I didn't lose my cool the other day when I ordered my front door over the phone and the girl didn't think the card was going through, so she kept putting the numbers in. Six times. My bank told me that it would probably take a couple of weeks to get the money back into my account. But I stayed calm, even when the girl called back to tell me that they actually didn't have the door in stock but would upgrade me...to some hideously ornate door. I thanked her politely and asked if she could find my door (the one I had just paid for six times, mind you) at another store, since my contractor really needed to pick it up immediately. I didn't raise my voice when she called me back in a few minutes to tell me she'd found the door and had arranged to have it transferred to her store and that it would be there in 2 or 3 days. I didn't even make a fuss when I found out that the store she was getting it from was only a 10-minute drive down the freeway from her store.
But the war zone that is my back yard is starting to make me a little crazy. A relatively small pile was supposed to be hauled off last week, but there was a change of plans. In the meantime, more debris from the roofing job has accumulated, and every time I look at my back yard, I feel myself getting a little closer to the edge. The new cedar fence is my only consolation right now.
One trailer is already loaded for a trip to the dump, and my contractor is here today with a second trailer, so I know it's going to be cleaned up. In the meantime, it's probably better if I just avoid the kitchen window.
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| The mess that is my back yard |
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| I try to look at the new fence and not the piles of lumber and concrete. |
Sigh! Well, at least you have that gorgeous nandina bush to look at as well as that lovely cedar fence!
ReplyDeleteYes, luckily there is a nandina barrier between the main house and the new construction, so we can't really see any of that from the back door...just the kitchen.
DeleteIt's going to get a lot worse but then it's going to get infinitely better. You're in the middle of the construction funk. Although if the mess really does seem too overwhelming you can ask your contractor to straighten up more at the end of each work day. Some GCs like to keep a really neat (note this doesn't mean clean) site while others are a little more lackadaisical about it . . . Cheers - CT
ReplyDeleteOne reason it's such a mess is that I tried to be nice and offer some of the materials that came out of the workshop (plywood, pegboard, light fixtures) on Craigslist. My contractor agreed that it would save him some dumping fees, and I thought it would be good to give people some things they could reuse and keep as much out of the landfill as possible.
DeleteWhat resulted, of course, was a hoard of people descending on my house for several days on end (sometimes after dark), sifting through piles and generally driving me crazy.
Now I'm waaaaaay more than ready to just have it gone.
You are one patient person, I would have blown my top over that door fiasco!
ReplyDeleteBut I have to agree that the cedar fence is a bright spot, neatly done I must say. Here's to more construction successes!
I was pleased that I showed some restraint during the door incident. That's why it's a little surprising that this trash situation is so crazy-making.
DeleteGo to the Market, get yourself a nice bottle of wine(or two) and think "end goal" then take a sip, "end goal" and sip, "end goal" and sip... The whole time we were framing Pontipee hall I HATED it. Saw dus everywhere, tromping what little patches of grass I did have. At one point the contractor started stacking wood by a tree in the side yard and it ended up looking like a wooden mound on which to burn a witch! You know we have a fire pit in the back yard, and I had planned to just burn the scrap pieces, but since we live in North Texas..."land where it never rains" I will provably have to load all the scraps on a trailer and take them to the dump before we open the house up again this year. *sigh* "end goal" annnnnnd sip. "end goal" and sip. ;)
ReplyDeleteEnd goal...Moscato...end goal...Moscato...end goal...Moscato. :)
DeleteHave Mercy! I'm sending you strength from across the miles! It doesn't seem like it but one day it will ALL be over and you'll just be living there happily. You may even forget all of this. With enough therapy.
ReplyDeleteI keep saying to myself, "Eartha's kitchen...Eartha's kitchen." If you could make it through all that (especially the surly construction guys and the dishwashing in the bathtub), then I can make it through this. My guys are all really nice, and I still have a dishwasher. :) Of course, I won't rule out therapy yet.
DeleteIf the fence is any indication of what is to come, then I'm excited!...... Over a fence! :)
ReplyDeleteThe door is another matter, I question the young girls thinking?
