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The Homestretch

September 30, 2017

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Phase two of our massive renovation is almost over.  Some days it felt like it would never end.  What was supposed to be two weeks out of our house somehow turned into over two months, and all three of us were so over it.

As much as we love camping and staying with friends and family, we just want to be back in our own beds.  Which by the way, won’t be here for another week. . . sigh.

Side note: We’ve made a nest of blankets and pillows on our living room floor and it will do.  Dominic is just thrilled that he gets to sleep with us.

The Good News

Our bathroom is complete except for 2 knobs that have to be installed in the doors.  I still can’t use the bathroom without wondering who’s house I’m in.  It’s just. that. beautiful.

The Bad News

If you follow my Facebook or Instagram, you’ll have noticed this week that there was a particular uptick in renovation stress.  I didn’t want to say anything at the time because I was so angry I knew I would regret whatever I said.  Now that I’ve calmed down, here’s the deal:

After our beautiful floors were finished I told our contractor to send the bill to Got Mold, our asbestos company.  I texted them to let them know that the job had been done.  I got a phone call five minutes later saying that they never agreed to anything and that they didn’t owe us anything.

Yet again, another massive communication failure.

Whether or not they “owe us anything” can be debated, but the fact remains that they did not tell me, the customer, in clear terms that insurance was not going to cover this.

Therefore, if you need to have asbestos removed, I can not recommend Got Mold.

The actual work they do is great, but I’ve had communication problems with them in both the work done and amending the damage done that I can not recommend them.  I will admit that it takes two to communicate, so I do have some fault in this.  However, I have not had anywhere near the communication problems with any of my other contractors in this phase of the renovation.

The Frustrating

If you follow my Facebook page, you’ll also have noticed some extra confusion and delay this week.

Our bed frame arrived on Thursday, but the headboard and footboard weren’t the same size.  Thankfully they were able to come back and fix the situation within the day.

I also ordered a decent fridge, but didn’t take into account that our kitchen door frames are smaller than our outside and living room entrance door frames.

Three entrances into the kitchen, and not one of them was big enough.

So I went back to the appliance store and paid more money for a smaller fridge.  Bah.

The new thing these days is to have fridges that are counter depth.  You pay more for this privilege, of course.

The Hermit also started on our solution to the lack of counter space in our kitchen and discovered that I ordered the wrong countertop from IKEA.  GAH!!  The nearest Ikea is over 4 hours away, so it’s not like we can run over there and do an exchange.  We’re just going to make it work.

The Homestretch

The new fridge is coming today, our mattresses are coming next week, and all I have to do is touch up paint all the baseboards.  I was feeling very overwhelmed this week, but now that I’ve spent a night in my house, I’m feeling better.

I can’t wait to reveal our home to you.  The transformation is jaw dropping.  It’s hard to believe it’s the same house.

But it’s exactly what we knew it could be.

 

P.S. In case you’re wondering, our renovation has four phases:

1. Initial painting and get the space liveable. DONE

2. Remove asbestos, gut the bathroom, redo the floors.  (We’re here!)

3. Rebuild fence, get rid of nuisance trees, and landscape the yard. Coming Summer 2018

4. Re-pour the basement floor, add a bathroom and refinish. Coming when our bank account and sanity has recovered.

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

17 Comments
Filed Under: 1929 house, Renovation Tagged: asbestos, bathroom, bed, flooring, Fridge, painting, Renovation

About Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

Comments

  1. Rita says

    September 30, 2017 at 10:25 pm

    What I have seen it looks awesome. Keep your spirits up.
    Reply
  2. Jen says

    October 2, 2017 at 6:52 am

    I've been through these ups and downs myself...sounds like you are tackling everything with grace. Best of luck!
    Reply
  3. candy says

    October 2, 2017 at 6:54 am

    Going through a renovation is always stressful. Hopefully the end result is everything you dreamed of. Hang in there this to shall end and you can enjoy your new room.
    Reply
  4. Amber says

    October 2, 2017 at 8:19 am

    We renovated our house... we only have to tile the master bath shower now. Glad its over because its crazy but we went shopping for our next house this weekend. ? we are going to do it all over again. Yikes
    Reply
  5. Marta Rivera says

    October 2, 2017 at 8:30 am

    I can't even imagine! I'm in the process of painting my living room and kitchen and I'm about to lose my mind!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      October 2, 2017 at 10:09 pm

      Oh I hear you! I repainted everything, but now that this part of the renovation is finished, I feel like I need to go back and repaint some of the rooms I already did. Best of luck!!
      Reply
  6. Anne | onedetermiendlife says

    October 2, 2017 at 9:59 am

    I am so glad that I am not in renovation mode. I'm glad your almost done and seeing some progress
    Reply
  7. Kristi says

    October 2, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    The renovation process if full of life lessons. What a frustrating experience with you've Got Mold. Thankful you knew when to share and not to share, but even more thankful you've at least got the problem resolved.
    Reply
  8. Kristin Cook says

    October 2, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    That is so exciting! Congratulations on being on the homestretch! I can't wait to see the reveal!
    Reply
  9. Sashsa Mills says

    October 2, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    Oh no! I'm so sorry for those frustrations. Renovations seem really hard. The most we've done is finished off our basement. I can imagine how frustrating what you are going through would be.
    Reply
  10. Leighann says

    October 2, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    My goodness, as if renovating wasn't already tough enough! The Got Mold thing would irk me! I hope everything turns out okay for you guys!
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      October 2, 2017 at 10:07 pm

      Thanks! Having a house that is as beautiful as I hoped does help make up for it.
      Reply
  11. Candy says

    October 3, 2017 at 6:54 am

    You guys are putting a lot of work into this. Remember, once it's complete, it will be so worth it. As you live and grow inside your home, you will remember all of the hard work. The frustrations will fade and happy memories will replace the previous bumps in the road.
    Reply
  12. Rebecca Hicks says

    October 3, 2017 at 9:40 am

    I can only imagine how crazy a reno like this is! Way to go on pushing through, and I'm sure being back in your house is AMAZING. I can't wait to see the finished pictures!
    Reply
  13. Nicole says

    October 3, 2017 at 10:49 pm

    I hope you are able to sleep in a bed soon!! Your progress looks great!! The hard work will pay off!!
    Reply
  14. Bev says

    October 25, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    Your bathroom is just STUNNING! I don't want to get your hopes too high but what are the nuisance trees you want to remove next summer? We are on the lookout each summer for a winter firewood supply. My husband is very skilled with a chainsaw though tree felling is not his business so he does not carry his own insurance for that.
    Reply
    • Kristen Raney says

      October 25, 2017 at 11:23 pm

      Thank you! We have a bunch of cedars. You're welcome to them if they make decent enough firewood for you. They are quite thick, check them out when you drive here for church.
      Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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