Q is for Questions

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.  

E is for Educate on Everything

Today is E is for Educate ... yourself. I can't tell you enough how important it is to educate yourself if you plan to renovate. There is so much to know--about products, what you like and dislike, about the contractor himself and hundreds of other things.

You may decide to interview every contractor in your area, or you may use a friend or family member. Here's a site that offers some interesting questions--most of which I agree with. http://www.askthebuilder.com/50-contractor-interview-questions/  While you may think some of these questions sound silly, they really aren't. You'd be surprised at what you'll come face to face with. One of the questions on this site is: May I please inspect the inside of your truck or car?  This is supposed to show you the contractor's organizational skills. I should have asked this question. I don't think our little contractor had any organizational skills. Once he lost his truck keys and we searched for an hour or more. He finally found them ... in his pocket. And yes, he'd searched his pockets several times.

The more you learn about your contractor, the better off you'll be. You might want to see some of his work, so don't hesitate to ask for names of people he's worked for. If you can, interview them to find out just how happy they were with their renovation experience.

Potential unexpected problems you might have to deal with that have little to do with the inside of your house: angry neighbors. Workers have a tendency to block drive and destroy grass by either driving over it or pouring paint into the yard.  Be sure to ask how many vehicles will be in your driveway at one time and if they do daily clean-up. When Mr. Contractor says yes, they do daily clean-up, you should say, "No, seriously, do you do daily clean-up?" The contractor will laugh a little and repeat yes, to which you should say, "Define clean-up."

When it comes to educating yourself about products... good luck. I spent hours looking at magazines and walking through Lowes, Home Depot and our local Steins. Believe me when I say there are several answers to any one question you ask. You have to determine the right answer. You have to know what stains and what doesn't, what's slick and what isn't. If flooring will buckle under a little water ... if paint can be wiped down, or if it'll end up chipping or peeling.

A site I used to learn about decorating and products is Houzz.  I had pictures and colors and a vision in mind. Once I shared my vision with my contractor, my vision got lost. Be firm. Know what you want and why you want it. I learned that the pictures in magazines and on decorating sites are basically fiction. There are and were a thousand reasons I couldn't have some of the things I liked. It reminded me of when I took a Dillards newspaper ad of a pretty sweater to my local store and said, "I want this sweater" to which the salesperson answered. "That's not a real sweater; it's just an example of the kind of sweaters we sell." 

Educate yourself, if for no other reason, you'll have interesting dialogue with your contractor.

C is for Contractor

This is the third day of the A to Z Challenge. And here it is 11:10 pm CST. I'm just now writing my C post.  My word today is Contractor. 

Someone said you should ask him two questions: how long and how much. Believe me, we asked and those two questions have a way of changing, almost daily. If you watch any of the HGTV renovation shows, you know that.

We hired our contractor because he'd been used by some of our neighbors. It wasn't that they gave him a glowing recommendation, they said he was the best of the worst. That, along with our previous experience interviewing contractors got this guy the job. And his personality. A good personality always helps, doesn't it? He told us our renovation would take four to six weeks at the most. If we had known ... but that comes later.

I blame myself for this huge mistake. I like to hire people I don't feel intimidated by, someone I think I can get along with.

Evidently Mr. Contractor watched way too much HGTV, and considered himself quite the decorator/designer. Every thing I suggested, he told me why I couldn't/shouldn't have it: from paint colors to ceramic tile to granite to ... everything! Actually, I think he had a little passive aggressiveness in him and that's why the book cases don't go to the ceiling. Though one of you suggested only writers/readers understand the concept of floor to ceiling. Maybe that's true.

Still, I got the feeling Mr. Contractor wanted to give me everything I wanted... to a point.

Example: the ceiling fan in my living room. I told him I wanted it to give off a lot of light and he agreed. My old ceiling fan didn't have a light so I was ready to have an overhead. One day we came in and there was a beautiful ceiling fan but the light was a little of nothing. He was so proud of it, raved about how it matched things so well. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't want it. Should I have told him to take it down? Yes, it's pretty... just not functional for readers.

