# 582 - He Lost Me at "Impossible"

One of the biggest projects during construction of our house has been the tongue and groove pine wood ceilings.

I knew what I wanted, but it took a long time to find someone capable of doing the job and willing to drive the distance to our acreage to get it done.

Jason Riley of Riley Remodeling ended up getting the job, and he handled the installation of our wood ceiling like a true craftsman.

I spoke with five construction/remodeling companies in our area. I'd start out texting back and forth with them as they asked questions about what we needed. After explaining, I would send sample pictures of houses with similar wood ceilings. Yes, we realized it would cost a very pretty penny. Dump-truck loads of shiny pennies.

We live in a rural area and there aren't many jobs like this due to population. A massive hurdle. Houston, where I was born, has a population of over 6.6 MILLION, and you can find contractors able to do this level of work all day long.

But, if you leave Houston and drive a bit to reach our teeny town of Dallardsville with its population of around 350... it's another realm altogether. Our neighbors are hard-working folk mixed in among ranchers and timber barons. In our small town, we might be the only ones who have retired early from Houston. In the closest city to us, Livingston, 

So, it wasn't unexpected for a contractor to tell me he didn't want to install the ceiling the way I wanted, but would instead install sections of tongue and groove with faux beams in between. He refused to "strand" the boards together for the entire length of the ceiling. He didn't want to make cuts or stagger the boards the way I wanted. He said he'd install sections with uniform boards stacked one after the other.

I do like real or faux beams and had seriously considered working them into our ceiling design, but my final vision was one with clean lines, not busy looking. We already had dormers to contend with, and they break up the focus. I wanted the wood itself to be the main feature highlighting the ceiling's height and angles.

That guy stood in my house and rudely remarked, "You'll never get what you're asking for. Can't be done. Impossible."

Yeah... I've had a few country boys tell this woman she was asking the impossible of home builders and remodelers, but I hail from Houston, Texas, and "impossible" is far from what I'm asking.

"Do you realize pine yellows with time?" he asked with his jaw hung open.

"Yes, I do. I like the amber 'patina' of aging pine," I answered. 

He threw his hands in the air and spat out.. $25,000... to do a job he'd already admitted he couldn't do and wasn't happy about tackling. He'd lost the job before he even bid on it. 

He lost me at "impossible."

Why did this guy even make the trip to check out the job? He wasted both our time.

I kept visiting with potential contractors. Several people responded to my request for contractor references, leading us to Jason Riley of Riley Remodeling. During my first conversation with him, he let me know he was both skilled and brave enough to work on a ceiling of our height. 

It then took more weeks for me and Jason to coordinate our schedules so he could come look at the house in person instead of just in pictures. When he showed up, Jason was complete opposite compared to the other "impossible" guy.

Jason discussed my vision for the ceiling. He understood EXACTLY what I wanted and assured me it was indeed possible.

HIRED.

I worked a deal with him. We had scaffolding, but he needed more for our expansive Great Room. We agreed to rent more so he wouldn't have to deal with that upfront cost. And my husband bought all the materials and had them delivered to the house.

We hired a couple of guys to work at the house doing odd jobs, and they were extremely helpful, so we put them to work helping to poly the boards. Riley knew this part of the job would be handled by other workers.

Jason brought his own tools, and he brought along a helper (on most days). He thoughtfully approached the installation, but we made it easIER for him to show up and go straight to work on the actual install. 

But, this wasn't an easy job, by any means. Even so, he listened to what I wanted, and my husband listened to the two of us talk it out and then accommodated Jason as much as possible.

For that, I'm grateful.

And let me add... Jason is a young man who is deaf. Literally, I can't remember the reason for his loss of hearing at such an early phase in life... an ear infection or something of the sort. He wore hearing aids but would take them out during construction so the power tools, etc., wouldn't create major issues with his prosthetics. 

He'd lay his hearing aids aside and get to work.

Jason created a "bridge" to do the high-point of the ceiling.

I usually play music through the day, especially when doing chores, but we had to keep extraneous sound to a minimum, in case he did need to reinsert his hearing aids.

His attention to our ceiling made me pause.

I don't usually do much of anything in total silence, except during the early part of my day. Early, whatever time that means for us in retirement, is a time when I prefer silence for a while. 

No talking.

No sound.

Nature is all right, but I don't want to hear any synthetic/produced sounds.

However, I can't imagine working hours upon hours without any break or interruption so that my own thoughts can cease. Background noise can be comforting. It can fill the headspace that screams when it's too silent.

A television left on. An electronic device playing the latest news report or an audible book. Music. Oh Lord, music is a must-have for me, but Jason did not have those options.

He confronted morning-silence that lasted all day, every day, yet he focused on the task at hand.

I admire that kind of tenacity.

My husband and Jason worked out a system together. They got the ceiling finished. Jason definitely earned his money doing this job, and he didn't rob us. It took several weeks. He did have a couple of other jobs, so we worked with his schedule and the distance gap.

Yes, I am an "angles" person. Geometry-minded. Art.

Jason also drove every work day from Huntsville to our house to do the ceiling. That's right at a 100-mile round-trip every day, so he'd no likely be in our house for more than 5-8 hours at a time.

With a nearly two-hour drive each day just to reach our acreage, I was thankful to have found him and his remodeling company, even though we weren't remodeling... we weren't finished "building."

The "big bedroom" upstairs.

And to this day, every morning I step out of our bedroom, I marvel at the beauty of this ceiling. Solid wood reflecting our forested surroundings.

Warm and welcoming.

It's wonderful when the impossible becomes your reality.