First Injury

So the latest contractor came last Thursday - we still have not heard back but he said by today or tomorrow so I am sure I will have more about that later - and we were walking him through the project.  He asked about our dropped ceiling and I went to move a panel, which I have done a hundred times before without incident, and it crashed down on to my face!!!  Talk about pain.  It immediately swelled and was very painful!  The attached picture was 5 days after the fact so you cannot tell as well.  It is just the yellowing, healing shot.  It was pretty bad though, enough I was asked about my black eye by more than a couple people.  The contractor commented it would be the first of many injuries along this journey.  I told him no way, I am paying him to be the one getting injured!  Anyways, hoping for good news soon so will post as soon as we hear some news.....

And the drama continues.....

Last week the contractor who we thought we would be working with over the next couples months came over to finalize all of the details of the project so there are no surprises along the way.  We added and clarified some items with him.  It was a long detailed process making sure the entire scope of the project was completely understood.  Maddy was feeling neglected with all of the business being done and attention not being given to her and threw herself down the stairs.  Ok, not really.  We are not sure what happened exactly but we heard boom boom and then cries burst out as she landed on the tile in the hallway.  She was fine, nothing some gummi worms could not fix, but it was scary.  Crazy enough in 2 years, that was the very first time she has ever fallen on the stairs - and lets hope it was the last!  So during the meeting we got a timeline, he predicts about 8 weeks start to finish which would be incredible and I was getting very excited hoping to start soon and get it hammered out before the cold comes back and we are stuck inside a house in complete disarray.  The next day we received the revised contract to be signed.  It seemed many things we thought were included in the original bid were not and became additional costs.  The several costs ended up being like $300 here, $400 there but several extra lines.... the additional costs were a surprise and left us with a bad feeling.  The worst was the front door.  The proposal had stated $1300 (includes $1000 door allowance).  We had gotten a quote from Home Depot and they said door installation was $300.  One of my insureds quoted me the same and the original construction company we had brought out was $325.  (Their quote stated $1000 (includes $699 steel door)).  So we thought he probably was the same and was $300 to install and was giving us $1000 allowance to find a door.  Not so much!  When we clarified he stated $1300 was labor and the $1000 allowance meant it might be up to $2300 if the door was damaged and some wood or moldings needed replaced....  When Matt told me this I made him forward me the email because I was in disbelief.  When I saw it with my own eyes, I won't lie, my heart sunk and disappointment began to set in.  My excitement from actually seeing a start and worked out timeline vanished quickly with doubts and questions.  If the door was so much higher, was everything else??  We thought we had done a good job finding someone reliable, with a good reputation and comparable prices to others.  However now there is so much doubt - and sadness.  I won't lie I am ready for this to be over.  Not just started, but completed.  The sooner the better for me as this has been a long time coming and I don't want another winter to come and go with the house still in shambles.  So on to the next contractor....  We have not completely written off this one as we like him and I supposed could always just have the front door installed by someone else however with the doubts and questions we are now bringing in yet another contractor to make sure we are not being taken advantage of or over paying.  We have the detailed exact written contract so it at least will be able to compare as I have just deleted the prices and hope to get an exact quote from this next contractor to compare.  Just another bump in the road on a journey we have yet to really begin.....  My fear now is the appliances will be delivered (which we set to be delivered over 2 months out) and the work will not even have begun yet.

