Over the weekend, we finished the painting!!! YEAH!!! Now comes the touch ups and cleanups which I also dread. Sort of anything at the house I dread right now. Just seems like such a never ending ordeal - I wish I could just twitch my nose and everything would be clean and perfect and moved back in and decorated..... too bad I do not possess such a wonderful power. Last night was a lot of fun. Matt and I spent two hours on our hands and knees scrubbing the hardwood floors getting them ready for cabinet installation. They do look beautiful which is exciting - however the bruises all over my legs are not quite as attractive. Good thing it is pant season! ;)
Last week I was very excited to start this week. We originally had scheduled all construction outstanding to be complete - finish the floors, install the toilet and sink in the bathroom, fix some minor blemishes, install the new front door, etc. We were told originally cabinets would be installed Wednesday - Friday so we rescheduled that stuff for next week so they would not be in each others way. Friday afternoon Matt and I headed out to Miller Cabinets for a walk through to see how our cabinets were built and a sneak peak at the cabinets. After the tour we arrived at a pile of wood..... Some empty boxes, a pile of door and drawer fronts all unpainted. Matt seemed excited while I found myself bewildered. Apparently it showed on my face as Matt asked several times what was wrong. Um other than the fact I was told our installation would occur in 2 business days and there are dozens of unpainted, unfinished, not put together pieces of wood be described to me as my "cabinets", I don't know what is wrong?!?!? We were assured they were next in line for the paint booth and were on time. Come Monday, no word from the scheduler. Tuesday after several calls with no answer, we were called back and told they were primed..... not what I wanted to hear. Wednesday still no call from a scheduler so we call again. Still nothing scheduled though assured they will be installed but perhaps not starting until Friday now. Awesome! The granite people threatened to push back our date once again due to the fact our cabinets are not installed. They are coming Monday to template the granite. We lied and said they were installing tomorrow otherwise the granite install date will be pushed until December which is unacceptable!!! We have been assured the base cabinets will be available to be templated by Monday and they better be. I am just so sick of waiting and on a week that I was expecting so much progress, I have only found disappointment. Sort of heartbroken by it all. Hopefully next week will be better......
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Painting, painting and more painting.....
Things are finally starting to move forward at the homestead and we are hoping to move home in a little over a week, the weekend of the 19th. I cannot wait!! Having my own house, or even better, a much improved house, back will be great. Mom and dad have been wonderful and the living conditions are great, having our own entire floor, bedrooms and bathroom, but nothing compares to your own home - and a garage now that winter is approaching. Everything that has been ordered and in chaos and on backorder is finally starting to arrive. The pendants are in! We have not seen them yet but they have arrived. The front door came, and apparently we should never order products with glass again, because the glass was broken on it. It has been reordered and hopefully will arrive next week. Cabinets are supposed to be complete Monday and installed later next week. I am so excited, however very nervous to see them as well. We spent so much time designing, and even more money building them, I hope they are all we have dreamed they will be. The granite is scheduled for the week of the 28th and our backordered backsplash tile should arrive that same week. We finally got a good deal on a replacement cooktop and it should arrive on the 22nd. Hopefully no more problems or delays with any of these items. I am ready for this project to wrap up. My hopes of having everything complete before I turned 31 is seeming less and less likely. At least I will celebrate at my own home though...
Lately it seems like every spare moment is spent painting. There was so much to do. It is getting less and less overwhelming as the rooms start to be completed. After painting until midnight on Saturday and 9 hours straight on Sunday, and whenever possible since, only the kitchen and brick room are left to be painted. Thank goodness. Thanks also to my dad who is a freakishly fast painter. Without Matt and I getting in his way, he probably would have had the entire house painted twice by now!! I will be happy never to see a paint brush again for a long time however once we finally finish! The color choices have been made and I am pretty happy. I spent literally almost 6 hours on a feature striped wall in the hallway from the kitchen to the living room. I am happy with the way it turned out. People are going to either love it or hate it which I am fine with. I think it is a nice addition to our once all tan painted home! Pictures will come as things start to finish up.
Once the painting is done - the house needs entirely bleached!! It is so dirty and has not been lived in but was inhabited by smoking (not in the house of course) contractors so it has an odd smell. Everything has inches of dust and the my upstairs bathroom has been destroyed by being used by contractors and ourselves for cleaning dirty paint stuff. Hopefully this weekend the painting will be finished and everything will be cleaned up. Progress is being made which is encouraging. Again, I am just so ready to go home.
