Owner just called me and said she is willing to spend the money if I think it’s the best thing to do for Wow factor. She is into the Wow drama. Said she absolutely trusts my design sense.
Nothing like a bunch of pressure to pull it off!! Maybe I need to go secretly hire a designer to get this right
@somemom I’m betting that you also don’t have “debris” all over the place. And if you saw mice, you would alter your habits.
This kid is a slob.
He needs to learn to walk the dog…and find a dog park.
What about sloppy kid clean out??
Line item: “ Augean stables cleanup.” 
You can have a guy install a doggie door in the side of the house itself. It doesn’t have to be in a door. Here’s a photo of ours:
Wish we could install a doggie door but exterior walls are 17” thick with concrete and two layers of Adobe.
Why about a doggie door in the studio…where this kid (and presumably the dog and whomever else) are supposed to be living.
Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that . . . .
It would be a doggie tunnel.
PROGRESS UPDATE
I loaded a bunch of pictures of boring plumbing and electrical into our photo group
We are going backwards almost daily. As soon as we got the cabinets out of the kitchen (we are two dumpsters down already), we discovered a big water leak under the kitchen slab. Reason the kitchen wasn’t flooding is that there was a strange drain installed in the floor that was located under the dishwasher. Water was coming up through a crack in the concrete and floor was ‘damp’ but most of the water was going back down the drain.
Because of this we had to concrete cut and jackhammer out a large path across the floor. And, of course, my jackhammer bit the dust about 25% through the process and is now in the shop for an expensive repair. Had no choice but to go off and rent a concrete saw and a jackhammer to finish the job. My concrete saw bit the dust about 2 years ago and I decided not to buy another one, just rent when we need it.
We found that prior builder had put joins and couplings into copper pipe under the slab and then just filled in with rocks!! one of the couplings was leaking and then there was also a big puncture in the pipe in another area from a rock or something. On top of all that, cabinet installer had shot big nails down into the concrete floor right into the pipe area! Triple whammy
We redid all the electrical, drains and water pipes running through the trench. Ran pipes and wires through thick rigid conduit pipe to protect them and then filled with sand around the pipes and conduit. Moved everything to the new sink location because the island is getting pushed out about 1 ft to make more room between back cabinets and island for better flow in the kitchen.
We also discovered that the supposed vent for the kitchen sink had been capped off inside the adobe wall. That’s a big ??? how did the sink drain ever flow properly? So we built a big island vent system that’s to building code. It’s the giant upside down V you can see in the pictures. Unfortunately that giant drain piping will have to be under the kitchen sink and crowd up everything. Kitchen sink is going to have a water filtration system, garbage disposal and a lot of pipes under there!
Flooring arrived and we are starting all the flooring. Flooring installer started with the stairs up to the doggie poop tower (which is now all cleaned out, including a giant fake christmas tree the kid just threw up there). We are installing tile on the front of each stair step which should look really nice if it ever gets done.
Which leads me to my biggest biggest issue. My #1 tile guy turned down this big job in May when I was scheduling because he is just backed up with three big projects. I was pretty upset because I really wanted him to do this job. So, I had to go to #2 tile guy. #2 tile guy came over, walked the project, gave me an estimate and was scheduled to start on July 19. Last week I called him and he said he might be able to start on Thursday. I call him again on Wednesday night and he said couldn’t make it but would start on Monday, per my original date. Monday morning I text him address and reminder. No answer. He never shows up. Monday night I try to call him and ‘This Phone Number is no longer in service’. I’m starting to panic. Tuesday moring I text again. He never shows up. One of my guys knew where he lives so I drove there Tuesday night. Nooone home
He has not communicated and has not shown up. For all I know he is in jail or the hospital. Obviously his phone is off and he lost all his contacts. What a mess. Emergency call to Tile Guy #1. He might be able to squeeze us in a month from now!!! Yikes, she is having guests fly in September and I promised to be done by then. So I called three other tile guys from references and they are all slammed. My flooring guy called two tile installers and they are slammed. I am in a big pinch right now. Need to find some kind of solution before I call the owners
Oh gosh! What a nightmare all around. This project seems to be an even bigger headache than the other one 
The problems are never ending on this project. I hope you can get it done without it costing your health and sanity.
Our builder has gone through five HVAC companies trying to get someone, anyone, who will do new construction installation. He’s back to the first guys who have decided that they will take the job after all, at a cost of $60K+. I felt sick when I saw the quote. It gets dangerously hot and humid here so this is one thing we can’t skip.
I just hope we don’t have similar tile installer troubles. Our entire house will have porcelain tile floors over insulated slab, with electric radiant floor heat in the bathrooms. I don’t have a plan B right now.
Sending best wishes for a good tiler to appear and for there to be no more problems, Coralbrook.
Back down from the ledge!
Her guests in September are not your problem. I’m sure there are very nice hotels around or they can cancel plans. Back in her court. Or they can blow up mattresses to sleep on like the rest of the world. None of this is your fault in the least. The world has been a bit crazy lately and you got caught–it’ll be alright! You’ve bent over backward on so much and need to give yourself credit! (go tile guy #1)
Geez!! Holy mollie. Hope you will be able to find a tile installer soon! 
I am so sorry to hear this!
You have had more than your fair share of “surprises” on this project. The pain of it is that you are correcting all of the shoddy workmanship that was ever put into this home!
Just remember that this will all turn out well. There is an eventual finish to all of this madness.
Take a spa-like day or walk on the beach.
We had a staycation at the Hyatt Grand Manchester downtown.
Her guests should stay there!
FYI: The inspector just signed off on our flooded rooms of Sept 2020! Both bathrooms, as well as the downstairs’ hallway, closets, and laundry are done!! Yay! You will get there soon.
I have a good subcontractor now-does tile! He’s superbusy too, but I can get his information to you. The granite guys (and tile) were good too. Let me know if you want their information.
@auntbea. Can you send me tile guy name and phone nbr?
sent
Lots of progress but the exciting news is I found a tile guy. Not just one tile guy but a whole crew so we can get a lot more done. My flooring installer called 3 guys he knows from working around town. Two slammed but I got lucky that one guy is just finishing up a big job. I met him Saturday to walk the job. I could tell from his questions that he knows what he is doing. And, floor installer says he does good work. So I just had to go with my gut and he’s starting today. Showed up, had all the tools and we laid out the design. At this rate just showing up is half the battle!
Meanwhile painter has gone AWOL and we have no choice but to start painting ourselves. I’ve got a roller in hand and pitching in
And cabinets are delayed one week which is probably good because we are behind in getting everything painted before install
