My fantasy: Outsourcing home remodeling

Wouldn't life be much easier if we could outsource home remodeling? I have a recurring dream . . .

I do a Control-C on my house, like on a computer file, and make a digital copy of my house. I keep living in the original house, and send the copy around the world to get work done on it. The file is compressed to make it easier to send.

First stop: I want demolition done in a place where it's really cheap, like Bangladesh, where the citizens need the cast-off lumber, nails, drywall, roofing, fixtures and appliances for their own economy. This would prevent usable materials piling up in our own overflowing landfills.

To get the new walls built, I send the house file to a place where the wood is grown, like Canada, or even back here to the U.S. to support our sustainable wood industry.

For tile floors and counters, I zip the file over to Mexico or Italy or Portugal. There, artisans with centuries of heritage craft my floors and counters, and whether or not they are U.S. citizens is not a concern.

For granite counters, I send the file where the stone of my choice is quarried from the earth, like India or Vermont, so that the stone doesn't have to be carted all over the planet. That stuff is heavy!

For my lights and fixtures, I send my house file to Germany to get the finest precision products and workmanship.

And finally, I zip my house to France for lovely colors and fabrics and that je ne sais quoi that will make my house the envy of my friends.

When my house returns from its international travels, I do a Select All for my current house, and a Replace for the remodeled one. And voila! No pain, all gain.

Waking up from my fantasy, I find the real world is still here. In the real world, I live in my home during the dust and noise of the remodel, and all the talented people who will work on it have to live fairly close. The demolition and construction are not done by people living in an impoverished nation, but by people who live in my country, and need to make a living wage. The new materials must travel from their various spots on earth, rising in price with each middleman, and arrive at my home at the right moment. And the craftspeople must also arrive at just the right moment to coordinate with each other as they juggle other real remodels that cry for their attention. Not so easy as outsourcing, is it?

Where else on the planet would you send a house for outsourcing?

Comments

[home remodeling PA]

in reality all these can actually come true...