Friday, May 22, 2009

Onward Remodeling Soldiers!


My Blogger Guest, Warrine Coffey, continues with her saga of home remodeling. She is talking at first here about her dog, who was a canine warrior and a noble beast:

DOG ON THE PREMISES

"Nigel was very agitated when we brought him home after vacation. He doesn't like being boarded and when he got home, his bed and food dish had moved and the house was in disarray and noisy. We gave the necessary TLC to calm him down. He quickly adjusted and is just fine. We take him into the back area with us so he can see what's happening. He likes the additional attention from the workers.

SUBS MOVE IN

After about three weeks of this, I realized we could cook, eat well, have clean clothes, and find things. So I began to relax somewhat. So it was back to planning and making decisions for the project. The foundation for the extension was poured May 19. Framing is pretty much done. The rough plumbing is in. The electrician starts Monday. One interesting aside is this: When the plumber started, one of the first things he did was to install a water shut-off valve in the basement for the area in back of the house. That involves the kitchen, laundry, powder room and master bath. When he worked he would shut off those areas. That left us the upstairs hall bathroom and the sink on the balcony. We had a toilet and hot and cold running water almost all the time. Life is easier than it would be without that valve.

DOWN THE CONSTRUCTION ROAD

I think our contractor has been wonderful. He plans things out carefully, keeps us informed and keeps things moving. When one works on an 80-year-old house, there are going to be some glitches. He is very experienced and will help us get through the glitches. I am still amazed at the temporary kitchen setup. I had envisioned washing dishes in the bathtub, scrubbing vegetables in the bathroom sink, etc. Those are the stories I have heard from other people. I think we are very fortunate to have the setup we have. Most people who see it are amazed. We haven't even gone out together for dinner because we always have prepared food here. I do not focus on what we don't have. I just focus on what we do have which is plenty more than millions of people in the world today have. And I never forget the prize: a new kitchen down the road.

2 comments:

CherLiquori said...

What a great idea -- to have one of your clients post about her experience!! Very engaging for the reader, while at the same time, learning about what it's like to go through a big remodeling job. Keep them coming. And more pictures, please.

On The Beam Remodeling said...

I'm so glad this engaged you, Cheryl. It sure fascinated me. Warrine and Bill are fantastic people, and I'm so lucky that Warrine is willing to share her experience. By the way, we have loads of photos on our website: www.onthebeamremodeling.com. But I will post more photos here too.