In recent weeks, the demolition process has begun at our new Carmel showroom. Just like in your homes, as we have opened walls and found a few unexpected and unwanted surprises. What are they and how are we handling them? You’ll have to read on or watch the video to learn. Also, if you are curious to see the most creative, yet functional bathroom in a contemporary remodeling project, you have to click on the video and work your way to the middle to see it. Have I piqued your curiosity? If so, then read on as we continue to demystify the remodeling process.
It’s not at all uncommon to open a wall and get a surprise or two on a given project. In many cases, they are so minor we can just handle them without raising an issue. Then, there are situations where you get issues that must be discussed to be dealt with.
As we have opened the walls of our new showroom location, we have found a few surprises of our own. It seems we are not immune to the challenges that homeowners face on occasion early in a project. Today, I share with you a few of the things we found so you know you are not alone!
That Hidden Ductwork
There are times when a wall looks odd, and you wonder why something was framed as it was. We had that exact experience in our new location. There was an angled wall that led to a hallway, and we had a suspicion that something was behind the wall, but what?
Well, it was a single duck that the contractors chose to frame around.
Is it the end of the world? Not really. Just an inconvenience and some expense to move it. Now we know why they framed the only angle wall in the building as they did.
Changing on the fly!
In your homes, it is not common for us to have items added to the project “while we are here”. I literally call it the “while we are here” list! As people get into a project, often they hedge on adding something early, then they get into the process and decide to go ahead and add that item. It happens every week.
In our case, there were a couple of windows on a wall that I was struggling what to do with exactly. After staring at it for a lengthy period of time and talking to others, I decided we are going to make one of the windows a big 12’ door that has 4 panels and opens from the middle. It is called a biparting door.
I only share this so you know you aren’t the only ones to make changes during a project.
A little bit of mold
Have you ever seen small evidence of mold and wonder where it is coming from? We had a couple areas where the drywall showed a bit of mold when we pulled the baseboard trim. So, we opened the drywall up and found that the original contractor put up plastic between the drywall and the insulation.
That plastic trapped moisture in a dark (and obviously damp) area, which led to a couple of places where mold grew on the back of the insulation up against the plastic.
We will address it, but just know you aren’t the only one to get this type of surprise!
Framing out of square
Unfortunately, we often find walls framed out of square. In one spot in our new location, it was really, really out of square. So much so that our carpenters had to look at it multiple times to confirm it and believe it could be true.
Fortunately, our guys did what they do and they found it very early. We will fix it along the way and the only people that will truly know there was ever an issue will be us. You will never know!
Conclusion
Even in a very well-built building that was immaculately maintained over many years by caring owners, you can still find issues. It’s not any different than a well-built home. It doesn’t mean something is terrible and should be knocked to the ground. It simply means those things need to be fixed and life can go on.
In renovating this building, I am forced into a role that is very good for me to experience. I am the client. I am you. I must make decisions that have long term consequences. I am trying to make it beautiful. I am trying to avoid making mistakes I will regret. But for now, I am in the stage where I get to experience the unwanted surprises that our clients experience in the early stages of renovation projects. So, the message for today is… just know you are not alone! I feel your pain!
If you have questions we can answer, please don’t hesitate to ask. We are very happy to help!
Have a great week!