As of last Wednesday, April 1, construction on the building is finally done.
When Susan and I purchased our new home back in 2018, we intended on building a workshop in the backyard the minute our old house sold. Unfortunately, the old house sat on the market for another nine months. When it finally sold in July of 2019, we immediately contacted a local contractor, drew up plans, and signed a contract to get the ball rolling.
I could say a lot of good things about the experience and I could say a lot of bad things about the experience, but all I’ll say for now is that there were a lot of lessons learned. For a few months we were told the builder “hoped” to have the building completed by Christmas, but without a firm end date set in the contract, hopes don’t mean much. December (and 2019) became February, then March, and finally April. We’re glad the building is finished, but I’d be lying if I said there weren’t days (weeks) where I sat at the back window like a sad puppy, staring at incomplete construction and wondering where everybody was.
Last Friday, installers from Home Depot arrived and installed carpet in the back half of the shop, which consists of a 10’x20′ “lobby” that leads into a 20’x20′ movie room. Wiring for the (Atmos) surround sound has already been run. I still can’t decide if I want to go with an 86″ television or a projector and a screen. The projector would offer a larger viewing area for less money, but be more complicated to install. The television would be smaller, but easier and quicker. I’ll decide soon enough. Before I put anything electronic out there, the alarm company has to come first.
As for the shop side, I spent the majority of the weekend moving things from the garage out into the workshop. My over-sized wooden shelves, my mini-fridge full of beer, and Bobby the CPR dummy have all been relocated. I’ve been using my golf cart as a delivery wagon, packing it so high and full of boxes and tools that it looks like the Beverly Hillbillies’ car as I putt back and forth between the garage and the workshop, taking breaks for drinks of water, handfuls of Ibuprofen, and to recharge the cart. During the week, I’m teleworking from home during the day and then spending the evenings moving and arranging things. I’ve started a list of projects that need to be completed, and I currently have months worth of work lined up. If there’s a good side to this whole coronavirus pandemic, it’s that my evenings are free at the moment.
It goes without saying that none of this would have happened if it weren’t for Susan. She’s listened to my dreams of having a workshop for years, and put all the pieces together to make it happen. If it weren’t for her, I’d still be sitting on the couch talking about it and there would never be any hope of her parking inside the garage someday. Thank you, Susan.