You know those times things are moving along nicely, you are motivated, working hard, progressing - and then a roadblock appears, something you have no control over and...
You lose your spark.
This is not one of those times.
But we did lose our sparky.
The electrician we booked to come in on Monday wasn't able to make it and, he wasn't able to make it last night either, and won't be able to make it until Monday next week at the earliest. This has disrupted our schedule heavily, because we are putting in all new wall paneling (gyproc) which needs to be seamed, sanded and painted before the cupboards can go in. But, because we are putting in new wiring also, that all has to go in behind the wall plates, so while we wait for the electrician, we have to postpone nearly all other work.
The walls should have been installed and seamed by now, with this weekend earmarked for painting and building the cupboards, ready for installation early next week. We had the countertop people coming on Wednesday next week to do the precision measurement required before they cut to size, which now will be put on hold, and they have a three week lead time after measurement.
Damn it!
Schedules... rarely do they go to plan, but it goes to show how one misstep can affect the entire supply chain, pushing back all kinds of work and creating bottlenecks in new areas. Knock-on effects mean that we will likely also have to reschedule Smallsteps' family birthday, so by the time people gather to celebrate her sixth birthday, she will be a quarter of the way to her seventh. And of course, without a kitchen, we have heavy limitations on our ability to cook and, cleaning dishes is not a fun task at the best of times - doing it in a little bathroom sink compounds the hate.
However, overall, we aren't that annoyed by the reschedule of the electrician, as while it does screw our schedule up, he is doing it as more of a favor to our builder after his normal workday and, he should be a good electrician. They vary a lot here. But, I the builder is a bit annoyed too, as he obviously would like the job finished on time so he can go onto other things too, and get his evenings back.
Yeah, the majority of the work is being done after 5pm at night, which is good, because it means I can do some of the work (the easy or mindless stuff) to help out after I finish my workday. Last night, I was screwing in the gyproc sheets - mindless, but comes with the satisfaction of making a visible difference. I'd put a photo, but it looks crap at the moment, as all of the places that need electricity are still bare.
But, I think the delay might actually be okay for me personally, because it will be nice to have an evening off where I don't have to spend a few more hours doing grunt work. My back, shoulders, neck and calves could do with a bit of a rest too.
I was talking with a new colleague who is based in Australia this morning and mentioned doing the renovation work on an old place, and he was saying about various tradespeople in his experience. However, I also felt that I should clarify that in Finland, when someone says they are building a house, unlike the usual in Australia, they are literally building a house - really getting their hands dirty. Most in Australia mean "I am paying for someone to build my house".
This is probably because Finns are cheap.
But, while I like the idea of doing the work myself, I also want it done well and this is often a problem when people do their own renovations to save money on a professional. For instance, someone at some point has covered a door opening, however, they haven't put the studs in the correct places, which means that while it works for their purpose, we had to find non-standard anchoring points to screw the new boards into. Not a big issue.
However, when you translate that small problem across hundreds of pieces of work in a house, spread out over a few decades, it means that each house has a very "eclectic" range of solutions and of course, qualities. All of these things compound under the pressure of a renovation, making the new renovation somewhat tied to the failures of the past attempts and, everything is "bespoke" - not always in a good way.
It is character building!
And I think that is what is quite important for my wife and I, as we want to have something that is ours, but also something that has the character of the past. If we wanted something polished and built to standard, we would have bought or built a new home, not an old place. And, this includes the challenges in renovating and our own failures. Sure, going back we might have done some things differently and we know where all the skeletons of the house are buried, but it is part of our own attachment to the house, it is uniquely ours.
While I am quite results focused, I also like the journey and prefer the results to be mine, even if the results could have been done better by someone else. Of course, there is a limit here too and I understand my own limitations, but the sense of accomplishment and ownership is far greater when "our house" actually has our blood, sweat and tears mixed into the foundation and smeared beneath the walls.
This takes a toll on mind and body, but it is a price worth paying and, it keeps the spark alive, even if there are delays and compromises.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Hearing you on the interesting solutions to renovating old houses, there’s already some interesting things that we can see that have been done to ours and sometimes I think it’s probably a good thing we don’t have the money to do ours as who knows what we’d find underneath 😆
The delays do sound really annoying 😖 but on the bright side you get a break 🙃
The fear is real! I have had so many moments where I have been expecting the worse - but it hasn't been "too bad"
Is there only one electrician around where you live? I would cancel what I told with him and look for another one. There is an application here, you write problem/change/renovation/maintenance whatever it is, they give you an offer.
Of course there are, but they vary a lot in skill and finish. We trust the builder, he trusts the electrician and uses him often. It makes a difference.
They contact the builder here if the house is new. Otherwise, you have to be on your own.
I have lost a lot of faith in the average tradesperson here. But, now we have some good resources that we share with friends and family too :)
Dear @tarazkp, I believe that your patience and waiting will yield good results.
I hope they do, but I am not holding my breath.
Life teaches us patience and we either go with the flow or create needless ripples in the current. Speaking of current, I wish those electricians weren't so damn expensive. LOL Is sparky is an interesting name for an electrician. A good marketing name.
They are crazy expensive at times! and they aren't very good at estimating costs....
I call them sparkies at least :)
The new owner in a few decades will be happy with all the renovations you will have made to your home
The new owner will hopefully be my daughter :)
Hopefully the electrician ends up being a good one, I know that working after regular hours is tough I did it with my dad for many years doing electrical work! Hindsight is 20-20 of course but it would have been nice to get my electrician license too but there were a few factors that decided against that.
Hopefully it can all get squared away so you can get the stuff finished by November!
What I would give to be able to do this work myself!! It isn't just the money paid to a professional, it is just such an important part of building a house.
Ha ha, I thought this post was going in a completely different direction! Hopefully you can find a reliable sparks to finish the job. When it comes to trades, reliability trumps all else for me, price obviously important too, but reliability and availability are paramount
reliability is so important - and quality. I would rather pay a bit more for the job done right, than a job I am dissatisfied with.
Surely there are some parts you'd call in an expert for though...I know you're pretty good (and very determined), but not that good...lol
I am definitely not that good! We get in experts for at least the parts that matter :)
Not a job you can youtube as electrics is too risky. What you have done is remarkable and understand the long hours involved but should be worth the effort and sacrifice. I need to do the windows by replacing all the putty or replace the entire windows and upgrade to aluminum. If I was staying I would go for the latter, but for now putty will have to suffice.
There are probably some DIYs for them, but far too risky for me. If moving - just do the putty :)
Putty it is lol. I will try most thing in DIY, but plumbing and electrics I would be dangerous.
Not sure if this will be helpful, but nailing boxes to studs and pulling wire is pretty low skill stuff. If you could get him to walk you through what needs to be done with that over the phone, you may be able to DIY the bare minimum to get the sheetrock installed and he can come over and tie it all in when he's available, even after all the rest of the project moves forward. I remember someone in my family doing exactly this and then my electrician uncle coming over later and installing the receptacles and fixtures and then tying it all into the breaker panel when he got the time. Just a thought.
It's nice to hear that you are doing the building by yourself. Truly, we tend to do things better in our way. You can decide to put things differently as you wish. Though professionals might do it better, it saves some $ and you will be contented with the end product cos you put in your sweat to get it done.
And sometimes, we even do it better than some professionals cos we would take our time to perfect it since we have the whole time to ourselves.
You will have to manage till the electrician come for the fixes.👍