oregano

Day 9

"We want to keep you in the loop."

When the purpose of a meeting is 'to keep you in the loop,' red flags should go up and wave vigorously -- we should have known it wasn't going to be particularly good news.

Yesterday evening a phone call alerted us to a potential problem; today Brian and Richard spelled it out:  More W-A-I-T-I-N-G.  It seems that when the engineer surveyed, he found that at least one of the pins for the layout of the property is in the wrong position and subsequent miscalculations have resulted. The back fence is by all accounts (based on viewing all of the other lots and the way their houses sit on them) the back of the lot.  The actually placed pins are at the corners of and on the same line as the fence.  One would reason that the back fence was the back boundary-- remember, the pins are there. Nope -- back fence does not equal back boundary even though everyone else on the block seems to have calculated offset from there. It seems that even though the fence is between the two pins, the property [and thus the setback] finishes almost 4 feet in front of that fence.  What???  It seems that at some point between 1998, when the subdivision was established, and now there is a discrepancy of the boundaries and setbacks.

[I'm not even coming close to doing justice to the explanation of what happened, so I'll jump to the conclusion...]

It will be necessary for RBe (the builders) to either 1) find a subdivision drawing that shows ammendments to the property line, or 2) get a variance.  Either means WAITING.

Richard (the builder, SR. partner) had to cancel the concrete that was scheduled to be poured on Monday.  There will not be cement on Monday -- instead he'll be tracking down paperwork.  If he cannot locate paperwork that shows that the engineer is off target or uninformed of updates/ammendments, then Monday will be the day that Richard will request a variance on the lot. Doing so would mean filing by the deadline -- oh, yes, that's right, the deadline is Monday. If he doesn't file Monday the next variance request date would be in June.  Even so, if he files on Monday the committee that determines variance meets on either 5/24 or 5/31.  Thus no work can be done until the variance is given and thus concrete will possibly not be poured until June 1 -- That's NINETEEN (19) DAYS from now!  The cement was supposed to come Monday.  Richard held in his hand the bright green tag from the city inspector that says we're good to go and the foundation is A-OK.  We have permission to pour cement, but no, the foundation will not be poured on Monday because the engineer screwed up!

Patience. Patience.  Patience.  It's a virtue -- one I don't have.

I will say though that I am very pleased with how Brian and Richard are handling this and taking care of everything.  They're great!  I sense that this will situation will be resolved sooner rather than later.  But in the meantime -- ALL WORK HAS STOPPED and we're W-A-I-T-I-N-G.

Day 10

Active Waiting

It seems that today a dozen people asked the question, "How's the house coming?"  Well, let me tell you...  Here's hoping for tomorrow to be a productive day for RBe and 201 Oregano.

Day 16

"A Quiet Saturday"

A quiet Saturday here in the Valley.  It's a weekend (and the concrete is still curing...) and therefore no work today.  It was nice to come home this evening.  As we drove into the vicinity of the city I had that sense of calm -- being where I should be -- of being home -- and I began to imagine what it will be like to drive into the Parsley Estates.  As Dorothy said, "There's no place like home."

Day 24

"Choices"

Our brick:  Red Hill by Claymex

This is the RBe house that I walked through and immediately called KAG and said, 'what about building?'  Our house is a variation on this one -- and this is the brick (and probably stone) that we'll be using though our trim will likely be a shade of green (as opposed to yellow).

Also decided:
   windows -- prairie style
   trim color -- green
   roof -- a grey, green shingle
   door -- wood with reflective glass on side panels
   

Day 32, entry 2

"Day 30 & 31 and Day 32...tidbits"

We had our first "official" (per Brian, the builder) RAIN DELAY last Friday, though the guys did get a little work in on Saturday.  The rest of the weekend was essentially for drying out the inside.  Oh, but the guys were back at it today under beautiful sunny skies.  The roof is almost done with the prep for shingles. The more detailed interior and exterior framing is looking terrific.

The little silver dots all over the roof of the house are circles of metal through which each nail goes to keep the black paper from ripping which is what would happen if nails alone were used.

We met with Brian at the house today and walked through.  No issues.  He answered the few questions that we had satisfactorily and we signed off on the next steps.  Plus, we finalized our shingle color.

The door frame was removed because the door that Brian ordered didn't look like he wanted it to when it came in so he ordered another one -- it's BIGGER!

We watched the guys measure (twice, naturally), cut, and put the boards up under the front entry peak.   The sense of perspective, or the feeling of a solid and pronounced entry way that really makes a statement, can be felt while standing on the front porch; it's impressive.

Day 30: Some of our friends from church went over to the house and wrote blessings on the wall boards.  Though they'll be covered by dry wall and paint we'll still know they are there. 

Day 32: This is why we hired RBe:  Though this photo doesn't show all of the boards in various thicknesses and positions, the garage door frame has been reinforced to prevent it from sagging.  Brian pointed out to us a house whose garage frame was sagging at least an inch... from street level it's actually obvious.  Ours won't do that because the framers have taken the time and energy to do this extra reinforcing. 

Coming Up:  Windows are in and will be installed this week;  Roof paper and all prep iwill be finished;  plumber Wednesday; electric starting later this week; and we're going to schedule a trip out to look at the big slabs o' granite

Day 36 (also 37 & 38)

"What A Difference a Few Days Make"

There are more details (& photos) to report from the house --
This entry way and the background around it looks a little different than it did just 10 days ago.

OR 22 days ago (Day 14)

Day 36 (and 37 & 38), entry 2

"Plumbing and HVAC"

How exciting to walk into the house and see the rough plumbing.  The kitchen is most impressive to see and I'm beginning to get a sense of what it will be like to stand at the counter and be able to see what's going on throughout the house.

Dad... what's this pipe doing and where's it going???  Is it venting hot air/steam?

laundry room plumbing and the HVAC (black tube on the left)

As I was standing outside the (not yet enclosed) HVAC closet I wondered what it looked like up the vent that ultimately will be the way the air goes out of the unit and up into the house.  Because the shelf platform is already roughed in I couldn't lean far enough forward to see -- thus, extend camera, point, and shoot... so that's what it looks like up there!   

The duct work is done with a lightweight product called Micro-Aire made by Johns Manville.  From what I've read it's quiet (gosh, will I miss the sound of metal flexing with temperature and air pressure?  No.) and clean -- it resists microbio-'icky' organisms like fungus and bacteria.  I'm reading this as another way to reduce mold in this subtropical climate.

This HVAC stuff crawls all around the attic of the house.

Friday, I spoke briefly with the cabinet maker.  I figured, hey custom cabinets --- I have some custom ideas I'd like to have added.  They're easy really and not that unusual.  A 6" or 8" cupboard near the stove for sheet pans (stored on end) and a tall cupboard near the stove that will hold my big stock pots on a shelf that pulls out; easy to get out, easy to put away.  He said, 'no problema.'