Update

Well, a few things have happened since the last post. The tile work is nearly complete, and I think we are at a point where we will live with it. Not the greatest, but we can deal. Electrical is finished. There are a few details on the porch to go, plus we discovered they did not seal the wood on the roof before painting so now sap stains are coming through....sigh...I swear you'd think these people never built anything before.

The really big outstanding issue continues to be the shower drain. They have yet to come up with a good way to resolve the fact that they cut the tile very unevenly there.

Do I Hear 6?

The new tile work mentioned a couple of posts ago has to be redone. They got it all right except for the corner, and unfortunately that throws the rest off. So, pull that whole section out and start over. Jeez...unbelievable.

Still battling the drain issue.

Aside from these few things we are getting very close to completion though...of course I could have said that three months ago as well...

Bathroom Counter

It's been removed in preparation for the new countertop and sinks to be installed next Friday. Yay, progress!!

New Focus

We met with the Project Manager last night. Whew, where do I start. Look, he's a nice guy. He seems knowledgable, and seems like the kind of guy who can get things done.

Of course results show otherwise.

There is a sort of "density" about him I find hard to read. I say things to him and then I hear him later repeat them in a subtly different way that gives a different meaning to what I am really trying to convey. Several times last night I had to refocus him on what I really want with regards to a few things we are working on, and in at least one of the cases I'm not really sure he ever totally got it.

We'll see. At it's worst it sounds like things are moving again, so there should be some more updates soon.

Glass tile areas are being redone AGAIN. This is what, maybe the fifth try on this?

One of the major issues right now is still the drain for the shower. This was completely botched by the first tile guy, and we've been working around his mistakes since then. I hate the way the (crooked) tile matches up with the drain pan cover. Problem is removing and replacing that tile likely ruins the shower base, which means you're facing a complete "do-over" of the whole thing (Yikes).

Project manager wants to put a stainless steel thing over the tile (to hide it), riding 1/8 inch above the tile. I hate the idea. The other option is to try to fashion a larger cover that will fit properly into the gap, but then the tile is still crooked. I am advocating grinding the tile down. PM is very worried that it will pop loose and ruin the shower base. Lots of stuff here I don't understand. He is exploring other options.

And then there is the double-talk stuff. He originally advocated welding the new piece of stainless to the old piece, which I am okay with. Somehow in the twists and turns of the conversation that eventually changed to gluing the new piece directly to the supports in the drain. Later he mentioned something about one of his ideas being easier to clean when hair gets in there. I remarked that it wouldn't be easier if it's glued down. He totally didn't get it. Said something like you could still pull it up. "Maybe, but isn't that a lot harder than just lifting out a piece of stainless steel?" "Well, uh, yeah."

So we're still on the drawing board for how to solve this problem. I suppose I could demand that they just start over, but honestly I think I'd lose my mind if we had to do that.

If anyone has any ideas I am all ears.

Life is What Happens...

...while you're waiting for your remodeling project to finish. Too much other drama going on to focus on this right now. Things are crawling forward. Will be back soon with more.

Special Order

Some of the tile used in our bathroom has been discontinued. But we need more to correct the problems. The project manager located some in Texas and has ordered it. I imagine it is here by now. He told Liane a new tile guy would be here this past Thursday or Friday to address the issues.

He never showed...

And the project manager hasn't returned calls.

Meet Liane, Our New GC

Liane has not been happy with the ceiling light fixtures in the bathroom. The main problem being that they are all different. Why anyone thought this was a workable idea is beyond me....but the problem quickly devolved to they couldn't find what she wanted, which was a more plain version than what they wanted to put in. Because they are over water they have to -- according to code -- have glass over them (no bare bulb exposed), so they can be somewhat expensive ($40 - $50), and since there are four of them in the space it kinda' adds up. We already had two of the plain ones before (over tub and in shower stall) so she wanted them to just get the third one to match.

Anyway, it hadn't moved in weeks.

Yesterday she went to Menards and found exactly what she was looking for at a price of $10. She bought them. Perhaps we can get them to install them at some point...

Unwanted Version

Wanted Version

Funny thing is, I actually like the more fancy one better...but nobody ever asked me. See, she really is like a contractor now.

Developments

There have been a few....minor ones, and one relatively major one. The minor ones involve making phone calls, not getting them returned, and then making some more until we get response.

For instance, Liane will call the Project Manager several times with no response. Then I call, and he'll answer. Probably doesn't recognize my work number. Or maybe he is genuine when he says that I happened to call at a good time. I've told him twice now to let her know what is happening proactively. "Even if you don't know anything, call to tell her you don't know anything." He says okay, but doesn't do it.

Occasionally she'll call the owner and that usually gets a response fairly quickly...from the Project Manager. It's weird. He generally sounds great, and responsive on the phone, but....well....we are where we are so obviously he's not getting the job done (though he really is better than most of the others we've dealt with).

The relatively major development can't be discussed here yet. I don't really know who all is reading this, so there are some things I have to keep quiet about. But it will eventually come out. No worries. Though this project is nearly complete the entertainment is not over, I promise.

Mistakes

A significant typo in the previous post has been corrected. No change to status otherwise.

I Swear I Am Not Making This Stuff Up

So...

We've pretty much given up on our (second) bathroom tile guy. He either can't or won't get it the way we want it. I'm sure he's extremely frustrated, but so are we. We've been talking to the Project Manager for a while about bringing in a third guy, Angelo. He's been very busy and hasn't been able to get to it yet. Well, last weekend he died. I am not kidding.

Back to the drawing board... The Project Manager is trying to find someone to take over the job and finish it.

Snowed Today

After a couple of weeks of temperatures in the high 40s and 50s we got a surprise snow this morning. Weirdest winter weather I can remember here.

The lake has frozen and thawed half a dozen times since the beginning of December.

What's Happening? Nothing.

The project manager's mother died a little over a week ago. We've been at a standstill. Hope we hear from him soon...

Inspection

So Liane gets a call today from the inspector's office. They ask, "Is your project completed?" Their tone clearly indicates they aren't understanding why they haven't been called in to sign off on it.

To make a long story boring...uh....short...they weren't concerned with the few remaining details so they came out and did the inspection. Aside from finding a few electrical outlets on the porch that don't work it's all good.

Wish we could use it...

Tough, but Not Indestructible

I don't believe I've written about the windows used on our screened porch. They are a removable vinyl window system. What's weird is that they stretch. You can stick your finger into one, stretch it out, and upon release they will return to their shape in a few minutes, with no trace of what you had done.

We've been pretty impressed.

Unfortunately we've also found the limits of them because the contractors didn't put a door stop in on the porch. Because the door doesn't always catch properly yet it has been known to swing open. It finally hit the light fixture hard enough to puncture the screen, and the vinyl behind it.

Sigh...

New Old Table

In an effort to keep something moving forward we recently refinished and repainted an old table that we'll use on the porch. Stupid me. I didn't take any "before" pics.

An Offer...(to take control)

Finally made contact with the project manager again. He says he's going to come Monday and fix it himself. Wow. Our plan is to offer for him to come Saturday. We can be there and we will help him, and in the process personally approve and sign off on the position of each tile. It will be interesting to see if he takes us up on it. I think we could be quite helpful. I'll bet he thinks we could be quite annoying.

Speechless

So we had them redo parts of the tile again, because it just wasn't good enough. This was the result. Notice anything weird?

The obvious thing is that the spacing really didn't get any better. The other obvious thing (though not so much in a photo) is the grout color in the new places is different. When I first saw it I thought it was because it was still wet, but no...it's just wrong. What the HELL? COME ON!!