House

When all else fails to get me to write, then there is this bullet list of house crap. The house has eaten my life, but the house itself is fine; I've gotten involved in a political group of neighbors who found out they are talking about putting in "the projects" at the end of our block. Suddenly I'm immersed in DC politics, and it's all everyone has said.

But.
I've been there enough times I recognize some of the fellows, and they recognize me.
Cabinets chosen, dark.
Tile floors pending but I gave a range of options (pretty much all predictable, gray patterns to brown/yellow patterns, may upscale to marbleized)
Main floor - I pulled up a lot of tile, but Jordan says he still isn't sure how much damage / there is to be recovered. I wanted to save the floor to have something left from the original house, but honestly I care less than I used to - even about the money.
I upgraded to get all new exterior doors, and 8' closet doors (pending).
Bathrooms settled on.
After seeing many Modelo and Coronas, left a 12-pack of corona in the frig with GRATIS written on it. It's hot in there and a holiday. Also, I got it for my party in case anyone was not into all my high-end exotic beers like I'm not into wine. I brought Corona to a beer party like I brought beer to a wine party?

I stopped by the other day and the lead worker (besides Jordan) (who looks cuter since he shaved that muff off his face) (not that I noticed) and he was running separate wires through the ceiling structure for the fire alarms; or so I thought, now that I look I see them hooking up can lights. He was very clear the wiring for alarms is different than the regular wiring.

Wiring is going in for switches - they all look like they're in good places.
Some lighting going in.
Ducts just about to start - scattered around the home. I fear my bills when the a/c is hooked up, but I also look forward to the guys not cooking in that oven. I saw plans for the a/c, including specs, last night and took cell phone fotos.
Basement floor now has a trench in it for the piping.

I read an article about what to expect from contractors, and frankly the more I read the more I love Jordan's work. I honestly fear that in a few years he may outgrow my type of work, that the only reason I'm getting this work for this price is because I happened to catch him at a slow point or before his business really took off. The quality all appears good, the project is moving, he communicates regularly, and all the things he does on his own - a lot I should note, including design - seems to "nail the dismount."

I'm looking forward to moving in. Well, unless they put in a "the projects" down the street and we have gangs and burglary/robbery from 1/2 block down.

(no subject)

Major oversight in posting lazily:
I also looked at the fact the contractor thinks we can save the upstairs floors and just treat them. That's saving me around 5 grand or more for wood, but it dawned on me those will be teeny tiny thin floors between the tv, kitchen, etc. and the bedrooms. Huh. So I asked how much to put sound insulation up in the ceiling, and he noted less than $1500. I asked opinions, thought about it, and decided it was worthwhile - particularly when Scott noted people have tried to post-op remediate sound penetration (my wording, damn right) for far less. Seems like a no-brainer.

I looked up what I think he referenced, he named the brand name some time ago, lately he just says safesound - Check this stuff out:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Roxul-Safe-n-Sound-3-in-x-15-1-4-in-x-47-in-Soundproofing-Stone-Wool-Insulation-12-pieces-package-RXSS31525/202531875
Sound and fire! Also, simple and green too. Hell yeah. Happy with this add-on too.