I got some bad news today. The permit process has been even slower than hoped -- 3-6 weeks have lengthened to 9 weeks (due mostly to layoffs at the Village, so it's the economy's fault), and then there were some issues with our plans (requiring drain tile under the rear addition, and an egress window in the non-habitable basement, and more smoke detectors and the like). Revisions have taken another few weeks, and now we're close to finalizing those, I think, but Pam tells me that it's taken long enough that it'll be 2-3 weeks before she can get an excavator out to our site, because of course with all the delays, she's had to take other jobs in the interim. And I can't blame her at all, but damn. This is so insanely frustrating, I could scream.
I don't mind all the work of the renovation -- I like the domestic research aspects, even if it does mean twenty trips to the paint store, reading obscure books on Victorian decor, searching for affordable tile on the internet, researching DIY options for making a zinc counter to your island, etc. and so on. But I hate the delays when nothing is happening. We'd hoped for a May 1st start date, then a June 1st start -- now we're looking at July 1st? Which means if all goes well, finish by the end of the year? What do you want to bet on it all going well?
Argh. Just argh.
Mary Anne,
Well what can I say…. Doing house renovations is worse than birthing a baby. Once the baby starts, its over within hours. With renovations, too many people have their hands on the project. What I’ve never understood during my years in Architecture is why something as basic as a house renovation can’t be moved through the review process in a day or so. Sometimes I think that they keep a pile of small projects to fill the gaps whenever they occur between the big projects.
From what I heard of Chicago, one could walk their projects through as long as they had several envelopes with enough incentive in them. (But that’s hearsay).
As long as you get the foundations in and the envelope closed in by September, the interior should follow quickly. Best wishes for the house renovation.