can i have some cheese to go with this whine? plus meet the new lewis & clark ...

oooooohhhhhh, I'm depressed. After THREE reschedulings on our part, we (okay, mostly Jason) worked really really hard and slept very very little to have the upstairs pretty much ready for carpet this morning. We painted, patched, brushed and swept, nailed, secured, laughed and wept and dammit we were READY.

They're not coming.

WAAAAAAHHHH!

They said something about being shorthanded, yet I can't help but feel it is payback for our postponements. Originally this was scheduled exactly thirty days beforehand (Feb 14). But we've just been so damned BUSY. And of course, there was a lot more than we realized to do! Isn't that always the case? argledybargle. #@?! See why I need the cheese?

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In other news, Merlin and Cosmo have been rechristened Lewis & Clark, after a breakout expedition last evening that took them 'round the Humphrey House neighborhood. Yep, you got it folks, Cosmo/Clark is officially a bad influence. For years Merlin has looked through screen windows at the world outside, occassionally pawing but never daring an actual escape. So I felt little to no trepidation last night opening the basement level window in our makeshift bedroom to allow some fresh air in, knowing the screen was locked firmly in place. The cats jumped up to the sill and sniffed at the air, and I left them there. Two hours later, when I came into the room to check on them, they were nowhere to be found, and the screen was laying on the ground outside. I went outside and called them, and Cosmo came out of hiding almost right away, trying to sneak back into the window behind me - but Jason caught him. Merlin was more elusive. After about fifteen minutes I'd made two trips up and down the alley, and found two teenagers making out and a pretty white kitty, but no Merlin. I had just finished my first trip down the street when I saw Merlin coming out of the brush next door, heading for the still open window and looking like a kid sneaking in after breaking curfew.

Damn cats. But you'd all be proud - I reigned the panic in pretty well, if I do say so myself. The power of pinking thositively is not to be underestimated ... but still, damn cats.

Which brings us to a whole new dilemma ... what to do about the windows upstairs with their measly screens now that Cosmo has gotten wise?

what's a bitca?

We had planned on carpet being installed on Valentine’s Day, but after our contractors bailed, we had to push that back and rescheduled for February 28. We were confident that the remaining work (sanding of the hallways, laundry room and miscellaneous crappily-done areas throughout the upstairs, then priming and painting of the areas, plus hanging of doors and trim and leveling of all the floors) could be done before next Wednesday.

We stopped being confident of this last night.

SIGH. What to do, what to do? Maybe I should sit back and watch Buffy in a state of panic. Nothing puts your problems in perspective like some blonde-fashionista-vampire-butt-kicking chicka quipping away with masterpieces of sarcastic wit as she saves the world and stakes one vampire and makes out with another. and another.

Think I could sic Buffy on our bailed contractors? Or the handyman who was irritatingly right when he told me it couldn't be done? Or maybe on the cable television, true master of the art of time suckage ...

Bored now.

You're Fired

Our contractors never came back. So, after several more phone calls, we called our lawyer on Friday, and on Saturday prepared a formal You're Fired note. I tried to fax it to the number we had, and it just kept hanging up. So I decided to deliver it in person. DF Sara, who's been a process server in the past, offered to come with me and get their signature. So we traveled to the address on their business card, which listed a street and a suite number.

Said suite number ended up really being a PO Box number inside a closed UPS Store.

Jesus.

So we came back to the house and set about the task of finishing the upstairs. We got about a quarter of the way through. Sara and I worked on wiping down the walls and starting on primer in a few areas while Jason did taping and mudding and hanging a few last pieces of drywall in the closets. We're on our way. I figure we've got about two more days before we can start actually painting anywhere. There's two areas still needing sanding, and then we've got the priming to do as well. But we're on our way ....

And we've learned a lesson or two as well.

MIA ... again

Just an update.
There's only been one guy here the past week, working on finishing the mudding of the drywall. He's done now. Contractor called on Thurs, apologized for this all taking so long, and vowed to show up, full crew, Friday. All that's left is the sanding and priming.

Again, not so much.
Jason called. He assured Jason he'd be there Saturday morning. We had plans and had to leave the house by 3. Jay called him around 11, and he said they'd be here between 2 and 3.

We left at 3:30.

He called at 4pm, saying he was on his way over. Jay told him that wouldn't work, becuase we had plans and had left the house so they had no access. He said he'd be here today, Sunday, at 3 instead.

Guess what?

Aw hell. At least the Bears won. :)

Wall covering has come

Drywall started magically appearing on the walls of our attic. At least, that how it seems when you leave for work and come home with new walls! What a difference hiring the pros makes - talk about the ultimate Easy Button!

