I’ve been not posting, holding my breath, waiting for the latest “issue” to be resolved. The last week has definitely made me feel like I am sitting on pins and needles, and not just because my hips are straining under the weight of this uber-baby inside my stomach.
Long story short… there’s a support beam. It wasn’t anticipated. It raised unanticipated plumbing and A/C issues. It restricted access to an already tight area of the house (the crux of the kitchen, downstairs bath, two upstairs baths and laundry room, and A/C closet).
The support beam holds up the second story; it ain’t going nowhere.
The support beam has thus far caused the following problems:

• It meant installing a soffit (nooooo!) above some of the kitchen cabinets to run the A/C plenum.
• The plenum blocks access for the vent hood exhaust. We have to use a fancy (read: expensive) downdraft stove instead.
• The plenum also blocks plumbing access for the upstairs kids’ bath, so we have to switch the locations of the toilet and sink in that room.
• The plumber also had to run some pipes through a wall we plan to put masonry on… Maude help us if we ever have a leak and need to rip out that wall.

We’ve done two walkthroughs with our contractor, one on Friday and one today. David and I spent all weekend fretting about what to do. It seemed like either (a) we accept the changes and keep moving forward or (b) add a few weeks (or more?) to the end date of the problem and try to step backwards to fix it.
Later today, the A/C guy is going to let our contractor know if there is any way to move that plenum. The contractor has made it clear that the beam can’t be moved. I trust him with, you know, the next 30 years of my life or so, and when he tells us he’s doing all he can, I believe him. He’s a good guy.
The fact is that stuff comes up when you’re renovating and old house, no matter how small the project. Prolly comes up when you’re building a new house too.
Misery loves company, so leave us a comment and tell us your horror story, won’t you? Caro, you know I want the low-down on that big THING in your kitchen