We think we’ve decided on the type of granite we are getting for the kitchen, and, besides the silly name, we are pretty excited about it. Its called Verde Ubatuba and comes from Brazil. It is very rich and has lots of pattern and deep colors. I really love it. Here’s a picture that pretty closely represents the rich colors.

We are into week 3 of what is supposed to be a 10-15 week renovation process and I have a few thoughts I thought I’d share.

1. I am VERY happy so far with the company we chose to do the work. The staff that comes in is clean, friendly, smart and they know how to communicate (or at least try very hard to make sense of things). They always clean up before they leave and they seem to be getting a lot done.

2. In relation to part of #1, communicating what you want is very difficult. It is best to write it all out, exactly what you want done in each room, even how you expect that to happen. Some days (most days), we talk to the workers before we leave for work and they have one idea of how things are going to be done, and we have another idea. We have never come home to something we didn’t want/expect, but I think that has something to do with our diligence in making sure everyone is on the same page. We could probably be a little more proactive about it too, by actually making a list for them.

3. Figuring out what you want is even more difficult than communicating it. We have many things to decide on still and we’re taking baby steps to figure it all out. We have some time, so I like to take it one bit at a time, but in the grand scheme of things, we have a lot to pick out. Tile color, tile pattern, wall colors for all rooms, backsplash type/color/pattern, on and on. For the most part, the contractor is telling us when we need to decide on things so that is helpful. I get a little overwhelmed when we try to do too much at once, so I’m glad we can take it step by step.

4. The dogs are coping surprisingly well. Most days when we come home, they are asleep in the crate and have to be tussled to get out. Even if we come home at lunch, when all the racket is going on upstairs, they are pretty quiet and don’t seem to be too bothered. That brings me HUGE peace of mind.

So yesterday they moved the wall in the bathroom 1 foot to give us extra room. I think its really going to help:

Of course, this means that I lose 1 foot of closet space on my side of the closet. However, it is a ridiculously wide closet with tons of wasted space, so I think it will work out fine.

They also took out all the drywall at the front of the house. Our old crappy door looks new a shiny compared to its surroundings:

We also found out that there used to be another window in the new dining room area so we are probably going to put one back in. It will add tons of light and give Dexter another vantage point from which he can bark.

I don’t know what they are working on today, but I saw one of the guys drive up as I was leaving. Good thing they are not working outside in this weather.

This is what it looks like outside right now. The sky is totally black.

I seem to be having a period of writers block. For all pertinent updates regarding our home renovation, please see Jason’s blog.

EDITED: Haha, I just realized I should’ve called this “Blogger’s Block”.

I’ve started a Flickr page to help document the process of our renovation project. Take a looksie.

Our Flickr Renovation Picture Page

So it is now Day 3 and so far, things are a mix of good and not-so-good. On Day 1, they pulled out all the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom, including all fixtures (sink, toilet, etc). That seemed like a lot of work in one day and they even cleaned up after themselves.

Yesterday, they pulled up the floor in the bathroom (which was tile cemented in place) and pulled off the drywall on one side of the bathroom. We also noticed that they shut the water off, so, after talking to the contractor (who didn’t know why they’d turned the water off), we turned it back on. Two hours later I realized that the clinking sound of something going around and around in the dryer was actually water dripping from the bathroom down into the basement. Jason discovered that the valve that used to go to the toilet was not closed all the way so water would come out of it every few seconds, thus, pooling up and sinking down through the floor, into our basement. Soon after he tightened that (and turned off the water for precaution), it stopped.

Then, this morning at 7:30am, the workers show up, which is way earlier than they’ve ever showed up and I was still in my towel. The contractor showed up shortly after, having just heard the message I left last night about the water damage. He was very “calm and assertive”, as Ceasar would say, not to apologetic, but still taking responsibility for what happened.

All in all, the water damage isn’t that bad. They could really just paint over it, except that it revealed where the previous person taped over some holes and painted over the tape. Anyway, he said they’ll take care of it. Everyone has been very nice and professional, and they continue to clean up after themselves so that makes it a little better. It sounds like they’ll be moving from the bathroom to the living room today, if I heard the contractor correctly. We’ll see when we get home!

So today I discovered that I am not receiving support tickets I am supposed to be receiving because my name is not valid in the ticket system. When I called to find out why, they told me that it shows I was “terminated without pay” a few months ago. Wow. Who knew? Glad they told me.

Turns out when I changed my name, it created multiple instances of my name and all my tickets were being split amongst the different accounts. To solve that, it sounds like they had to say some of them belonged to someone who was terminated. Guess they did it to the wrong one.

As I was looking at the support ticket client, they tell me I don’t have an account. I’m like “Uh…then why am I able to log in??”

Their reply? “We’ll call you back”. Nice.

The contractors showed up at our house this morning and started moving stuff right away. Its crazy to think it has actually started, but I’m sure it will hit hard when I get home and see what all they’ve done today. Jason has posted some before pics and a picture of our temporary kitchen in his most recent post.