A few new pics are up at this place. They are at the end of the list.
We were hoping to move this week, but our electrical guy hasn’t finished the last 10% he has already been paid for. Seems that his $250K contract means more to him than the folks he contracted with months ago. Lawsuit is coming.
Today the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC), released their repopulation maps for the city. The data is based on mail deliveries to addresses, LRA Grants received and those selling their home to the Road Home.
What I found from this map is that our little neighborhood is doing far better than I had expected. There are only four sell-outs, and from the numbers of folks receiving LRA Grants, it looks to me that we should have 95% of our folks home and into their houses soon. (Can’t find my block-by-block house count currently) As our little area has been occupied since 1821 (not the houses, but the properties), this makes me very happy.
Eight more days to go and we move back into our darling home. Yard still looks like crap, but ya’s gonna do?
Some shots from yesterday’s work and two of the house before the Flood. Most of the appliances are there, but still in boxes. (New pics are at the end of the set.)
Moving-in day is coming finally. Walls are painted, trim is going in, cabinets and countertops mounted next week. Here’s some current pics- 03/025/08.
Gas goes in Thursday and electric next week. Back staircase will take some time, so we won’t use the back door.
I’m hoping we can move in by the weekend of April 12th. The outside siding will be mounted after we are back in the house, and the front staircase should finally have handrails too. The driveways are a mystery, but they’re just gravel.
We do need to get some curtains just in case the workers are around and I’ve decided it’s a bra and panty day for doing things around the house. *giggles* Wouldn’t do to distract them whilst working, ‘eh?
These last several days have been very, very tiring for me: getting the house fixed enough to get us out of this “dumpster” we been living in for two years, deciding how I’m go to pack stuffs and have it moved to the house… when do we get the girls fixed so they can roam the courtyard and then, how will the catz act through the entire process. There are mounds of papers and files all through the hovel (must not lose them…. that’s Grants and SBA poop). And then there are the tools and the kitchen.
Setting up the offices are first, but I need the Contractor’s map of all the wiring in the house to bring it all together in order for Betts to be able to function on the next workday. Four ‘puters need to be networked right away and the three extra terminals must be ready for the cottages and the gameroom. (have two new 8-point routers and 16 lines running through the place.) Must get Cox in so Betts can have her phones. Still need to get Entergy up there in order to put in the new gas and electric meters.
Our guys are doing great work, but weather (humidity) and final probs keep cropping up. (The ceiling in the offices had the beams a little warped when the tidal wave from the canal walls lifted one end of the house, and the resulting ceiling looked like the surf at Moloki.) The plumbers put the drain collection pipe for our bedroom potty in a strange place, and I want that fixed. The first part of the back deck must be built next week… I want a back staircase and the generator landing ready soon.
And there’s things we should be attending to, but it’s hard to get out of here early enough to get them done. Betts’ biz is hopping, so we can’t bug-out of the office in order to take care of things like buying the appliances (they don’t take payment over the phone), getting the last few fixtures and buying/making curtains. The rains force us to stay in since the sidewalks have 8″ of water on them and we can’t get out, or the traffic starting around 3 PM is so bad we can’t make it to where we need to. (Still haven’t picked up Opal’s ashes.)
The rains are also slowing down the cementing of the new connection to the sewer main, and that means we still have a huge hole in front of the only garage that we can get to at this time. The gravel for that one drive cannot be laid yet, and that means slogging through a mud pit to get into and out of the place. The sewer drain for the FEMA trailer still needs to be moved to our side yard connection so’s the dumpster can be put in place and we can move forward on finishing (and re-finishing) the drives.
Still awaiting the delayed House Elevation Grant and the next infusion from the SBA. Both will come through, but waiting and worrying is taking it’s toll on both of us. Things would have been pretty much done now if the grant would have hit last Summer as promised… the State had to find a way to screw up what we were to get months ago. This kept our worker count lower than expected so we could keep them doing our house instead of running off and starting other projects (thus putting us on the back burner).