Lately it seems like every spare moment is spent painting. There was so much to do. It is getting less and less overwhelming as the rooms start to be completed. After painting until midnight on Saturday and 9 hours straight on Sunday, and whenever possible since, only the kitchen and brick room are left to be painted. Thank goodness. Thanks also to my dad who is a freakishly fast painter. Without Matt and I getting in his way, he probably would have had the entire house painted twice by now!! I will be happy never to see a paint brush again for a long time however once we finally finish! The color choices have been made and I am pretty happy. I spent literally almost 6 hours on a feature striped wall in the hallway from the kitchen to the living room. I am happy with the way it turned out. People are going to either love it or hate it which I am fine with. I think it is a nice addition to our once all tan painted home! Pictures will come as things start to finish up.
Once the painting is done - the house needs entirely bleached!! It is so dirty and has not been lived in but was inhabited by smoking (not in the house of course) contractors so it has an odd smell. Everything has inches of dust and the my upstairs bathroom has been destroyed by being used by contractors and ourselves for cleaning dirty paint stuff. Hopefully this weekend the painting will be finished and everything will be cleaned up. Progress is being made which is encouraging. Again, I am just so ready to go home.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Been Awhile...
Sorry I haven't written in awhile. Life is super crazy. Construction technically is done at the house. There is some finishing work to be done but the regular daily construction crew has left. The laundry list of things we are waiting for seems to grow daily and includes:
-Front door
-Cabinets - kitchen and laundry room
-Granite
-Backordered backsplash
-Resolution on flooring issues
-Cracked cooktop that had to be returned
-Installation of sink and toilet in first floor bathroom
-Pendants - yes you read that correctly, we finally ordered some - lets hope we like them
That is all I can think of off the top of my head but the waiting game is definitely not fun. I am past the point of agreeing with Madelyn and our dog Max, I just want to go home! I am so ready for EVERYTHING to be finished and settled back in, ready to enjoy some of my favorite times of the year - the holidays!! Cannot wait to bake cookies and make meals and entertain in my new house!! However, it just seems like it will never come. Some days now I just feel defeated going into the empty house that is in such disarray. It is so dirty and sort of smelly, not to mention empty and the entire 1400+ square foot first floor needs primed and painted. The ceilings have finally all been repainted and slowly the walls, after a ton of new spackling and sanding to fix the damage of 35 years of wear and tear, are starting to get primed. It is such a huge and overwhelming task. I think I just need to take one room at a time because when I sit and look at the entire first floor that needs so much work, my heart races, I start sweating and have trouble breathing. Matt, other than a bout with a fever, has been very good about working a lot at the house. It is hard for us to both get there with Maddy demanding a lot of attention as always when I am not at work. Hopefully this weekend we will complete the painting and I will feel much better about the entire situation. Even just like a finished laundry and bathroom I think will make me feel better actually seeing progress.
Since I last wrote there has been some drama. Some how we came up about 150 square feet short on flooring. We had to order 5 extra boxes and ordered from the same company the other 1000ish feet came from. We installed brazilian walnut flooring which we have dreamed about since purchasing the house. It was love at first sight when we looked at flooring. It is an exotic hardwood so it is very strong and durable with two large dogs and a 2 year old running loose around the house. Most of the pictures and samples we saw were a very dark brown, almost black and dark green tones to the floor. When they installed the floor, it seemed redder than we expected. We were assured it was brazilian walnut, all of the boxes were labeled the same and were showed brazilian cherry which is much more red. Though it is beautiful, it was not as we expected. Since we were assured it was the right wood, we did not push the issue. When the next 5 boxes came and were installed, it looks like a completely different flooring. The dark browns Matt wanted appeared in the new flooring. This not only upset Matt because it is truly what he wanted, also 2/3 of the living room looks COMPLETELY different. With the amount of money spent on the flooring and installation, this is not something we are going to let go. We will fight until it is resolved because this is not our fault. I cannot imagine with all of the money we have invested, time we have spent completely moving out of our house, to make it perfect, living with a floor that bothers me every time I go in noticing it is clearly two different colors. We have filed a complaint and claim and are waiting on a resolution.
