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carriebor

Presence During Remodel (a fallow week question)

Carrie B
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

My work's pretty slow in mid/late summer, so I was able to be here almost the entire time that work was being done, so far. I've been very glad to be here - in part because I find it really interesting, but also in order to be involved in decisions as they came up. Decisions that never would have occurred to me would come up - like the alternatives since the OTR can't vent directly out the back because there's a heat vent right there, and the recessed light that can't be centered over the sink because of a beam.

I don't think I needed to be here for the actual cutting of my
door & window (though that was fun!) and I definitely didn't need
to be here for the sheetrocking. But I'm glad that I was here to tell
the electrician exactly where I wanted the pendant and to tell the
plumber that my sink drain is offset, with a trash pullout on the other
side.

I know that there are some decisions that the contractor just would not make without me, and that some, very minor ones, he probably only involved me in because I was here - decisions where I never would have known the difference had he gone one way or the other. But, then, there's a lot of gray area.

My contractor is on vacation this week, so all is quiet. Before he went away, he told me to feel free to reach out via phone or email with any questions. I'd forgotten to tell him before he went away that I have Jury Duty on Wednesday the 16th. I emailed contractor to tell him that he & his crew are welcome to be here, but since I'd probably have limited phone access, I asked that no work be done that might involve an immediate decision that I'd want to be involved in.

So, that got me thinking about the priorities of when I should be here. I know I need to be here for the templating of my countertop. I know that I want to tell contractor where I want my cabinet pulls to go, but what else? Are there any times that you really felt you could have scheduled to be away? What are the most important times to be on site, or at least phone accessible?

Cabinets arrive on Monday!

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