Unlocked

One of the curious things about being involved in a house that is being built is that it isn’t our house. Yet. Oh, it will be our house someday soon, but right now we are only a very interested party. Sure, we’ve paid thousands of dollars in non-refundable deposits to make customizations to the house, and we are consulted about colors and options all the time. We visit daily, if not twice daily, and have taken hundreds of photos of the entire process.

But the house isn’t legally ours.

So we we visit the house late on a Saturday evening and discover that the front door is standing wide open it puts us in a quandary. Do we close and lock the door to protect the house? Do we leave it open? This has happened twice now and it still doesn’t feel good.

One night, a couple of weeks ago, we decided to drive to the house and take our evening walk there.  The deck had been only just completed and we climbed up the stairs to stand and admire the view. And to press our noses against the living room windows to see what we could see by the light of my cellphone flashlight. Imagine our surprise to discover that the door leading from the deck into the house was wide open. Our realtor had warned us that going into a house under construction, even a house one was buying, is considered breaking and entering by local law enforcement. Resisting the urge to explore we locked the knob and pulled the door shut.

After walking around the house I tried the front door only to discover it was unlocked and open too. We closed and locked it as well. After we got home I sent an email to our realtor telling her what we’d done and expressing some dismay at finding the house open to the elements, anyone off the street, and animals. She reminded us that the house wasn’t yet ours to control and said that the builder may have left it open for some sub-contractor to gain access the next morning. She also told us that he is insured and that if anything were to happen it would be taken care of.

Intellectually I understand all of that, but emotionally I don’t want to accept it. It is hard enough to see all these contractors traipsing through the house with dirty boots on, leaving empty soda cups everywhere, leaving piles of trash behind, and littering the yard with there cigarette butts. To imagine that the house might be open to vandalism or weather damage at this stage of the game isn’t acceptable.

On Saturday afternoon we visited the house and by chance the wood flooring guys were there finishing up the master bedroom. We walked through the house and took more pictures and visited with the two young guys a bit. Before we left they were starting to gather up their equipment to leave. They had opened the windows in the master bathroom and after Sibylle and I returned home I had the feeling that they were going to leave those windows open when they left. That bothered me enough that we returned to the house that evening to see.

Not only did they leave the windows open, the front door was standing wide open as well. Critters, insects, and anyone with curiosity could enter the house and wander around. Ugh.

Yes, the house is insured. Yes, it would be repaired or fixed if it was somehow damaged after a door was left open. But it seem irresponsible and foolish to trust in insurance after the fact when all it takes is closing the door beforehand to protect the property. I can’t say for certain, but I think the other time the house was left open the sub-contract crew that was there last was the same wooden flooring crew. If I should see them again it will be hard for me to not say something about closing and locking the doors.

It may not legally be our house today, but it is our house in our hearts and minds and we feel proprietary towards it.