Carpet and Office Furniture Installed

The carpet was installed just before Christmas, and the office furniture was installed on December 30! It really feels like home now. I'm finishing up the closet shelves that I'll need in order to move my stuff in. I'm also setting up my new computer in the office and bringing stuff over here little by little. I moved most of my books and DVDs in the last couple of days. I've got my receiver hooked up and the DVD player mounted where I want it. The infrared remote repeater is installed and working, too.

I had an unpleasant confrontation with my trim carpenter last week. He and his helper were here to finish up one piece of crown above the stove and the fridge. I also had 2-3 cleanup items for them to correct, and I asked if he had any ideas on how to handle a tricky problem with the crown on top of my cabinets. (The cabinet guys have no clever ideas for it.) They finished the work, and he said he would come back to do the cabinet crown if I wanted him to. Then we talked about the final balance...

He had already taken back a $500 discount he extended for not having to install my cabinets. He took it back after he installed attic stairs and some cove moulding in my back garage, claiming that he hadn't counted on doing work back there. I thought it strange because I know we talked about it on the original walk-through, and I couldn't imagine it being $500 worth of extra work. I was already miffed about that.

I also remember him saying his price included closet shelves and fixtures like towel holders, etc. I'm doing the closets and the fixtures myself. His attitude really turned when I asked how much he would take off for not having to do that stuff. He said that he wasn't really charging me for that work. It was just included in his price... Huh? When I pressed him on it, he said that closets just don't take long to do so they wouldn't amount to much money. He rambled on about how my job was taking so long and he couldn't make any money on all these return trips. How I was holding up thousands of his money by taking so long. Are you kidding? Sure, there were long periods between phases of his work, but I paid him for the work as he did it.

I was the one who had to wait on him for the most part. He'd drop off his helper who did maybe 6 hrs of work that day, and then I'd be waiting days for them to come back and do some more. Meanwhile, he'd be out of town on a hunting trip where his phone didn't work. And in the end I've had to come behind them and fix their work: re-doing doorstops that weren't attached properly, caulking oversized gaps in window casing, and other details.

He did relent and take $150 off for the closets and fixtures. At least it's something. And it's a lesson learned for me to always have an agreement in writing. But you live and learn. This guy was married to a cousin of mine when I hired him (they later divorced) and my cousin recommended him highly.

Building Closet Shelves

I'm trying to finish up any other work that will make a mess in the bedrooms before I call for the carpet. I got the dresser home, and we've painted it. Before I fix it to the wall in my closet, I'm installing shelves above it. I've finsihed the shelves in my broom closet so that I can start putting things away instead of leaving them strewn about on the master closet floor.

It's surprisingly fulfilling to be installing the shelves. Finally, it looks like it can be lived in! I can put stuff in it's place!

I'm also planning to complete a bulk of the work on the master bathroom wall tile before I get the carpet. Most of the tile is being stored in the master bedroom right now. So I want to get a good bit of it on the wall and out of the way. I also know that I'm going to be tracking through my bedroom a lot to get to the bathroom while I'm doing the job, so I want to avoid making a mess on the new carpet.

The nail holes in the baseboard are filled in the bedrooms, and they have been painted over.

Legally Done!

I just picked up the "Certificate of Completion" from the parish building inspection office. This completes the process and allows me to live in the house! I'm still going to wait for carpet in the bedrooms before I move in, but that should come very soon. I've already picked out the color, and I need to call for the guys to come out and measure.

I've ordered the bed and nightstands I want for my room. They will come unfinished and the cabinet company (Wood-n-Things) will finish them for me. If that takes longer than the carpet installation, I can still bring my current bed over and sleep in one of the spare rooms until my bedroom is setup.