Throwback Tuesday — This post is from two years ago when we renovated our master bathroom. It should have been a quick (4 to 6 weeks) and easy job but it stretched out to 9 weeks with some hiccups. As is the usual course for us, stuff happened. Right before the job started our coordinator was fired so I had to oversee the workers. Things fell through the cracks. Some things were redone. By the end of the project I would neither use that company again nor recommend them. We have just finished a small reno of our powder room. Easy peasy. Single carpenter. He was wonderful but I’m at the end of the projects list. Yay!
July 2024 — Every time I get a brainstorm to update something, I forget the pain and agony. Now, in the middle of a project, I remember why I put off needed renovations and that intense (homicidal) yearning for a project to be done.
Flies – It doesn’t matter if you do a project in the dead of winter there are flies. No one invites them in. The doors open when contractors are carting trash out or bringing materials in. The flies know. There is a fly village newspaper that tells them which house they can access. Once in the house, they instinctively know how to be annoying. Find the litter boxes and the food and then alternate. If they can find overripe fruit, score! I got very good at catching flies (and no I did not rehome them!). It’s not a skill I want to add to my resume.
Lack of privacy – There are people here every day. Sometimes only for a few hours but it still requires that we are up, dressed, cats fed, litterbox cleared and cars out of the driveway before 7:30 a.m. The annoying part is when you’ve done all that and no one shows.
The dirt – Most contractors clean up at the end of their workday, but they are in a hurry. It’s not their skillset. Or maybe I’m neurotic (a definite yes). I clean at the end of their workday. Every day. Not the whole house but the adjacent areas and walkways and the garage which seems to attract construction gunk. Some days there are insulation fibers hanging around and other days it’s just construction dirt like chunks of drywall or wood chips.
Progress is slow and “spurty.” A few dead days are followed by a flurry of activity. Today we have four workers. Yesterday there were none. For sure this will be the last large-scale project we do. If I even mention anything taking longer than a week (my new threshold), take me out to a field and shoot me.
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
I am sure I’m done ever having a big project or any renovation done upstairs after flipping out when the guy showed up late and then I later learned that my angst was for naught. The owner/crew have changed their hours from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. When I offered him to show up as early as he wanted due to the heat, he might have said “ma’am, we’ve changed our hours to work later at night now.” Oh well. When we had a male painter/paperer in about 30 years ago, he never cleaned up and he painted everything with a very thin coat. He would leave for the day and I’d come home from work to my mom painting the windowsills and door frames as he didn’t put enough paint on them for the first coat. He retired and the next time we had it painted/wallpapered was a woman whom I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that spent more time off the job, than on the job. It took almost a month for the job to be done and it is not a large house.
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I will gladly take all that crap for my painter to finally show up. :)
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Yep, it’s hard to live in a house and rebuild it. Someday, though, we will have to do something with ours, and I’m dreading it.
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I’m glad all the construction work on my condo is outside work this summer. I can shut the curtains and forget they are there.
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No improvement jobs right now. We are going to try to breeze right through hurricane season. I so remember your coordinator for your project was fired.. ugh. It is definitely…… all about the lack of privacy during a reno… and the thought about did they send a worker dude with no clue what’s going on.
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It was the daily up, dressed and all chores done before 7:30 and then have no one show that would annoy me. The tiler made me nuts and he was here for 3 weeks. We had redone two showers at the last house. Both times the tiler took 5 days to do the tiling. I couldn’t figure what was taking so long.
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I hate DIY, especially when Hubby is intent on doing it himself. He mentioned putting up screening on our porch, just the sides, no door. Couldn’t decide how to do it. I’ve kept quiet, and he’s forgotten…… for now.
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Not sure why he would want to do that without a door but ok. Maybe he’s won’t remember!
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The intention was to give us some protection from the wind as we didn’t want a full porch because we only have one door into the property.
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What a great (? so to speak) flashback. YIKES…..renos are hard on everyone – the worker bees AND the “Homeys”. I have NEVER done a reno but we are about to do the FIRST ONE EVER. Have had a contractor here to look at the master shower – we want it totally ripped out and replaced with the top of the line “I’ve seen it in all the commercials” type shower. No tile…..smooth….easy to clean…..seat for the old people (us)……the whole nine yards. Yes it will be expensive but what are we saving for at our age? Anyway, I’ll be sure to do reno updates through the project – have always enjoyed reading yours……! Meanwhile I’m going to try to convince Teddy that he will be official fly catcher – flies drive me crazy and you’re right – there will be flies inside during our reno! EEEK.
Hugs, Pam
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Good luck. Groutless is easy! Sometimes they can do those showers in a day or two. That’s not too bad.
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My house needs a new roof, and I can’t begin to imagine what a mess that is going to make.
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My memory of roof replacements include finding roofing nails an bits of shingles for months afterward.
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I knowwwww! And broken shrubbery!!
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That too!
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