Verse – “Renovations”
The unexpected is to be expected.
Bathrooms are the worst.
(Some say it’s kitchens, but to be
forced to eat out is tolerable–
outhouses are impossible
to find these days.) Even the best
contractors, builders, architects
do not know what will be behind
old walls: the pipes and wires they find
will cost you time and cash and tears.
Just forget new sinks and mirrors!
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, 11/12/15 sent to Views from the Edge’ blogger whose bathrooms are now in the sixth week of renovation because of unanticipated challenges. Wish we had had Steve’s advice before we dove into the project. Maybe wisdom will be born out of the experience? Nah. Too late. We’re never doing this again…ever.
Thanks, Steve.
Views from the Edge 
Great poem. So sorry you are suffering through renovations. We are thinking of adding onto the house – and I don’t relish all those noises and the disruption. Hopefully we don’t do it for a long time 🙂 I haven’t been here in awhile – harder time getting time to browse online as we were preparing 4 months of bills for the courts in a specific and very voluminous case. But I think I might be able to steal some time in the days to come.
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Hi Christina. Steve will be glad to hear you like the poem. Call before you start renovating. Lots of lessons learned here! All the best with the court case. Hope to see you soon.
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Hi, Gordon. Oh, help! Are you doing the work yourselves, or do you have a contractor? If the latter, always, but always, count on its taking about four times as long as his/her estimate. :-). (And yes, I knew a “repair lady”). It may get done in less time, but then it is a delightful surprise. The voice of experience.
I do like “eating out” vs “outhouse.” :-)).
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Hi, Carolyn,
Contractor. Original plan went down the tubes after discovering pipes in the walls where medicine cabinets were to be inset. Old tile floor was difficult to remove. Plumbing had to be changed in two places, then leaked, not installed correctly. Yuck! We’re almost done. Bourbon has replaced water.
Gordon
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