It seems like the only times we leave this dump are for food, household stuffs and buying building materials. We have only played one tournament since right after Thanksgiving. Going to the bar to socialize doesn’t really happen anymore: we show up at odd times once in a while, and it’s almost always that the two of us are the only folks there. Shopping for some nice clothes is out: no place here to store them. (I’ve learned to mix and match various warm weather clothes in layers with my short supply of winter stuff to stay warm)
I’m just rambling and peeved that with all we have done to rebuild here, it is still like slogging through 4′ deep mud. I can’t do Psych meds because they either do nothing or they knock me out for the day. There’s only so much I can drink (and not become a total lush). Betts and I alternate with bouts of stomach attacks. I’m lucky to have a decent night’s sleep one a week… most of the nights are spent laying there with my mind racing over the entire ‘Verse. The only thing in my mind are how’s this affect the Coast, or the city, then Gentilly and lastly our home. It is like living in the center of a merry-go-round that never stops, and the characters are always changing on each spin.
Alright, enough bitching and moaning. We ARE the lucky amongst many in this city. We are almost home, though it seems like that promise changes daily. Many folks here haven’t even started on rebuilding. (I don’t know how they are keeping it together in the face of all this shit)
And I just made a decision: I’m waking Betts up from her nap in a few minutes, and we are going to the Starlight for a few drinks as we should have done earlier. Thank the Goddess that the bar is open all weekend nights. Maybe I’ll get to see the Sun rise as we leave with our to-go cups make it home and fall into a deep sleep.
“Bartender? GROG! NOW! Aaarrrggghhh me maties. We have returned… “Â
WHOO HOO! *does cartwheels*
We are moving back into our home at the end of this month. It will have been 30 months since Betts and I slept in our house. Things won’t be finished there when this happens, but we’ll have enough ready for us to be able to use the place. One bathroom will be finished, same goes for the kitchen, our offices and the bedroom.
I can’t wait to see how our construction crew deals with us being around 24/7, much less having to deal with the katz bouncing off the walls. (Thank goodness that they are painting this week: I don’t want the walls “textured” with cat fur.) And we also have to remember not to walk around in bras and panties. *giggles* Hell, we need curtains! I don’t wish to be seen in the office windows as a Hollywood Hustler second story display ad.
The first thing I’m cooking in the new kitchen will be two huge vats of seafood gumbo, followed by a vat of clam chowder. Betts will want some escargot, I just know it. Being back in that kitchen will be a salve to the last 30 months of Hell.
When the gameroom is finally finished I order the billiards table. This is becoming so much fun: getting to decorate the house our way, not the way the boys did before we bought the place. It’s a bright and airy space. And this time, it is all us and no one else’s. We get to make the changes that we wanted to do in the 8 short months we owned the place before the Flood hit. (Sadly, the yards are going to take a long time to fix up… they look like Godzilla and King Kong held a wrestling match there.)
Finally, we are going home.
Yesterday brought some much needed tension release for the Owls (our community’s name for Betty and myself).
I woke up to hear that the framing inspector approved the work on the house with flying colors. He stated that the work was perfect, and that we have done overkill on the strengthening and stabilitization of the entire structure. (We haven’t had the railroad iron added to the corners yet.) It’s safe to say that the man was impressed. Our garage doors were also installed to our delight.
Later in the evening we sat down and talked out the insulation and attic poop with our contractor. Seems we can’t close the attic completely because the house might suffer due to moisture concerns. I had done some research on this matter in my studies about Greening the place, but ours is not adaptable to this concept. Oh well, the new approach being taken costs less, and at this point we need to scale back on the money being laid out.
Tomorrow the guys can put the Tyvek over the sheathing, and then in goes the insulation. Next week the walls are to be closed in. Flooring should start right afterwards and then it’s paint time. Our cabinets are to be installed and the appliances moved in. After that I’ll be putting in the Game Room’s sconces and Bath vanity lighting whilst Brent builds our office desks (48 running foot of them, and one of mine must be able to handle 50 gallon aquariums.)
Then I guess we just move in as soon as the last City Inspection is done. The outside will be unfinished, but the inside will be cozy and livable.
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Later in the night we went to the Pool tourney at the Phoenix. All three of us lost early, so we retired to the Starlight for more pool and drinks. Thank the Goddess that the tourists are gone… there’s parking on Rampart! YAY!
