My friend Bonnie asked, “When you began this adventure you were still in Hawaii. Did it ever occur to you that you’d still be in the renovation stage at this late date? Just wondering what was going through your mind when you bought the cottage sight unseen…?”
First, we did know, prior to our actual purchase that we might be buying a disaster; though having our new Gloversville friend and realtor, Kathy, peeking through the windows, she assured us that it looked ‘not too bad.’ Once purchased, Kathy, entered the premises and sent us pictures of the interior. She thought the ‘bones’ of the house looked pretty good. She could not get to the basement because there were no lights and the original basement stairs were a death trap waiting to happen.
Then, Patrick entered and sent pictures too! He did tell us the basement needed work, but he could fix it easily.(Pardon me while I snicker) We trusted him.
Since the cottage was over one hundred years old, we had decided to rewire and re-plumb the house… so those were on our expectation list. We knew ceilings were being removed because we wanted radiant heating throughout the house… But, we thought they would be restored before our arrival (thank goodness he did not restore the ceilings or we would not have known that he installed improper tubing until we had major flooding)…
Our first clue something was seriously wrong was when he was going to install 14 gauge electrical wiring throughout the house. At that point I contacted Kathy and she connected us with Steve of Modern Electric. (This was our first clue that our original estimate was not only going to be inaccurate, but something was amiss). But, we only wanted the safest wiring. Once we knew there was a problem, who better to do the proper job than Steve (Inspector for our sister city, Johnstown)?
Then, we connected with Debbie, daughter of the original owner, through Joni, our city assessor. Debbie, bless her heart, became quite curious… keeping an eye out, she started sounding alarms that things were not moving along as quickly as they should be.
But, Patrick kept assuring us that we would have heat and water by the time we arrived. (Steve, on the other hand, was suspicious things would not be as rosy as we were being led to believe. He quietly made sure the electrical heaters on the third floor were not only connected, but working… Without mentioning it to anyone)…
About a week before we were to depart Honolulu, Debbie sent an email quite concerned that, not only would our home not be ready for us, but we would not be able to get in the door. (Apparently, all the ceilings that Patrick and his boys had pulled down remained right where they had fallen… all over the house… not removed… and, there was no heat in the home… or, water.) YICKS!
Of course, I texted Patrick immediately trying to find out what was going on. Once again, he assured me that we would have heat and water by the time we arrived and all the construction debris would be removed.
At this point we had to go on faith that we would have a warm place to lay our heads and a functioning bathroom. We were both so invested in this next stage of our lives and emotionally exhausted from the last several years, we just looked forward and hoped for the best.
After landing in Chicago, we drove East to our new home. About two hours outside of Gloversville, we called our auto dealership to find out when we could pick up our new car (ordered five months earlier) only to learn it had not arrived yet. Set-back one…
Then, we texted Patrick only to learn that not only did we not have heat (did not realize at this point Steve had hooked up the third floor electrical heaters), but we did not have a bathroom or running water. Set-back two…
Scott and I looked at each other and said, “Well, we wanted an adventure!”
After all it was Spring… If we just had a bathroom, we could manage while the rest was being finished. (Didn’t think the city would approve a temporary latrine in the backyard)?
Apparently, someone very wisely, notified the city inspectors that maybe this person, working in this house on Kingsboro, needed to be checked on. We are so grateful! That is when some of Patrick’s shenanigans came to light. He Pooh-hooed the inspectors. We were grateful.
We had lived so many years in the Tropics, we knew nothing about heating systems. And, we had been condo owners, so water pipes were not high on our knowledge list either. The City stopped him until he installed the plumbing correctly… though that was a stretch… let’s just say it was barely adequate, but within a day we had a bathroom.
So after one night in a motel, we moved into our Gloversville home with one bathroom. Though it was Spring, it was a chilly Spring for people who had lived in the Tropics for about half a century. We were grateful for the electric heaters. And, we had one functioning bathroom.
We spent the next several months struggling to have Patrick hold up his end of our contract. He would show up one day then miss a week. Finally, the day came he just stopped showing up. And, we were left trying to figure out how to finish, not only renovations, but basic living needs for our home.
Kathy helped us find some people to call. And, Steve put the word out that we needed help. Soon we had Steve, our awesome electrician; Glenn, our amazing plumber; Bert and his sons, our heating cooling experts; John, his brother Lothar, and their helper Shawn, our kitchen whisperers, lined up for our kitchens, and Larry, our fabulous basement mason.
But, this is Gloversville… this is rural country… expert help is in short supply. We went on their waiting lists. We were asking people to, not only take on a new job, but clean-up Patrick’s mess.
The only thing we were sure was done correctly was the electrical… because we had Steve. As the experts arrived to assess our situation, the bombs started dropping. We learned Patrick had installed incorrect heating coils and connectors… that had to be redone… the plumbing he did do was done very sloppily and needed to be redone, plus the rest of the house needed plumbing, And, we had a collapsing basement wall.
What do Scott and I have but time? Being frustrated would accomplish nothing, but make us both sick. Besides, our precious Josh, had taught us patience and acceptance well.
Larry, not only repaired our basement wall, but he turned that space into a delight to be in… Bert made sure we had enough heat to make it through the winter. Glenn made sure our bathroom and washer and dryer were hooked up safely… and John designed, made, and installed our kitchen and bakery (in freezing weather).
So here we are almost seventeen months later… and, other than our primary kitchen, bakery, and downstairs half-bath we are starting over.
Bonnie wants to know what was going through our minds when we bought our cottage, sight unseen…
Our youngest son was dying… Scott and I were both past exhausted, as well as devastated… we knew that staying in Hawai’i after retirement was not an option for us… We wanted a fresh start TOGETHER!. (Our only regret is leaving our oldest son and all our friends) I have always loved Gloversville. I knew Scott was not a cold weather person, but I knew Gloversville did not have the same kind of cold as the cold coming off an ocean… I knew the cost of living was way lower than Hawai’i. And, I knew we could afford a home there (not counting on building it twice ?)
Scott is my hero… he has been from the day I met him. When I suggested the move, it took him less that ten minutes to agree it was a good idea.
We knew we were taking a risk buying a home sight unseen, but neither of us has ever been afraid to take on the unfamiliar. We knew that somehow it would work out just fine in the end.
Did we ever think we would renovating at this late date? Well, we thought we would be renovating woodwork and the fine points of the home… not re-installing ceilings and putting up insulation a second time. But, yes, we thought we would still be renovating… and, we are renovating… probably for the next two to three years…
