Omen? Premonition?
Whatever it may be described as, but the very first conversation with our new “temporary neighbor” went like this: “Hello, you’re moving in? It this your son? How long are you staying? I have two young sons. One is on the spectrum so if he tells you to Go F Yourself, I apologize in advance. You know, this place is the ‘Divorced Dad’s’ place. The last five tenants were all dads going through divorce. You??” Jesus – how ‘bout taking a breath?!
The old saying, you can’t make this s*** up…yup. Insert here. Happy to report that once I got my bearings from that onslaught, all was cleared up on my “status” and also advised her there would be a very good chance her son would have some new material to try out once he spent some time around me. Funny, didn’t really see him too often. Coincidence??
So back to the project – I will tell you that when you’re knee deep into the demo and construction, the thought of “what have we done / excitement” escalates daily. It’s wild at what these contractors and subs can do. It’s like a symphony of sorts. Each plays an important role, and can’t perform unless the other one has his act together. This is where “dictator / muscle shirt” comes into play. You have that – things get done. (Keep this in mind for your next project. No meek contractors!). Oh, add in a short Irish guy and wonderful wife that will pepper you with questions! Lots of eyerolls were received I would like to share.
The amount of work from the “client side” is volumes. There are so many things you need. Tile, grout, paint colors, knobs, handles, patterns, trim, flooring width, fixtures, lighting, appliances etc. It’s unreal. And then, once you choose all of it, there will for sure be the proverbial, “we don’t have enough of that tile, that model is back ordered for eternity, those handles are sitting in the ocean…I promise you”. Oh yeah, tip? Find stores near you. We went on a recommendation of Friedman’s in Long Beach. Wonderful people and products at relatively fair prices, but it reached a point where I could have driven there blindfolded.
Demo day was as expected – an absolute war inside your once nice home. It looked like a bomb went off. Countless people in an out with all sorts of destruction. And it’s no easy project and took about a full week. But I will say this, Chris Bello runs a tight ship, and the place, while a disaster was never once left in disarray and swept up every day. Regardless, it’s not like on TV – this place looked like it was going to have to be totaled. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I don’t have that vision. I truly believed it would be done in an hour like on TV. But you know what was super cool???? The food truck that came by every day! I’m an adult child most of the time. Man, along with treating the crew from time to time, I too enjoyed some wonderful meals. God, I love those food trucks. So good.
Ok, that’s all for now…more to follow in next month’s blog.