Our garage was full of drywall - 70 sheets! - at the beginning of the week and we're down to about 10 now (sidenote: always buy extras for any project. Going back to return unused merchandise is so much more rewarding than running out to get more of something in order to finish the job!). We're installing several different types of drywall:

• Standard 1/2" 4-foot by 8-foot sheets on the walls


• Standard 5/8" 4-foot by 8-foot sheets on the ceilings


• Standard 3/8" 4-foot by 8-foot sheets on top of older damaged 3/8" drywall in our stairwell


• 1/2" 3-foot by 5-foot cementboard (Durock) in the shower and tile area surrounding the bathtub


• Moisture-resistant "greenboard" 1/2" 4-foot by 8-foot sheets in the bathroom

The most interesting is the cement-board and greenboard in the bathroom. When Sara came by and saw the greenboard the other day she said "wow, you've already started painting in here!" Sorry Sara, but not quite. "Greenboard" contains an oil-based additive in the green colored paper covering that provides moisture resistance. Since we're adding a steam shower in our bathroom, we're making sure every surface has this installed.

The cement board, while difficult (and heavy!) to work with, is much better for wet water areas like our custom sized shower. Greenboard is not suitable for backerboard in this instance, and as of 01/2006 is no longer accepted in building code (International Residential Code R702.3.8). So grudgingly, I admit that building codes have their uses. I don't want to lean against the wall while taking a shower and have my hand fall through it like others have done.

So now that most of the wallboard is installed (only cementboard to go), our crew is working on the next step - plastering all the joints and screwholes. And then comes the messy part - sanding. I'm already trying to seal off the rest of the house so we have at least some kind of dust-free zone.

Another Eventful Day.

Today was an.. Interesting day. Sometimes, it truly seems that the sagas never end when renovation is going on. Today, in fact, could quite possibly be described as a series of unfortunate events:

a) We found out the window we picked out earlier this week won't work. A window above a bathtub (less than 5' off the ground) must be made of tempered glass (like an auto windshield), so that if you slip and fall when stepping out of the tub, you don't shatter the glass and slice your legs off. Yes, it's part of the building code. Fortunately, our alley-neighbor Mike (who is graciously letting Jay park his truck in one of his spaces) sells Andersen windows. So we put in an order for tempered, obscured glass with a nice Prairie-style grill. Should be here in 3 weeks.

b) After ordering a 4'-wide window, we discovered the contractors had already framed the opening. At 3'-wide. Fortunately, we were able to change our window order.


c) Around 11am, Mike called Jay to tell him the dumpster truck was here to pick up the full dumpster. But Jay's truck (parked in Mike's lot as previously mentioned) was in the way. Jen had to leave work to go move it.

d) Shortly before noon, the contractor's office called Jay to inform him the dumpster had been successfully loaded on the truck. The problem was that now the truck could not leave due to a different car that was in the way. Jay asked which car, but they didn't know, so they gave him the phone number for JL Rolloff.

e) After a few unsuccessful attempts, Jay got a hold of JL Rolloff moments after noon. The dispatcher said, "oh yeah, our driver just left there. It took him awhile but finally he was able to get three other guys (Mike the neighbor + 2 of the carpenters), and they lifted(!) the car in question and pushed it out of the way.

f) Meanwhile, back INSIDE the house, actual work was being accomplished. Specifically, framing the three exterior walls of the dormer. Here's the eye-candy:



g) Apparently, while working on cutting some of the lumber in the backyard, the foreman Arthur, was injured by one of the other workers throwing out pieces of our roof. Jen tried to offer him ibuprofen or something for his apparently broken ankle, but he refused.

h) Arthur did tell Jay as he was leaving that he would return tomorrow morning to frame the roof of the dormer. "On a Saturday?!?" Jay asked. "Why not?" he replied, "But maybe we be a little later, maybe 8 instead of 7 turdy." "Yeah," Jay said. "Sleep in a little - it IS Saturday after all."

Wow. Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about how immigrants "ruin" the availability for jobs for American citizens. From what I've seen this week, legal status isn't what people competing for these jobs should be concerned about. The work ethic of these guys has been amazing. They work from 7:30am to 5:30pm or so every day and only take a 30-minute lunch (sometimes shorter). Hard work and dedication, to me, are the spirit that the American dream was built on. Inpsiring.

So maybe not everything that happened to day was unfortunate. But it certainly was eventful.

Attic Exposure

We've moved completely downstairs now. Last weekend Mark, Sara, et al helped us prepare for Monday's start date with our contractors.

After a brief mishap to start the day when their dumpster people said "No way this will fit in your backyard," things got moving once they contacted our previous dumpster service, JL Rolloff (how can we not go with a company that has our initials?) Then our backyard filled up with building materials. And then debris.



After several hours of sawing, ripping, and prying our entire second floor was, in fact, floorless. All the old subflooring was stripped out exposing the ceilings (and electrical runs) from the first floor.

Also, the contractors recommended we install a window (since we ended up moving back the dormer to comply with zoning), so last night we went Window Shopping. After an eventful evening criss-crossing Chicago and Western Suburbs (Lowes, Home Depot, HOBO, and Menards) we finally found one we liked.

And to cap off the day, Jay figured how to get the old mortise lock working so we can lock the basement when we leave for work. Phew!