Coming Unmoored

So, it’s been a little while since I posted an entry. This has been a combination of being focused on getting up-to-speed with my new job and, frankly, because I’ve kind of been stuck in construction limbo-land.

The float rebuild is done on my house, which is good news. I still have to finish sealing in the boatwell before I can move in, however. And I’ve just exhausted my readily-available cash for the project. Having to completely re-do the electrical and plumbing set me back in my planned budget for renovations.

I’m trying hard to do everything with the house on a cash basis rather than using credit. I REALLY like owning my house outright. So, now, it’s a question of letting my shiny new paycheck catch up with the new round of contractor fees. My paycheck on the 15th covered the last of the boatwell. My paycheck at the end of the month should cover the money down to get the new contractor rolling on the boatwell.

I’m just a bit grumpy and more than a little down that things are taking longer than I would like. I had been hoping to be in my place by now. By the time all the construction is done, odds are good I’ll have missed the prettiest part of the summer.

Plus, since starting my new job, I’ve been pretty much handing 95% of my paycheck over to contractors. My income looks great on paper but, man, am I living frugally right now. I’ll be really glad when I’m through the Money Pit part of owning my new place. Charlie has been great about letting me crash at his place but I’d also really like to give him his space back as soon as I can.

On the more upbeat side, I really am enjoying my new job. It’s nice to be using my brain again and I feel well-suited for the position. I’m also profoundly grate that the position pays well and my boss is extremely flexible about where and when I work just so long as things get done. The universe cut me a real break with my new job.

All in all, life is okay. I’m just restless to get on with moving in to my new place and making it an actual home.

When I bought my place I knew the float was going to need to be significantly rebuilt. I was a little hazy, however, on the fact that this really ought to happen before I moved in. My realtor had prepped me that, depending on what had to be done, the contractor might need to go through the floor in places to pin the stringers correctly. (Stringers are the narrower crossbeams on a wood float. I’ll be posting something on float anatomy shortly.) Anyway, in the case of my house, the floor needed to be completely TORN OUT.

Apparently, the last person who’d done repairs to the float did a half-assed job and didn’t pin the stringers they’d replaced. That needed to be corrected. In addition, I requested to expand the float to add a front deck and also to seal the boat well in back. And thirty-year-old rotting wood needed to be replaced. All told, I’m adding six 50′ Douglas fir logs and more than fourteen new stringers.

I resigned myself to the float work and, in some ways, was even grateful it was going to happen before I moved in. But, as in the world of The Money Pit, no remodeling project ever proves as simple as you originally thought.

So let me walk you through with what’s up with my house right now…

When I arrived at the marina, the first indication that I might want to start practicing my breathing is when I located my house by the large pile of debris out front. On land when you do demolition the contractor normally brings a supersized trash container referred to as a “roll-offs”. Well, here’s a picture of my “raft-off”.

The first glimpse of my house wasn’t too bad. The stairway to my top deck had to be removed to do the float rebuild. The boards you see on the side of the house are the new “stringers”. These will eventually be covered with the new walkway and staircase.

Here’s what will be my expanded front porch. I lost one of my flower boxes to rot. Sniff. I’m just trying to close my eyes and visualize future barbeques with friends.

OK. This is where it starts getting a little more hairy. Take a look at my kitchen floor. Those holes on the left had to be drilled in order for my contractor to properly pin the stringers underneath the house. On the right side? Nothing but logs and the Columbia River right now. Trust me. I got reminded of that fact when I got distracted taking pictures and didn’t watch my step backing up.

Once upon a time, this was my family room floor. Right now it’s nothing but loose sheets of plywood over logs and stringers. And a whole lot of water underneath

More chaos in the family room area.

The sealed-in boatwell. Someday this will be my home office.

So, one piece of bad news my contractor gave me is that the person who installed the siding on my house was a moron. They didn’t put siding under where the staircase met the house. Worse still, there were two loose propane tanks on the right side of the house. There’s a gap there where they didn’t bother to move the bottles. I’m talking to someone now to find out if there’s a way to shift the pieces. Otherwise, I’m going to have to redo most of it.

Also, my house was seriously out of balance from the float work that needed to be done. The last owner didn’t address this issue before replastering sections of the house. Now that the house is, in fact, level, there’s a bunch of repairs to be made. Check out how out of alignment the door is, now.

One final one because if I don’t laugh I’ll cry… Clearly, I’m not paying my contractor enough if this is the beer he’s drinking.