Woo-hoo! We have finally decided on a move-in date: NOV.1 10 days from today. Finally. Some things still have to be completed, such as:
The plumbing. It was supposed to be done last Thurs, Fri, and Sat. They came Thurs. then had another commitment on Fri. Sat. the plumbers wife, who is pregnant got sick, so he didn’t show up. Monday was his next work day, but stuff came up and he didn’t come. Today, his assistant’s truck broke down, so he won’t be out until tomorrow. I hope they make it by next week. It’s kind of hard to live in a house without water and toilets.
The kitchen and master bath cabinets. Clyde was supposed to come and work all day on Tues with a helper. Never showed, except he snuck in at some point and put up the upper china hutch cabinet. So, now all the cabinet are in and we are just waiting for drawer fronts and doors. He told me that he would be working on it all this week and “hoped to have it buttoned up by the end of the week”. But that he might spill over into Mon. next week. I told him that was fine since we weren’t planning to move until Sat. But at the rate he is going, he is going to be spending Sunday with us as we unpack and he puts up doors.
The pantry. I drug my feet on this for too long. Ray was on me to decide what I wanted. I had had a technician come out a while ago and put together a plan, but I didn’t really like it. After much nagging, I called out a couple of other technicians and got other bids, but they were too high. Finally I went back to the first guy and let him know what I really wanted and we finally worked it out and for a decent price. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to get to me until the 3rd. So the pantry will be a bit of an afterthought.
Carpet goes in on Mon. I thought I had bought nice quality carpet, but I am not impressed by what I am seeing on the rolls in my garage. Our dealer says that’s because the fibers are crushed from being rolled up and they will look great once they are vacuumed and walked on. I hope so. I haven’t been impressed previous dealings with this guy. When I first met him and ordered the hardwood floor and carpet, he told me repeatedly, “I am going to take care of you. You are getting a really good deal and great carpet. I want you to be happy. Don’t worry, I am going to take care of you”. Well, they messed up the installation of the hardwood floor because they installed at 11:30 at night by light of a flood lamp. After lame attempts to fix it, they finally did it right and pulled out some of the boards and fixed the underlying problem.
Then we saw the carpet we are installing in the basement. We knew it was an inexpensive carpet, but we were shocked when we saw how cheap it was. Then we were really shocked when we were shown the price. We felt it was way overpriced for the quality of the carpet. I took a sample to another carpet place and they showed me what I could have gotten from them for the same price and it was clearly much better. When I brought it up to Brent, he countered with the fact that his carpet was nylon 6,6 which is a very good quality carpet. I did some research and all it meant was that nylon 6,6 is more durable. Doesn’t mean it’s better quality. I argued it with him, but he would not budge or lower the price, all the while saying, “I want you to be happy”. I would have been happy if I had never met him. He was bugging Ray to be paid, so Ray finally paid him. When I asked him about when they met to pay him, Ray refused to discuss it. All he said was, “He’s been paid” in a tone of voice that told me that he was not happy about it, but there would be no further discussion. He just better not have his sons (who laid our hardwood floor) do the carpet installation. If they show up, I’ll be happy to show him how unhappy I am with him. He will NOT be getting a glowing recommendation from me or any referrals, except to tell people to avoid him at all costs.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that on top of all the flooring issues, he tried to horn in on a piece of the plumbing bid and the granite bid. When we got our first plumbing bid, it was really high. At the same time we were wondering over this, Brent was telling me to be sure to let the plumbing supplier know to send their bids to him, like he was helping us or something. When I talked it over with Ray, he enlightened me as to why Brent was so interested in our plumbing, because he apparently got a cut for referring us to the suppliers. No wonder the bid was so high. Brent stood to get $1200 for his cut. He has absolutely nothing to do with the plumbing, yet he’s going to profit from it? Not on my watch! He did the same thing with the granite. He had a guy who could do it, he said, but when Ray tried to get ahold of this guy, he would never call back. I am assuming he would have gotten a cut from that too. This guy is a piece of work, yet he comes off as honest, caring and truly interested in my happiness. How did I hook up with this guy in the first place? My decorator. She took me to his shop and we picked paint, flooring and carpet in 45 min. It was all so wonderful, until we got the installation and bill. I will be so happy NOT to recommend him to anyone. OH, so many lessons learned, painfully!
So, am I excited? I don’t really know. Right now, that house has caused me so much stress and tears and agonizing decisions, I hate even going over there. Does that seem weird? I know most people would be so excited, but I am feeling very ambivilent about it. It will be nice to actually be able to unpack and settle in. I am tired of this old, little, uncomfortable house we have been renting and it will be nice to spread out. We have built a truly lovely home (as my mom keeps telling me), but I am so sick of it all, I can’t even enjoy it.
My kitchen is not what I wanted. I thought I had it laid out exactly how I wanted, but we made so many changes over time that I can’t remember what my original plan was. I don’t think I have enough drawers where I wanted them. I’m not sure where I will put things. I know this seems silly, but my last house, when I planned the kitchen, I knew ahead of time exactly what would go in each drawer and each cupboard. This one, I have no idea. Plus, Clyde took a couple of liberties and changed a cupboard from a pan cupboard to a cupboard with a shelf. It is so narrow, I have no idea what I am going to use it for. I am sure I will adjust, but I hate that feeling of being out of control and having to adjust from what I wanted to what is there. I actually woke up at night and obsessed over this on so many nights. A bit silly, huh?
The most exciting thing to me is that the stess of it will all be over! I will be so happy to get out of this building stage and feel like I can move on with my life. When you have to live, breath, and think house for so many months you forget what life is really all about. I can see why people divorce over building a house. I never thought of divorce (who would get this house?) but murder did enter my mind occasionally. (Then I would get the house for sure.) But we are still intact and hope to have many happy years in our new house.
