Blog No 9: May Update!

Images will be updated shortly!

All seems to be on-track at the construction site. A few updates-

All the molding for the ceilings have been completed, and follow clean Deco lines. We went with something very similar to the cornices that we uncovered a few months ago under the dropped ceiling.

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Molding around the master bedroom door

This week the radiator guy is coming to the house to install the heating system. The banister carving guy is also coming back with the modified curved pieces. The carpenters have been tasked with completing the built-in bookcases/cabinets for the upper floors. We have finally purchased all the toilets, sinks, tubs, faucets, etc..for the wet rooms and since we have ordered the tiles for the upper floor bathrooms this could conceivably be completed in the foreseeable future. Whoa.
We have also successfully moved the location of our electrical meter inside the house. This sounds like no big deal, but such things are complicated since it requires permission from the electrical company and their official electrician has to make an appearance to connect some wires. We previously had two dodgy 220V meters for the house and now we have a single larger 380V.

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Electricity Guy

I gave up trying to find the old Shanghai tiles, and am using a porous ceramic variety found on Ishan Lu. They aren’t the same as the old ones, but are the best we (and the contractor) could find. The newly manufactured tiles are also octagonal and are the same dimensions. The glaze seems to be the difference, but we think this can be remedied with a coat of poly-urethane type sealant on the top. We are incorporating a design taken from some architectural features in the lane to use as the border pattern and putting in the classic tile flower pattern into the center design in the foyer and kitchen.

A tip for future renovators who may stumble across this- Don’t think you can import your switchplate covers. I have tried every angle possible to avoid using the ugly plastic square option, and I can’t find a way to do it. The issue is the actual on/off switch that controls the electricity. We had chosen the black bakelite toggle switches that are common in other parts of the world and were once a norm in Shanghai. When my husband went to a US retailer to buy them, the sales staff told us we were crazy to try it. A plastic switch designed to run on a 110 will fry if it switches 220V. Of course I know this for lamps and hair dryers, but never thought it would also affect switches.
Alas, we seem to be stuck with the modern plastic rocker switches. In fact, we ended up digging ourselves into a hole by telling our electrician that we planned to import the switchplate covers. As a result he used the rectangular boxes in the wall to house the interior wires and switches. Once we realized that we couldn’t import the switchplate covers we had to go on a scavenger hunt all over Shanghai to find a supplier who carries the rectangular shape since 99.9% of the switchplate covers are square.

The rotten wood beams along the edges of the roof have been repaired and entirely rebuilt with new wood. Fortunately, it wasn’t the big problem that we had once feared. While they were up there, they built the little fake chimney to keep us out of trouble with the neighborhood committee (see post “Complaining Neighbors” for the back-story).

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Roof Repairs

These days I really have a lot of empathy for our neighbors since we have been torturing them for the last few months with construction noise, debris, and chaos. They have had to endure pneumatic drills, paint fumes, and hammering on the adjacent walls. Even though we have told our contractors numerous times to be considerate, I know it’s miserable for them- and they are happy to come over whenever they see us on-site and regale us with tales of woe. I truly feel rotten about it...and they know it.

This week their gripe is blaming our contractors for cracks in their plaster on the adjoining walls. We offered to repair it once the project is complete and put them up in a hotel so they don’t have to deal with construction dust. At first they think this is a great solution, but a few days later they dismiss this plan as too intrusive. At this point, it’s become a delicate dance of negotiations that I’m pretty sure is heading in the direction of an old-fashion pay-off. As far as neighbor/renovation issues go, this is very minor compared to some horror stories I have heard, and we are trying to keep this in perspective. They are old. Very old. They are the old-timers who have lived in the lane for 60 years and we are literally the new kids on the block. They deserve respect and deference in dealing with such matters. The danger is that the lao tai tai’s of the lane get wind of a “settlement” and we have a queue of complaining neighbors hoping for a wad of cash for their troubles. Oy-yo.

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Neighbors

Melanie