surprise!

I kept waiting for it. I've never undertaken a big reno (never mind a whole bunch at the same time!), but I knew that there would be unexpected surprises. Like mould in the walls.  Or knob and tube where you thought you had updated electrical. Or a wall that just could not be moved.

Until today, everything had been going pretty smoothly. The timelines on a few things, mostly the replastering, were slipping a bit, but nothing to be alarmed about. And the electrician had made more holes and been a little rougher with my old walls than expected, so my contractor/plasterer had more work to complete than expected. But it was all under control, and nothing really out of the ordinary.

Tonight, I went to see the house and was rather annoyed that the subfloor in the bathroom still wasn't in. This is one of those things that just kept slipping; it was supposed to start a week ago Monday, then the Thursday, then the Saturday, then this Monday, then yesterday… And still, tonight, it wasn't done. Before I could call my contractor, he gave me a call.

He sounded the way your mom sounds when she calls to tell you your uncle is in the hospital in critical condition. Literally, my first thought when he said, "well, things aren't great" was that he was sick - like really, really unwell. And I was worried about him.

It turns out that the joists in the floor in the bathroom are in really rough shape. One of them had been hacked away years ago when they put in or moved the plumbing for the toilet waste. My plumber had to cut away the rest of it to move the plumbing to an adequate spot. My contractor thought he'd be able to sister that one up and reinforce other parts, but it would seem that there's not much to hang onto in there. It doesn't help that the joists are two feet apart - not nearly up to today's code. So he's bringing in a heritage carpenter tomorrow to consult on what needs to be done. Most likely, they'll have to cut away about half of my kitchen ceiling to do the work.

My reaction: cool; that ceiling is a mess anyway. Now I'll have new drywall up there! Second thought: great; now I know the floor will be good and strong (it was a concern what with the really heavy tub, that is deep and thus can hold lots of heavy water).

I'm rolling my eyes a bit because I know it means that the tiling will definitely not all be done before we move in (the floor will be done, but probably not the walls), and it means more plaster dust and sawdust in the kitchen - just when I thought I'd seen the end of that.

But I am surprised at how calm I'm feeling. Zero anxiety. Some switch went off last weekend that made me realise that it doesn't all have to be done when I move in. I also realised that I like the process of all this - and yes, I may be crazy. So no need to rush it all. I don't want to live in a construction zone, but it's okay if I still have little jobs here and there over the coming months to make it just the way I want it. There is time.

Meanwhile, my light fixtures were installed this week. They are beautiful. And they make the house look amazing. As I stood in my half-painted (and thus totally garish) kitchen this evening, I actually wept with joy. This house really is going to be beautiful. And it feels like home. For the very first time, today it feels like home.

This is going to be good. Surprises and all.