The BIG Wait: Comedy/Calamity of Errors

Are we Done Yet?  Well, . . . NO!

Glimmer of Hope:  temporary installation of washing machine, stove and fridge ice maker went in Monday afternoon making living here a bit easier and nicer!


Closet with wrong vinyl and sticky glue border!

I started this post weeks ago and a frustrating situation with our condo renovation has deteriorated to the extent mini me was found looking up the word Calamity [it is an event causing great and often sudden damage or distress; a disaster - if you must know] on her laptop; this qualifies on the distress aspect.  July completion might now be October completion.

Furniture/sea shipment now due within the week and nowhere to put it!!  But mini me will be happy to be reunited with her personal belongings last seen in March!

 

Now, mini me needs to kept perspective, there are major wars and disease outbreaks in the world - and fortunately we are all well here.  So, the frustrating and much delayed renovation is small in the scheme of world life, but nevertheless, exasperating and has taken up much more of our time & energy than anticipated, so we haven't really settled in Florida.

Life-sized me feels her life is in some sort of suspended 'twilight zone' as she cannot sort out a home or get on with other things in life, rather she needs to spend much time at the condo waiting on and directing workmen.  Remainder of the time she is researching building materials and installation methods (something she thought was the general contractor's role!) to try and get resolution on the errors made. Five months living out of a suitcase in a dusty, dirty construction site and regularly needing to pack it up and move or rearrange living space is wearing.

The comedy of a multitude  of largely and easily avoidable errors means much of the five months has been spent, not on work in the condo, but on waiting, rework and very slow progress in fits and starts.  This has left us with the oft repeated mantra of "Two steps forward, one back - or occasionally three back. Oh!"  All fixable [at a price and with time].

 

Stop Press . . . Carpets cannot be found in warehouse after 'labels fell off.'  Original installer walks off.  We go to view and carpets are there with sticky labels permanently affixed to the shrink wrap.  No explanation forthcoming, but installer now not available for another week!  Mini me gone numb with frustration and despair.

 

Fashionable!

Always inventive-mini me's new office

Further Stop Press:  Carpets then delivered on wrong day creating problem in getting to third floor.  New sub-contracted installer arrives and takes two days to do one days' job and at the end of it is fired for incompetence leaving us with need to rip out his work, reorder the flooring materials and start over; floors have to be cleaned and cleared of the mess he made.  In the meantime we are still camping out only now with sticky glue floors and sticky glue where no glue should ever go! Moving room to room requires booties.  Some flooring now not available until mid October.

 

Just to round out the story of the comedy of errors, these include prior to the flooring issues --

• six (6!) times a  promise that the electrics need just '1 more day to complete' only for a half day of work to be put in and the electrician to reappear days or weeks later to 'finish the job' but not finish and the cycle repeats
• installed sinks that leak and not only require the plumber to return twice, but damage the cabinets
• materials ordered that arrive incorrect - including the countertop cut too short and after negotiation reordered
• shortage on vinyl flooring - two 9x6 pieces arrived as a 5x7 and 7x7 - too small for the place it is to go.
• incorrect order of work such that one trade finishes a job which another works on top of and requires redoing - e.g. wall repairs/painting done only for another trade to cut holes in wall as they didn't finish on time, necessitating rework--ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• work on a particular stand-alone room/item started but not finished, such that nothing is complete and no room done - e.g. re-screening of balcony largely done, except sliding window area not re-screened and edges not finished off, but screening material now removed from job site, so more materials have to be found - why, oh why does one not finish the task at hand?
• and the typical:
• personal issues for contractors who do not show up on the given day or spend it on the phone
• promise workers to start at 8 am on a given day, which actually starts at 11 and finishes at 3 pm
• agreement to do specific items that are later stated as not part of the program of works



yes, he's on the phone and no not getting instructions
Takes the biscuit really.

and just as I thought there couldn't be more - Friday the 29th August we are told the mirrors cannot be installed as they shipped defective and had to be reordered.  Then the carpet store called to ask if we had ordered a purple carpet (NO!  sorry Annie) as they have a bunch of carpets but the customer labels fell off - so which are ours?  LOL what can you do?

We have been told repeatedly this is just how it is in Florida.  Seems the building trade is ripe for an efficiency overhaul and some enhanced project management.  No wonder life sized me is frustrated!

 



Funky - I am on the beach!

The better news is we all like the changes we have made to the layout as well as our cabinet, fixtures and colour choices (Phew! ).  So we were hoping to have the countertop installed and final bits complete before sister Sue arrives end of September, but will be awaiting flooring in any event.  Chin up!  Living in Paradise, but only if you don't need workmen!

Hope to get brand new sewing machine out as soon as the dust settles.