Month: March 2009

Well so far no parts of the house have collapsed. I consider that a good thing.

Today, Peter the contractor came by at the much less painful hour of 9:30 and started propping up the roof so he could remove the beams holding it up.

That means those last little bit of concrete can be removed and they can begin working on the process of getting the patio poured eventually. Unfortunately, we’ve hit another delay. That’s right, a weather delay. We’re in for rain tomorrow. On Friday, Norm the concrete guy is finishing up one other job quickly. Then we’re plagued by rain again through the weekend. So hopefully Monday will be wonderfully sunny and we can get moving with the project again.

In the meantime, Sebastian made a dangerous decision.  He said I can do whatever I want out there to decorate.  That’s true love – or madness.  It is yet to be determined.  First, I need to find some new light fixtures to go on either side of the door.  I’m opposed to paying insane amounts for these since I need at least two in the back, and possibly one for the front if I can convince Sebastian that my neurotic self will not sleep until the lighting fixtures around the outside match.

I’m also going to be on the lookout for patio furniture at a reasonable price.  I checked out the Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s websites.  My goodness!  I am not going to ask Sebastian to spend $1,000 on a seating set for 4.  More importantly, I want a seating set for 4-6 that doesn’t have a dining table or coffee table.  I’d rather have a couple of side tables instead.  Oh, and did I mention I hate wicker?  So wicker furniture is also out.  In other words, this is going to be an adventure, and probably not a fun one.

What was intended to be a fall project, then a “before the first snow” project, and is now a spring project has finally started.

The first delays were due to contractor issues. We couldn’t find one last fall. For all the construction and home improvement slowdown reports, we had contractors who wouldn’t show up for quote appointments, contractors who were quoting 3x what the eventual job will cost, and contractors who came out before deciding they didn’t want the job and didn’t return our phone calls. Fun.

In early fall, a neighbor and I started chatting and he gave me the name of someone he used for construction projects at his job. (He said he would use him for home projects, but he didn’t want to be perceived at work as possibly getting kickbacks.) We called him out, he was willing to do the job, and even better, at the lowest price. Talk about lucky for us.

But then, we had to wait for the weather to break to get the tree out since it required a very heavy crane and the ground was simply too soft. That happened in December. But, we still couldn’t get started. Turns out that licensing and permits from the town go on a calendar year cycle. So if we started in December and hit a delay, we would have to start the paperwork over again and pay another round of government fees.

January arrives and we make contact with our contractor again. He jumped through all the hoops for the town. By the time we get all of the paperwork in hand, signed, and notarized – along with all of the construction drawings and documents – it’s late-February. He drew up a contract, we paid it, and we waited. And waited. And, finally, on Friday, we got permission.

They started work at 8am. And, oddly enough, both neighbors also had either a contractor or landscaper out to do work as well. I think we gave the trash and recycling truck drivers a hard time with all of the trucks in the road. I’ll update with more photos as the project progresses. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s done by the end of the week.