Day 5 - It's Like a First Date

Initially I felt bad for my contractor. A newbie to home renovations and a habitual smart ass and chronic potty mouth, I'm probably not the front runner for "Customer of the Year". So I tried to be cool, I really did. I think I only "squeed" out loud once.  But in my head, I was doing a happy dance. Possibly twerking. I'm not telling.

At any rate, our meeting was short and sweet. We took more measurements, he walked Ben around (hello Ben!) and went over the requirements for the rooms. We talked about the time line (I'm moving in by September 30th, come hell or high water) and I got my "homework". I keep hearing that it's the homeowner that usually holds things up. They don't pick out the finishes in time, or the items are back ordered. I have no intention whatsoever of being the roadblock on this journey!

We discussed my desire to have hardwoods in the kitchen, making the entire 1st floor cohesive with hardwoods throughout. I got the "good luck with that" look and was told to start picking out the kitchen items first. Including tile for the floor. Fine, FINE! Not what I want, but I can't be the quintessential princess all the time. Temper tantrums on the first day would be a bad look.

As we got to the attic (which is the biggest part of this project), Mike decided that he needed the plumber to help us finalize the layout of the master bathroom I'm adding. It's funny how differently people view this addition. Mike didn't want to have to walk through the bathroom to get to the "dressing room" and I wanted it separate, to give it some form. He thought a hallway would be better, I thought a hallway was a waste. But I knew generally what I wanted and we'll see what we come up with when it's finalized.

Today was also the day when the Stevens Center (men's homeless shelter) was picking up the items that were salvageable from the weekend clean out. I love that they pick up, on certain days, and can't thank Bob enough for handling this for me.

I'm finding that probably 30% of the windows in the house are either stained shut (the kitchen is the only painted room in the house) or in such disrepair that no one has opened them in years. Because there's no air conditioning right now, and it's humid as hell, I think that I will focus on this in the later weeks.

I'm also bothered by the smell in the damn basement. Yes, it's musty but...it's MORE than that. I scheduled the guy to quote a new hot water heater, and hopefully after the mold remediation is completed, all will be well. No one else smells it but me. And to me it's...oily smelling. Which could be the 2 old coal rooms. But we'll see.

I've been looking for someone to mow my lawn because I sold my mower when I left Indy. I actually flagged a guy down on the street today. Nice guy. Gave me a flyer. Probably thought I was a nut job. And some days, he's not far from wrong. But I figured if he's mowing in the neighborhood, he was a known entity and therefore a safer bet than...oh... Craigslist! Which I did end up using. I placed the ad for my Vintage Norge/Borg Warner Electric Stove and now I wait. I feel like I'm getting REALLY GOOD at waiting... NOT. Here's a picture of the stove if anyone knows anyone that may want it... please....it needs a good home!

Here's the only peek at my kitchen floors that we could manage with my pry bar. That's from the hallway, going into the kitchen. Isn't that lovely 1970's linoleum? And sub floor. And more linoleum. Fingers crossed.

So far, things are progressing as I pretty much thought.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.