I'm getting more opinions and they all agree with you. I'm sure part of my hesitation is just being unsure about what it will ultimately look like. Still thinking about it.

Depends on how far under the tile the gaps go. If we're talking a 1/4" or so along the perimeter I'd say it's kinda sloppy but NBD. Anything more than that and I'd be concerned.

I'm guessing they're mortaring the individual tiles instead of the entire wall, which is fine. I do the same thing. But you gotta make sure you're covering the entire tile when you do it that way.

I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Rob about various things. We had a couple of tiling things to discuss so he went to the tile place to talk to Sophia (the tile girl). I'll cover this in a bit. I'll have to follow up with another trip to the tile place Tuesday.

1) Redo of AC ductwork - I told him I didn't think I should be responsible for the rework cost. We went back and forth a bit on this. I am not sure what he thinks the cost of this will be yet so I'll just wait to see what he comes up with.

2) Living room tile - He finally gave me a rough price on the extra labor for the tile. $2 a sq. ft. YIKES! That's a lot. He said this is because of the size of the tile. I told him I might consider getting another size tile to reduce this cost. After talking to Sophia I find out they no longer carry this and they won't take it back. Ugh. She also said that it really does cost this much more to install and in fact her installers would charge even more than what Rob is quoting. I guess I just have to live with this. I really do like the tile so, oh well.

3) Master bath tile - I've decided to tear out the newly installed tile. I just don't think I'll ever come to love it. I also told Rob that I don't want a glass door on the shower. It is really big and I like being able to just walk in without opening a door. I can always put one in later if necessary. Anyway, the savings for the door just about offsets the labor on redoing the tile so that is good.

4) Cabinets in guest bath - there is an area behind the shower that seems like it would work well for cabinets. It just seems wrong to do nothing with that area so I asked Rob to give me a price on cabinets. Today he told me that the original plans had that as a closet. This is fine, I just forgot that was the plan. So, no extra cost for this.

5) Cabinets/shelves in office - He's going to work up an estimate.

6) Closet shelves/drawers - He's going to work up a design for two closet systems.

He's going to try to get most of this worked up to discuss costs on Saturday. I'm sort of uncomfortable not knowing exactly what all this will cost.

My boss has been out this week. It is sheer paradise. We are getting work done and having a good time doing it. It's amazing the difference.

The tech lead has dubbed her "crazy pants", which has now stuck.

Cool storm cloud outside.

I spent about 3 hours at the condo with Rob today. Most of the drywall is up now. It looks good. Rob was able to measure everything. He'll be able to order all of the cabinetry now.

We went through every room to finalize as much as we could.

Office - we finalized the cabinetry design for the area that used to be the closet. We had a long discussion about the desk. He has changed this design several times and come up with moving the cabinets in so the granite span won't be too long. I think he thought even 48" was too much so he gave me a 36" area for where I sit. I told him I would prefer we didn't do this and would rather them put bracing in to support the granite. No matter what we do, the receptacles will need to be moved.

Guest bedroom - We decided on an adjustable shelf system in the guest bath and designed a closet organizing system in the closet. We will have to move the door hinge to the other side.

Master bedroom - We designed the closet organizing system in the closet. We also talked about the tile removal. I might leave the shower floor in depending on what tile I choose for the walls/floor.

Kitchen - I've been wondering about the bar and today he confirmed that the original design was a single level counter. I want a tall bar level as well. Rob said this was really minor. He needs to get the electrician to put a couple of plugs along the backsplash area and figure out a support system but the extra cost should be minimal.

Cont.

Pics and stuff.

Dining room. The door is to the powder room.



Guest bath



Guest closet. Note the indentation on the right. That's where the closet organizer is going so we need to change how the door swings.



Kitchen/hall



Living room. Note how they have walled in the office.



Master bedroom (closet on left, bath on right)



Master closet



Powder room



nfc what this is

Now for the fun part. Rob showed me all of the change orders he worked up.

The first was for redoing the master bath tile. After crediting for the glass that I no longer want, it came out to about 1,000. I'm ok with this.

