Remember that construction project we have going on halfway across the country? The one that was supposed to take "four months" when the first restoration company was cleaning up after the biblical flood in Colorado in September of 2013? Yeah. It's still in progress. I went to a big box store today, while daughter number two was at the same chain in Boulder. We were trying to pick out a bathroom vanity and tiles for the fireplace surround. Haven't we done this before? Yes, several times. With several different construction managers, providing several different products, all vaguely in the same theme. You know how you get a favorite variety of a favorite brand...let's say you really like a certain scent of deodorant. You buy it three times in a row when you need it. And then one day it doesn't exist anymore. So you pick a new one, for three rounds, maybe four, and then it doesn't exist either. And so it goes. You're always having to find something new. Apparently this is the same marketing strategy employed by manufacturers of building products. As soon as you select a certain kind of tile and a certain finish of flooring, it ceases to be available. No, it doesn't help that the products never get ordered, for fun reasons like, "the construction company made it as far as putting up drywall, and then they walked away from the project." I have had to make these same decisions over and over. With the current manager, I have given him a total of six options for dark finish, click and lock, bamboo floating floor. I sent him links to acceptable choices from Home Depot, Lowe's, and Lumber Liquidators. He didn't order. So then I chose three sample boards at the locally-owned distributor that I was told was a good source. That was October. Last year I was told that "Home Depot doesn't have them in stock anymore," and last week I was told "Atlas doesn't have the boards on display right now." How exactly does one become a construction manager and not know how to order the supplies your homeowner wants? I'm just suspicious enough to wonder whether he doesn't want to order bamboo floor for me because he wants to use a cheaper product. He tried to convince me it was an upgrade, but we politely pointed out that we were replacing rather expensive travertine tile with a much less expensive bamboo. It was most definitely not an upgrade.
I'm so tired of this project. It has dragged on almost a year too long. I have other things that I need to get to, and I need my daughter to be able to move back into her own home. If we could just get one condo complete, we could start to move forward with our lives. I have started packing boxes around here (a couple more today), and I'd like to be able to turn my attention to finding a place where I can send all of these things. I don't even know yet the exact city where we are going next. It all seems to hinge on getting the condos done first. It would help to be able to sell one of them, so we have a chunk of cash to plunk down on the next house. But we absolutely cannot sell and move on until they are completed. So tomorrow, I'll be back at the big box store, making sure the man agrees with the bathroom vanity we picked, and checking out ceiling fans. And if past is prologue, I will be doing it again in a few weeks. Or a few months. It is the song that never ends.
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