I am so far behind on everything these days.

Including updates about the new house.

This is last week, after the new cabinets were set, following the first two coats of finish on the floor.

We are now two weeks behind schedule, and by the time we're done, I expect it will be at least four.

What a disappointment; we'd been three weeks ahead of schedule for months.

But then all sorts of little things started to cascade, all dependencies.

The flooring was delivered late; it should have sat in the house for weeks in advance of installation, in order to acclimate to the ambient humidity level.  The permanent furnace was late; the humidity level in the house was much drier for a longer period of time for this reason.  After the flooring was installed, the wood dried very quickly and shrank too much.  A humidifier was brought in to stabilize the moisture, but the finish couldn't be applied for two weeks to allow time for rehydration. 

The cabinets couldn't be set because of the delay; we didn't want to install them over unfinished flooring.  I was afraid the point at which the finish floor met unfinished floor under the cabinets would result in pulling -- either from shrinkage or cupping of the raw, unsealed flooring.

The tile and the counter surfaces were another problem.  My spouse and I had a tile picked way back in October, but he changed his mind.  I had to select a different tile -- took two weeks to find a new one we both agreed on that matched the carpet, another week and a half to receive the delivery, another week to find laminate surfacing that worked with the new tile and wouldn't be another three weeks out for delivery.  And now the new tile's a hassle because of its odd sizes (only came in 13", 10x13 and 18" tiles along with 4x13 and 2x10 accent tiles -- difficult to lay out in any rational pattern).

A cabinet went missing; the original plan called for a single cabinet in the corner with a tambour door below and cupboard above.  The cabinet that arrived was a cupboard only, no tambour.  We can't finish the counter until the tambour arrives.  Nearly had to ask for the cabinets to be removed until we reached a compromise on the tambour-only unit.

Still trying to work out the detail for rollers under a moveable kitchen island.  The rollers we've found have either been too lightweight (insufficient load rating) or hard plastic wheels that may damage the flooring.  Waiting for the arrival of a shipment of wheels with rubber tires; we hope the locking mechanism will be easily accessible, without having to bend over to engage them.  But this will depend on convincing the finish work contractor that yes, it's okay, the island's surface elevation can be 1 to 2 inches higher than the rest of the countertop.  So far he's really resisting me on this.

The electrical folks did work several times over the last week; I have a suspicion about the quality performed.  The boss (father and business owner) was in Daytona for a couple of weeks for the race and pre-race events.  While he was away and not watching like a hawk, the kids on his crew (son included) did whatever they felt like, the way they felt like it.  They've also managed to lose my color-coded schematic that laid out where everything went in the house -- which explains why I got the wrong fixture over the fireplace and the security light placed about fifteen feet away from its intended location at the exterior corner of the garage.  They also managed to muff up location of light fixtures; they didn't call to say they would be hanging them, disregarded the locations clearly marked on the top of each box in bold, permanent black ink, "DINING ROOM" or "BREAKFAST AREA".    And they smoked in my house, too, leaving butts and ashes all over the place.  BAD.  BAD. PUPPIES.  The old man is going to be getting an earful about this.  They will be back to fix this.  Soon.  I don't know how I could have made this any easier.

Final plumbing needs to be finished this week; the porta-john in the front yard has to go.  It's costing some money and all the contractors at other projects are using it.  I don't feel like subsidizing other construction projects right now even with something this insignificant, especially after the cash outlay to date.  Speaking of cash, last month's power bill for the new house was nearly twice the amount of our current house -- ouch!  I keep turning down the thermostat to 66 and 68 degrees when I'm there (which is the same as our current home's setting), but the contractors keep cranking it up to 72 and leaving the damned doors open.  Gah.  They're worse than kids!

This next week will be a big push -- final plumbing, finish work around all doors and windows, clear coat of raw wood surfaces, pulls and knobs and other hardware installed.  Stainless steel for the island arrives mid-week, kitchen island gets assembled.  First of appliances to be installed.

And I'll be starting to pack up the first bits that will migrate over to the new house.

Today I'll be cleaning up a mess of sawdust from the finish work in the kitchen and bath, along with whipping up some temporary window coverings.  The house is like an enormous fishbowl at night; with the lights on, anyone driving by can see everything going on, even down to the tools being used.  Not so good for security reasons.

More later this next week.  We're in the home stretch, might be harder to post in the days ahead.  And please, please, don't look at the housekeeping around here.  It's horrible!

1:53:41 PM    comment []