Rain, rain, go away! We have had a l o o o n g delay for many reasons, but lately it’s been the weather. It’s rained so much that the breezeway is taking longer that it should.
I have been feeling discouraged and a little doubtful that our new home is ever going to be complete. It looks just about the same as it did 3 months ago. I’m slightly more reassured now, but we still do not know that it will be complete before our rental house owner comes home.
We cannot proceed with insulation and drywall until we build a breezeway connecting the house to the garage because our electric panel is in the garage. There was an error on the plans and they had to be sent back to structural engineering, who took 3 weeks to get new plans to the builder. That’s a lot of valuable time where nothing was happening at the house.
Then, seemingly out of the blue about a month ago, our Project Manager was fired. I am still relaying information to the builder that only he knew about. Every time I encounter something that is wrong at the house and I try to remember what he and I had discussed, I get more frustrated. I miss that feeling of reassurance, knowing someone was on top of every little detail. We had our communication worked out, which is something I’m working on with our new PM.
Finally concrete was poured for the breezeway, followed by a week of on and off rain, waiting for it to cure.
And so… I simply felt defeated. Is this house ever going to be finished? Here I am ordering throw pillows that match our future sofa when the house doesn’t even have walls!
I realize logically that this is not personal, yet it definitely does feel that way. A year and a half of being in limbo, waiting to feel settled again, planning and envisioning and going through all the paperwork and logistics of this crazy process… is just too long.
The idea of “home” is inherently personal. That sense of peace, completeness, settledness is what I’m yearning for.
And so, now when I read this Notes from the Universe that I’d saved from just after the storm, it resonates even more. It feels like a good acknowledgement of all the inner struggle and patience-cultivating that’s happening with me.
I should add that the builder has been very understanding and has completed everything in the interior that’s possible at this point in an effort to show us that things are happening and they are on top of all the little details. We have about 3-4 weeks until drywall, so they say.
For the most part, the design part of the new house has been exciting. And I’m not complaining about getting a new house. I’m simply tired of all the planning and foresight, of not knowing where possessions are, and of the interminable waiting.
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Let’s catch up on what’s been happening over the past month …
Tuesday, 1/29: Working with engineer to have proper dimensions for connection to back of house to existing garage. Once engineer drawings are corrected, concrete crew will connect house to garage. CMU mason will then be scheduled to create stem wall for us to put framing. Mechanicals, electrical, and low voltage all tie into service panel in garage. Need to discuss options for soundproofing and shade pocket change orders.
Thursday, 1/31: Finalizing all paint selections. For our interior doors, we compared Benjamin Moore Century’s “Obsidian” with Sherwin Williams’ “Black Magic.” At first, I liked the SW one, but when dry, the Obsidian won. It’s velvety smooth.
Here it is with our door hardware. It’s going to look sharp!
Much of our carpentry and a couple ceilings will be painted SW “Rainstorm,” which matches the kitchen backsplash tile and will be carried throughout the house in different ways.
Monday, 2/4: Met with builder to go over project with new Project Manager.
Selecting fabrics for living room furniture and pillows.
Thursday, 2/7: Wood slab for bath bench delivered.
Friday, 2/8: Low voltage walk-thru. Added more data connection points, carbon monoxide detector, driveway gate sensor equipment. Pointed out several changes, errors.
Monday, 2/11: Shower pans completed today. Called in for inspection tomorrow.
Tuesday, 2/12: Plumber needs to make some adjustments to shower pan and call back inspection.
Wednesday: 2/13: Met concrete company on site to discuss breezeway to garage. Apex dug grade beams.
Thursday, 2/14: Rebar installation today. Concrete scheduled for Friday. Exhaust fan in art room installed today. Hardware selections finalized.
After getting high prices from a local showroom, I ordered some hardware samples from Build.com and Wayfair in order to make our choices. Returning them all was fun, let me tell you. 😉
Friday, 2/15: Met with electrician for review of changes. Framer to be on site Monday to start on his changes and start to remove the doorway to the garage apartment. Concrete between house and garage delayed one day because concrete supplier canceled delivery.
Carpenter to begin work on extendable kitchen table.
Saturday, 2/16: Concrete between new home and garage for walkway tie in placed this morning.
Monday, 2/18: Met with framer to go over scope of work.
Wednesday, 2/20: Met with CMU block guy to go over scope of work at garage breezeway tie-in. Work to commence tomorrow pending weather. Frame material dropped off today. Framer to knock out all punch tomorrow. Low voltage company to work Friday and Saturday after framer is done with punch to complete changes.
Thursday, 2/21: Framing changes start. No exterior work due to the weather. Electricians scheduled to be on site tomorrow and Saturday.
Friday, 2/22: Framing nooks and blocking continues. Master bedroom furdown and laundry opening added.
Low voltage work continues.
Monday, 2/25: Meeting to discuss overall design for connection to garage – roofing, materials, doorways, windows.
Gas yard line installed.
Tuesday, 2/26: Electricians working.
Thursday, 2/28: CMU done! Breezeway window meeting with supplier.
Maybe it doesn’t feel fast enough for you, but I think you are making a lot of progress! It is going to be magnificent when done. I hope I get to see it in person some day.