The Mishaps of October

Wednesday, October 14th. The kitchen floor is finished, which means the cabinets - currently filling the dining room - can be installed the next day. A major milestone.


Thursday the 15th. Shaw and I both stay home as we can't wait to see something (anything) other than the bathrooms actually materialize. The kitchen crew arrives and begins installing an entire wall of cabinets, pantries, and we just stare in wonder at our own magnificent taste. Plus, the installers are doing an amazingly good job, and are almost as compulsively detailed as me.


Which is a little more than can be said for some other people who've touched the house. One of the toe-kick vents that will let air come out from under the cabinets is on the wrong side of where the sink will go, which means the duct would vent right under the dishwasher. So, the HVAC guy will have to move the duct, and the tile guy will need to replace a few floor tiles in patching the hole. The line of four recessed lights placed along the back wall are too close to the cabinets, which means the crown molding will cut across the trim rings of the fixtures. Sparky won't be too happy but they'll need to be moved too.


The siding guys have arrived but it's raining. So they don't even bother unloading the truck.

Friday, October 16th. The air duct gets moved, and while the HVAC guys are here they hook up the furnace so there's actually heat in the entire house. Why, that makes it almost habitable. They also set up the new air conditioning unit so we'll be ready for next summer - whoo-hoo! Next week, though, the contractor tells us a lot will be accomplished.

Monday, October 19th. The forecast is clear all week. By 8AM there are seven trucks in front of our house - Sparky, the painter, siding guys, the deck dude, carpenters, clean-up crew - we actually look like a construction site. First, I explain to Sparky where the recessed lights should have been installed in the first place, and then show him the cabinet lighting which apparently he's never seen before - I can never get past the idea that this is his first job. But his assistant starts cutting up the ceiling. Second, the painter and I go over colors, finishes and schedules. Third, the siding guys - one of whom speaks no English and the other very little - climb very scary-looking scaffolds and start pulling off more old siding. Deck dude is always among my favorites - he doesn't speak English either, works alone, never complains, does precise work, and is always drama-free. The carpenters begin installing the bay window in the kitchen wall, the clean-up guys are cleaning up the mess everybody else is making, and since I realize that things can only go downhill from here I decide to take my leave.