both higher than the other two bids. Choosing between the two remaining bids on the paint jobs was not difficult. Alan's painter, Rich, said he'd charge $4,500; my contractor, Jay, bid $11,250. I checked with Rich and made sure he was aware of the scope of the job and that he was okay with using Sherman-Williams paint. (I wanted to repaint in the same colors I used last spring, and they were Sherman-Williams.)
Choosing the kitchen contractor was more difficult. Jay did a nice but not wonderful job on my powder room, and his bid on the kitchen was about 15% higher than Alan's contractor's (Paul), but it wasn't the difference in price that made me finally decide to go with Paul. (Yes, the Allstate adjuster and my contractor are both named Paul, and Allstate's cleaning sub-contractor and my painter are both named Rich. All four are Italian. It's confusing.) Even though I like Jay and consider him a friend, I felt more sympatico with Paul. I don't have many set ideas on what I want in the kitchen, and I felt that I could go back and forth with Paul more easily than with Jay. In addition, I knew that Paul had almost all of February free to give my job the attention I want. Finally, Alan knew quite a few people who had Paul do work for them and the most frequent description he got when he polled them was, "Perfectionist."
I strongly preferred to have Paul demo the kitchen: it was a control issue. I talked to Allstate Paul who said that if he got a reasonable bid from Paul M., he'd authorize payment. Paul M. submitted a $2,450 proposal to Allstate last Wednesday, Allstate Paul approved it on Friday, and Paul M. started demo-ing Friday afternoon. Now that's what I call progress!
To Be Continued.
Dear Paul and Rich,
Today is Wednesday, January 21st, 66 days since my fire, or a little over two months. One significant step forward has been taken: Bosch has been out to examine its dishwasher in place and the dishwasher has been removed from the house. Aside from that, the only progress I see has been some desultory cleaning. While Allstate has provided us with more than adequate housing, my goal is to get back into my house as quickly as possible. In the interest of achieving that, I would appreciate setting goals for completion of the following steps:
1.) Cleaning the third floor so that it can be painted. Are you planning on removing the carpet on the stairs or will it be cleaned in place? Will I need to replace the blinds on the door to the balcony?
2.) Cleaning the second floor front bedroom so that it can be painted. Will the blinds need to be replaced?
3.) Moving the large workstation in the second floor rear room into the second floor front bedroom so that the back room can be cleaned. Are you still planning on removing the carpet?
4.) Cleaning the laundry area for painting.
5.) Cleaning the remaining hallways, stairways, and bathrooms prior to painting.
6.) Removing all the dishes, pots and pans, etc., from the kitchen so that they can be cleaned and stored until I return home. There are a few of those things - especially my knives - that I'd like delivered to my temporary housing.
7.) Demolishing the kitchen.
8.) Completing cleaning the first floor, including removing the carpet. Will I need to replace the shutters? .
I would also like a progress report on the furniture being cleaned so that custom items can be ordered, if necessary.
This is a lengthy and time-consuming list. Please set a firm date when you expect to complete each step so that I can plan my part of the renovation.
I appreciate your cooperation. njs
One week later to the day, on January 28th, I had a meeting with Rich at my empty house:
Living room.
Third floor bedroom.
Rich went over my punch list item by item with me and, lo and behold! only a few items were still to be done. Do I think this was a coincidence? No, although as I said above, part of the problem had been lack of communication. The carpet had been taken up in the second floor rear room (my office), and the living room carpet was scheduled to be removed later that day, the 28th. All the walls had been cleaned except those on the first floor and were ready to be painted. Rich was waiting to hear from Allstate as to whether to pull off the carpeting on the stairs to the third floor.
The blinds in Samantha's room cleaned up nicely ("I gather your granddaughter doesn't like cleaning blinds?" Rich said.), and so did the shutters in the living room. They will come back and clean the dining room shutters and the walls in the living room/dining room after the kitchen has been demo'd. The kitchen had been emptied, but demo hadn't been started. That was the big question: who would do the demolition? Rich's organization could do it, working directly for Allstate and paid by Allstate, or my contractor could do it.
I was finally forced into making a decision on my kitchen contractor and my painting contractor. I had eliminated my son John's contractor; he came back with two sketchy bids, with very little detail and both higher than the other two bids. Choosing between the two remaining bids on the paint jobs was not difficult. Alan's painter, Rich, said he'd charge $4,500; my contractor, Jay, bid $11,250. I checked with Rich and made sure he was aware of the scope of the job and that he was okay with using Sherman-Williams paint. (I wanted to repaint in the same colors I used last spring, and they were Sherman-Williams.)
Choosing the kitchen contractor was more difficult. Jay did a nice but not wonderful job on my powder room, and his bid on the kitchen was about 15% higher than Alan's contractor's (Paul), but it wasn't the difference in price that made me finally decide to go with Paul. (Yes, the Allstate adjuster and my contractor are both named Paul, and Allstate's cleaning sub-contractor and my painter are both named Rich. All four are Italian. It's confusing.) Even though I like Jay and consider him a friend, I felt more sympatico with Paul. I don't have many set ideas on what I want in the kitchen, and I felt that I could go back and forth with Paul more easily than with Jay. In addition, I knew that Paul had almost all of February free to give my job the attention I want. Finally, Alan knew quite a few people who had Paul do work for them and the most frequent description he got when he polled them was, "Perfectionist."
I strongly preferred to have Paul demo the kitchen: it was a control issue. I talked to Allstate Paul who said that if he got a reasonable bid from Paul M., he'd authorize payment. Paul M. submitted a $2,450 proposal to Allstate last Wednesday, Allstate Paul approved it on Friday, and Paul M. started demo-ing Friday afternoon. Now that's what I call progress!
To Be Continued.