Almost exactly 13 months since we moved out of our home and into temporary housing, we have moved back in. We moved out on October 23, 2024, and returned on November 21, 2025. I’m sitting here with coffee watching the sun rise over our little lake, rather than staring at the side of some neighbor’s house. It’s been a long journey, and it’s still not over.
Rebuilding our house after Hurricane Helene has been fraught with delays. Just when we thought we would finally be back in our house, something else would come up. More on that in a bit, but the latest delay has been getting a functioning kitchen. That’s a problem, especially the week of Thanksgiving.
We are awaiting countertops for the cabinets. They were supposed to be delivered on Friday, but the granite company’s truck broke down. We can’t get the sink and plumbing attached until the counters are in place. We have a functioning refrigerator, so at least we can put food in there. We have a working stove, but we can’t really use it until the vent hood is hooked up to electricity.
In a way, this has been a bit like the weeks right after the storm when we were still living here. We have a temporary station set up for coffee, drinks, and food prep. We can cook on our grill and camp stove. But this time we do have electricity for microwave, refrigeration, and coffee makers. More importantly, we don’t have half our house missing.
Welcome to Unpackistan!
Since we don’t have countertops, we can’t unpack any of our kitchen items. Most of our rooms are covered in boxes that will be unpacked and put away. Some of the boxes were never unpacked from the first move. We’re thinking that if haven’t needed something in a year, we probably don’t need to keep it. I’m sure there will be many trips for charity donations and a big yard sale in our future.
Despite the chaos of moving and construction, it is peaceful here. I’ve been watching squirrels commute across the treetops and the daily liftoff of Canada geese. Bird songs have replaced traffic noise and sirens. At night it’s actually dark, without bright lights and close neighbors’ spotlights shining into our house. We’ve gotten good sleep the past couple of nights that we’ve been here.
Shout-Outs and Criticisms
As with any journey, there have been a fair number of heroes and fiends. I’m not going to pull and punches here as far as the fiends are concerned, but I want to make sure the heroes are recognized.
Shout-Out: Our Neighbors
Our neighbors have been so kind and generous. They came together after the storm to help clear roads and our yard. They brought over a generator so that we could have some power, and the helped move things in our yard. Beth and Pete, our new neighbors across the street moved in after storm, have kept a watch on our house and let us know when construction workers arrived. The neighbors in our temporary place were welcoming and friendly, especially next-door neighbors David and Jade. We couldn’t have made it through this mess without all of these great people.
Shout-Out: Horace Mann Insurance Company
Seems weird to give a shout-out to an insurance company, but these folks have been fantastic. We had a claim number by the end of the day of the actual storm with an agent assigned. They had folks lined up to do tree work and to do a temporary rebuild to weather-proof the house. They have taken care of our rental costs without us having to worry about any of it. They have been active in securing contractors to do the actual rebuild, and have gone on to ride herd on those contractors when things weren’t going smoothly. Even when our kitchen wasn’t finished, Horace Mann told us to keep track of what we spent on food and they would reimburse us for “additional living expenses.”
Criticism: Paul Davis Restoration (PDR)
Things started out OK with PDR, but then went downhill. They have overpromised and underdelivered. There have been constant delays, excuses, and outright blaming. I had originally typed a long list of grievances, but decided not to post it. There’s no point, and there’s still work to do. I don’t know if they just got in over their heads with all the post-Helene work, or if they were really having personnel problems. Laura has been more graciously understanding, but we’re both ready to be done with construction and dealing with contractors.
Shout-Out: Craftsmen
As much of a pain as PDR has been the tradesmen they have subcontracted have been great. Construction work (when they finally got around to it) has been superb. The new floors and walls look fabulous, and the house is going to be even better than before the storm once it’s all finished. Special shout-out to the finish carpenter, Val, who has had to put up with PDR’s craziness while still doing a great job.
Shout-Out: Lowes
We had to replace several appliance, not because they were damaged in the storm, but because they were just old and needed to go. We got a new refrigerator and stove. The folks at Lowes were great in making recommendations and they worked with us on delivery schedules, even when we had to delay for weeks at a time because of PDR.
One of the most amazing things was with the washer and dryer delivery. The delivery and setup was quick and efficient, but they noticed an odd sound in the dryer. Later that day I got an e-mail saying that a delivery was scheduled for the next day, Sunday. I thought it was a mistake, since we already had our washer and dryer. On Sunday they called to confirm the delivery, and I told them as much. It turns out that the delivery was for a replacement dryer. They already one ready to ship to replace the one making a weird sound. That kind of service is hard to beat.
Shout-Out: Laura
What else can I say? She’s been my rock for 37 years, and there’s no way I could have gotten through this by myself. I think I would have given up and just sold the place, and moved into a van down by the river. With the disruptions there has been the national political turmoil and major illness in family members to add to the stress.
We have both been through major depressive bouts. Fortunately, these have alternated. When I’m down, she has been up, and when she’s been depressed, I’ve been able to hold things together. Rarely has it hit both of us at once. Meds, too many martinis, and overeating have been the negative side effects.
I don’t expect moving back home to be a miraculous cure-all, but it certainly helps. There’s still so much to be done in addition to the unpacking. Our landscaping is a disaster, and that isn’t covered by insurance. That will be a slow process. I’m sure there will be long punch list. Given our contractor’s performance, that MIGHT get finished by this time next year.
Still, we know we have it so much better than so many. We’re not living in a tent or in a van down by the river. We have plenty to eat. We have resources, and when this is done we will have a beautiful house. There are others with storm damage that are even further behind than us. This Thanksgiving will truly be a time of thanks, even if we can’t cook a full turkey meal in a new kitchen.
UPDATE: The counters arrived today!
There is one missing piece – a backsplash behind the stove, but PDR is working to correct that.
Val has been hard at work putting door knobs and drawer pulls on the cabinets. When he finishes that, we can start unpacking more boxes. Tomorrow he will connect the plumbing and dishwasher. The only missing piece after that is the electricity to the hood vent. We hope that gets done quickly so that we can cook in the new kitchen. Fingers crossed!