We all hate our contractor

I think it's no secret that I hate my contractor. He's been part of our lives since the beginning of December. I should have parted ways with him when he didn't know the job. I didn't.

Anyway. He told Rhona that he would be done by the time we got back.

Clearly, we have a different definition of done. We have no banister upstairs. Just a big hole. He took out our old one, but didn't put in a new one.

We have a toddler who runs around. And a big hole in the floor going down the stairs. How on earth did he think that was a good thing?

I wish we had a picture to show you what the house looked like when we left, and what it looked like when we got back. Because not much has changed.

We're suckers. That's it.

I hate my contractor

There, I said it. I haven't done an update on the renovations because it's been too painful. It really has.

We managed to, after getting bids from other people, pick the dumbest, slowest, most annoying (to me mostly) contractor in the known universe.

He's not done. This started, of, last year! We began on Dec 18. This post is being written on Jan 18th.

There are a thousand things i could write here to solidify how bad he's been. From the very beginning, when he didn't know the job, you could tell it was going to go bad.

I would love to talk to you about it more. But lets leave it at this: we're going to Florida tomorrow. We're on vacation. when we get back, it will be done. We'll be rested. And we'll have our house back.

P.S. Before you hire a contractor, call me. I'll tell you what not to look for.

A semi-whirlwind

So, there haven't been any updates on the reno's because there hasn't been any work. There was one small problem. I asked our contractor, before he started, to seal the room. He didn't. So I asked him again. And again.

Now, in his defense, he didn't catch on that we were actually pulling down the ceiling when he took the job, so when I said seal the room, he might have wondered why I was talking about the animal that hunts fish.

Anyway, after asking him four times, the room is finally sealed. We don't need to go into it, and they can enter through a door. It was to be the perfect reno. Alas, twas not to be.

The time has been tough. When he decided to start 2 weeks late, we contemplated putting it off, but we went forward anyway. What the hell we thought? How bad will having only half a house be?

Having only half a house (well, less actually) has been an adjustment.

Right now, our 'family room' is the little guest room upstairs. It has the tube, and the computer. It has a bed, turned sideways to pretend that it's a couch. It's a bed. And we're not hanging out in the family room. I've been calling it the 'en suite'. But really, it's a bedroom. And it's been going on for two weeks since we lived in it.

Now, we're not looking for people to feel sorry for us. We have a fairly big house, with lots of room. That we even have a room is a sort of bonus. With another child looming, our en suite will soon become Autumn's suite.

Anyway, we're looking for some serious activity this week. But then again, the ways things have gone so far, he might not think he ha to come to work in '08.

p.s.
Happy New Year.

Reno's day 3

There is nothing to report. Honest. Rhona and Autumn are back home, so Rhona can sort of be there and handle all the issues that might pop up. We're getting the lights placed.

It's going to be a long slog. We'll keep you posted.

The reno day 2 – twilight zone

You have a dropped ceiling in your living room. Meaning, there is almost two feet of space between the drop ceiling and the real one. You think people did it save on heat, but it’s a worthy trade off to make your living room perfect.

So, you decide to hire a contractor. You get a couple of quotes, then go with the one who seems to be the most together.

You hire him. He starts a little late, but you can live with that. Then, on day two he calls with a problem. The problem, he says, is that they did a shoddy job framing the drop ceiling. You agree. To replace the dropped ceiling, he says, I’ll need to frame it better.

You look for a camera.

Did he just say that to replace the drop ceiling you hired him to remove, he would have to frame it better?

After three meetings, meetings in which you and your wife talked about how your furniture would look in a bigger room – how your fireplace would look when it didn’t dwarf the wall – how you couldn’t wait to have an extra almost two feet room, in your room, he didn’t realize you wanted two more feet of room in your room.

Did that just happen, you wonder?

You calmly tell your contractor that you want the ceiling removed, not replaced. You want him to get rid of the framing of the drop ceiling, and put a ceiling on the ceiling, where it should go. You say this as clearly as possible, half expecting a candid cameraman at any point.

After you think you’ve cleared things up with your contractor, you call your wife to ask her if you’re nuts. She tells you you’re not, which is a relief.

But still. You can’t help but wonder what your room is going to look like. It dawns on your that you hired someone to do a job and that he didn’t know you hired him to do. And you have a contract, which is fairly vague.

You think you’re being had. But maybe you’re just in the mist of the single largest misunderstanding in the history of contracting. And things will work on. In the meantime, your dropped ceiling is gone. Your room looks big, but really messy. You see the potential now in the room. You’re geeked, but still looking for candid cameras.

Reno: more than a city in Nevada

The reno's day 1.

You can't say it starts well. When we decided to do the room, we sort of had a number in our heads. When we got quotes, all the people came in under. We picked a guy, then we began adding stuff.

But it was sort of off the cuff adding stuff. Lets add this. Oh, and this. All the while, we hadn't gotten a new price.

until the morning of the first day. We added enough to add about 80% to the bill. We're good at adding. Thus, something that was going to cost X (where x is a lot) now almost costs 2 * X.

We're good. Anyway, day one went smoothly after that. There's a huge hole in the ceiling, and where there was once a wall, there's a hole. Lucy and Romeo are acting clearly weird, but that's to be expected. Lucy's post is on the couch in the living room, barking at anything that moves in front of our house. She can't do that now.

We'll keep you posted on day 2. That's today.

Year in review part 2

This is part 2 of the year-in-review. Here's part one.

