Evil Adhesive . . . .

Yesterday I met with the clients, the electrician, and our PM (project manager) for the electrical walk through. That's where we all meet to make sure all the electrical items are totally dialed in before the electricians start their rough-in (wiring). Now, typically I go through the lighting design thoroughly in the design phase to eliminate any changes at the walk through. Any changes usually equal more money. Well, not usually - always. So . . . I really want to avoid that for our clients. Well, and for me - I really don't like feeling stupid :) In addition to that, I feel the lighting design is so important that you don't want to be doing it "on the fly".

To sum up the meeting, we went through the plans and discussed things like exact locations of outlets, pendant lights, switching locations - you know, "fun stuff". We ended up realizing we needed to add a couple outlets in order to satisfy code requirements - not a big deal. We also decided we would do a plug mold at the underside of the cabinetry along the fridge wall. This will allow us to avoid putting any outlets in the solid glass slab backsplash. I know that may not make a ton of sense to some people, but you'll see what I mean when it's installed and how it impacts the space. Just keep it in mind for future reference.

We also noted that the sub floor had all been installed for the future cork flooring. Here's what that looks like:

See how nice and clean that is? And no, that's not crime scene visqueen in the middle of the floor there - just plain old construction visqueen for dust protection. It's on break right now.

And finally, what this post was initially for - the "evil adhesive". So, what the heck am I talking about? Well, when I met with the clients they mentioned that the night before they ended up leaving their house and staying at a relatives home due to the smell of the adhesive used for the sub floor installation. Here's the culprit caught red-handed:

I hope the way I'm treating this doesn't seem to make light of the situation because it's intention is no such thing. The intention of posting this is for full disclosure and transparency. See, since we do this stuff all the time, the smell and the off-gassing is almost like smelling roses if you work at a flower shop. Hmm, maybe a bad analogy there. Anyway, the point is that we overlooked the possibility of it negatively impacting the homeowners. And in retrospect I wish we would have thought of it rather than inconveniencing them. Now fortunately they told us about it instead of keeping it to themselves. Many people will actually keep quiet and then we loose the opportunity to learn how we can be more sensitive to our clients needs and improve our service.

So what's the lesson? Well, speak up and make yourself heard! A good remodeler will actually care about you and not just getting the project finished. Wow, that sounds sappy. Oh well, if the shoe fits. See ya.