Are We Done Yet?

Now? How about now? Now are we done?

As much as I love our contractors, I want them GONE. Impatience has settled in my bones. I'm ready to have them be done with their work so Daniel and I can move in and get on with stuff we want to do to the house, that we can't, as long as all of their construction crap is strewn about the ENTIRE house. We are officially moving our asses (and all of our furniture) into the house in less than 2 weeks. And instead of our house looking tidier and more complete as the days go by, it looks as much of a wreck as it ever did...at least on the surface.

The master bathroom, along with ALL of the electrical work, are the last major components to be completed. There are still a few little things hanging out there like repairing the kitchen wall and building a surround for our new range vent and repointing the fireplace bricks...

Last week, they spent a good portion digging up our main water line and replacing it, digging alongside the house to provide extra drainage, installing a roof vent for our shower, and finishing up the plumbing in the master bathroom.









Here's the other thing they've been doing: Mutilating our front door.



The front door is problematic. It was painted a heinous shade of cracked, faded teal. And the bottom would stick everytime you opened or closed the damn thing. Our initial response was, "Replace it!". However, the door is the original solid mahoghany door. The inside of the door is gorgeous paneled wood. And it's an unusual height of 7'-6" (doors come in standard sizes of 7'-0" or 8'-0"), so we would need a custom door built in order to replace it. Plus, trying to replace a beautiful old door of this quality and craftsmanship, would require mucho dinero. Our contractors offered to strip it down and see what kind of condition the wood was like underneath the layers of paint.

Conclusion: The door itself is sturdy and not yet ready for the graveyard. However, getting it to the original wood again will be nearly impossible and/or cost prohibitive as the paint is so very old.

Solution: The contractors shaved an 1/8" off of the bottom so it wouldn't stick anymore and suggested we re-paint the door once they have repaired any cracks and sanded it down.

So, I guess that's what we'll do. But for now, this is what graces our front entrance:



Nice.