Saturday, March 11, 2017

The Secret Room

Because it is secret, I can't share too much about it.

But those who have been here know where it is...

The room has been mostly done for quite a while.

All that remained were the finishing touches to make it look like the inside of Jeannie's bottle from "I Dream Of Jeannie".

Just prior to our most recent party, we did the remaining work.

And now that I've posted this for all the world to see, the room is not so secret anymore.

First, around the room going clockwise:

Now toward the sloping ceiling:


And last, from inside looking back toward the door:

Sunday, March 5, 2017

The Laundry Room - Part 5

While we were fighting with people over timezones and counters, I installed the artwork in the laundry room.

Yes, SWMBO wanted artwork in the laundry room.

We found it in a little shop in Oakes, North Dakota last summer.

The Laundry Room is finally done!

The Laundry Room - Part 4

Previously, I'd installed the cabinets and called to make the appointment for the counters to get measured.

There was a little messing about to get schedules to work out for the measure, but the guy arrived mostly on time and it it went off mostly without a hitch.

A week or so later the folks from the Big Orange box left a voicemail to confirm the color we'd selected and to tell us that there was less material needed than originally thought, so we'd be getting a refund.

I returned the call to confirm the color so they could start fabricating.  I'm not sure how much fabricating needs to be done for two chunks of counter each about 30 inches wide, but whatever...

After a week or so the fabricator called to set the install date. The window was 11 am - 1 pm.

On the appointed day 11 am comes and goes.

Noon comes and goes.

1 pm comes and goes.

At 2 pm SWMBO calls to ask where the installer was. "He's running a couple hours behind," was the reply.

Like clockwork, at 3 pm he shows up and gets started.  But SWMBO has an appointment at 3:30 and I 'm at work with a day full of meetings trying to keep the world from falling apart. So we agree to break the rules in the installation guide that say "there must be an adult present at all times during the installation" and leave SWMBO Jr in charge (note - this is not a portend that she messed anything up).

When I get home that night everything looks fine and the sink is dry-fit in the hole.

During the rest of the week, I gather the remaining supplies necessary to install the sink and set to work on the weekend.

Following the installation instructions, I remove the sink from the hole and install the mounting clips to the underside. Then I attempt to dry-fit the sink again.

Yes you read that right...

"attempt"...

The hole in the counter wasn't cut to allow for the mounting clips.

So we call again to make an appointment to have the installer come out and enlarge the hole. He only needs to make the hole 1/4-inch wider at two spots; each about 1.5-inches long.

So the appointment gets made. Again with a 2 hour window.

The appointed start time comes and goes.

The midpoint comes and goes.

The end of the window comes and goes.

So SWMBO calls.  Again she is informed that, "he's running 2 hours late and we'll have to reschedule since neither adult can be there."

After SWMBO lights him up about why no adults can be there (Yo! Dude! Show up on time and we'll be there!), he finally relents and says we can have the first appointment of the day on Saturday, even they though they don't normally do Saturday appointments.

He arrived on time yesterday morning and got the work done properly.  In the afternoon I installed the sink and today the faucet.

I can't tell you how many times throughout this process the scheduler told me over the phone, "We want to make sure you give us a perfect 10 on our customer satisfaction survey, so we have our best people on your job."

Maybe so, but how about setting your watches to Central time.

And no 10 for you...

P.S. - The refund that actually made it to our credit card was only 2/3 of what she said it would be.  Now I get to go back to the store and straighten that crap out too...

P.P.S. - This is the first and last time we use the Home Services option from a big box store. I should have known from the horrific experience via the Blue Box at a previous house that my expectations at the Orange Box should be low. I'd have been better off if I just bought the d*mn specialty tools and done it myself.