I work in the flooring business and hence the nickname. Have just bought a new home (8 years old) the idea being it would be a lot easier on my husband who has had some health issues. Needless to say, the house needed some renos--First the tile in the kitchen and family room--over Easy-Heat so it would be nice and toasty--works great but the installer fron hell did the job--Oh well, I'm in the trade and I can always use the pictures as a how not to example. More fun--363 sq. ft. took 18 days and a helper 29 hours! Oh where was my Sunset book on how to tile! Pipefitters came to put in gas for the BBQ and the patio heater-a complete day and holes drilled in the foundation going nowhere.
Today the hardwood floors were to go in. First quality select, prefinished--but get this-the stuff is 1/16 inch different at each end so has to go back, be reshipped, be reacclimatized and then it can go in.
Painters are due in a week--trades are tight--Can"t even guess what will happen there!
Stress free--I don't think so--I'm doing 4 drops of Bach Flower Remedies to combat stress but I'm thinking of 4 ounces of gin taken every four hours. This is really getting hard to take in stride. Make me feel better--tell me your story.
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I'm sorry to hear about your problems, Selltile. Something always seems to go wrong when building or renovating. I hope that the remainder of the job is smooth sailing!
I would like to give some advice to others out there who are planning to build or renovate and don't know who to hire. Go to your local building supplies store, paint store, etc. and speak to the staff there. Ask them who they would hire to work on their house. They will know who does good work and who has a good reputation.
We've been very lucky in that we haven't had a lot of renovations to do. We bought this place for several reasons - close to downtown, where it's easy on both of us to get to work, it's on the same street where I was born, and raised, and because the price was too good to pass up. It's just a traditional bungalow, 3 bedrooms, main floor laundry, and family room (now hubby's home office), etc. Nothing spectacular, just humble. When we bought this house 5 years ago, we bought it knowing some work had to be done.
The bathroom would have to be renovated and that meant a full gut job - it was horrendous. The cabinets they had in the bath were completely rotten, through and through. We gutted it and replaced everything, tub, toilet, sink, flooring, window, etc.
We then discovered that they'd patched a hole inside the wall behind the tile that had leaked downstairs - but because the house was empty for so long before we came along, it was impossible to see any kind of current water damage. We ended up having to go into the basement to repair damages.
Now, we're looking at having to replace our roof and chimney due to the damage caused by Hurricane Juan - so If we run into any horror stories, I'll be sure to share them with you! :-)