Another week of renovations is over . . .

. . . and there are at least two more to go, to rectify the fire and hurricane damage to my home.

The contractors are doing an excellent job on the interior. I deliberately chose a small local outfit, who came highly recommended by firms like ServiceMaster. They charge more than some others, and emphasized from the beginning that if they found hidden problems (which they did) the cost would rise: but they've been absolutely honest and up-front with me at all times, never 'surprising' me with a hike to their bill, but always pointing out what they've found that's taking extra time or requiring extra materials. Good people (it's a family business). I'll have to file a supplementary insurance claim for the extra costs, but my insurers have already informed me that I may do so if necessary. I'm not expecting problems.

My living-room and study (or, rather, the small bedroom I use as a study) are fully painted, and the new ceiling tiles are up. All that remains is to touch up a bit of trim here and there, put up the boards edging the ceiling tile, and clean the floors as thoroughly as possible: then I have the fun job of moving furniture and boxes out of my bedroom and the spare bedroom into those rooms, so that the former two can be refurbished. I'll be sleeping somewhere (probably the study) while they do that. I wish I could move out for the duration, but there are still no hotel rooms available - hurricane evacuees with no homes to return to are still occupying them. I guess they need them more than I do!

The new vinyl floors in kitchen and bathroom are due to be laid on Thursday, by which time (hopefully) the painting in those rooms will be complete: and the crew returns the following Monday to lay carpet in the other rooms (also, hopefully, fully painted by then). The contractors will turn their attention to outside repairs during that week, taking care of the damage left by Hurricane Gustav. During the coming week, I have a professional garden services outfit coming for a day to take care of that side of things, clearing up all the fallen leaves and small branches, trimming my bushes and generally neatening things up.

With a little luck, two weeks from now, everything will be finished, and my home will be fully refurbished. I've basically stayed with the color scheme I worked out previously, except that I've decided to use Daybreak for all the walls, not a deeper color for the bedrooms, and Armagnac for all the woodwork. It'll look something like this (from the Sherwin-Williams Color Visualizer - ignore the furniture colors):




It's given the place a whole new look, bright, cheerful and welcoming, in a 'cottage-y' sort of way. I don't know whether others will like it, but I do! I'll post a few pictures when it's all done and the carpet's down. Then comes the fun job of getting all my possessions moved back from storage, unpacking them, and sorting them all . . .

Peter