Things are actually happening!

Last Friday, Larry and I signed the renovation contract with our GC (General Contractor), and gave the 15% deposit. We did add a kitchen to the final renovation, but I agreed to let Larry do the master bathroom himself. We'll see how all this goes. Maybe once he sees how efficiently and quickly the renovation happens, hopefully, he'll let the GC's subcontractors do that too. Fingers crossed.

The next day I left for RI. Larry spent the day attending our nephew's baseball games in SC and when he returned home in the late afternoon, the gate was closed, the driveway entry was widened and a dump truck and backhoe were left in the yard. We never expected things to begin the very next day, even though I told Bill, our GC, that it could. Sunday brought more levelling work and the excavation of a large garden area where a sunroom will be and the cutting of several trees hanging over the roof. Monday brought a new drain pipe at the driveway entrance that was cemented to the old one, and more excavation., Larry told me one worker and his father lay "broken-tile mosaic" flooring. The worker chiseled out a sample of the existing tile so he can match the color along with a couple of bricks to match those too. This is all so exciting.

Today, as I sit with my coffee in RI, I can watch my husband and at least five workers on the security cameras. I called Larry, because now I feel like I'm there with him. A brown paper path was taped to the kitchen floor, and I watched men come and go with strips of faux panelling as they pealed it off the back bedroom walls. As Larry and I talked, I could hear a sledge hammer banging. A worker began breaking up the concrete entryway outside the old-fashioned way: pure muscle power. Larry told me the driveway will be covered in "sitepak" today to level it because it will rain towards the end of the week. Rain will help compact the material and harden it naturally.

It is so exciting to have the renovation begin so quickly, and see the differences already. Money moves processes. There you have it, folks.