Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

Q is for Questions

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I can’t believe we’re on Q already. As you can see, I’m hanging in there with this annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. And believe me, it hasn’t been easy! For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com.

I’ve covered this in all my posts I think, but Q can be for nothing other than Questions. No matter whether you’re renovating a house, interviewing for a job or determining where you’re going on vacation, it’s imperative that we ask the right questions. I believe communication has diminished considerably. Why are people so lackadaisical about asking questions these days? Do they feel they’re prying? Maybe they feel all the right answers will be forthcoming. Not so. If you don’t ask ALL the right questions, you will not get all the right answers. What do I mean by right answers? The answers that matter to you–those that directly affect you.

Example: I know a lady who’s dad was in the hospital. She noticed he didn’t get a particular medication that he’d been getting days before. If she had assumed the doctors had changed his meds, hadn’t bothered to ask WHY, then she wouldn’t have learned that it was an oversight on the part of the staff.

Another example might be: you’re signing with an agent. You’re thrilled that one is taking you on but you haven’t asked many questions. If you don’t ask if there are hidden fees, charges or up-front costs, then you’ll probably be surprised a little later down the line. 

When it comes to asking questions, don’t worry about stepping on toes or sounding like you’re hard to get along with. We can’t expect our doctors, lawyers, contractors, dentists, agents, publishers, editors, nursing home staff, wedding photographers, caterers (and the list goes on and on) to actually remember to tell us all we need to know. ASK QUESTIONS! If you don’t know what to ask, get some advice from Facebook friends or Google “What to ask a contractor?” Knowledge is power. Don’t be caught off guard.  

P is for Paint

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I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com.

If you’re just tuning in to my A to Z posts, I’m blogging about my home renovation. It wasn’t easy.

I’m a pretty lousy decision maker. One of the most difficult things for me was choosing paint colors. I knew what I liked, but I sure didn’t know how to pull it all together.

I go from one extreme to the other. I either like extremely neutral colors, or outrageously bold. 

You probably know that paint doesn’t look the same on the wall as it does on that little square of paper. Visualizing how a room will look with green walls … or blue … or yellow is beyond my capabilities. I wanted to say, “Paint the walls, then I’ll tell you if I like it!”

Painting a wall is a lot like cutting hair. Hair grows back and you can paint over the wall. With paint, there’s always a do over!

O is for Oven

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I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

I got a new dishwasher, new stove top and a new oven. The oven is the problem. It’s incredibly LOUD! It blows air…though I’m not sure why. Something about a cooling fan inside. I didn’t choose the oven, Mr. Contractor did. Because he could get it at a great price and we were trying to cut expenses, we bought into this so-called dream oven, as he described it. Sadly, our oven came with no how-to book. There’s no doubt it was brand new. Here’s the tale we got about the missing booklet: Mr. Contractor had truck trouble. Because his truck was his office, he had the booklet to my oven there and somewhere between his son’s house, the towing company and the auto mechanic, my oven booklet disappeared.

Oh well…

The point is, there are buttons on my oven I don’t know how to use. Of course, I’m not a fancy cook so it does what I want it to do. I just wish it was a little quieter.

Anyone have an oven that sounds like an idling 18-wheeler?

N is for Newlyweds

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I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

I’m so tired of talking about our renovation that I thought I’d use N for Newlyweds. After all, while the renovation was going on we were planning a wedding. Talk about stress. Here are some pics of the newlyweds–a cheery break from renovation!

Don’t even think about planning a wedding and renovating a house!

 

Happily Ever After!

M is for Monkey

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I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

When I made my notes for what I would write about during this A to Z Challenge, I wrote M is for Monkey Glue. Well… not far wrong. M is for gorilla glue but it sure made a monkey out of us.

Before we started our renovation, we purchased two new toilets and had them connected by a licensed plumber. During the renovation, Mr. Contractor disassembled them several times. In fact, he disconnected our guest bathroom way sooner than he should have. I mean living with one bathroom is definitely an inconvenience! I know, we’re spoiled, but I put toilets right up there with cell phones–a necessity!

