Big Changes

Over the course of the last week we have decided, with our builder's strong recommendation, to temporarily move out of our house for the next 6 to 8 weeks. We are moving to a house 2 doors down which is sitting empty right now. It is up for sale, but the with the tough market, the owners aren't optimistic about it selling anytime soon. They have agreed to let us stay there (we're paying them rent) until our house is done. Our builder tells us that by moving out and allowing them to start on the upstairs this next week, we can shave at least 2 weeks off the finish time of the project overall.

This all came about because of a fiasco with the staining that happened on Monday. We were very unhappy with the job the crew did (our builder brought in a sub that he uses). We decided, in conjunction with our builder, to dismiss the staining crew, and bring in another one, which we found through a friend who works for a staining/painting crew (thanks, Jeff!). We are waiting to find out if the bid from the new crew will be within our budget. They will need to do some fixing of the sloppy job the first crew did, and then they will be able to do the staining from scratch upstairs. Due to this situation, we would have been 3 weeks behind schedule on the basement because the new crew couldn't start work for another 3 weeks. However, if the work commences upstairs during that time, and catches up with where the basement is, then we will save money overall by bringing in the remaining crews all at once time instead of twice, and we save about 2 to 3 weeks overall. We are now hoping for a finish date of early November instead of late November.

So.....we are frantically packing up and will be moving over the next few days. Thankfully, I don't have to go into work tomorrow (classes are cancelled from 10 to 1 due to inaugural ceremonies for the new president) so I can work at home all day. Mike is taking a half day, and we will begin to empty our bathroom and bedroom on the main floor. Our builder wants to start the demolition process in the bathroom upstairs (it's being gutted and totally redone) and our bedroom (the closets get removed and the room changes to a TV room). Then the crew will begin to catch up the upstairs to where the basement is right now (trim, casing, and baseboards are finished, cabinets installed, built-ins are constructed) by bringing back the finish carpenter right away. Then he will bring in the staining and painting crew, then the tile guys, then the finish plumbers, then the wood flooring and carpeting guy to do the whole house instead of doing it in parts.

We'll keep you updated, but assume for the next 6 to 8 weeks that you should call our cell phones. We will have internet access at the new place. We are bringing minimal furniture, bedding (air matresses), bathroom, and kitchen supplies. The nice thing about this whole situation is that we will have a space that isn't going to be disrupted every day by workers arriving at 7:00 am, dust and fumes flying around, and the chaos of a remodel.