Was I supposed to go to stores and pick out everything I wanted? Because I didn't. Mr. Contractor picked things out and gave me choices. That was okay I guess. No stress for me. But who's in control here?

Like all contractors--or so I'm told--he disappeared for days at a time. He'd tell us he'd see us the next day then we wouldn't see him again for a week. I still don't like the colors he painted my kitchen, dining room, halls. And because of the color and design in my ceramic tile, it looks dirty all the time. I sound like a complainer, don't I? Look at the pic--this is how we lived for months!

Did I tell you during this time, we planned a wedding too? Renovation started in March of 2014
Daughter got married August 23, 2014
And the renovation went on and on and on...

I don't think there's a question you can ask a contractor that will get you the right answer. Or maybe even a straight answer. So my advice is, if you decide to renovate your house, make it easy on yourself and don't! Just buy a new one.

Tomorrow D is for doors, dust and den, I guess.

Did I tell you Mr. Contractor lost some cabinet doors? Maybe my D word should be Don't!

A is for Action and It's IWSG Day

Happy IWSG day—the first Wednesday of each month. IWSG has never missed a posting day (even though I have!) so I’m combining my A to Z Challenge and my IWSG post. I hope it doesn't seem too discombobulated. Anyway, many thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for creating IWSG. It's a much-loved, very special organization.

It's hard to believe April is here all ready. For almost a year, I've been looking forward and thinking about my A to Z theme. If I was smart, I would have prepared each post ahead of time, but not me. When it comes to the A to Z Challenge, I like to live dangerously. Off the top of my head the night before posting--or morning of. Okay, here we go, we'll see what happens!

Like the TV ad said…we were ready to make our dreams a reality. I'd wanted to yank up carpet and knock down walls for a long time. The 30+ year old home hubby and I purchased in 1996 definitely needed a face lift. But, the time was never right. Hubby worked out of town, we had a daughter in private school, then college ... we just didn’t have the money to invest in home renovation.

So last year, one year after hubby retired, we decided to take ACTION. I could hardly believe it! I began my list of desired improvements and started my research. Exciting times—or so I thought.

Here's my ACTION List:

Living Room: New ceiling fan with great reading lights, new baseboards,  and new flooring all the way down the hall & into master bedroom, paint, removal of wet bar to build floor to ceiling book shelves.

Dining Area:  New flooring, paint

Kitchen: Combine kitchen & dining area, new flooring, new countertops – granite or …? Backsplash, New stove top, new dishwasher, microwave and oven. New garbage disposal, doors on bookcase under bar, remove built-in desk and build shelves with doors, new cabinets? We’ll see.
Master Bedroom: paint, new floor
Master bathroom: new shower, shelves over built-in chest, shelves over bathtub, paint. And new floor.
Guest Bathroom: new countertops and sinks. New toilet, new floor. New tub?     
Son’s room: paint? New floor?
Daughter’s room? New floor?

This is the list we discussed with the contractor—more about him later—and of course, it was all negotiable. At this point, what we wanted and what we could afford were still two different things--sort of like wanting to be published by one of the Big 5 publishers but settling for an unknown small press.

Listen to me: Research is imperative. It doesn’t matter if we’re going to a new doctor or a new literary agent, moving to a new city or a new publisher—research is crucial to keep us from making unnecessary mistakes.

I learned the hard way that no matter whether we’re taking action on our writing dreams or renovating a house, we need to always ask the right questions. What are the right questions? Well, sometimes we don't know them until after the fact. 

Do you know any good questions to ask a contractor before he starts knocking down walls? I'd love to hear them. What would you ask your agent if you learned he was e-bombing your book proposal to publishers--even though some of them didn't publish your genre?

Research + Asking the right questions = a happy writer and a happy renovator!

Join me tomorrow for B-day.