progress!
Worked from home this morning so I could meet with the roofing contractor rep.
Okay, I tried to work from home. I really did. My Verizon Wireless account, which worked really well for me for the first two months I had it, has become a royal pain in the hinder parts. I'm supposed to be able to easily switch my USB modem from one computer to another; but half the time the computer doesn't recognize that the modem's connected. Then when I finally do get it to admit that the hardware is there, the connection drops every few minutes (or more). Which is annoying enough when I'm just puttering. But I have to use a VPN to get into the office network, so every time the connection drops I have to re-sign into the VPN as well. So I actually got very little done today. Grrr.
This was for the garage roof, the first step in
the Four Year Grand Plan.
Everything in the Plan depends, of course, on the cost of the previous step.
Year 1: garage roof, garage windows, house back door, house windows, remove old TV antenna, bedroom wallpaper, porch storm windows
Year 2: kitchen, laundry room, master bedroom closet, back steps, back foundation
Year 3: siding, house roof, wine rack, bathroom trim--yes, really!, basement finish
Year 4: deck, carpeting, odds 'n' bobs throughout the house
On the whole, I'm pretty happy with what I'm hearing from this company . The rep has listened to what I want, he hasn't tried to up-sell me to stuff that's ridiculously too high-end for my house, and he's been really helpful about explaining the whole process. The company has lots of good reviews and gives almost too much information! Oh, and they finance at 12 months same-as-cash (which beats the 8% I'd figured on paying by putting it on my Visa or my home equity line of credit).
The estimate I got today is right around what I'd hoped--and it may go down a bit yet, since I might get some "package" pricing if I plan in the windows right away. I've decided not to do the kitchen windows until next year, but I'm going to go ahead and put in the door in the bedroom for the deck. (Which will let me tackle the drooping wallpaper in the bedroom too; no sense in doing it before the wall gets torn up.)
The actual work likely won't start before September at this point. That's fine with me, since once the construction date is set I'm going to need to call in the troops for a work day. I'll pay in spaghetti and beer (or equivalents) for folks to come move stuff away from the windows (especially in the garage) and to help me take down, clean and fix the porch storms and screens.
This is really kinda scary--it's a big financial commitment, even though I'm only doing it a chunk at a time. I figure that over the course of the plan I'm looking at sinking close to $40K into the place. But it's so badly needed..
Exciting.
Anxiety-inducing.
I'm going home and drinking some bubbly stuff.
And probably eating bacon with it.
Hmm, anxiety levels going down...
Okay, I tried to work from home. I really did. My Verizon Wireless account, which worked really well for me for the first two months I had it, has become a royal pain in the hinder parts. I'm supposed to be able to easily switch my USB modem from one computer to another; but half the time the computer doesn't recognize that the modem's connected. Then when I finally do get it to admit that the hardware is there, the connection drops every few minutes (or more). Which is annoying enough when I'm just puttering. But I have to use a VPN to get into the office network, so every time the connection drops I have to re-sign into the VPN as well. So I actually got very little done today. Grrr.
This was for the garage roof, the first step in
the Four Year Grand Plan.
Everything in the Plan depends, of course, on the cost of the previous step.
Year 1: garage roof, garage windows, house back door, house windows, remove old TV antenna, bedroom wallpaper, porch storm windows
Year 2: kitchen, laundry room, master bedroom closet, back steps, back foundation
Year 3: siding, house roof, wine rack, bathroom trim--yes, really!, basement finish
Year 4: deck, carpeting, odds 'n' bobs throughout the house
On the whole, I'm pretty happy with what I'm hearing from this company . The rep has listened to what I want, he hasn't tried to up-sell me to stuff that's ridiculously too high-end for my house, and he's been really helpful about explaining the whole process. The company has lots of good reviews and gives almost too much information! Oh, and they finance at 12 months same-as-cash (which beats the 8% I'd figured on paying by putting it on my Visa or my home equity line of credit).
The estimate I got today is right around what I'd hoped--and it may go down a bit yet, since I might get some "package" pricing if I plan in the windows right away. I've decided not to do the kitchen windows until next year, but I'm going to go ahead and put in the door in the bedroom for the deck. (Which will let me tackle the drooping wallpaper in the bedroom too; no sense in doing it before the wall gets torn up.)
The actual work likely won't start before September at this point. That's fine with me, since once the construction date is set I'm going to need to call in the troops for a work day. I'll pay in spaghetti and beer (or equivalents) for folks to come move stuff away from the windows (especially in the garage) and to help me take down, clean and fix the porch storms and screens.
This is really kinda scary--it's a big financial commitment, even though I'm only doing it a chunk at a time. I figure that over the course of the plan I'm looking at sinking close to $40K into the place. But it's so badly needed..
Exciting.
Anxiety-inducing.
I'm going home and drinking some bubbly stuff.
And probably eating bacon with it.
Hmm, anxiety levels going down...