The sheetrock guy called on a Sunday night after we had been painting the exterior all week. He was hoping to start on Tuesday morning and wanted to make sure we were ready. Yes, we were ready! We had been ready for weeks! Well… I only have to move about 4 ladders, 2 tents, 4 chairs, a dozen paint cans, and about a million paint brushes and rollers. Oh, and all extra paint “stuff” and all the toys that had helped occupy the kids all week. Sure, easily done. Right? No problem. I hope…
We were only expecting 2 inches of rain on Monday, so it shouldn’t be any problem to go out and load all that stuff up in the car in a monsoon. Sure, no problem. I’m beginning to notice that if someone is going to do work on our place, it’s going to be during a monsoon or a hurricane. Yep. Are we expecting rain? Good, someone should be coming to do work, right? Yep, that’s the way it’s working out. Ok, I’m trying to work with that.
So, I made it out there before the heavy rain and loaded our Suburban as full as possible. Then I started laying out old sheets and taping down plastic to protect the concrete floors. If at all possible, we are planning to use the concrete floor as our floors. I think they are beautiful and it should save us thousands of dollars if we don’t have to install carpet or tile over the concrete. The acid staining was quite a bit over our budget, but the simple polished look of concrete is quite lovely. So, we were planning to go with that simple, budget friendly idea. But I know all to well how plans can change….
Operation protect the floors seemed like a successs. At least, I thought it was. I guess I’ll have to wait and see. On Tuesday afternoon we headed out to the property before the kids play practice. It was almost 6 when we got there and the sheetrock guy was still there! I was so happy that he had showed up on time! Then I popped my head in the door and was blown away by all the work he had done. He had the entire house taped and mudded already. Now we’re talking progress people! It looked like a house!! A real house!!
I didn’t want the kids going inside and messing up anything so we waited outside while he gathered his stuff and left. I’m sure he was tired after a long day of work so I tried not to take it personally when he wouldn’t acknowledge me. I’m the weird, shy, awkward female with the noisy kids that you’re afraid is going to slow you down or destroy something. I get that. But considering I do keep my kids out of the way, a quick nod of your head or a “Hi” would be lovely when I speak to someone. Just lovely. I commented several times on his great work and he did eventually grunt at me. Okay, I guess that’s an improvement…maybe?
Anyway, after the non-speaking, sheetrock guy high-tailed it out of there, I went in the house.
Maleah wanted to be the first to take pictures of the walls. I couldn’t blame her. It finally looks like a real house!!
Camden thought the walls were okay, but he was practicing his web shooting skills. When he wears the spider man shirt, he magically transforms and has web shooting abilities. Go figure..
Shooting a web at a bad guy is a serious task and must be perfected!
Maylin has inherited my drive to take pictures and document everything. Watch out world!
Everything looked great. Until I looked down and realized that he had moved or inadvertently moved some of the tarps we had down to protect the floors. There was plaster all over the floor in places where the tarps had been moved. Let’s just say that I spent over 2 hours cutting and taping plastic and tarps so they wouldn’t move. I used 3 large rolls of tape. Believe me when I say that those tarps weren’t moving! My kids were running in circles while I taped down the tarps. If my kids couldn’t get the tarps to move, how did someone else? But the tarps did move somehow. And no one noticed apparently. And the floors in those spots were covered with plaster. I did the only thing I could. I turned and walked out the door. I took the kids to play practice and then went home to bed.
By the next morning I had a different perspective on things. If the plaster didn’t come off the floors, then maybe it would give the floor more character. Maybe? Or maybe that would be the incentive I needed to take a tile laying class? Or maybe the kids would get their wish and we would put carpet in the bedrooms? I despise carpet, but at this point I’m open to all options. Or maybe the sheetrock guy who doesn’t speak to me has a miracle cleaner and he will actually clean up after himself? Hey, stranger things have happened!
I went out again on Wednesday and Thursday late in the afternoons and was a little disappointed that he hadn’t done any work. He had initially told us that the work should only take 3-4 days. Since he had started on Tuesday, I was hoping he would be done on Friday so we could start painting the walls. Well, by Friday it definitely didn’t look anywhere near finished. So, Jim went out to the house to get a progress update. The sheetrock guy wasn’t there so Jim called him. He had several contractors that he does regular work for that were on a deadline. So our house was pushed to the back for now. (Big sigh…) He hoped he would be able to finish by the end of the following week if all went well. He hoped. I hoped too! Mostly because Joe, the amazing Joe, who had done all the electric was leaving the week after next to go on a hunting trip. Joe was planning to be gone for 2-3 weeks! Don’t get me wrong here. Joe deserves a vacation. I am thrilled that he is taking a lengthy hunting trip. But waiting weeks for him to get back will be….ahem….difficult for me.
On the bright side, I suppose if the sheetrock isn’t completed before Joe leaves then we will have plenty of time to do outside work while he’s gone. Let’s see…Jim can finish clearing out the spot for a storage building, a spot for Desi and Minnie’s barn, clean up all the downed trees, burn some brush piles, put up fencing, get rid of the hundred or so ant nests mulitplying out there, do some landscaping around the house, finish painitng all the trim work and get the gutters put on. And I can’t forget Maylin’s birthday. Yep. I think we might have enough to keep us busy for a few weeks….Or a few years…
