On Thursday and Friday, the contractors worked to finish up as much as they could so they could move on to another project next week. They will be returning here in a few weeks to install a window and complete any finishing touches such as grouting the kitchen backsplash before we can say that the renovation here is complete. For me, that is a little frustrating but from a financial perspective, it works in our favour to have this break in the action so our bank accounts have a chance to recover.
Our new front door was installed on Thursday along with a new storm door. The new door lets in a lot of light and of all the work we have had done, it is just about the only real change to the curb appeal of our house.
In the kitchen, the plumbing was hooked up for the kitchen sink and the dishwasher. Once you live without a kitchen sink for a month, you realize just what a luxury it truly is.
I had to reverse the doors on the refrigerator before it got moved from it’s temporary spot in the family room to its new permanent home in the kitchen. Then, once the fridge was in place, it took me way too much time to get it levelled and balanced.
On Friday, one contractor put up the tile back splash in the kitchen while the other one installed aluminum capping around the basement window and front door and cleaned up the last bits of the previous owner’s ugly plumbing in the basement. There are still a few finishing touches left to be done– some minor touch-ups, a piece of trim here and there, and they intend to take care of them when they return to install the front window. However, I may take care of some of these things myself to save some money. We’ll see if ambition prevails over laziness.
The HVAC guys finished on Thursday, sort of. They still have to install a take-off for the AC vent in the bathroom. There is also a leak in the heating line– a repair that will require the system to be drained again. We had planned for the new baseboard rads in the workroom and storage room to be installed in the fall, but instead they will be installed on Monday when the system is drained for the leak repair. That way, we will be completely finished with the HVAC guys on Monday. The only downside is that I have to install a couple of pieces of drywall, something that wasn’t a priority before but that now needs to be done this weekend. Just add that to my punch list.
And yes, as much as I didn’t want to have one, I do have a punch list. It has now come down to nickels and dimes and it just makes more sense for me to finish some things myself. In retrospect, there were probably a lot of things I could have done myself to save money, but it wasn’t obvious until a couple of weeks ago just how badly we blew our budget. At any rate, our money is depleted so it’s not like we have much choice now but to roll up our sleeves and take care of some of the finishing touches ourselves. Once the contractors return to install the front window, we want absolutely everything associated with the renovation to be completely finished by the time they leave. Amd that includes any expenses….
