The remains of the dead tree have disappeared from my side yard. I know that doesn’t sound exciting but I thought I’d start with the only really great news I had yesterday. As you know I had a guy come to clean the boiler and hot water tank. Deep down, I knew what was coming. Apparently the unit is only working at about 30% capacity. Ouch! To repair it would be about a grand but would only be a band-aid solution. I asked how much a new boiler would be. $4,500.00. Hmmm, that’s a lot less than I thought it would be. I’m going to think about it for a few days and then probably bite the bullet.

The 5th contractor also came yesterday. He was a very nice, and I might add, humble individual who didn’t go around my house huffing and puffing and making a big deal out of things. I showed him some rot in the floor in the bathroom and his response was…that’s an easy fix. I asked about cutting around the beams in the ceiling for drywall since the last contractor made a big deal about that saying it was a lot more work. This guy again said naaa, no big deal. He told me drywall installation and taping is about $3.50 a square foot. This information helped me figure out what that would cost for my house. I worked it out to be around 10 grand. The one thing he couldn’t do was give me an exact amount at the moment for my house reno, although I do like the way he explained how they work, which is on a cost plus basis. He would show me the bills for items as they come in. They also break it down into rooms, which makes it easier to cut a room out to bring the cost down. He let me know I could buy fixtures where I wanted to. He sounded very easy to work with. He did tell me he thought the electrical would be approximately $10,000. That was bang on what I thought it would be. The one thing I didn’t like that he said but which made sense was, I should get my plans drawn up professionally. This does two things. It makes for a clearer picture of what the contractor has to do, which helps with costing and it is also is a requirement for permits. He told me I could draw it myself, which I’ve done. But the more accurate it is the better. The bad news is that it will cost me $3,000. to $5,000 to get it done. That doesn’t thrill me. Needless to say I was online last night looking for a computer program that I could use to do it myself. I did like this contractor, although I wish I could have gotten even more information from him. The great thing was his company is so busy they wouldn’t be able to fit me in until summer. This was another really good sign. Always pick a busy contractor! Even I know that!

Once again I was up at the crack of dawn drawing my house. I figured out all the costs a little more accurately. Now I think I have a better idea of the amount I should be looking for from a contractor.

I’m going to take a deep breath and let it go for the rest of the day. How do I do that? Why, I will do what any girl would do… go shopping.