Good things will come your way soon! :)
You know you've turned into a complete and utter settled-down homemaker when you get excited over a fence...and, believe me, I've been so excited about my new fence that I've made several trips out to stand in the back yard and gaze lovingly at it. :)
DeleteThe previous owner...a real partier in his late 20s...put up the old fence. I'd bet my next paycheck that he and his buddies started on the east side of the house one Saturday morning and started drinking beer shortly thereafter. That side started out really straight. By the time they went across the back of the yard and started up the west side, the fence was so wavy and crooked that only a bunch of drunk guys could possibly have thought it looked good. We've had a good laugh about it as long as I've lived here, but it was time for it to go.
Deep breaths Dana, D-E-E-P breaths.
ReplyDeleteIt will all be worth it in the end. Promise.
Can I take Mick's advice and sip wine between the deep breaths? I like the sound of that. :)
Delete"DO FENCE ME IN"! HA HA! That fence is a beauty. I can't wait to get ours this summer. JEALOUS!
ReplyDeleteOh the mess and the incompetence of people are two things that make me a crazy woman when doing something like this. YOU my dear are a saint. I'm not sure I could have been as polite if someone charged me SIX times for something. I love your sentence "upgrade me to some HIDEOUS ornate door". LAUGHING!!!!! Sorry... I'm a modern snob. All that ornate stuff IS HIDEOUS! Funny how she thought that was really doing you a favor. BLAH!
I remember when the roofers had our entire yard covered in tar and paper and old wood. Not to mention the SMELL. YUCK! (flat roof) I shed some serious tears over that mess. It's so stressful! Hang in there, Dana. It'll all be so worth it. Just vent to all of us and hopefully we'll help get you through. :-) LOVE THAT FENCE!
haha I guess I'm a modern snob too. She totally thought she was "upgrading" me to a better door than the slab door I had ordered.
DeleteI know what your going through, 30 years as an architect. Couldn't the contractor pick up the door from the other store? Nice fence, should hold up for years.
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked the girl to find me one at another Home Depot, my contractor was going to to there and get the door. I guess she thought she was doing me another big favor by having it moved from the other store...which is literally 5 miles away from her store. Instead of figuring that I'd want to cancel the order there and get it that day at the other store, since it was so close, she got on the computer and did a store-to-store transfer, which takes 2-3 days...probably so her store would get the sale.
DeleteIt's probably just as well, since I had to file a claim through my bank to recover the money for the other five charges, since she claimed it wasn't showing up as having gone through on her end. I'm still waiting to see if the charges will just fall off, and if they don't, then the bank will process the claim. There's no sense in complicating the transaction even more by throwing a real refund in there. ::shaking head:: What a mess!
Like Frank Costanza(Seinfeld) just tell yourself or holler it out, Serenity now.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had seen every episode of Seinfeld, but I must have missed that one. I asked my daughter and son-in-law if they remembered it, and they did. Before long, they were acting it out and dying laughing.
DeleteBeen there, and I feel your pain! Here in Napa, wine got me through most of the mess and stress lol.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of a better place to endure the mess and stress of a renovation than Napa. The Goody Goody liquor store in Fort Worth just doesn't compare! :)
DeleteTwo big trailer loads gone, and the pile is dwindling. Not gone altogether, but noticeably smaller. Whew!
DeleteOh you poor thing! The door. Really. Sometimes one just has to take deep breaths. Service these days... is it too much to ask?
ReplyDeleteDays after it was supposed to be transferred, they finally called to say that the other store couldn't transfer it, because it was too bulky. Seriously? Home Depot can't transfer a 36 x 80 door? ::shaking head::
DeleteMy SIL picked up the door, which is now in place, and I will be doing as little business with Home Depot in the future as possible. Lowe's, here I come!
It sure is frustrating dealing with the big box stores like HD. Everyone wants to save money and the big box stores typically offer better prices. However, sometimes you want to talk to someone with real experience and intelligence about your high dollar purchase. I willingly go to smaller stores that offer expertise and someone there who will actually talk to you, even if I have to pay more than a big box store. Sometimes it's worth it for a hassle free purchase.
DeleteThat is an awesome fence. Little did I know. The contractor on our bathrooms was a neat freak! He had a trash guy that came every Friday and hauled the piles away. Made me feel a lot better. You must worry with those kiddos running around. The nails and metal pokey things. Construction trash is the worst. We still find weird stuff in our yard from our project over a year ago. See it does end. I can say that. Over a year ago.
ReplyDeleteThe kiddos are banished from the back yard. We do all our playing in the front yard these days! :) On a happy note, the trash guy is hauling off the very last of all the debris as we speak, so I'm about to be a much happier girl.
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