A Final Big Push

Site Supervisor II let us know that he was on a training course earlier in the week - becoming certified in lead paint abatement, I bet that was exciting - which is why we hadn't heard from him. Well, we've sure been hearing from him today! SS2 has orchestrated a great influx of subcontractors in an effort to polish off all the remaining work.

First of all, the painters have arrived with avengance. They are currently painting the living room, dining room, and the hallway, all at the same time. I opted to have these areas painted the same color for speed and consistency, a kind of inoffensive beigey color. "Do not move any of the furniture!" orders the head honcho. So it looks like we'll be huddled in the kitchen today (but then again, we all seem to huddle in the office most of the time, so what's new?).

The electricians have been back. They repaired our phone line (which they broke on Tuesday). They are also wanting to charge us a lot more money to get the kitchen skylights working, including $800 for new transformers. SS2 has gone slightly mad at this cheekiness and is planning to bring in a new electrical firm to finish the work. The current electrician apparently had a tantrum and stormed off in his car. Gosh, drama.

In the family room, the cabinet makers have been inspecting the results of their own handiwork: Splintered veneer. I think I mentioned before that the lower cabinets on the TV unit had been delivered without any holes drilled for the adjustable shelves on one side of each cabinet. (Some genius at work there.) After much discussion, and attempts to avoid having to do anything about it, the cabinet people came back on Monday and drilled some holes. Which would have been fine except that they decided to drill from the existing hole on one side of the wood, through the wood and out the other side....with the result that the veneer was pushed out of place and splintered. (Perhaps the same genius at work?) I'm no carpenter, but even I could have told them that was what was going to happen if you push at veneer from the wrong side!

Anyway, they then said that they'd need to order special something or other to get this fixed and it would take several weeks...blah...blah. SS2 went balistic and told them that they need to fix it today. I only got his report of his language to them, and even that was fairly fruity. So we shall see. (I have every intention of naming and shaming the cabinet company in this blog at the end of the project - it will be well deserved.)

The tiler is here too, installing the glass shelves in the guest bathroom shower niche. When the painters have finished the main rooms, they'll be moving on to the touch ups in the other rooms: guest bathroom, family room, Deep Thought's room.

Could it be, are we really, no surely not.... Not almost done for real?

Gentle Suffocation

Lots of activity in the house today, but now the guys have gone we can't quite see what they were doing. Actually I know perfectly well what they were doing, but it isn't very striking. They were sanding and caulking the door frames and new doors in preparation for painting. There are very smelly daubs of red something across many of the door frames.

In the early part of the afternoon I started to be overcome by the horrible chemical smell, and went to see how much ventilation they had. Answer: None At All. They hadn't opened a single window. I strode through the house throwing the windows and doors open, reminding them that it might be in all our best interests to be able to breath.

A Rainy Day, Good for Drilling

Nothing happening outside the Cardboard Box today because of the rain. The back yard is a little puddley, but comfortingly flat. The front yard is still a battlefield. Site Supervisor II had to walk through the mud to put the tree protection fence back up (after the landscaping crew had taken it down - dudes, it's meant to stay there to protect the tree! Duh...) and his boots were caked with inches of sticky mud. Nice.



Inside the house, things are also fairly quiet today, but there is still activity. I can hear some thumping from the bedroom/bathroom addition. The guys have put up the framing for the new closet doors in the master bedroom (and have produced a pretty nasty smell in the process. I guess there must be some glue.) and they are drilling away on something in the laundry area. The pocket door framing is sitting there invitingly, waiting for someone to pay it some attention.

Ahem, ahem

Returned home this morning after health-giving walk to find the house full of stinky smoke. When I got out of the car in the street, one sniff revealed the presence of tar. There is, indeed, a tar heater on a truck in the street, and a grey haze coming from the family room. I deduce that the guys are "hot mopping" the shower pan in the new bathroom. Alas the doors between the family room and living room were thrown open, hence the delightful smokiness throughout the house. Site Supervisor II is appalled and has taped up the family room doors. So no TV for you naughty children later!

I am now sitting here with windows open - though not the french doors, as CAT man is out there doing something - and wondering where to eat my lunch.