Okay, even though I am a bit frustrated right now, yesterday I did find some sweet light at the end of the rainbow. First, the main issue…..I had taken my house plans into the city on Friday and wouldn’t you know it they want the original plans of the house, (engineering purposes). I tried to explain there are no bearing walls, it's a post and beam, and so it makes no difference but the ape behind the counter didn’t care. Oh Maple Ridge, can you please hire some sane people at city level? I called Josh from City Hall and he told me to go back, give the plans to “The Ape” and he would call him to discuss it. I followed my instructions then drove back to work and waited for the call from Josh. Turns out no, in fact Monkey Butt wants the original way the house looks…(does it really matter? We could make up the drawings and no body would know) Makes no sense to me. In the end, luckily, I had already drawn up my house the way it is (roughly). Josh told me he would not charge me anything to redraw more house plans professionally (See, I picked the right guy) and to email my rough drawings to him and he would get them done this weekend. So, this will do nothing but set us back a few days. We did find out that the city can take up to 7 days to process the permit request….not good….but there you go. It’s Maple Ridge.
Okay…now for the sweet light at the end of the rainbow. I have to tell you, I was extremely elated about this.
I had set out to go to Jack’s used building supplies yesterday, which I did. I found nothing there….but, on my way home I decided to go to a flooring store I had found on Craigslist, don’t worry, I checked it out first. I have trust issues with regards to too good a deal. This store belongs to BBB, which is a good sign. I was expecting a hole in the wall…but when I pulled up and parked I knew I was going to be a happy girl. Here I had thought they only sold laminate and hardwood and at that, a limited supply. Boy, was I wrong! They had tile, laminate, engineered, hardwood, carpet, they even do Ceasarstone countertops…they had everything I needed and at very reasonable costs I might add. I felt like I was a kid in a candy store. When I walked in the sales person was helping someone else, so I took the opportunity to browse. First thing that caught my eye was the assorted tile that adorned the wall. Better yet, there was a price on everything (per square foot). These guys were organized. Right away I found some I wanted. The other customer left and the sales guy asked if he could help. I told him I had found him on Craigslist and also told him what I was doing with my house. I mentioned I was looking for either laminate or engineered hardwood, on sale. He took me to the laminate, (12mm only) which is all I’m interested in. It was beautiful and only $1.59 a foot. I had brought my house plans with me and I asked him to do a quote for me for everything. He copied my plans. I also asked him to do a quick quote of my kitchen counters with Ceasarstone while I waited. It ended up being around the same price as the quote I got from the place that had no name brand quartz counter top!!
I picked out the tile and Ceasarstone I liked and put it with the laminate I liked…Wow! Gorgeous! One of the fears I had was running around to different places to get my tile and flooring etc. This was a one stop shopping experience and would make my reno life a lot easier. I also found carpeting I really liked. It was a $1.00 sq foot cheaper than some product I had picked out from an outlet store. I told the guy I was most likely going to purchase everything from him. I got some samples, told him I’d be back Monday with my bathroom sink to match some green tiles to and was on my way. This place is just a hop, skip and a jump away from my place of work so it will be easy to go in on my lunch break….
It is close to St. Paddy’s day. Maybe that light at the end of the rainbow I had this weekend will turn out be a pot o’ gold and the plans I submit this coming week will be okayed without a hitch!.... That is, if there is a leprechaun at city hall.
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