Gritty Determination

To say that we've enjoyed every minute of this project would be a complete lie.  There have plenty of times throughout the last two years when we have been beyond discouraged - and even now when the project seems to be rolling along.  Unanticipated issues arise daily, and while most are fairly easy to solve, some are not, and we continually learn things we wish we had known earlier, little nuggets of knowledge that we store away in the hopes that they will come in handy for another project.  Like our Philly house - which is next in line for an overhaul if we ever finish, and recover from, this one.

The pressures of staying to schedule, budget (we've blown that one time and time again), dealing with weekly separations, driving across 2 states to get from one house to the other, and minor and major setbacks definitely take their toll.  We've had our share of sleepless nights and stressful days in which there just are not enough hours, disagreements, frustrations, and even thoughts of throwing in the towel (usually short-lived but very real in the moment).

Our current overarching stress is an almost impossibly tight schedule caused by soapstone.  Soapstone is a metamorphic rock that has been mined for over 100 years from quarries all over the world.  Relevance?  It's the material we've selected for our kitchen countertops.  It's really the perfect material for kitchens - stain resistant, heat resistant, easily cleaned with mineral oil, and tough enough to take the wear and tear of a busy kitchen.  I love the look of granite, but I don't love how easy the edges chip away.  Soapstone has all the advantages of granite without some of the downsides.  And, soapstone will only add to the vintage look we want.  Luckily for us, we didn't have to go to a quarry on the other side of the world - there is a great soapstone quarry in Virginia, near Charlottesville.  Soapstone is grey when mined, and turns a beautiful black once oiled (you can also leave it grey and it will age with a greenish hue).  Here's the before and after of  "Old Dominion" soapstone - the variety we have selected:

Soapstone can come heavily veined or almost straight black.  We had the good fortune to time our project needs with a terrific find in the Charlottesville quarry of Old Dominion (rated A) with some really interesting veining.  Because 18 almost identical slabs are cut from each block, and we need three slabs for our project, we'll be getting three very similar slabs.  Here's the slab we selected (it's been sprayed with water to see the veining, but will still be grey upon installation:

I realize that soapstone does not seem capable of causing scheduling issues, but trust me, it is.  The issue is that the installers either have to install it the third week of April or we cannot get it installed until early June.  The third week of April is really pushing it, but June was way too far out and would put us too far behind. So, in our impatience to keep the project on schedule, we agreed to aim for an April installation - never mind that this is less than a month away!  This means that there is absolutely no margin for error in the schedule.

Rob has said that he will have to "will" this house together, and I think that is exactly what is happening.  A quick example.  The inspection for the home was scheduled for yesterday- and we had to pass in order to have the spray foam insulation installed this week.  In order to pass the inspection, the ventilation fans had to be installed in all the bathrooms - the final task on the electrician's list for Monday.  The problem was that the fans we ordered (we wanted decorative fans with a vintage look, not square modern ones) were guaranteed to  be delivered Monday - the same day we had to have them installed.  When Rob arrived on site from Philly in the afternoon on Monday and discovered the fans still hadn't been delivered he became very concerned - he had passed a UPS truck headed out of town as he headed into town so he thought that the truck may have missed us.  After a quick call to me to see if there was anything I could do on my end in Philly (there wasn't), he promptly hopped in the car and went in search of the UPS truck.  Several miles out of town, he managed to catch up to the truck, tailed it to its next stop and approached the driver to see if our fans were in his truck.  Although I laughed very hard when I heard this story, I was also glad I wasn't there.  The UPS guy must have thought he was a complete nut.  But he did indeed have our fans on the truck, he was willing to hand them over to Rob in the middle of the road, and the electrician had them before the very end of the day and was able to install them in time for the scheduled inspection. 

I'm happy to report that we passed inspection and so, for now, we are on schedule.  But, a lot has to happen before the installation of the soapstone in April - insulation, drywall, kitchen wall painting (which means we actually have to select finish colors), and completion and installation of the kitchen cabinets - each one with possible inherent delays or unexpected setbacks.   Working backward from the soapstone install date, there are absolutely no spare days or we'll be looking at a six week delay.  Not the end of the world, for sure, but an expensive delay that we'd like to avoid if at all possible.  Rob's gritty determination (and willingness to flag down UPS drivers) will get us there, one way or the other, and we'll endeavor to not stress too much between now and then.  Because, when all is said and done, stress and setbacks aside,we are truly grateful for this project and the opportunity to transform this beautiful old house.  And, we are storing so many memories in the process.