Renovation Surprises

In my last post we had contracted with Ginger Moore of Carlos Moore and Associates to prepare architectural drawings for the renovation, and get them approved by the County Building Department and the County Transportation Department.  The Transportation Department was involved because we were building a parking lot.  She had her work cut out for her.  But let me digress for a moment to describe how business is done in a small town. When the County Building Department demanded architectural drawings from a licensed architect before we could do anything else, I mentioned that I knew Carlos Moore.  The building inspector said,  "Carlos would be a great choice for your project."  Right then I knew that I'd better retain that firm if I knew what was good for me.  The good ol' boys network was in full bloom.

Anyway, Ginger had some immediate challenges.  The first and foremost revolved around the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Since we were getting a Change of Occupancy certificate we had to be fully compliant.  The front porch of the building was 37 inches above the street.  This required a handicapped ramp that was 38 feet long!  The bathroom had to be expanded to allow a wheelchair and an attendant to turn around.  The restroom turned out to be 6 feet by 9 feet and extended 4 feet into the showroom.  The floor was another problem.  A residence requires a floor with a strength of 40 pounds per square foot while a commercial building requires a floor with 100 pounds per square foot.  The entire floor would have to be reinforced.  Finally, Ginger had to do battle with the County Transportation Department over the design of the parking lot.  And a battle it was.  Long story short we ended up with a grand total of 3 parking spaces, one of which was the handicapped space. Parking was going to be an ongoing problem.
However, none of Ginger's designs addressed the main challenge - the overpowering odor of cat urine in the building.  We tried every commercial cleaning agent in the Home Depot.  Nothing worked.  We called commercial cleaning companies and they refused the job.  In desperation I spoke with our veterinarian. She gave us the bad news.  "The smell of cat urine cannot be removed from a hardwood floor.  You must tear out the floor and throw it away."  More expense.

Judy and I were starting to sweat regarding the cost of all of this.  We were way over budget and we hadn't even started.   A friend at church who is a renovation architect told me later, "Don't feel too bad, in a renovation you never know what you're dealing with until the first piece of drywall comes down".  I wish I'd known that sooner.

Ginger's approved drawings in hand, we started looking for contractors.