Remodeling Sux

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Update time: My little red house is now a beautiful shade of green with beige shutters and trim.

My kitchen is torn up and I am sick of going out to eat. How did I accumulate so much stuff!!! All my kitchen furn is on the screened in porch and I am praying it doesn't rain. Kelli's friend Billy brought over a huge trailer and we bagged up everything out of her room and we couldn't even fit the head board in the truck so it's in the middle of the living room.

I chose a beautiful color called intense teal for the accent wall in the kitchen. Intense is a understatement. It is beautiful but don't forget your sunglasses. Kelli wanted a purple room. I bought what I thought was a light purple with a lighter shade (very pale pink) for the ceiling. Well, the ceiling is bubblegum pink!! and I haven't seen the color for the walls, but it looks like a lighter shade of pink, not purple. I can't walk in my house for tripping over the clutter.

The contractor is bitching because he has to slow down to move all the stuff altho he knew this coming in. He agreen to a price and now is saying it's too low. Tuff, he will make it up on the floors. Talking about floors, OMG, he has torn up both floors in the kitchen and the pieces are all over the place. I would like him to do one room at a time includin the floor so that I can fix up each room. He wants to paint each room first and then come back and do the flooring. If that happens I'll never get organized.

Yes, I went over my budget. He is painting for $3K (including the paint) and he is charging me 5K just for labor on the floors and I'm buying the materials (2K) So far everything is beautiful (once I get used to the colors) He is doing an amazing job. I chose him as he was recmmended by the son of my siding contractor. He only has one arm but is a real go getter and does not let the lack of an arm get in the way. I am probably driving him nuts as I keep thinking if I am making the right decisions. I'm not going to second guess myself anymore (says self to self)

Thanx for letting me vent. shaggy

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

Shaggy,

I know how you feel. A couple years back, I did several projects at one time. Nothing major, but exterior paint, new exterior doors, new kitchen floors, and some wallpaper here and there. One day I had the door man, wallpaper lady, and painters all here at the same time. Lordy!

I couldn't wait to get it all put back together. Trust me, it will be worth it!

[Icc5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Icc5]

Shaggy,

I know how you feel. A couple years back, I did several projects at one time. Nothing major, but exterior paint, new exterior doors, new kitchen floors, and some wallpaper here and there. One day I had the door man, wallpaper lady, and painters all here at the same time. Lordy!

I couldn't wait to get it all put back together. Trust me, it will be worth it!

I hope all remodels are worth it. We are doing 2 houses in California (one to move into and one to move out of). I have seen the money leave my hands so fast that just writing this makes me sweat. When we are done I will have spent more money on the remodels then the houses cost two times over and these houses are in a very upscale town.
Bart

[IreneLF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IreneLF]

I hear and feel your pain Shaggy.
I'm in a master bathroom / closet renovation/construction that began May 1 and will not be done for another month.
Because of the dust/tearing down of walls in the bedroom we moved all things out of the room and in the process decided to throw out our bedroom set (38 yrs, time to go).
SO: all my clothes are in boxes and plastic bags in various places in the house, all the bathroom stuff needed is stuffed in bins, all the closet stuff (MY closet) are in bags somewhere, and oh yes the linen closet had to be dismanteled and lost some space for the bathroom and has yet to be rebuilt, so all that stuff is in bags in various places. Sheets and towels and blankets for 4 people take up a lot of space...
I hate being disorganized and it's driving me crazy. I did leave some clothes out of bags and know where they are, but if I want something that is in the bags, well I"m out of luck, Yes, keep telling myself it will all be worth it -- and so should you....it will soon (?) be just a warm memory of living through a bad time
(and then I"m supposed to start on bathroom #2 and the kitchen.... lol.)

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

At least I'm not alone (figurtifly sp) I just walked in from taking Kelli to work. I WANT TO RUN AWAY!!! SHAGGY

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I know, it is dreadful, very unsettling, and you're constantly second-guessing yourself. We had a big job done a couple of years ago that still isn't done b/c we just can't face the final few steps (finishing the basement and redoing the bathroom down there). The sheetrock for the job has been sitting there for ages.

[IreneLF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IreneLF]

Shaggy -- hopefully you are not allergic or sensitized to construction smells/woodwork/dust/other airborne allergans as I am.
If not, it can be worse, much worse,
I can't even live here comfortably and get sick every time I walk into the room. (lightheaded and sick to stomach) .The first day of the deconstruction was the worst, not to sound over the top, I felt as tho I"d been poisoned and everything was shutting down, really scary.

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

Also, as a single woman, I found it difficult to get estimates and hire contractors. Some of those guys were so condescending ...

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Also, as a single woman, I found it difficult to get estimates and hire contractors. Some of those guys were so condescending ...

I know!!!! We went with our contractor because he is very easy to talk to and doesn't talk down to me or my DH. (DH completely not handy, and some contractors are absolutely contemptuous of a man who can't fix things.) This contractor is definitely not as inexpensive as some, but he's so much more pleasant to deal with.

I really hate when you are explaining what you want and they say, "Oh, you'll have to slow down there. I'm just a simple working man. Haw haw." I'm thinking, "Simple working man my *ss, you run a business with 25 employees and you make about 50 times what I do. Stop pretending you're stupid!!!"

[jericap Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close jericap]

I learned long ago how to deal with contractors. Years ago I was remodeling my kitchen and I wanted a full backsplash that met the countertop without the metal piece that usually joined the two. I stated that I would like to have the joints either siliconed or find another way to get the pieces to join or look nice without that metal piece.

This guy kept telling me, it couldn't be done..I knew it could. Anyway, long story short, after almost an hour, my future husband came up the house and just re-ititerated my request. The contrator said, oh yeah, we could do it. Needless to say, he didn't get the job.

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

We dread what you are going through....we have been on remodel plan/hold for two years now.

Good luck getting through the rest of it.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

The heating and air came by this morning and about had a heart attack when he saw the mess. Flooring torn up all over the floor, supplies everywhere. He is a real neatnick and now won't do the a/c until the kitchen, hallway, and Kelli's room is done as he doesn't want the a/c to have to deal with all the extra crap floating around. He is even more upset than me over the mess!! Plus it's supposed to rain tonight and my new dining room set is on the porch !!! I made him come over and put plastic and tarps over it. One of us may be dead soon!!shaggy

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

I need to put in new floors in the living room and hallway but keep putting it off because I have no idea where to put everything. I may end up doing it all myself, but that's pretty scary with my carpentry skills.