They Said "It Couldn’t Be Done", Part 4

When the naysayers said “it couldn’t be done” they had no idea of the scope of work or the attention to details involved. They just thought that any major remodel was not possible in such a short time frame. This project had not only a great deal of details, it had it’s share of surprises.

After roughly 2 weeks of skillful execution we are well into the zone. Nothing was about to stop us now, I think! All the planing is very helpful, but what about the nasty surprises? Fortunately I’ve developed a mind-set of expect the unexpected. In the world of remodeling, it’s not if a surprise will happen, it’s when.

We have already overcome the first surprise of not having the black marble tiles; the supplier inadvertently assured us that he had enough tile for us, which was not the case.

Now was the time for the second surprise and it was a good one. The custom cabinets ordered for this job was 50% installed when we discovered that they didn’t match. It took roughly 6 weeks to receive this custom order so at this point it was looking pretty grim to meet our completion date.

We did have a back-up plan and it was time to use it. A local cabinet supplier fortunately had all the right componants in the right wood and finish. The homeowners actually liked them better……how cool is that. We were back on track within 24 hours but valuable time was wasted.

The momentum was never really lost because we had plenty of details to take care of. The inlaid marble whales were installed and we could start to see the overall design come together.

The whale theme also included etched glass in the new walk-in shower and that was a hit as well. The glass and tile work was tedious but well worth it.

So far, so good. I learned long ago to keep a level head throughout the project. There are hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of things that need to come together properly on a project like this, so staying focused is key.

Tagged as: Bathroom, Kitchen, remodel