Suzanne O’Connor’s Bargains LA

Renovation Surprises

Here’s a good one….
Did I tell the one about the 1926 home whose garage had no foundation?

Our garage floor was not level. After laying self-leveling concrete inside our garage we found a floor leak after the heavy rains a couple weeks ago. Investigation by our contractor found that leak was coming in from below ground level and that our garage had been sitting nicely on our lot for the last 84 years without a foundation. Who knew… obviously not our home inspector.

The fix required a lot of concrete and labor intensive work digging out the underneath dirt from our garage, putting in wood for support and structure and laying in new cement. During the process an old gas pipe burst in the back yard (what a mess!) and that had to be replaced as well. All this happened the day before we were set for final move in.

So what do you do?
Outside of dealing with it, paying for it at $1600 … ya go shopping for window treatments.

Having to stay out of everyone’s way while they replaced the pipe, and mixed & poured cement, I grabbed the kid and headed to Villa Firenze custom order drapes for the living room and our daughter’s bedroom. My Cadillac tastes had me pick out some nice “Oyster” colored fabric and of course I wanted lined and interlined curtains for insulation. I also ordered a custom duvet set. At a total of $750, I am sure I save at least $1600 going through Villa Firenze on this first order. But the savings here paid for my garage foundation fiasco. The breakfast nook, dining and kitchen are next on the list of windows to be done.

After hitting Villa Firenze, I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond for some rods and curtain clips, using a 20% off a new home owners coupon to lessen the expense. Then I stopped at Chevy’s… a soda for the kid and a margarita to sooth my financially shocked nerves and to brace for the extreme chaos that was about to happen the next day…  3 chimney contractors, 3 cement workers, and inspectors and 3 office movers, moving us in all on final move in day.

Nothing like everything happening at once.