All The Little Things

We're closing in on our final punch list. With the reno almost over, it's tempting to try to forget about all the crazy little things that came up, the head-shaker problems that went beyond things like the price of the new fridge and the make and model of the windows. Problems like what to do with the circa-1915 cast iron cookstove. Not to mention the stuff we found in the oven, which was also circa 1915. The back wall of the house, which was ten degrees off plumb. The handmade rolled-copper range hood with the pull-chain that started the fan, sort of. The load-bearing iron beam that was not soldered or bolted to anything. The corner of the foundation that was not and had never been square. The tree that fell down; the others that didn't but could have. The slate floor. Removal of said floor. With hand tools. One square at a time. In an unheated house in December. The ancient underfloor radiant heat, & the $700 repair bill when the pump died on the first day of November when we had a tenant. The kitchen that required the cook to walk halfway around the house in order to join the dinner party. The twin staircases that were not only redundant but also out of code. The open shelving in the kitchen - nice mahogany, but no doors. Anywhere. The stackable washer-dryer that did not really dry anything. The attic stepladder that bent, but did not (thankfully) break. The fridge in the alcove off the entryway. The entryway that opened into ... another entryway. The toilet tucked under a shelf. The mechanicals tucked into the unfinished and rather spidery crawl space, and the little rickety ladder that led into it. The leaky bathtub...