Let the work begin...

For the last several weeks we have been working on remodeling plans of the new house. We have been making lists and taking pictures of the things we want to change.

First decision we had to make was; Who will manage this process?

Especially since there were a lot of dependencies between the tasks. We have quickly decided it cannot be either me or my husband. We just don’t have the time. And the time we have, we want to spend it together as a family, not chasing the tile guy. The decision was made; hire a contractor

The second decision was; Which contractor?

This was a much harder decision than the first one. We have found few contractors through Angie’s list (www.angieslist.com) and few through friends and acquaintances. We walked through the house with each (a total of 4), reviewed the work, and sometimes adjusted our list based on their suggestions. We asked each one to estimate the work, both money and time, and submit their estimates. We compared their estimates in a spreadsheet and picked two out of three based on their attention to detail and price. Then we asked them to fill out a questionnaire that we created and called their references. Both contractors were very good, close in price, but at the end, we kind of went with our gut feeling. We signed the contract and we are ready.

The next step is to pick the materials (fun, fun…) and start the work. The work will take close to 2 months. Cannot wait…

The summary of the work (details to come later):
- Re-finish the hard wood floors
- Paint kitchen cabinets
- Change appliances in the kitchen
- Change the granite counter top of the island
- Add a mudroom off of the garage that connects to the utility room
- Change the shower, tub, mirrors, countertop, and the sinks in the master bath
- Change wall paper on kids bathrooms as well as the counters and sinks
- Redo the powder room downstairs
- Paint the entire house
- Change carpets of the entire house
- Change some of the fans and the lights, hardware, etc

As of today the house is ours and empty. The work will start as early as Monday…