During one of Mr. Contractor’s disappearing acts, our guest toilet started leaking. We tracked down Mr. Contractor and asked him to come fix it.  He did. This happened two different times. The third time it leaked was right before our bedroom flooded so when we had the real plumber in the house, we asked him to take a look. Guess what he found–our brand new toilet had been cracked and glued back together. Oh yes, Mr. Contractor had broken it and tried to hide it. That’s when we made the final decision to let Mr. Contractor go. He did not finish the job. He put us through a lot, but this was the last straw.

This contractor would NOT make a monkey out of us ever again.

When you renovate, you need a plumber for the plumbing. An electrician for the electrical work. Painters for painting. Expert floor people for putting down the floor.  When we hired Mr. Contractor, he told us he had an excellent crew. We didn’t know that crew was  him and his son. Of course he had to hire out the cabinets and stuff, but I’m sure he purchased the cheapest of labor.  Do your homework and know who will be working in your house … and their qualifications.

All day I’ve been singing:

“Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees and people say we monkey around
But we’re too busy singing to put anybody down

We’re just tryin’ to be friendly, come and watch us sing and play”
 
Don’t monkey around when it comes to plumbing!

 

L is for Living Room

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I’m hanging in there with the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

I’d like to tell you about my living room. It’s a sunken living room and that in itself is a whole new set of problems. Contractors seem to get pretty confused on what to do with a sunken living room. Don’t ask me why. It’s like any other room, except it a step down. Right?

Problems were pretty evident with our living room floor long before the actual flooding. The wood laminate buckled. We learned after the fact, that there were some obvious reasons why. Our contractor had stored our wood laminate in the garage. When he brought it inside, he didn’t let it acclimate to the house temperature. Did you know that was necessary? We didn’t either. But any contractor worth his reputation knows or should know that flooring has to acclimate, so make certain your contractor (or your husband) doesn’t bring it from outside and start putting it down immediately. This is a crucial step. Some manufacturers suggest 24 hours while others suggest a couple days longer.

You should also test to see how much moisture is in your concrete. Wood laminate
can not get wet–on top or beneath. Believe me, we know from experience.

Also, make certain your concrete is relatively smooth, doesn’t have gouges and chips. Those holes and low places need to be filled in. Here’s a good website that will give you information on laying wood laminate. I wish I’d read it before Mr. Contractor entered my life. Read it. Even if you don’t do the work yourself, you should research and read about the procedure so you’ll know if your contractor is doing it right or wrong. Don’t hesitate to call his hand on things.

The pictures here are before the floor buckled and had to be removed, and hubby stacking the floor we removed, trying to salvage it for daughter and her husband.

I know I’m painting a real horror story about my renovation experience, but only because YOUR experience doesn’t have to be.

K is for Kitchen

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This post is part of the annual A to Z Blogging Challenge, and whoopee, we’re on our eleventh day! It’s K-day. Do me a favor, please. If you haven’t checked out the A to Z Challenge website, and the other participants, go to http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com. You’ll learn more about the challenge and its founder.

Now, to continue with my posts on home renovation: I didn’t want
new kitchen cabinets. I just wanted mine painted. I had huge drawers that I could cram a lot of things inside; they were very convenient. Didn’t take them long to demolish my kitchen! Here you see the beginning, the middle and the end, just like in a (horror) novel.

Yes, Mr. Contractor shamed us. “It will be terrible to do all this updating and keep your old kitchen cabinets.” He had a point so we agreed, but for some reason I thought my new cabinets would look exactly like my old cabinets–only better. After all, he didn’t ask my opinion or inquire about my needs. There again, my naivete. I should have TOLD him exactly what I wanted.

What you don’t see is my wonderful kitchen drawers. See inside the cabinet? Not even a shelf to place my pots and pans on.  I just toss them inside and stand on my head to dig them out.

Also, look at the handles on my cabinet drawers. See two missing? I tried to make them uniform because that corner drawer can’t open because of the handle on the opposite drawer. Ridiculous, right? You’d think contractors, cabinet builders would know “their numbers” and how to measure. Believe me, they don’t! 

See how pretty my lights look beneath my cabinets. Of course, I asked my little contractor how I “change the bulbs” when they burn out. Know what he said? “Uhhhh, you can’t change the bulbs… in fact, you shouldn’t use them that much, just when you have company.”  Here’s what those lights really look like … they’re pretend!

Life has been interesting during this renovation. I don’t advise anyone to go through it, but if you do, at least be prepared. Walk through each room and know EXACTLY what you want. Don’t assume you’re going to get it just because you say you want it, and don’t assume your contractor knows basic arithmetic.  Be smart–take nothing for granted.

