Wonderful in white

No photo to post tonight, and I really should be packing more stuff into boxes, but I just wanted to post that when I dropped by to pick up my keys and officially take possession of my place today, almost everything from the PDI had been completed... including the bathroom. I have to admit that I was a little scared to look in the room when I got there today, but when I did it was all white. So, while they tried their best to talk me out of it and gave me the distinct impression that it'd be days (if not weeks) before anything could be done about it, my bathroom is “fixed”.

But as I said, I should be packing. There is a chance of rain on Saturday, so I'm hoping to get most of the 'big stuff' moved tomorrow and I'll move my computers when the weather allows. Should have an internet connection set-up on Monday so hopefully I won't have too much to recap when next I post!

Have a great weekend everyone.

My second floor bathroom

I never thought that I'd be posting a photo of my bathroom - unless it was a joke or as part of a house-wide tour - but this was what led me to the whole “Don't move” post yesterday. You see, yesterday I had my Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) which is meant to give the home-buyer a chance to see their new house before moving in... identify any small (or large) building defects or errors on the part of the builder. This is what I found:



While it might not be obvious at first, here is the problem. The walls are white, the floor tile is white/grey, the bathtub tile is white/grey with blue/grey accents, the counter is blue, the cabinets are white... and (as of yesterday) the sink, toilet and tub are all tan/bone. I didn't pay for the bone sink, toilet and tub. I wanted white fixtures to match the walls, floor tile, tub tile and cabinet. I probably don't need to tell you that removing the bathtub from a completed bathroom is a big job.

My PDI was supposed to last about 90 minutes. It took over 2.5 hours to complete the inspection. Considering the less dramatic things that were identified - wrong hood fan in kitchen; walls not painted; missing arch (which actually looks better square and will be left as is); few odd scuffs and marks on doors or counters - the house is looking pretty good. I'm happy with the colour choices and such. If they've painted everything today for my move tomorrow, then I'd think that's the big one. Almost anything else on the list could be done after I've moved in without too much hassle for either party. But what to do about the bathroom?

Obviously the builder's first response wasn't, “Sure, we'll tear apart the bathroom for you” it was, well... one of shock really. They said that they hadn't heard the wrong fixtures being installed before. After some negotiating and discussion, the builder asked me to come back in a few hours so that they could paint the walls tan to match the fixtures in the hopes that it would bring the room together. When I returned in the mid-afternoon I had another look at the room. While I couldn't deny that it was better, I still couldn't see past the white cabinets in the room, or the tan/bone toilet sitting on the white/grey tile. It just didn't sit right with me. While they continued to try and tell me how this wasn't as bad as I thought, I just kept thinking, “Well, maybe if I did this... or that... could I paint the cabinets maybe?” and so on.

For those of you who know me, you probably know that I don't like to cause trouble. If there is a compromise to be had, I'll try to find it. But in this case I knew that I'd walk past this room every day and cringe; showing it to people over the next few weeks would be hard; knowing that visitors are having to shower in this mixture of tan and white... (okay, perhaps I'm getting a little dramatic with that last point), but as much as I hated to do it: I asked them to switch everything for the white fixtures I'd selected nine months ago. After having looked at the room for 30min in the morning and another 30min in the afternoon, it just didn't feel right to me; in large part that gut-feeling helped make my decision. I tried to be open-minded about it, I tried not to think about it between visits, but I might be here for a few years so that was that.

Today I dealt with the lawyer and had that sorted out. Over the last few days I've managed to sort out hydro, gas, water, cable, internet, and to a certain extent, phone (but that's another story for another night). Tomorrow is the closing, so I'll find out mid-afternoon if I get the keys or not. It's all set on my end, and I have no idea if the builder could keep me from closing at this point, but nothing seems for certain with this whole process.

I hope that this was a semi- balanced explanation to my initial reaction yesterday. This blog is supposed to be about my experience with this move, so I wanted to say something, but at that time (just after I came home from the house) I was afraid to say too much or start naming names. That said, I'm guessing that I'll have more to say about this in the coming weeks... you know, when they actually switch the fixtures.

Don't move

Don't move. Don't ever move.

Be happy where you are right now. In a house, in a townhome, in a cardboard box. On your own, with a friend, with family, with family-in-law.

Doesn't matter. Don't move whatever you do. Stay right where you are, right now. It is so much easier that way.

(Just my two cents after a long day... I'll try to elaborate later. For now, I have a beer or two to finish.)

Pardon me, I'm stressed

The countdown is on. All the things that I've been putting off (or didn't know I had to do) are crashing down around me. And on top of all this, I'm sick (as demonstrated by my lack of updates). But never fear, right? This is the digital age and we can do everything on-line now. I should be able to order my new phone line, cable tv, broadband internet, etc., and set-up my utilities with just a few clicks of the mouse. Then let's get started!

