Cleaning Up

Carrie and I spent much of Saturday in the basement of our renovated house cleaning, tossing, and re-organizing the stuff we didn't move last November. Neither one of us are packrats and we liberally hauled things to the dumpster. It won't get any easier to do than right now.

Both of us were so busy last October that we left three piles of "stuff" in the basement. The contractor was told that we would not be upset if anything left in the basement was damaged during construction - and that they could move anything around. Amazingly, few things showed ill effects despite the freezing cold, a small flood, and complete replacement of all systems in the ceiling above. The main issue is the amount of construction dust that covered everything. We'll deal with that later.

Seeing some of the neighbors clean up in anticipation of the tour next Sunday made me want to do something too. Since November, the only thing I've been able to do around the house is just a little yardwork. Even that was not really necessary as the contractor beat me to the leaf-raking of the front yard. I finally removed the leaves in the back last month so the roses and perinneals would look tidy.

We have very understanding neighbors and they have all been supportive. It is never easy to live around a construction site. Workers are always coming and going - and climbing all over the house and yard. There are routinely 4 or 5 vehicles parked in our driveway and on the street. Noise is a by-product of construction. Compared to most projects I see, the workers have been very considerate and kept the grounds clean. The superintendant limits the number of trades working at any one time so our narrow street is not overwhelmed with vehicles.

Before construction started, Carrie and I put out a note to each neighbor on our street and the houses directly behind us. The note included drawings of the house's exterior and our contact info. We asked to be told if there were any concerns with our project or if anything during construction was disruptive or intrusive. We want our neighbors to welcome us back in a month when all is complete.

We'll have to do something special for each of them this summer.