First Appliances Ordered

After many long months of research and endless trips to stores we had narrowed down what we liked it terms of styling and appearance.  We have been doing a lot of research, reading reviews and watching prices on appliances for a couple months.  I was not quite ready to purchase, however JD tells us he needs the exact dimensions of our appliances before building our cabinets.... so finally we needed to make our order.  Home Depot was having a Red, White and Blue sale over the 4th of July.  We went to store and looked at the sale items and pretty much figured out what we wanted, and after comparisons found the prices were great on the refrigerator, dishwasher, washer and dryer we wanted.  Yes, I said washer and dryer.  In the massiveness of the project, apparently the laundry room is now getting gutted as well....  Matt feels front loaders will more match the newly designed first floor and feels a granite countertop built over the washer and dryer would be a nice touch.  This project just keeps expanding...  The appliances ordered were http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100679670/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202717104, http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100641732/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202717155, http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202070581/h_d2/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&keyword=MHWE200XW&jspStoreDir=hdus&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&navFlow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search and http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202070579/h_d2/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&keyword=MEDE200XW&jspStoreDir=hdus&Nu=P_PARENT_ID&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL&navFlow=3&catalogId=10053&langId=-1&ddkey=Search.  If anyone has negative experiences with these items, please do not let us know as they have already been paid for! :)  They allowed us to schedule a delivery date out to September 17 so hopefully everything else will be done then and ready so the appliances do not sit around for too long.  The ordering process was a big mess.  We decided to order online and waited until literally 2 hours before the end of the sale on July 7 at midnight.  We did not purposely intend on waiting that late, just ended up that way after a busy 4th and some migraines issues.  So we planned ahead and each bought 2 $500 gift cards from Giant Eagle for gas points.  For those unfamiliar, Giant Eagle offers $.20 off a gallon of gas for every $50 in gift certificates you purchase from them.  You are allowed to purchase up to 30 gallons for each redemption of the value.  So we just take the gas cans and make sure to get our full amount.  By doing this, we will save $240 in gas - every little bit helps with such a big project.  Moving on.... apparently many people also waited until the last minute to purchase items at the Red, White and Blue sale.  The web site was extremely slow and kept erasing our cart and timing out.  Very annoying.  Even more annoying - the instant rebates were not coming off our products.  We noticed this of course as well after we were ready to check out, had entered each gift card with its 20 digit code and 4 digit pin followed by having to type in the correct letters to verify after each card was entered.  So we went back to make sure we had qualifying products, which we did and of course then all of the gift cards that took forever to enter, had disappeared!!!  We did a live chat asking why the rebates were not being removed and were told to call an 800 number.  We called and after 13 minutes finally got through to someone who went to check for us and disconnected us.....  We called back, waited about 20 minutes to finally get through to someone who told us she could not help us and put us on hold.  She came back a bit later and said there was an unusually high call volume - I am pretty sure we were not the only ones having issues - and the wait could be over an hour!!!  By that time, the sale would be over. So we placed our order and immediately emailed customer service regarding our rebate.  A day later I got a lovely response stating to call the 800 number.....  very annoying.  I did however, got through much more quickly this time and was greeted by a friendly man who offered me a $50 refund or $60 Home Depot gift card.  I figure we will become regulars there over the next couple weeks so I took the gift card.  I got the gift card emailed to me in less than 30 minutes too which was nice, however the ordering process was not necessarily positive.  The exact appliances are significantly higher priced now on their sites, as well as others, so at least we got a good deal... I think.  The cooktop and microwave/oven built in combo are still be searched for.  I think I have found them, just need to order them now.... thinking about purchasing from an online site.  The site gets great reviews, mostly, and it is a $700 difference so I think I might take my chances...

The journey so far...

Hopefully what has happened so far is not foreshadowing for what is to come.  We started this process a couple months ago bringing in the first contractor.  He came to the house, gave ideas, talked about many things then left never to be heard from again....  We left messages and sent emails but apparently he was not interested in our project?!?!  Not real sure but that was not the start we were hoping for.  The next company came out right away, was very friendly, had great ideas, left and after some calling and emailing over a month later got back to us with an estimate.  In communications, it is very hard to get a response in less than two weeks - or ever - from them so we do not take this as a good sign.  Another not so great start.... (Ironically enough these all were referrals as well....)  Finally our neighbors recommended the contractor they used to completely - even more than we are doing - remodel their home.  He came quickly, had estimates prepared in a week and is easy to get a hold of.  Next week he is coming to finalize the plans and set a start date - probably 1-2 weeks.  Another bonus - Madelyn loved him.  She kept bringing him her own tools and trying to get him to play with her.

