the Renovation Hokey Pokey

 

Why the Hokey-Pokey? Progress has slowed to a crawl, and our efforts seem to be resulting in a very comical dance of ‘tear it out – put it back together. Repeat’. For every bit of framing we construct, there’s bits of existing framing and drywall that need to come out. Yes, demolition continues, although mercifully in smaller and smaller amounts. We’re starting to install new drywall and patch up the myriad of holes in every surface since the plumber, electrician, gasfitter and tinbasher are close to finishing up. Hopefully this means we can kick things into high gear now.

The casualty list continues to mount as well. No, I’m not talking about injuries , although Jean currently claims top spot for the self induced gash on his forehead. This incident was caused by a hand saw which lost two of the three rivets holding the blade onto the handle while he was sawing out a doorway threshold. With only one rivet left, the back/non-serrated side of the blade pivoted upwards and struck his head. He wore the ‘lobotomy victim’ look well for a couple of weeks. I, on the other hand, have limited myself to sticking nails through my glove and into my index finger, and losing a wrestling match with raspberry bushes. Oh yes….casualties. So far, we’ve broken the handsaw, a wooden handled hammer, a compound mitre saw, two new toilets (victim of a wayward dropped hammer and an overenthusiastic plumber), a Skilsaw and several blades, and have given up on an utterly useless oscillating saw.