The holiday season is upon us and it seems like everywhere we turn messages about spreading joy are staring us in the face… so we’re trying to be mindful of that when every week we face a new surprise in preparation for our relocation.
On the good news front, our building permit was finally approved – WOOT! Just in time as we were starting to run out of cosmetic projects that don’t require or weren’t dependent upon the real construction work. However the process to get the permit hasn’t been a joyride. Despite passing the sewer inspection when we had the line scoped and cleaned prior to purchase, the city performed their own inspection and declared we needed a new sewer line. There’s not much you can do to argue with them, it’s like taking your car to the mechanic and they tell you that you need new brake pads, even if you feel like the car comes to a stop just fine. Little did we know that the sewer line replacement would require traffic re-routing and the elimination of streetside parking for a few days. Scott has already made the rounds delivering apology gifts to our new neighbors for the unexpected inconvenience. If there is a silver lining, while the pipes were all dug up, the contractor noted we could also replace the water line as it was an old pipe too and would be much more affordable to do now than if we had to do it later. In the spirit of the giving season, we thought that seemed like a smart investment seeming as our business is reliant on a solid source of water.
Lesson learned from the sewer issue: You can’t ask too many questions or over micro-manage your project. The city recommended the company who did the sewer work and that company pulled the permit from the city. Our bid with the company did not include the specific specs, just merely to replace the line and replace all soil, asphalt, etc upon completion. The permit very clearly states that all work must meet the standards of city code. Our email and verbal conversations with the installation company asked specifically: “Is there any reason why this work wouldn’t bring us into compliance for our line to pass the inspection?” To which they reassured us it absolutely would. Guess what? Upon inspection day, the line failed. Twice. Turns out a 4” pipe was installed at a 1% grade, but code says if you are using a 4” pipe it has to be installed at a 2% grade OR else you need to use a 6” pipe. Somehow the company thinks it’s reasonable that we pay for the extra work to adjust the grade of the pipe. So much for assuming that people know what they’re doing. The Joy of Surprises.
Back to being able to begin the real construction work. Project number one is shoring up the northeast corner of the building as it sags a bit. We were hopeful that could be done from the exterior, but just like any episode you’ve seen from a home remodel show, once he got in there he realized he’d need to cut a hole in the corner of the interior floor. And then that hole grew to needing to remove a 3-4’ wide section all along the north and east walls of the front room. So much for keeping the original wood floor. The Joy of Surprises.
The plumbing crew has also been waiting on stand by to come in and do their work – installing water lines to the new second bathroom and various places in the kitchen. They arrived on Thursday and quickly realized that the foundation under the southwest corner of the house is a little treacherous, meaning they won’t do the work until that is addressed. Can’t argue with that either, just add it to the bill. The Joy of Surprises.
On the bright side, the upstairs room is coming together nicely. The walls have been painted and in some places replaced with new drywall. Underlayment has been installed and prepped. We were grateful to have Scott’s folks here this week, because they helped with installing the laminate floor. It’s looking like a room we could actually store and package tea in sometime relatively soon. Now there is something to be joyful about!
