Monday, November 18, 2013

Poor Piggy


Poor Piggy indeed. We are busy spending money right, left and centre! I set aside a certain amount of money to replace the lovely rose pink carpet that ran throughout the house not to mention the 1980's linoleum - how very chic! We got some pretty good flooring deals but there are a HEAP of other costs that I didn't take into account.
You need certain types of tools. You need people with know how or you have to pay someone to install it all. You have to pay someone to haul away the old carpet. You need those little felt pads to put on the bottom of chair and table legs because you're so paranoid about scratching up the new floor. You have to replace the kitchen counter top because SOMEONE (I don't know who) made a big scratch on it with some sort of tool during the hardwood installation. The tool!

I could go on and on, in fact, I think I will! I need new curtains, I think I'll have to replace the bathroom counter top too because I noticed a few burn marks from someone's hair straightener (not mine!!)  I may need a couple more cans of primer - that lovely shade of coral in my daughter's room (she of the hair straightener) is going to take a few coats to cover. I'm thinking of new toilets - who wants to buy a house with old toilets in it?? Not me! Might as well replace the sinks while I'm at it - I've notice a couple of minuscule dots of black - is the porcelain wearing thin??

Maybe I should just blow the place up and start over! One thing leads to ten more. I have to stop somewhere, but where?? When? When I run out of money??  Arrrrgh!

What was your worst reno experience?? Please make me feel better!

16 comments:

  1. Im having nightmares about repainting the girls room at some point. Imagine the brightest turquoise on two walls and flaming pink on the other two. I am think 4 or 5 layers of kilz!! We have hardwood all through the house(from the 1940's) and I have those little pads under everything. Only because its a pain in the ass to strip and buff. But I do love yours!!!!!!

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  2. We are just about to start the reno..I hope I don't have any bad tales to tell. Our piggy bank is going to have to 'go on the game' to get the renos done.
    Jane x

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  3. Yikes- been there, done that, never again!

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  4. We also put laminate flooring throughout our home. The flooring contractor, an old friend of DH's, actually scratched it with his shoes while still installing it and redo a section in our family room. Thankfully it was only the first day and he was able to quickly access the scratched boards and replace them. After that we insisted he either take his shoes off or put on those little shoe booties.

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  5. If you make it too nice you won't want to leave:)

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  6. Our basement flooded a few months before my son was born. Although insurance covered it, it was one F*#@ up after another (pardon my French) so it dragged on and on. The people installing the new water heater (the old one blew up which caused the flood) didn't do it properly and we were without hot water for days. We found out that the way they wired it, it could have burned down our house :( The restoration people didn't order enough flooring to cover the space, and then told me there was no more of that floor available in North America (except my dad sourced it in less than a day in the GTA...sigh..), they lost our handrail to the basement and told me that there wasn't one. They knocked down a custom framed photo collage from my friend's wedding that I still have not been able to replace properly, I could go on... I had to finally "lose it" on the "project manager" (a 23 year old kid who didn't know what hit him) and told him that the work had to be completed ASAP, because if I went into labour when his workers were there, they would be summarily kicked out and there would be hell to pay (I had a homebirth-wasn't about to do that with strange men in my basement). It felt like a never-ending saga. Thankfully it did get done before my son arrived (in this respect, it was helpful that he was almost 2 weeks late!) There's my little reno nightmare for you. Hope yours ends well, and ends soon!

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  7. Your poor piggy! I hate projects! One time we were gutting the kitchen and I put a hammer through the wall and then we had to patch and paint the hall. Another time I was tearing tile out of the bathroom and I smacked out tub with a hammer and we had to replace the entire tube. Hmmm, just keep me away from the hammers.
    I say just stop where you are. See if it sells without dumping more money in. Save the money that is left for all the alcohol you have earned.

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  8. Oh Sonya Ann - that brings to mind all sorts of comments about the joys of getting hammered, but I won't go there :)

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  9. Whoa! I feel so much better! At your expense! What a nightmare and all while you were pregnant. No wonder the memory is so vivid for you!

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  10. You have a point there - I'm loving the dark hardwood but it's way more sophisticated than I am lol!

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  11. Hi there Janelle! Thanks for reading and commenting:) Good thing you noticed those scratches early - I can't believe he'd wear that type of footwear while redoing your floors!

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  12. Sighh.............

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  13. You too eh? Welcome to the crowd - I'm sure you'll have lots of stories to tell!

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  14. Yikes! I'm waiting til Kazi goes off to Australia then I'll tackle her room - it's not something I look forward to. Well, that's not true - I do look forward to covering up that colour!

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  15. Good advice - my alcohol fund is severely depleted!

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  16. I am very much pleased with the contents you have mentioned.

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