As for the remodel, it started off as a kitchen remodel, but has now turned into a complete first floor makeover.  We are adding a look through from the kitchen into the brick room which has never been well utilized in 6 years so it will be nice to open it up.  We are also taking out the hall closet, expanding the hallway, and moving/enlarging the door opening into the living room to open up the first floor.  When the work is complete you will be able to see from the brick room all the way into the living room which will be nice and make the first floor seem much more open.  We are simplifying (or bringing up to date) the living room by removing the wood paneling on the walls, the beams on the ceiling and the built ins.  The laundry room and bathroom are getting slight makeovers but all the details are not quite worked out just yet.  The entire first floor will have brazilian walnut wood floors which are absolutely beautiful.  (They were purchased at a great sale months ago and are patiently waiting for their new home!)  A new front door is also being put in and new shiny white trim all throughout the first floor.  Much needed as well, the electrical wiring and box is being updated so hopefully when we use the microwave the entire first floor will no longer lose power!!

The kitchen will still be the biggest project of all.  The entire kitchen, sadly including everyones favorites, the dropped ceiling and built in zodiac symbol cutting board, are being gutted.  Can lighting will be installed, as well as new cabinets and appliances.  For the cabinets we started working with a free consultant at Home Depot to quickly find what we wanted really would not work through standard built cabinets.  My parents and brother have both used Miller Cabinets in Plain City to custom build their cabinets.  Both had great experiences and incredible quality.  We have been working several months now with JD to design the kitchen, custom island and actual design of the cabinets.  I never had any idea how much went into designing your own cabinets.  The possibilities, and questions from JD, are endless!!  There are 5 different ways just to mount the cabinet door, not to mention then you decide from a million different cabinet doors.  Since we are custom building these pretty much anything goes.  Same for color, pretty much anything you could imagine.  They have multiple doors and drawers and you can pick what you like from one and add another detail from another.... the whole process gives me a headache and is an overwhelming process.  When we thought we had it all figured out, we took Maddy for our last color consultation and then JD was like what kind of crown molding do you want, what kind of hardware do you want, what are the exact dimensions of your appliances????  I was like seriously, I came to pick out a color.....  We finally, at least as far as I know, think we have all the details with the cabinets finally squared away.  It is just stressful knowing they cost significantly more than the car I just bought from mom, really wanting to make sure we love every detail about them.

So that is my story so far.  It is going to be a very long process filled with many decisions (off the top of my head I just realized we will have to pick out all new paint colors, new door knobs, not to mention if we have any money left we might need to furnish it as well.....  so many details).  Some days I think it might be easier to just start over - move and buy something move in ready.  But when Matt weeds, cuts the grass and everything is trimmed, I know why we love it there.  It is peaceful, a great setting and there is plenty of room for the dogs and Madelyn to run out their abundance of energy!  More than anything, it is where we started our lives together, took wedding pictures and brought Madelyn home for the very first time.  I hardly notice the carpeted island in the kitchen or missing tiles in the hall any more because it is home and that is what is most important.  However, when it is a beautifully remodeled up to date home, it might be loved for more than just sentimental reasons!!

About to begin.....

Almost 6 years ago Matt and I, about to be married, bought our first home.  We were wide eyed kids with no idea what we were getting into.  We fell in love with the land, 7.5 acres, the location and the potential for something great.  We had no idea what life would have in store for us to come, how long things would take to complete and how expensive our great dreams for the house actually were.  We had big dreams but not enough money to accomplish them all.  FINALLY - six years later our remodel is about the begin!!  After lots of saving, planning, designing, and more decisions than I ever really wanted to make - with hundreds more probably ahead that I am unaware of - we are about to begin our journey.  This blog will follow our journey, experiences, crazy stories and progress in what I hope to be a quick, painless process (I am not naive however so know there will be bumps along the way).  I will post before and after pictures in what hopefully will be a drastic beautiful transformation of a home in need of some sprucing up.  Hopefully this will be a short painless process! ;)