Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Getting closer to the big day!

I’m back. I needed to check in, as a few more things have happened since I last made an entry. Remember the interior doors I got on sale at Home Depot? I actually got a co-worker to pick them up in his van and take them to a door store to be pre-hung. That in itself turned out to be an adventure. I wish he had just let me borrow his van and I would have done it…. but such is life.
Once the doors were pre-hung I had to again seek help. I asked Ralph, my Mom’s significant other, if he would pick them up from there and bring them to my house. I really hate bugging people to do stuff for me but I really needed the help. Wouldn’t you know it the skies were open and it was drizzly and miserable. I brought along a tarp but luckily I learned once I arrived, they have door bags so I didn’t even need the tarp. Ever the clown, Ralph called them body bags and wanted to know if they bought them from a funeral home. The doors made their way to my home, via Ralph’s trailer, to now be stored until I need them. They look awesome by the way.

I also had my windows installed. I don’t think I slept much the night before. I was, as I stated earlier, a little apprehensive about my decision. Well, let me just say I was being silly. The windows actually look terrific and make the house look sleek. Once the exterior is painted a different color they will look even better. I don’t notice the windows being smaller and I gotta say…my house holds the heat 100% better. This window experience was a little taste of my life to come. The workers arrived at 7:45am and began taking out windows at 8am. The house was full of workers and was freezing for the whole day. My furniture was pulled to the center of the room and my house was a mess. I just thought to myself…hmmm, two to three months of this day in and day out. Can I do it? Ya, I’ll go gag a once in a while but of course I can. I’ll just write in my Blog a lot to get out my frustration. That is, if I have electricity to run the computer.

I finally ordered my window inserts for my front door. I am waiting for them to arrive. I actually thought they arrived while I wasn’t here because I had a Purolator notice in my mailbox. I knew it was either my door window inserts or it was the Rona gift cards I ordered off Airmiles. Well, it ended up being my Rona certificates. Now I have to decide what to buy for the house with them. I wish Rona had better bathroom fixture choices. I don’t want to buy a generic brand of fixtures and have trouble down the road. Who needs a leaky toilet or one that can’t, a-hu a-hum…..handle the load? My apologies for that graphic analogy.

My house has still been a revolving door of trades coming and going. Josh, the contractor I met off Craigslist, (he bought my dining room chairs) has been sending the trades around to do quotes. His last trade was here yesterday (dry waller). I met with Josh last night as he had put a spreadsheet together with all the costs. Josh is the cheapest yet and I am leaning towards going with him. Not because he is cheapest but because he has been very dependable and is insured and I feel a trust bond with him. The good thing here is we both know the same home inspector who has been a good friend of mine for a number of years. I will be giving him a call to get his opinion on Josh. Plus I will be calling the other references Josh forwarded to me. I’m feeling good about this.

I now have to call Kirk, the other contractor I may choose. Kirk has given me a rough quote back but not in the same fashion as Josh. It was a quote over the phone and I need to meet with him to go over exactly what this includes. I feel I can also trust Kirk so I I’m in a pretty good situation right now in choosing a contractor. I am weighing the pros and cons to each guy.
I’m going to make my decision by weeks end…and then, let the demo begin….eek!

No comments:

Post a Comment