Little by little

the house is coming along...

...perfectly?  No.  Actually, far from it.  Since I last posted about the house, there have been quite a few setbacks, mistakes, miscommunications, etc.  such as:

# 1.  Estimated closing date

Every Monday I have an update call with the builder and the sales rep.  During our call two weeks ago, I asked if we were still on track for an end-of-May closing.  The answer I got, much to my surprise, was, "didn't we tell you that we are now estimating your closing to be June 25th?"

My response.  Silence.  Dead silence.  To the point whereby they asked if they had lost me.

I quickly responded that I was still there, but that there was no way we'd close on June 25th, given that Littlest Miss is due June 26th.  Thankfully, they were able to go back to the drawing board and sub-contractors, reschedule a few things, and we are tentatively (as of yesterday) scheduled to close June 16th.  Not ideal, but hopefully enough time to get into the house, out of the apartment, and at least locate the baby essentials (which are buried either in our storage shed or storage pod).

# 2.  Is it a wine room or a linen closet with a fancy door?

It's no secret.  The husband and I like wine.  And like it more and more with each passing year.  Thus, one of the upgrades that we made to the house was to have a wine room built into the dining room.  Given the space, we knew all along that it wasn't going to be huge and we were fine with this.  But given that the upgrade was called a wine room, we assumed that it would be a useful place to store wine.

At the current moment, we were wrong. Oh so wrong.  Unless of course you can store wine on linen closet shelves.

Moral of the story, don't assume anything with builders.

As of yesterday, the builder was still investigating how to remedy the situation.  Fingers crossed they come up with an acceptable solution.  Otherwise, I will either try to get them to reduce the purchase price or bring additional cash to closing.  Neither of which seem like options I'll be able to convince them to do.

# 3.  Who needs a functioning island?

Probably the biggest current issue is the island.  Based on the plans, we had no idea that our island was suppose to have undercounter seating.  So much to our almost-pleasant surprise, it did.

However, as its currently installed, its complete unfunctional for several reasons.

(a) Who would honestly have people sit in the middle of the kitchen with their backs a mere 3 - 4 feet from the stove?  Definitely not us.  

(b) What is the purpose of faux drawers and working doors that are underneath a granite overhang?

Thus, our proposed fix is a four step process:  To first turn the island around such that the seating area faces the stove.  To replace the cabinent doors and faux drawers under the seating area to a decorative front.  To move the island 3 to 4 inches closer to the stove so that visually it appears centered.  And lastly, to install legs at the corner of the seating area so that the island looks visually balanced.

Much like the wine room, the builder is currently investigating the fix. However, unlike the wine room, we will not move in until this is addressed.  I did politely tell them yesterday that this item would remain on our punch list indefinitely and could impede closing.  Maybe that will light a little fire under their rears to get them moving.  Who knows.  Only time will tell.


In the meantime, other progress has continued.  All of the cabinents and granite have been installed.  Most of the tile work has been completed.  Painting and trim are generally done.  This week they'll be installing plumbing and light fixtures as well as working on the driveway and side walks.

So it is coming together bit by bit.

Now if littlest miss would just stay put long enough...