When things go wrong

I rarely mention when things go wrong. And we've been extraordinarily fortunate that few things have. Still, it wouldn't be fair to paint the picture that nary a hiccup was experienced. So what didn't go the way it was planned (so far that is...we're not done yet)? Take a look.

1. We experienced near biblical rain during demolition. I mean it poured. Buckets. The crew had to come out in the middle of the night more than once to make sure the tarp was secure. Despite all attempts to ensure the main floor   didn't sustain flood damage, it did. Fortunately it was limited to the ceilings. Some had to be taken down entirely; the rest had to be repaired and repainted.
2. Our power bill kept getting screwed up. We don't know if it was living in the house next door or what, but more than once we'd pay one bill, only to discover that payment inadvertantly credited to the other address, and a second notice sent to us.
3. We had an unidentified water leak in the house. It emerged suddenly in month four of the renovation. While it caused some fretting for a bit, the good news is it appears the mystery has been solved, there is no damage and no expense/repairs necessary.  
4. We had to install an exterior column where we thought we could use a cantilever. As a result, we had to move the first-floor A/C unit over, and trim a tree. We also had to add a column where we had an existing cantilever. The columns look fine (great even). Just not what we planned on.
5. We didn't originally plan to finish out the one tiny bit of main floor roofline we weren't touching in the renovation. [Note: if it's not clear already, 'didn't plan to' = 'didn't budget for'.] The problem with not finishing it out? It looked ridiculous.
6. One of our front gutters has to be relocated. They installed in on the front porch front column and we hate the look of it. So we had to come up with a Plan B to address water on the porch roof in a way that didn't look out of place.
7. We chose a pocket door for our master bath. Aesthetically it's the right choice. But it's kinda loud. Like, the sleeper is probably not going to sleep through it loud. A quick Google search shows this is not an uncommon phenomenon for pocket doors. 
8. The laundry cabinets were hung too low. Eight inches too low. They had to rehang them and repair/repaint the wall.
9. They installed off-white outlets and switches everywhere. They were supposed to be white. The electrician had to come back out, uninstall and reinstall them all. I don't have an exact count, but I'm guessing it's around 40+ do-overs.
10. The budget for the renovation. Ah, but that's a post for another day. Promise.

A pretty short list all things considered. I expect other things also went wrong that a) our builder caught before we did, and had fixed or b) that we've forgotten about. The final test will be once we're in. Does everything work? Was anything damaged? Did some decision we make have an unintended consequence? Who thought all this gray was a good idea?

Still, we'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. We're grateful we have the opportunity to do this renovation, and that we're working with an architect and builder (and his crew) who are fantastic (if you need a recommendation, let us know!). When it's all said and done, we will not focus on what went wrong, and instead enjoy all that is right about our new home.