It’s good to be a walker in the summer. Because mom, Lucy and Autumn take long walks around the city in July. They walk to Delaware park and hit every playground in a five mile radius. They walk the streets and mom takes a good deal of photographs. Autumn gets a sandbox, and the little courtyard at our house becomes our little playroom. Mom and Autumn are really bonding, and she’s really clingy. At the first moment of fear, panic, or pain, she runs to whoever is closest for a hug. It’s truly awesome.

Milestone: Autumn eats a blueberry. Every other food takes second place to her new fav.

August is hot. Not only that, we’re realizing that Autumn doesn’t sleep through the night. More times than not, she’s up at somewhere between 2:00 and 3:30 AM. We contemplate the whole ‘cry it out’ thing. She wins every time. On paper, the ‘cry out’ method seems so simple. She’s go to sleep, and from there, we will get to fall asleep. In practice though, it’s horrible. She coughs and sputters, and cries and wails in such pain that we cave and give her what she needs/want. We’re getting better. We go camping for the first time. Mom gets a new camera and takes a ton of great pictures.

Milestone: Autumn says ‘ball’ and means it.

By September, Autumn is running around everywhere. Our child-proofing on the go strategy leads to a couple of minor mishaps, but for the most part, she contained. We can take her out for dinner, but there’s a risk. Case in point, a night out at our local pizza joint, Casa Di Pizza. After furiously eating some pasta, she takes a good long look at us, and vomits all over the place. Mom grabs her and contains most of the vomit on her sweater while dad collects dinner suddenly to-go. Ten minutes after throwing it all up, Autumn is back to her happy little self. Rhona and I spend a wonderful weekend in Cleveland for our five-year wedding anniversary. We have a fantastic and grown-up weekend with dinners outside on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Milestone: Rhona and Matt celebrate 5 years of marriage.

In October, we learn that we’re pregnant, due date May 31st . October, however starts with Rhona feeling incredible cramps and pain in her belly. After a day of doctor and specialist visits, Rhona is admitted to the hospital for observation. No one can figure out the reason for the pain, and the tests they can perform are limited because of her pregnancy. They rule a lot out, but the waiting and the stress is enough to send us all over the deep end. Not knowing is the hardest part. Having Rhona in the hospital, even overnight, had me thinking about life without her. It’s something we can’t have. We need mom more than ever. She was released, and to date, doesn’t feel the same pain as she did early in the month. October ends much better with Autumn trick-or-treating as a cow.

Milestone: She says MOO when you ask her what a cow says, unless of course she is wearing a cow costume.

November sees the pregnancy progress more smoothly. Mom can’t rest as often as she’d like thanks to our little peanut. But mom is doing a wonderful job making it all happen. This is the month she takes her final comprehensive exam for her masters, and passes. It’s official: mom simply has to complete her thesis and will officially have a Masters degree in Student Personnel Administration. We’re incredibly proud of the work, time and effort mom put into earning this degree (six years of part time schooling). We celebrate with a big turkey dinner on her birthday (which is also Thanksgiving).

Milestone: Rhona passes her exam.

Rhona finishes her thesis and officially completes all requirements for her Masters degree. December sees us mom and dad giving each other our one big Christmas present. We are getting our front room in our house renovated. It’s called the living room, and it is in fact the room we live in. Meaning, when the renovations start today! We’ll be confined to the other rooms in our house – except for the dining room, which contains all of the living room furniture. Chaotic yes, exciting definitely!

Milestone: We write this year in review.

We have been looking for the perfect house. Not being the right time to find it, we are taking steps to make this one OUR perfect house. It’s a house filled with laughter, dancing, hugs and kisses. Autumn makes the days seem, at the same time both hard and long. But they are also rewarding, exciting and fulfilling. There is no doubt in our minds that staying home with Autumn was the right decision for us.

Have a happy holiday. And if you ever want to follow the action on a more day-to-day basis, contact us. We’ll show you how.

Happy Holidays!

What to do when you renovate

We're renovating our living room.

Look at those two words: living, room. It's not only the largest room in our house (more than twice as large as the next biggest), it's truly the room we live in. It'e the room with the TV, the computer, and Autumn's toys.

We're getting it turned into the room we've always wanted. Which is exciting, though daunting, since we can't use it while it's getting remodeled. That said, i thought I would put together the top ten things to think about when renovating your living room:

10. Next time, get it done in the summer. I'm just saying.
9. Bake cookies. lots of them. Or bake a cook. Or cook. You'll be spending a lot more time in the kitchen listening to talk radio, so you might as well cook something good.
8. Hang out in bed. Admittedly, this is wishful thinking. Autumn might be willing to spend about 10 seconds in bed. After that, you're done.
7. Walk. (see #1).
6. Go to a friend's house. True, we have Autumn, so it's bit more than just getting in and hanging out. However, if you read this and you're within a drive, there's a chance you might find us on your doorstep.
5. Cruise around Buffalo in the car. A. This gets Autumn to sleep (see #8).
4. Beg and plead for contractor guy to go faster.
3. Get outta dodge. Head to Canada, drop off Autumn and Lucy at happy grandparent's and go out to dinner in Toront0.
2. Repeat #3.
1. I think you get the message.

Update: our contractor was suppose to start tomorrow. The room we live in, AKA the living room, is empty of furniture.

Only now, he isn't starting until next Monday. ARRRGGHH. Deep breaths are required. And perhaps beer.