Second large drama comes with the cooktop. We built in the ovens in the wall so there is no microwave or hood over the cooktop so we have to find a cooktop with built in ventilation system. There are only 2 companies that actually sell a 5 burner 36 inch cooktop with built in ventilation. The prices between ordering online and buying in the store is over $300 difference. So where I was wary about buying online, after reading several great reviews, I figured the $300 savings was worth the shot. The cooktop was delivered and when we opened it, the glass was shattered. We filed a claim and actually were refunded our money, however the company we purchased it from no longer delivers to our zip code. We checked two other online sites, and they are stating the same thing now. This leaves us with no choice but to purchase from a store and pay over $300 more for the exact same product. Makes no sense to me and I find it very frustrating. $300 is like my sink for the laundry room, just another issue throwing the budget over.
The laundry room has now become another show piece. After spending time with Lowes and getting ideas, their prices were more than our cabinet builders to install with hardware so now Miller Cabinets is doing our laundry room as well. I think it will turn out very nice and functional. JD at Miller Cabinets in Plain City has been so fantastic. If you ever want custom cabinets, he is amazing, has great ideas, is easy to work with, and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I highly recommend him. The only disappointment however is the cabinets that were supposed to be done Friday are not going to be done and installed until "the week of November 14". I say that because they call on Monday to schedule installation later in the week. So it will probably take the entire week to complete it. Sadly, this throws off our granite templating and installation so we will wait longer now for that to get installed.
We have also been in search for the perfect granite. We picked out our steel grey but have still not found the perfect Alpine White - also called like 10 different things however it cannot be found. I fell in love with it at a different granite store where the prices were much higher. After scouring 4 different warehouses, we have yet to find what I originally fell in love with. One of the manufacturers has a delivery that is late, was supposed to be there October 15th, so we are hoping it has our perfect piece. This granite is for the 5 x 9.5 island which is the centerpiece of the kitchen. I want to love it and it to be perfect so this is a bit of a stresser. Hopefully it is resolved quickly as well. The granite person we are working with has been helpful, always answers his phone or calls right back, and was significantly less than 4 other local granite companies. I will wait until after installation for a final review and referral but so far have been pleased. We are getting the granite for both the kitchen and laundry room - yes you read that right we are putting granite in the laundry room now - for the same price as granite alone at all other stores.
Paint colors are also an issue at this time. This must be resolved quickly as we are hoping to finish painting this weekend. I am very indecisive and colors I think I like in the store I buy samples of and hate on the wall. I am pretty sure I have gone through 9 different samplers so far without really LOVING anything. Perhaps I should just paint the entire first floor tan again.... seems an easier answer. This is a boring copout however so I will push through and remain on my search for the perfect shades.
Well, I am sure I am missing things as it has been a crazy month and I lost track of everything. Luckily however I am yet to lose Madelyn - though I might have lost my mind. Hopefully from here on out things go smoothly and we finish quickly. My birthday is fastly approaching, one month from today, it would be nice to have everything done, installed, and settled back in at my own house as I start my 31st year of life!
-Front door
-Cabinets - kitchen and laundry room
-Granite
-Backordered backsplash
-Resolution on flooring issues
-Cracked cooktop that had to be returned
-Installation of sink and toilet in first floor bathroom
-Pendants - yes you read that correctly, we finally ordered some - lets hope we like them
That is all I can think of off the top of my head but the waiting game is definitely not fun. I am past the point of agreeing with Madelyn and our dog Max, I just want to go home! I am so ready for EVERYTHING to be finished and settled back in, ready to enjoy some of my favorite times of the year - the holidays!! Cannot wait to bake cookies and make meals and entertain in my new house!! However, it just seems like it will never come. Some days now I just feel defeated going into the empty house that is in such disarray. It is so dirty and sort of smelly, not to mention empty and the entire 1400+ square foot first floor needs primed and painted. The ceilings have finally all been repainted and slowly the walls, after a ton of new spackling and sanding to fix the damage of 35 years of wear and tear, are starting to get primed. It is such a huge and overwhelming task. I think I just need to take one room at a time because when I sit and look at the entire first floor that needs so much work, my heart races, I start sweating and have trouble breathing. Matt, other than a bout with a fever, has been very good about working a lot at the house. It is hard for us to both get there with Maddy demanding a lot of attention as always when I am not at work. Hopefully this weekend we will complete the painting and I will feel much better about the entire situation. Even just like a finished laundry and bathroom I think will make me feel better actually seeing progress.
