So I haven't posted for a bit and A LOT has happened in the last two weeks. I promise I will start posting some project specific posts tomorrow with pics but today I thought I'd touch on the emotional aspect of house remodeling. The reason I hadn't posted anything about it was because I thought I needed to give it a few days so that what I posted didn't come off so emotionally raw that those closest to me became concerned. After all folks it's just a house, no one is dying and thought I may act like it's the end of the world, seriously life will go on.
So go back three weeks ago when our contractor started work on the house and we started exposing brick on two walls and you'd be right when the high stressed nightmare began. Ha! So let's talk about the REALITY of exposing brick that no one really addressed in the DIY posts I found online, the REALITY is it's slow, mind numbing back breaking work. To remove drywall and 100 year old plaster on two walls with nothing but a hammer & chisel AND get it completely cleaned up and presentable is going to take some time. If your doing it on weekends and a few hours after work, it's going to take a LONG time. How long, well longer than three weeks. Cause right now we are officially at the 3 week mark and we still have to clean the walls and repair where the mortar or brick is damaged or missing. AS IF that is not demotivating enough exposing brick also leaves a fine plaster dust on each and every surface of the home you just purchased creating what I have started fondly refering to as “a shit show” every time you enter the house. That's right after getting off of work you get to chisel for 3 hours and look around at an unlivable mess thinking “this is what I just committed to 30 years of indebtness for”?
Now as if that wasn't enough stress we also have a contractor who was hired to do work that he estimated would take 5 days. Well it's now 15 days later and all that work is still not done. We basically had to replace him for the remainder of the work, but now are patiently waiting for him to finish the few jobs remaining that he's been paid a deposit for. So that takes us to Tuesday when I realize the contractor in question hadn't shown up to complete the work that was now at least three days behind schedule. When I call him he basically tells me he's pooled his men to a job that has a full days work, until I give him more work, because it makes the most sense for him. Um, well considering the work you have left is NEVER going to be a full day are you telling me your now not coming back?????
I won't get into the specifics but let's just say he did get fired, he won't get the thousands of dollars I owe him until he comes back and finishes the remainder of the work....period. So it doesn't seem like the end of the world now, but let me tell you on Tuesday when it happened BOY did it ever seem like the end of the world. I consider myself a hard, strong person, but let me say I did break. I did find myself sitting in the bathroom of the house thinking “what the hell have we done” and I did call my godmother and insist that she come. Isn't it funny the people you turn to in your time of need and how intuitively you just know who has your back and who will say exactly what you need to hear at exactly the right moment. When Jackie got the call you know what her response was “I knew this call was coming, I can be on a plane on the 8th and I'll take the Amtrak down”. I don't know what it is about knowing you have back up, but the next day having that in mind, rather than being defeated I brushed myself off, called around, found a new contractor and now the house is back to moving along. Saturday morning we got out all the garbage from brick work, cleaned up a lot of dust and things are back on track. I walked in today and thought this house isn't so bad and there really isn't all that much to do. Absolutely NO crying today!
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