See you tomorrow?

J is for Junk

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This post is part of the annual A to Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator, please visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Before and during our renovation, we had to pack up everything … and I do mean EVERYTHING! We always knew we had a lot of junk but this confirmed it. Hubby and I are both packrats–or maybe I should say, sentimental rats. I have dishes from my mom’s house, depression glass I collected over the years, a collection of bookmarks and post cards, pictures, paperbacks, posters–you name it and we’ve got it! DVDs, videos, cassette tapes–Oh my! We still have much of our daughter’s treasures too. I’m not a fan of the old adage if we haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it.  I’ve tried that, and if I get rid of something I usually need it the following week.

The bad thing
about our renovation is that we lost a lot of our storage space. The wet bar was a great hiding place. It had shelves for the fancy glassware my aunt gave me, and drawers on both sides. In the kitchen, I lost shelving and drawers too. And since the contractor lost our cabinet doors in the laundry room, we can’t ‘hide’ anything there.

I’m always threatening to give up writing and create jewelry.
Can I really get rid of my jewelry making supplies, even though I’ve never made anything except this necklace. I want to make jewelry–but it’s hard.

And what can I do with John Wayne?

During renovation, we gave a lot of our furniture, pots and pans to a young woman whose house burned down. She brought her ten year old son with her to help her load up; as he was looking around our garage, I told him, “We have too much junk, don’t we?” And he answered, “Yeah, but it’s good junk.”

Awwww, my little soul mate. I agree! I like my junk, but I guess the time has come to get serious. We need to determine what’s important to us and what can go to Good Will.

My heart is sad as I start this process.

I is for Incompetent

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This post is part of the annual A to Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator, please visit http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com



 Incompetent means not showing the necessary skills to do something successfully. So how do you know the contractor you hire is competent? I have no idea. I wish I could have given mine a written test … or maybe a construction test.

Contractors don’t need formal education. I think most of them have worked with family or friends and that’s how they learn the business. That’s how my contractor learned-from his dad-and his son is learning from him. I can’t help but wonder what his son thought when he saw his dad not follow through on things … or when he heard him lie.

My research shows that a contractor in Louisiana has to be licensed by the State Licensing Board for Contractors. In fact, there’s a website listing licensed contractors by parish, by name of contractor or by name of their company. I wish I’d found this before we hired ours. He’s not listed.

For those of you contemplating  a renovation, please check with your state’s Licensing Board for Contractors in addition to getting references.  You’ve heard the old saying Buyer Beware, haven’t you? Protect yourself and your pocketbook!

H is for Home

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This post is part of the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:   http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

… and my saga continues: Mr. Contractor promised my renovation list was a mere four to six week job. That was in March 2014. Daughter was getting married in August. Hopefully, prayerfully, we’d have our home finished for company. Didn’t happen. In fact, the weekend of the wedding, we left a key for Mr. Contractor who said loudly and clearly, “I’ll be completely by the time you get home.” We left three days before the wedding (an hour away) and stayed an extra two days so Mr. Contractor had six or seven days to complete the project. Didn’t happen. He never made an appearance. We walked into a house that was just the way we left it–very unfinished.

There were days we thought our home would never be completed. Days and days passed without hearing from the contractor or his workers. In this day of cell phones and texting, there’s no excuse for NO COMMUNICATION.

How do you force someone to finish a job? You don’t, and you shouldn’t have to. Yes, we had a contract, but we were first class novices when it came to hiring a contractor or knowing what should be in a contract. We put complete trust in our contractor.

If you are planning a renovation, definitely have a contract between you and your contractor. Not only should you itemize what you’re paying him to do, but have a begin date and a completion date. You should also add something about cleaning up as they go. Don’t have a generic statement like–contractor will clean up. They could pile trash to high heaven and not clean up until they end the project! You’ll definitely want them to clean as they go. Here’s a sample renovation contract that you can tweak to fit your requirements. Read it carefully and make sure you tweak it in your favor!

Your home is … well, it’s YOUR home. Believe me when I say it’s nothing but a job to the contractor. The Better Business Bureau is there for a reason. Angie’s List is there for a reason. Protect yourself and your home. And do a lot of praying!