Day 24 Thanksgiving

Apparently the plumbers were at the house checking the plumbing and apparently...there is a leak.They think the workers must have hit something...(sigh)...and they're going to tell on them....the plumbers say the expense of repairing the leak will be the crew's responsibility - or the fellow who runs the crew's responsabliity.

We've been thinking and talking about doing this remodel for some time now.I'm sure some BHE parents recall my mentioning it back when D2 was in Kindy....and we really started getting down to the planning stage almost, actually a year ago, before Thanksgiving and then the funeral around Christmas shelved it for a bit. But I'd say it took about 10 months from start of planning to start of construction.

Much of that delay was the HOA, the design planning, - I cannot emphasise how strongly I recommend going with an architect. They know the software, and more importantly they know their craft - we thought we made the right decision in not going with an architect....

You'd think that after the numerous discussions we had with our builder prior to starting, there would be little to no surprises or change. That hasn't been the case.

Witness my startled expression when I came home and found the garage stripped of its outer panels. Or when Jeff went into the new shower and realised the window was just a tad too big for the space given where the shower head was going to spray. Ergo one change order....

The fortunate thing about that one was that while we were too late to simply change the size of the bathroom window as they had already or were in the process of manufacturing the window, we were able to order a smaller window, and then use the window they had already made in the garage. As the original window is not clear glass, this works out well in the garage. It lets in enough light without revealing the appalling condition of the garage.

Then we changed the size of the garage door leading into the garden. But that was not tedious as they had not framed the door yet and we had not ordered doors yet.

We also decided to change the lovely wood doors in the old family room.They are fixed doors. We replaced them with doors that will open. As for the old ones, I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. A garden studio mayhaps? A glass house?

I had envisioned a simple utilitarian sink in the utility room like the one that sat in the attached garage in our house in Louisiana (or as a Houstonian neighbour used to call it, Lousyana...she hated the place....they didn't have Target then). My only concern was that the piping be high enough so I could fit in the litter box. (we didn't have kittens when all this began last year,we now have four....).

However, Jeff had planned to build a cabinet to enclose a sink there. And if you've ever walked into one of his houses, you'll notice the attention to detail and how beautiful his homes are...so thankfully, someone is thinking of that type of issues!

I had discussed changing the orientation of the boys' closets before we began work and that change was noted, (he boys' closets were originally the long and narrow closets and I suggested that we make them walk in closets instead), but not the one for the computer closet. However, that was easily rectified and did not cost much in terms of material. I assume it took them but a few minutes to change it.

I forgot to mention that I didn't want pocket doors in the computer room and finally realised the room was framed for said pocket doors on Wednesday. Fortunately Jeff said that wasn't a problem.

But it's the accumulation of these issues that make me wonder what ELSE I've missed.....