WTF...

Here's the thing I've noticed about the construction business. The vendors seem to 'check out' before the job is finished. They move on to the next job, get that next draw, leave the previous client, holding the toilet paper roll dispenser, in their rear view mirrors as they head down the road to the next cash cow. Yeah, you might've guessed that I'm not a happy camper. You'd be so right. I asked the contractor to move a phone jack/line down and add an outlet for a phone table. The electrician wasn't happy about performing this task. Fine. If I needed to call the phone company to move the phone jack, just say so. But don't cop attitude and then drag your sorry ass over and eff up the entire job. Notice how far he moved the jack???? That is a light switch next to it!!! I don't even have room to put the face plate back on the light switch now. And thank you for replacing the antideluvian jack cover. Nice touch!!! Then there is the outlet at the exact same height. Really??? Do most people like the aesthetic of running electrical cords vertically up their walls??? I just can't believe in this economy, with vendors moaning and groaning about loss of revenue, that this kind of lack of attention to detail and shoddy workmanship is even a remote possibility. I'm just sharpening my fangs for when the contractor shows up...

It's Deja Vu All Over Again!

From this opening in the kitchen ceiling...

...we woke up to this mess on the floor! Somehow our truss work has caused a leak in our ceiling. Water damage is the main reason we started this renovation and now we're faced with water damage in the middle of the construction phase. This situation has become the sequel to the Tom Hanks "comedy", 'The Money Pit.' I thought that movie was funny enough when I first saw it, but I wasn't yet a tax-paying, mortgage-owing home buyer. So, while I'm waiting to ambush my contractor, I thought I'd get my frustrations out by posting to Blogger. That was cathartic...oh who the &*%# am I kidding!

'I see a red door and I want it painted black...' The Rolling Stones

In this case it's a red wall and I'm ok with it not being painted black. In fact, it's supposed to be a tad closer to brown than this paint turned out to be, but by the time I have the banquette and some framed pictures, it won't really matter. The paint color is called French Red and it is my accent wall. The other walls are a silver/white color.

And what did I find under the protective, paper covering??? My cooktop!!! The granite dudes were whirring and whittling away today with power tools on my countertop and now I have my first appliance. Doing a little dance...:D The cooktop is a smoothtop with bridge element. I wish I could afford the Mac Daddy's of the range world...Viking, Thermidor, etc. with propane elements. THEN I be cooking with gas...literally and figuratively!!

Rock ON!!!

My granite countertops have been installed! Well, most of them anyway. If you look closely at this picture, you'll notice that my window is 'propped'
in it's frame. That's because when the tilers installed the tile, unlike the previous owner, they tiled under the cabinetry, thus raising the cabinet level slightly. Then, there is the matter of a little deviation in thickness between prior vs. new granite. The new countertops are thicker by at least a quarter inch. So, the window can't fit into it's original frame and the new window, well of COURSE that won't be available until mid-June!!! *sigh*

And here is where my cooktop is, er, should be, if uh...there was a hole cut out for it. It was fun to watch my contractor and the granite dude go at each other though. Well worth the delay in having a usable kitchen IMHO.

This countertop is juuuust right! In a weird and demented way, my kitchen remodel is starting to remind me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears!!!

And here are my girls! They plan on camping out at the breakfast counter until I actually feed them a hot cooked meal. *crickets*

Wood You Believe....

Yep, I was trying to channel the comedic genius of Don Adams as Maxwell Smart! As you can see, we have some of our cabinetry in place. However, there are a few snags. First, the pantry cabinet is 12-inches shorter in width than the plans called for, second, there is no L-shaped banquette (they conveniently forgot to make it) and third, several of the cabinets are missing due to incorrect sizing. Also, they installed a Lazy Susan in one of the glass cabinets. I do not intend to artistically display my groceries, so that has to go! Also, there is no pull-out for garbage as per request. Ugh! I'm beginning to think KAOS is responsible for this operation...Agent 86, where are you!!???

My contractor said he thought we might be using the kitchen by the end of next week. My cheeky response would have been to bust out with my favorite quote by P.T. Barnum, but I reigned in my sass. It's not a good idea to piss off your contractor.

Gimme a 'T', Gimme an 'I'...Dammit just give me my ~TILE~!!!!

In fairness to my hard-working tilers, they are having to take their time since they have to 'float' the new tile over the existing tile, a labor-intensive effort. This process involves something called 'mudding.' Prior to remodeling, I thought mudding had something to do with utility vehicles, winches and lots of beer, but apparently the term applies equally to a gloppy, earth-colored mixture to which tilers afix the stones. Today, nothing is getting mudded, muddied or even muddled. The contractor underestimated how much tile would be required. Cutting the tile wastes some of the stones and so we're waiting for the extras. On the bright side there seems to be an endless supply of...MUD!!! If I were a pig farmer I'd be happier than a pig rolling in... Anyway, the floor is partially covered in tile and I expect it to be completed by the end of the weekend. Suuuuuuey!!!!!

