Remodeling, phase 1, week 1

In every remodeling project (nay, *every* project), there will be glitches. The first one was discovering that the start date was not April 7, but April 9. The (supposed) end date is still the same and, frankly, I would have been hard pressed to have the four areas cleared by last Monday, so I wasn't too upset about this. But still. It does not portend well.

Dust bunnies the size of jackalopes behind the bed frame

And yet, deliveries started on April 7: the shower and half a toilet. Not sure what would have happened to them had I not been home. Left sitting in the driveway?

Otherwise, the work is progressing, and very neatly. Tarps cover the floors, plastic drapes everything else, to the point that parts of my house resemble the kill rooms on "Dexter". There is even a tarp under the van to protect the driveway from oil drips. (I'll have to mention that to the carpet cleaners.)

Kill room

Body bag

The ceiling guy works on stilts. The plumber guy looks like Jesse Pinkman. Everyone is careful and meticulous.

So far, all the ceilings have been scraped of popcorn and laced, all painted except for the master bath, the crown molding primed. In the bath, the toilet and shower are gone, the new shower installed. That half toilet in the garage? Someone at the supply house must have had a brain fart; it is to be replaced with a new improved version of the same model (Gerber Viper). In the kitchen, the old counter top has been replaced with the new. (Kudos to my daughter for selecting the counter top design - it looks *great* with the cabinets.

More glitches:

• The fancy schmancy kitchen sink that is 9" deep won't work because the cupboard doors under the sink are recessed, something I had never noticed before but which allows me to stand close to the sink without leaning forward. Fortunately, the plumbing guy realized the sink was unworkable *before* cutting a hole for it in the counter top. Just as well we need to pick something else, as the drains of that fancy one were not centered and would have caused some under-sink plumbing difficulties.
• The vanity top with the integrated sink had a crack in it. Again, the plumbing guy noticed this prior to installation. A new one will need to be ordered, which may take a few weeks, in which case the cracked one (the flaw is not in the bowl itself) will be installed, then swapped out when the new one arrives.

I am really, really, *really* glad I can work from home for the duration. Invariably, there are questions and discussions and decisions that would be difficult to handle over the phone, but not so much interruption that I can't get my work done.

There was a glitch with my home work environment as well - the kitchenette I set up in the West Wing works well, but I discovered running the microwave and the toaster oven at the same time trips the circuit breaker for that room, which cuts power to the wi-fi router. I lost Internet access until I could get some help from Frontier; that took some time, but once I connected with the right person, the problem was solved in short order. (FYI: if this happens to you, recycle power to the router by pulling the plug *with the router still on*, wait a minute or so, then plug it back in. Simply using the switch to turn it off and on will not work.)

So. So far, so good, more or less. Worse things could go wrong (knock on wood).