From the Garret: Archives

Surviving an Extreme Home Makeover

We're in the midst of a home improvement project: our master bathroom is being redone. It's messy and noisy and just generally annoying as various contractors tromp through our bedroom. We have tarps strewn over all our floors, boxes of tile stacked on the landing of our staircase and plumbing fixtures piled in the garage. My husband and I are sharing a bathroom with our teen-aged son (who's being very good-natured about it).

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I'm lucky to have a really great crew working on this project. However, my house is 100 years old so problems inevitably arise. We all stand around in the gutted, dusty bathroom discussing the best way to deal with them. Having the expertise my contractors bring to the job at my disposal is rather exhilarating as we debate possible alternatives and try to decide which will be the most satisfactory and cost-effective. I always learn something new about how the systems in my house work, and learning new things gives me pleasure.

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Having been through way too many renovation projects, I've developed a few ways of surviving without too much stress. Some of them can apply to life in general so I thought I'd share:

1) Don't panic. People enjoy finding problems and telling you about them. Give them some time and they will probably also find a solution all by themselves.

2) Be available but not too available. This speaks to Point #1. You should check in regularly so major decisions don't get made without your input. However, if you're always around folks come to depend on you too heavily.

3) Hire people you enjoy working with. Life's too short to deal with unpleasant personalities no matter how competent they are. If you look hard enough, you can find excellent contractors, electricians and plumbers who treat you with respect, take the time to discuss the project in depth, and grasp what you are trying to accomplish. This is true of almost any position you're trying to fill.

4) If you don't understand something, ask questions until you are comfortable with the answers. If' you've hired someone such as I described in Point #3, they will be willing to take that extra time with you.

5) Keep your eye on the goal. All the mess, expense and effort will be worth it when you luxuriate in your new gorgeously-tiled shower and know that it will many years before you have to go through this pain again.

In conclusion, may you never have a ten-inch rough where you're putting a twelve-inch toilet!