Telephone: while I'm still a little unsure about my need for a land-line, I've decided to get one to start all the same. The $55 connection charge is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Check out the company website... poke around a bit... finally find where I'm supposed to apply for a new line. Fill out the first screen - okay. Fill out the second screen - do I allow a credit check? Do I have to? Of course it doesn't say... okay, fine. Whatever. Third screen - driver's license and credit card number? Let me get my wall... wait a second. This isn't a secure site! They're asking for all this information and it's not even secure?! Screw this! There is a brick-and-mortar just around the corner.

Cable/Internet: these guys send me eMail coupons each month; should be no problem. Get in, find the link right away, and now... oh, “Check for Availability” that's probably a good idea. Click-click goes the new address (look up my new postal code... again) and - not recognized?! You provide service just a few blocks away, that much I know. The development (or at least my street) is complete within a matter of weeks now. Update your database!! Do I even try to see if it'll let me apply for internet access when it doesn't recognize my street? Nope. Another brick-and-mortar around the other corner, and since I'm already going out now...

Utilities: Yeah, right. Next!

So, what have I/we learned from all this?

• I don't have a clue about what I need to do in the next two weeks;
• Being sick just before your house closes really sucks;
• I have a few short trips to make... and for their sake, I hope I run into understanding employees;
• My builder has pissed me off my not being more helpful or communicative in this last month (they couldn't even confirm my closing date for me last week!);
• The bank happened to put the wrong interest rate on the papers they sent me... luckily I caught it and saved myself a sum in the “five-figures” range over the life of my mortgage;

I could go on, but now I'm just ranting. (Can you tell I'm starting to stress a little?)

Let me try to end on a high note here. The reality of everything is that, somehow, all of this will be sorted out in the next couple of weeks. And, with any luck, this should be my last day home sick and tomorrow I can be super-productive and start checking these things off my list. Despite the way it sounds above, some of these really are five minute drives around the corner; a few phone calls will clear the rest up. More than anything, maybe I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening!

With any luck, I'll be back in a few days to update you on everything that I've accomplished. Wish me (and the employees at the phone/cable stores) luck!

The first mistake

It continues to amaze me how our minds work. I wasn't looking at pictures of my house, and I wasn't thinking about my upgrades, but somehow I realized this:



The top is a photo that I took last weekend when I was checking out the place. Looking through the kitchen windows towards the front foyer... everything looks good, right? It did to me at the time. Never thought anything of it. Until last night.

For whatever reason, my mind realized that I was missing the arch (digitally added in the lower half of the photo) that I'd had done as an upgrade! While this is perhaps a small thing - it won't keep me from moving in a few weeks - it is still something that has been overlooked. Considering that the drywall and painting has been completed, I have to believe that it's not still on their to-do list somewhere. Question is, what do I do now?

When we (my family) moved into the house I'm at right now, we found that the builder had forgot to install central-vac in the place. That was fine with us; we didn't want it. But, in exchange for the oversight we had a few power outlets installed in the basement which had originally only included one. This was a good deal for us (considering everything that is now down here and running on these extra outlets!). So, do I want the archway installed, the money for the upgrade (a few hundred dollars which seems to be the starting price for any upgrade), or something in exchange for the feature?

I called the builder on Friday to try and confirm my closing date, but they were off for the holiday weekend. Their voice mail message said that they'd be back in the office on Tuesday. With any luck, I'll be able to confirm the closing date then as well as set-up a meeting with the site manager. Someone I spoke with last weekend had said that she'd been able to tour the place during the week; if I can do that, I'll bring up the archway then.

But, as it is a holiday weekend, I'll have to wait to see what happens. In the meantime, I'm off to eat more turkey!

(As for the missing mid-week post about my neighbours, I'll hopefully get it in this week; unless I have more interesting news about my house by then!)

Getting there

Okay, since the outside looks just about the same as it did last time I showed it, I've decided to stay inside this week. And if I do say so myself, I've done a pretty good job of recreating the photo from last weekend (not that I was trying to!)



It might look like my carpet has gone in, however, you're still looking at the wood flooring (no, not hardwood). My bathroom and foyer tile is in; so is the flooring in the kitchen. I'd love to comment on how it looks, but they've covered it with cardboard so I can't really tell. Looking up, you can see that the ceiling fixtures are now in... and check out that dining room chandelier, eh? What a beauty. Even if I have nothing to replace it with, it'll probably be coming down pretty quickly!

I don't know what else to say at this point... I waited three weeks to visit again in the hopes of seeing the kitchen completed or something - not that a lot hasn't been done - but nothing dramatic has been completed. Maybe they're working from the second floor down. Maybe it's all carpeted up there. I don't know.

Just like this post was delayed from Sunday to Monday, the mid-week post will more likely be on Thursday this week. What's it all about? I met a few people this weekend... including my neighbour! See you then.