The second was the additional labor for the living room tile. About 2,000. I am sort of OK but not really with this. He did inform me that certain tile would cost more to install but at the time it was my understanding that it would only be the plank tile (which I avoided). I wasn't aware of this. I do realize, though, that had I told him going in what tile I wanted this would have been the charge. I think this is actually a little less than if he had originally quoted me for this tile.

1,500 for painting the trim. This one caught me completely by surprise. He said he didn't bid for this originally because he didn't think it was necessary but now he thinks it is. I do think it is necessary but I'm still not amused. I gave him some grief for this one.

3,300 for redoing the ductwork. We had a lengthy discussion about this. I don't think I should be responsible for the redo. I'm fine with what it would have cost had they done it correctly the first time. His take is that they did exactly what the city told them to do so he can't be responsible. We talked a lot about where they got this figure and it is to pay javier, the electrician, and the AC guy. He did not charge for his time or the foreman's time. And I know they spent a ton of time on this. They definitely took a hit but I still don't think I should be paying for this.

At this point, though, I have to decide what is best for me. I guess I could fire them but it would cost waaaayyyyy more to find someone to take over. I could sue them I guess but how much would that cost. I think in situations like this, as much as I hate it on principal, I need to consider what the alternatives are. And the alternatives are definitely more expensive (and would push the end date way back).

I don't think these guys are trying to screw me. I think Rob especially had gone above and beyond what any contractor would ever do to make this work. So, I just need to get over it and move on.

cont.

So, what's next......

I told Rob I want all change orders before I write another check. This will include the bar (minor), guest bath closet (minor) the office cabinetry (not so minor) and the two closet systems (not so minor). He thought he could get me everything next week some time.

We talked a little about timeline. He seemed to think that it could get wrapped up by the end of May. But when we dived into it a little deeper I'm not so sure. The cabinets take 4 weeks to build and he hasn't finished designing them yet. The granite guys can't do anything until they are installed so that will take time. I honestly think we are talking mid-june.

The pros are playing at Austin Country Club today. I actually played that course once which is kinda cool for me since I'm not really a big golfer. And it's neat to see Austin on TV. When I played it we had some sort of closest to the hole game going instead of each of us playing. Good thing because I think I would have had trouble breaking 200. That is one hard ****ing course.

What powder are you storing in the powder room? Gunpowder? Face powder?

cocaine - I have another room for the hookers.

He keeps this guy in there.

[IMG] http://3008-presscdn-26-4.pagely.net...WDER-19951.jpg [\IMG]

Rob called to finalize a few things. He got his notes a little confused and wanted to confirm cabinet colors with me. The ones he mentioned didn't seem right so I had him text me some pics. Definitely not what I ordered. I think he got the right ones but mixed them up some and I don't think he got the kitchen right at all.

So, I'll be doing this again while I pick out some new bath tile Tuesday.

Our team is still being asked to provide information for the project that was assigned to another team.

Last week my boss sent us an email telling us that we are not to attend any meetings for this project. It was clear and to the point.

Yesterday, my boss forwarded a meeting invitation for this same project specifically instructing us to attend.

About an hour later, she sent us another email specifically telling us that we cannot attend any meetings for this project.

We all sent her a wtf email and she replied to all of us that we should accept the meeting as "tentative".

Went to the tile store first. Sofia picked one out and we looked at a couple of others. I took a couple of samples (along with my living room floor tile) to firm up the cabinet colors.

It turns out the pic Rob sent me was actually correct for the kitchen. The picture just didn't come out well. I change my mind on a couple of selections. I ended up going with a dark brown (tobacco) for both bathrooms and the office. I stayed with espresso (very very dark shade of red) in the kitchen and entertainment center. Black in the powder room. White in the laundry room.

So, all tile and cabinets completely final.

I got a call back from the recruiter about the job. I had sort of blown it off but apparently they want to set up a second round of interview.

I'm really torn on this. As much as my job sucks it is a known. I just got a bonus and raise. I have 2 weeks vacation socked away to take care of the condo stuff. I can work from home 1 day a week. I do like the guys on my team.

