Hull House Project Update: slow going progress

Pre floors and lighting

Floors almost finished!  Lighting in.
The floors with the afternoon sun really
changed the feel of the house.

There have been a few unforeseen things that have come up in this house project - as always in construction things come up that you didn't expect.  This project is no exception.  Back in June I thought I would be moving in this week, instead of moving I will be bike racing this weekend.  Which is not a bad alternative.

A few things that came up that were unexpected; 

stop #2 on I-84 for load
adjustments

• Working with Pacific Power to get power to the house from the pole that is located on the west side of the lot.  Pacific Power is on their own schedule, as far as I can tell they don't really care about being fast.  Most of the house was built with power from an extension cord from my existing house.  Not really a big deal, but it did slow down the electrician on final installation of lights, outlets and fans.
• The floors - this was a saga that just got worse with every decision that I made.  It started with not being able to find something I wanted and having limited time to spend on this decision.  In hind sight I ended up making the wrong choice.  After getting frustrated with the local store choices and service, I ended up working with a company in Portland, but they were really from Atlanta with a warehouse in Oakland CA.  On a quick visit on a work break to the warehouse I selected a light color laminate floor and not the one that I liked better because of price.  Over the weekend I changed my mind and then things rapidly fell apart; restocking fees, delayed shipment........ Finally the floors arrived and I arranged for a truck and trailer to pick them up in Portland.  While unloading the floors in Hood River we discovered that they were the wrong floors - so it was back to Portland with friends visiting from CA.  Picked up the right floors - warehouse employees didn't even apologize or take ownership over their mistake.  After all that I am not that keen on the floors, but I will live with it.  What I should have done was just continued to work with the local vendors even when they can be difficult to give them your business.
• Bathroom tile - apparently there are lots of people putting tile in their houses this August in Hood River.  It is hard to find someone to do a really basic tile job.

The move in to the house will be postponed a few weeks - not a big deal.  The floors are being installed today, the lights are in, cabinets installed, counter tops laid, the ladder to the loft is being built, appliances ordered, sidewalk and driveway should be poured next week.  After the floors are installed the trim work can be finished, doors installed.  The only delay now is the tile work in the bathroom.