I'm with you in spirit...so frustrating and out of your control. Had a similar experience, but all worked out as I hope it will for you.

Update?

(What county are you in? My experience w/the Howard County inspectors was stellar...they arrived when they said they would every time!)

Sorry to hear of your delay :(. This is why we kept those wine glasses handy when packing the kitchen - even at 10:36am :).

Buehl, my Howard county inspectors were very punctual, too.

I know how frustrating it is not to have them show up. Be very glad you don't live in the city.

I know this pain! The one that kept being delayed for us was the Final...Which would allow us to move in and to close our mortgage, paying off the higher interest construction loan. It was delayed once, then again and was threatening to extend over another weekend. Every day meant a lot of money, and wear on my gritted teeth! I'm sorry, but hang in there. You have no choice and there's no use wearing out your nerves. You have the right idea...Breathe and distract yourself.

Since you're so close, just go down there and give them a piece of your mind. Let them know how unprofessional they are and how furious you are. I'm sure they'll be so embarrassed that they'll bend over backwards to pass you :-)

We are in Baltimore County- over the city line by so little I can see it! I have hear that inspections in the city are a PITA. She did finally show up today, but too late for them to put the drywall up today. They installed my salvage wood floor that I have had stashed away for a couple of years. It is dirty, but it looks fabulous! They really did an amazing job beauase it turns out that the boards are about 1/16th-1/32 smaller in width than the existing floor, so it was not a simple install.

They are hoping to have all the walls up and mudded tomorrow and then finish the mud coats on Thursday so I can prime on Thursday night. They want to check the finish for flaws on Friday before I put the color on. My guy is picky about his drywall finishing :).

So, it wasn't completely unproductive, but still puts us back in the schedule a bit. Soapstone templating is on Tuesday, or Wednesday, depending on tomorrow's progress. I am starting to build cabs tonight and will finish that and paint this weekend. So by next week we should really be somewhere!

weissman- from what this GC, and other previous contractors have indicated, if you complain, the inspectors just get pissed off, and aren't very motivated to get to your job. Since she did show up eventually, I am just going to let it be. It is just really irritating especially since they could almost walk here.

I was just kidding - didn't you see the smiley face - of course, you can't give them grief or they'll find reasons not to pass you! Given the delays that some people experience on their projects, yours are relatively minor although annoying if you're paying by the hour!

missed the :) silly me. Paying by the house has worked out well so far. I am essentially running the job- my GC (who is not on site much) even said he doesn't know why he even bothers to come- I solve all of the problems myself :).

Amberley, it seems like you are FLYING through this reno. Wasn't it only like 2 weeks ago that you were demoing in the middle of the snowstorm?

We have been kitchenless (as in empty room, no sheetrock on walls or ceiling) for about 4 weeks now. The drywall just got put on this last Friday and he won't be finished till maybe Thursday. Painting over the weekend, cab install on Monday. Granite people out toward end of next week.

It sounds like your renovation is coming along at breakneck speed compared to mine, so that's something to feel good about, even if the inspector is late :-)

Sorry about the hiccup, but it does seem like it's flying. Would you like to come up and GC our reno? And you'll have all that experience with IKEA cabs, soapstone, and F&B paint. You're the perfect fit! :D

We really are flying through it. GC is REALLY great at planning, and I have done all the legwork/design/sourcing and the other key is that I am here all day, so any questions/issues/problems can be immediately rectified. I know the measurements of things and what I want so well at this point (that is what happens when you plan for 3 years with GW!) that I don't have to hesitate. Believe it or not, I actually made a pretty drastic change to the design as soon as the walls came down. This of course was only possible because we are doing IKEA cabs.

Keep in mind too, that this isn't a huge space. Also, we are soing this job as time and material, so I have had everything ready to roll as soon as it is needed. But my hat goes off to my GC and carpenter- their ability to plan and schedule has been top notch. Subs have also been fantastic, and have been on time. My biggest holdup is going to be refinishing the floor and painting all those cabinet doors (which I can't start until all the dust is gone).

I noticed that you hope to finish mudding on Thursday and then do your priming that night. Will you be using a very fast-drying mud of some sort? I thought the last coat of mud had to dry overnight before priming, (but that might just be the older stuff, and perhaps newer mud dries much faster.) Hope you get to stay on your really impressive, speedy schedule! You are an inspiration for detailed planning before demo.