Measure twice, cut once…
…only works if you wrote down the measurements correctly on the original plan.
This past week I was in New Orleans at a conference for work. As my plane left the Portland runway I wondered what my place would look like when I returned. I dreamt of returning to walls starting up and underground electric lines active. I feared returning to exactly what I left… and a dead garden. But with early morning conference sessions, lots of photos to take and colleagues to catch up with, I didn’t have much time to think about it–until the phone rang on Thursday.
“Hey Brenda, it’s Troy.”
“Hi Troy. What’s up?”
“Well I’ve measured everything and it seems we have an extra foot of floor space.”
“Gasp–towards the neighbor’s house?!? Oh please tell me we are out an extra foot front-to-back, not to the side.”
“No, you’re ok–front to back. You want that extra foot in the bedroom or the utility room?’
This was where my brain went flat line. I started into my coffee cup and tried to figure the answer. Fortunately, Troy did not need to know right then.
On Friday the phone rang again. Another measurement issue: The doorway that was to flow into the “Y” between the master bedroom and utility room doesn’t line up between the plan and reality. Instead of it opening between the two rooms, it opens into the master bedroom. This means one have to walk through the master bedroom to reach the utility room or garage. Very bad! This complication hung in my mind through the morning sessions and conclusion of the conference. How does something like this happen? Troy is careful with his measurements and obviously, the doorway didn’t get up and move itself. That only leaves one other factor in the equation: me.
On the flight home I realized what I had done wrong. I measured the existing house and plugged in the numbers to my floor plan forgetting we would be bumping out the new addition four additional feet, thus the door opening was off by about four feet.
About 2 a.m. Saturday I arrived at home and collapsed into bed. About 10 a.m. I looked around. There were no walls up yet and no underground power, but the floor joists were in place and the post and beam inspection was passed. Next the floor will be insulated, floor deck added, another inspection and then the walls begin.
Sitting down looking at my floor plan on the computer, it appears quite easy to fix. In the end, the extra foot of space will go in the bedroom and the bathroom shower will end up being a little larger. That is actually a nice bonus.
And my garden? Troy watered it while i was gone and everything looks great. Tonight my salad will include lettuce from the garden.
