Getting somewhere--Part 2

Okay, it's been a while. But it became difficult to continue the blog when the building permit for the house was held up by a problem with the original subdivision. Without getting into too much detail, we could have had the permit by late July (already getting a little late for us with school starting back in a month). So the project languished while the permit was on hold while this problem was sorted out by the township, the septic enforcement officer, and the owner of the neighboring property.

It's complicated.

The take home message is that the best laid plans can fall prey to the unforeseen (and take our word for it: no one--not the township, not the neighboring property owner--saw this coming). It wasn't even a problem with our property, percs, or septic design!

Ahh! But, we are back in business. 2 weeks ago I learned how to use a Bobcat-type digger to begin the foundation. I could feel the 10-year-old in me! Tonka trucks...only for real.

So we're down about 22-35 inches--29 is target, and so now we're shaving here, filling in there to achieve a 29" depth overall. The trenches for the poured footer & pads can then down down to frost depth at 36". This was fun, but we would again have people who attempt this consider avoiding a full basement. Just getting this far has really caused us to appreciate keeping it simple.

One silver lining: we have found that the "get ready" used up more of our cash than we expected...well, admittedly we'd spent so much effort estimating the BIG costs--the SIPs, the window estimates, framing costs--that we kinda neglected the pre-building costs, like the permit itself (nearly $2000, yikes!) equipment rental, foundation materials, driveway stone, etc. So now we're feeling like having a winter to replete our cash will actually help a great deal.

Take home message #2: the little stuff adds up fast. Take your time.

Next: a driveway!