It was a long wait. The contractors had put our project on hiatus back in June, promising to return at a later date to finish up the last few details. They did return once, to install the front picture window, but they didn’t do any of the other work, assuring us that they would indeed return “after the holiday.” The “holiday” to which they referred was Labour Day. Well, weeks turned to months and needless to say, our frustration began to build. We understood that they were very busy, but at the same time, we wanted the work on our house to be finished. After repeated calls to our project manager, and repeated promises that the contractors would contact us plus repeated verbal assurances that they would be out to our house “within the week” (three weeks in a row), they finally returned yesterday.
In a flurry of activity, they grouted the kitchen backsplash and installed under-cabinet lighting. The cracked grout in the bathroom and hallway was removed and replaced. Additional structural reinforcement was done in the basement to address the possible cause of the cracked grout. Popcorn texture was applied to the living room ceiling (more on this at a later date), and a leaking window was addressed.
We had waited over six months for what took the contractors eight hours to finish. But during that six months, we were able to rebuild our cash reserves. And because we were paying time and materials, there was always a big question mark surrounding how much the finishing touches were going to cost. That question mark has been removed, and the cost was much less than I had been anticipating, which is a very positive development.
There is still much work to be done, however. And I can no longer put things off “until after the contractors come back.” So it looks like I need to reawaken my passion for DIY which has been dormant for the last couple of years and finish the following:
- The stairs (which I recently stripped of mismatched paneling and moldings): the spindles are going to be painted white, the hand rail will be refreshed with a couple of coats of polyurethane, and new simpler paneling and moldings will be installed. After the painting is finished, we will have new carpet installed on the steps.
- The living room walls need a bit of repair work and paint, the rest of the electrical needs to be updated, and the hardwood floor needs to be refinished.
- The workroom and storage room in the basement need to be finished. We have not had any water issues since the new sump pump was installed, so I am confident that we can finish off this side of the basement and get a lot of my tools and supplies organized.
That should be enough work to keep me busy for a while…