On the other hand, the new job environment couldn't be worse. The benefits are just as good. I'll probably have much higher job satisfaction.

I dunno

You need a push from some kind of higher power.

Your current job is bad enough to suffer, but not bad enough to get you in movement. It is somehow a comfort zone. ****ty but you know exactly how ****ty. New job is unknown. I am pretty sure, that that is a big thing for you. You prefer a LOT things that you know, some kind of routine compared to something new? Right?

I dunno.

When I was in a similar situation, I have gotten a nice kick from higher power. The situation deteriorated so fast, that at some point I had to get my butt moving out of there. You could wait and see until your pain threshold is achieved.

This is spot on. I don't really like routine but I need to have some security/knowing. I think it's prevented me from doing some things I think I'm capable of, but at the same time kept me from making too many disastrous life mistakes. Well, except for the soul sucking job.

Stuff be happening.

Stopped by the condo about 2:00, well after the time the contractors should be gone. I thought I heard some noise when I unlocked the door and sure enough....

There was a family taping and floating the place. The drywall has all been hung. This family appeared to be 3 generations - a husband and wife, their son or daughter (very pregnant) and significant other, and a boy about 8 years old. The boy was the only one that spoke any English. I just left them alone and checked out the progress. Looks pretty damn good. Based on what I saw I'm guessing they finish it today.

The bathroom tile that I didn't like was removed as well and the cement board replaced.

Lots of pics.

Kitchen/bar



Guest bath (I think)



Guest closet



kitchen



laundry room



Living room looking at office



living room



master closet



office



1/2 bath (formerly known as powder room)



no clue what this is



A little tile work in guest bath



master bath floor sans tile



master shower

I met Rob today to finalize all of the change orders and pay him for those and the latest draw.

My budget is getting stretched a bit so I took out the office built in cabinets/shelves. This was $3600. I can do this later since the space is already there. The remaining add-ons came to $11,000.

We had a few minor changes to a few things but I think we are good to go. I made a last minute decision to change the kitchen cabinets to a more red color. Hope I didn't mess this up.

Rob said they will be installing tile this week and will be ready to paint next week. So, he told me I need to pick out some paint. Ugh, this is so hard for me. I think I'm ok at it but I agonize over these decisions. I picked a handful of colors and got some samples. I'm also going to go ahead and pick out carpeting this week since I have an opportunity to match everything now.

I'm starting to think this gets done before the end of May now. Once we turned the corner, everything seems to be moving pretty quickly.

Never had to pick out paint colors before, but I can feel your pain. I agonize over similar things all the time.

Seems like it's really coming together nicely, really excited for you!

thanks.

Finishing this is going to make things a ton easier. I'm bleeding money paying for living (or not living) in two places. I'm allergic to my cat and getting in a bigger non-carpeted place is going to be huge. Just getting this behind me will be great.

I checked out appliances today as well. For some reason I like samsung but I was curious about the frigidaire. They have this really nice no-fingerprint stainless finish that none of the others do. I did a field test Checks out. They are also considerably cheaper so I wondered if they were just lower quality. Surprised to find out they were rated very high in all categories.

I also looked at wine/beer coolers. They seemed small so I asked Rob what he measured this at. Turns out the ones at Lowe's were stand-alone (not for built in) and not standard sizes. They do carry built ins but, sheesh, they are all around $2,000. Seems high. Found a nice one at HD for $500. Has a dual temperature setting (one for wine and one for beer).

LOL me. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about the kitchen cabinet color. I'm pretty sure my original choice was correct and now I'm obsessing about making a last minute change. I emailed Rob to tell him to change it back to the original.

Picked out paint and carpet yesterday. I made some bold paint choices that I'm already second guessing (lol me). But paint is easy to fix. I'm going to not fret over it too much.

Not much else to decide on now. Appliances, which I've pretty much already decided on, and lighting.

Not much really got done on the condo this week. They have put a layer of texture on the new drywall but I think they have to put another layer on. Rob says they will start painting next week, then tile. They need the tile done before cabinets come in.