Holy Sheet Rock!!!

The sheet rockers were a busy crew today. We have walls in the places where walls should be for the most part. Our contractor had a building engineer out yesterday to inspecte the repaired trusses. The engineer wrote a letter that needed to be submitted to the building inspector that said "The trusses are A-O-Kizzay" or something a tad more technical than that. The building inspector gave the contractor a 'thumbs up' to continue with the construction, which is good considering the demolition is finished. I really like it when all the i's are dotted, the t's are crossed and the q's have that cute little curly tail. Somebody, sitting in their office full of forms, filing A-O-Kizzay and NOT A-O-Kizzay forms, is happy too.

Gentlemen....Start Your Jackhammers!

The demolition phase of our kitchen/family room remodel began April 23rd. We left, conveniently, on April 22nd for our friends' beach house at Madeira Beach :D We returned to find a light coating of dust on every surface. The floor has two layers of tile and they've managed to remove the first layer with a jackhammer, but apparently the bottom layer has been permanently fused to the slab (!?) So, the tile guy is supposed to come (3 days ago!!!) to assess whether the new tile can be laid over the existing tile. My favorite part of construction work is being held captive in my own home waiting (and waiting and then waiting some more after having waited through the waiting period...) for the vendors to show up. PTHHTHTHTHT!!! Oh, if you're paying really close attention to the photos you'll notice the previous owners cut the trusses to make room for the AC ductwork!!! Also, notice mold in the pix of the wall...did I mention the previous owner was a CONTRACTOR??????????

Last Man Standing...

Here is my kitchen after emptying everything except the coffee maker. The coffee maker was the last appliance to move to the new 'staging area.' Blessed be the Coffee Makers or something to that effect :D The last area to be wiped off the face of the Earth was the family room. Did I mention how much I hated the white tile??? Oh, and the 'textured' wall effect doesn't thrill me either. It will take someone with a skilled hand using a sand blaster to get that thick coat of plaster evened out.

Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!

Here are the 'before' pix. The first one is the kitchen in all it's glory. My convection oven, above cooktop microwave with cracks, the fridge from hell and my hideous, thin, black granite countertops.

The next pic is the view onto the back patio from the sink perspective. My new dishwasher is the only appliance making the cut to the new kitchen. The granite actually has a seam right down the center of my white porcelain sink. How brilliant is that design???

A view of my counters and soffits. We only have 8' ceilings, so dropping down a foot with a soffit and adding thirteen (13!) canned lights is like cooking in a tanning bed. Joy!!! Oh, and notice the faux 'exposed brick' to the left of the counters. Puhleez!!!

Next is the family room area. The built-in is unfortunately staying for the time being. We have to keep costs within our budget, so we'll make due for the forseeable future. And yes, the bust of the Greek dude on the top, right shelf is actually my hubby Art. The sculpture was created by our New College Alumna, Gwen Murphy, who continues to produce amazing sculptural art work.

Thankfully, this area is getting completely remade. That folding, craft table is moving into storage or being used for, well, crafting. The baker's rack has already moved onto the patio as a potting bench. The rest of the stuff is clogging up one of the bedrooms for the moment. We'll save the rocking chair...the rest buh-bye!!!

The Time Before

Dating back to the Stone Age, man and woman have grappled with the decisions of how to improve their living spaces. I can imagine the following conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Thag:

Mrs. Thag: "Me no like fire in that corner of cave!!! Look better in other corner!!!"
Mr. Thag: "But fire always be in that corner of cave (mumbling)!!!"
Mrs. Thag: *Smacks Mr. Thag with club*
Mr. Thag: Moves fire into other corner.

One week later...

Mrs. Thag: "Me like fire back in first corner."
Mr. Thag: *Smacks Mrs. Thag with club* Moves fire back to first corner. Goes out to kill a Mastadon and have a few with the 'Boys.'

So, from Cave Feng Shui to the present, we humans have always endured the stresses of remodeling, renovating and relocating our abodes. These are the excerpts of our remodeling efforts. Our kitchen and family room area are to be gutted tomorrow. I can still hear the distant echoes of the Thag family:

Mrs. Thag: "Stop drawing hunting trips on cave wall and move rock pile to back of cave."
Mr. Thag: "As soon as there is commercial..."
Mrs. Thag: *Hurls rock at Mr. Thag*
Mr. Thag: "Coming!" Mumbling, "Just when game was getting good...@#%#!!"