Anyway, that’s how Tuesday went and I am so much de-stressed. This flooded house nightmare is finally coming to a close and we can get out of this dump we’ve spent almost two years in. (And I keep telling outsiders that we are the lucky ones in that we can move forward on getting back into our home. My heart is heavy for those who can’t even start on rebuilding yet.)
Pics as soon as I get my tush up there in the daylight.
As promised, here is the East wall diagram and the West wall.
Betts decided to add an island to the West wall so we gain a snack counter and break up the room (which contains both the A/V room and the kitchen. The size is about 38 x 16′.) One of the corner cabinets will be the trash/recycling area (if we ever get recycling in the City again).
The Pantry is 7 x 16′ and will hold the hot water tank, a second fridge, a floor freezer, almost 16′ of 7′ high commercial stainless steel shelving and a general utility shelving unit for bulk buys and sodas (and my beer). Outside of the Kitchen fridge, almost all of our food and paper supplies will be stored here. We desired a commercial lay-out and I think this will fit the bill.
The Homecoming party should happen in early January since the guys are promising that we can return prior to Yule, but maybe a Geek Dinner with the NOLA Bloggers should happen before that. Maybe they could be combined, but we Geeks are a different type of creature, and I’m afraid that mixing all of the slices of Life that I know in NOLA could result in a super nova or Succession.
What do y’all think darlin’s?
This week sees the plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the masons working all at the same time on our home. These guys are like a force majeure right now. Here’s some more pics.
I’m waiting on the cabinet place to fax me the cabinetry sketches for the kitchen. It is my hope that we get “Best Kitchen in New Orleans” awards. The herb and spice unit stands 7′ tall and has all of these fold out racks, so many so that I should lose my mind when I’m searching for some obscure spice when I’m cooking something. All of the units are solid birch with a moderate cherry stain. Green granite will top them and the island table off and all of the appliances are stainless steel. Betts just ordered the hanging pot rack to hang over the prep table.
The new windows should arrive in 10 days. (Got a very good price on them as they were close-outs. *grins*) They are double paned and have very good energy specs. We’ll buy the hurricane shutters next Summer since we feel safe for the next several months.
All that is left is a huge appliance order, get the rest of the bathrooms’ stuffs, pick up light fixtures and order a small amount of carpet. Furniture comes last because we can’t find something we like at a reasonable price. If we had the time I think a trip to northern Miss. in a search for used, but nice stuff would be the way to go, but time is sadly lacking.
The main reason we can pull this off is that our contractors wish to use our place as a showcase of their best work. We supply the monies and they get their showcase. The payback for it all is having to act as tour guides when they bring new prospects by, but that’s more than worth it considering what all this is costing us. (And yes, I’m sworn to secrecy about the real costs to us.)
All we need now is our mitigation grant and then put new siding on the house.
For those who have been following the news concerning rebuilding along the Gulf Coast post-hurricanes/Federal Flood, you might know that Mitigation Grants were being awarded that would aid folks in rebuilding safer and with less cost to the Nation in the event of another disaster.
We were awarded an ICC Grant for mitigation of our dangers by us raising the house to above the Base Flood Elevation and in accordance with the newest flood depth maps provided by the ACOE two months ago, but FEMA had to consider a way to allow those of us who have already done the necessary work to be re-imbursed for work done prior to their October announcement.
FEMA is now in the process of amending it’s procedures and policy since the situation down here has taken too long and many of us decided that we didn’t wish to hang out and wait for the funds to be disbursed. We decided to work on our homes and do the right thing. We are rebuilding NOW.
CHAT has just alerted us to FEMA’s upcoming procedural changes, but as usual, FEMA didn’t give much of a lead time on these changes, and that’s were we need you to help. Please visit CHAT and send their message to the Feds by Nov. 6th.
This is vital to folks’ rebuilding efforts. Many people here in New Orleans, with the promise of these Grants have moved forward on getting back into our homes and businesses, but unless some of the rules are changed, we will never see those monies. If the latter proves to be the case, those of us who showed initiative in rebuilding will be shorted many dollars that were promised to us all because of forgotten procedural rules on the part of the Federal Government’s part.
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