Ron and Steven are now planning to meet at least twice a week, walking the house, making decisions. Today’s agenda:

• Properly locating the tall, narrow new window going into the back wall of bedroom 2 — Jadin’s bedroom.
• Triple-checking the location of the wall between bedroom 1 and bath 2; it’s in the wrong place and needs to be reframed two feet toward the rear of the house, enlarging bedroom 1 at the front of the house.
• Going over the window, door and trim schedules and quotes, line item by line item, to identify options, questions to research, items to order.
• Meeting with the flooring company to determine how to best save and refinish the existing oak floors. They will look for new 2 1/4-inch oak planks to feather into the existing floor. We will use a section of flooring in the pantry for tests.
• Meeting with a candidate company for structured and low-voltage wiring — network, audio/video, security, CO² detectors, smoke alarms, ceiling speakers, etc.
• Deciding to replace the warped plywood at what was the master bathroom — a checkerboard of small sections and uneven layers. Larger sheets of plywood will be stronger, more stable, more level.
• Marveling at how open the house is beginning to feel as the framers replace termite-infested wood, open up the maze of claustrophobic rooms, repair damage to beams cut through by plumbers who should never be trusted with power tools, define the framing for the new windows, and nail new LVL structural support into the ribs and bones of what will be a much better house. It feels like the house in Steven’s head, the house that Brett converted into plans, is emerging.