Since I last wrote there has been some drama. Some how we came up about 150 square feet short on flooring. We had to order 5 extra boxes and ordered from the same company the other 1000ish feet came from. We installed brazilian walnut flooring which we have dreamed about since purchasing the house. It was love at first sight when we looked at flooring. It is an exotic hardwood so it is very strong and durable with two large dogs and a 2 year old running loose around the house. Most of the pictures and samples we saw were a very dark brown, almost black and dark green tones to the floor. When they installed the floor, it seemed redder than we expected. We were assured it was brazilian walnut, all of the boxes were labeled the same and were showed brazilian cherry which is much more red. Though it is beautiful, it was not as we expected. Since we were assured it was the right wood, we did not push the issue. When the next 5 boxes came and were installed, it looks like a completely different flooring. The dark browns Matt wanted appeared in the new flooring. This not only upset Matt because it is truly what he wanted, also 2/3 of the living room looks COMPLETELY different. With the amount of money spent on the flooring and installation, this is not something we are going to let go. We will fight until it is resolved because this is not our fault. I cannot imagine with all of the money we have invested, time we have spent completely moving out of our house, to make it perfect, living with a floor that bothers me every time I go in noticing it is clearly two different colors. We have filed a complaint and claim and are waiting on a resolution.
Second large drama comes with the cooktop. We built in the ovens in the wall so there is no microwave or hood over the cooktop so we have to find a cooktop with built in ventilation system. There are only 2 companies that actually sell a 5 burner 36 inch cooktop with built in ventilation. The prices between ordering online and buying in the store is over $300 difference. So where I was wary about buying online, after reading several great reviews, I figured the $300 savings was worth the shot. The cooktop was delivered and when we opened it, the glass was shattered. We filed a claim and actually were refunded our money, however the company we purchased it from no longer delivers to our zip code. We checked two other online sites, and they are stating the same thing now. This leaves us with no choice but to purchase from a store and pay over $300 more for the exact same product. Makes no sense to me and I find it very frustrating. $300 is like my sink for the laundry room, just another issue throwing the budget over.
The laundry room has now become another show piece. After spending time with Lowes and getting ideas, their prices were more than our cabinet builders to install with hardware so now Miller Cabinets is doing our laundry room as well. I think it will turn out very nice and functional. JD at Miller Cabinets in Plain City has been so fantastic. If you ever want custom cabinets, he is amazing, has great ideas, is easy to work with, and is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I highly recommend him. The only disappointment however is the cabinets that were supposed to be done Friday are not going to be done and installed until "the week of November 14". I say that because they call on Monday to schedule installation later in the week. So it will probably take the entire week to complete it. Sadly, this throws off our granite templating and installation so we will wait longer now for that to get installed.
We have also been in search for the perfect granite. We picked out our steel grey but have still not found the perfect Alpine White - also called like 10 different things however it cannot be found. I fell in love with it at a different granite store where the prices were much higher. After scouring 4 different warehouses, we have yet to find what I originally fell in love with. One of the manufacturers has a delivery that is late, was supposed to be there October 15th, so we are hoping it has our perfect piece. This granite is for the 5 x 9.5 island which is the centerpiece of the kitchen. I want to love it and it to be perfect so this is a bit of a stresser. Hopefully it is resolved quickly as well. The granite person we are working with has been helpful, always answers his phone or calls right back, and was significantly less than 4 other local granite companies. I will wait until after installation for a final review and referral but so far have been pleased. We are getting the granite for both the kitchen and laundry room - yes you read that right we are putting granite in the laundry room now - for the same price as granite alone at all other stores.
Paint colors are also an issue at this time. This must be resolved quickly as we are hoping to finish painting this weekend. I am very indecisive and colors I think I like in the store I buy samples of and hate on the wall. I am pretty sure I have gone through 9 different samplers so far without really LOVING anything. Perhaps I should just paint the entire first floor tan again.... seems an easier answer. This is a boring copout however so I will push through and remain on my search for the perfect shades.
Well, I am sure I am missing things as it has been a crazy month and I lost track of everything. Luckily however I am yet to lose Madelyn - though I might have lost my mind. Hopefully from here on out things go smoothly and we finish quickly. My birthday is fastly approaching, one month from today, it would be nice to have everything done, installed, and settled back in at my own house as I start my 31st year of life!
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