imaginary construction

The hardest thing about remodeling a foreclosure is not owning it yet. We are chomping at the bit to just get in and start doing things, but closing is not until next week. Meanwhile, we continue to meet with contractors and get estimates on all of the work to be done. This morning, we met with an electrician who kindly pointed out several more items that if not fixed are a not to code and b very unsafe. Thanks. The list gets longer, and I see our $ not stretching as far as I'd like... Oh well.

We should be able to start working next Friday afternoon after we close. I say "should" because the gas has still not been turned on in the house yet. There is some difficulty in getting the gas company to send a bill to the listing agent so they can pay it and get reimbursed by the bank. We have yet to check the furnace or any of the gas appliances. So if we haven't got gas flowing, we may have to push back closing. On the flip side, the well has been fixed which we did not expect. Saved us some money that will probably go to the electrician :)

While we wait to get in the house, I obsess about the kitchen. I have drawn up literally hundreds of kitchen plans at this point. I have researched cabinet makers, counter tops, appliances...you name it. In my attempt to go green, I am looking at things I would not have thought of before. I'm trying to find out if a cabinet has particleboard in it and if it does, does it have added formaldehyde? Do the finished have VOC's? Is there an unfinished option? The hard part is that solid wood cabinets are much more expensive of course than the less eco friendly ones. Cabinets seem to be the hardest for me - some of the other materials are easy choices because of their appearance and their "greenness". Recycled glass tiles are gorgeous - it is just a question of how much of the tile is actually recycled. Same with counter tops. Anyway, I could go on (and on and on) about kitchen materials and the benefits of a layout with the oven and cook top separated vs. having a range. Maybe later. I need to go read some of my kitchen remodeling books from the library!