New House Build

Autumn "Finished" 

Mom on Deck with dog 

septic pump "Shitty Pump" 

septic tank 

joints 102 

joints 101 

well drilling truck 

gyproc delivery 

garage before cement 

Under floor basement plumbing 

Fireplace Installed 

Laundry Room Tiles 

New House 

Plumbing 101 

Panoramic View 

Work Begins 

A Little More Rock 

This is easy 

Too Close 

First Snow 

Snow Blower Carburator. Oh my God ! 

Kitchen Lighting !!! 

Cabinets have arrived ! 

Bed Rock

This is what you order if your want to be confined to Bed for 3 days after spreading it....

Well, after the constant reminders (Nagging) how difficult is was to walk on our driveway, and that it would be impossible to remove the snow in winter because of the 3 " rocks on our driveway, I investigated what was required to convert our less than ideal driveway into a workable, smooth plowable vehicle access route...

Tons of Rock

First of all you need to know that you buy rock by the ton. Hence the expression I need a Ton of Rock....Next I needed to find out how much rock a Ton is... I.E. how much rock could (0-3/4 )rock cover if I ordered a TON of rock...SO I found this handy site ...Construction Aggregate Calculator where you just enter your data and out pops how many tons you need......

So after careful estimating (I guess I need a couple of inches here, and a few more there..) and out poped 15 tons. Now when you figure that each cubic foot weighs in at 136 lbs and a shovel holds about 6x6x6 inches or 1/8th of a square foot (17 lbs) ..... and I bought 15 tons.....it works out to 1764.70 shovel fulls.....That doesn't include shovelling out of the wheel barrow, or spreading etc...It hurts just thinkling about it.....

Dull the pain & Pre-Scheduled Dr Appointment

I started the day out by taking 3 extra strength back pills and was determined to work until I dropped. I knew if I were to stop and lie down for even a minute the back would seize completely and the skyrocketing pain in my lower legs would render me useless for the next few days/ if not weeks. It worked....... 15 tons later.... the driveway is almost smooth.....Coincidentally, I had already scheduled a Dr Appointment for the following week which should just about be able to get out of bed to drive there.....No Pain, No Gain....

Glutton for Punishment

Yup, now that I have finished the rock work the only thing left to do is to cut down and move the trees that were felled during construction. Strategically located around the property, at the farthest points from where the wood will be eventually stored.

Nope that's not quite it.... I also have to buy a few (YARDS) of earth to cover the new septic system we purchased. Somehow the torrent of rain we received managed to wash away the earth covering our septic pipes. To prevent freezing we need to re-cover these pipes in the next few weeks...Are you feeling a little twinge in your back yet ?

Sunset 

Mom and Karie on the new deck 

Rocks 

Rock Picking 

Epoxy Garage Floor 

Cedar Railing and Ballusters 

Brick 

Back House 

Side House 

Family Room 

Moon 2MPixel 90X 80GTL Celestron (1st Photo) 

Out of Court Settlement
Well I guess by now you have forgotton about our little house build project....I haven't forgotten to update the site but did go offline while our kitchen woes were being handled by our mutual lawyers. Due to the nature of settlements I am not at liberty to disclose any details but enough to say that we are embarking on re-purchasing our dream kitchen from an alternate supplier.

Picketing 101

I must say that it was very interesting to Picket an establishment, and to see the reaction of the president when he saw me infront of their business with a sign over my shoulder.


Picketing


Pictures Galore

Just wanted you to know we have virtually completed the house at this point in time and we have received an occupancy certificate from the city. Check out some of the latest shots in the blog.

Cluster Flies

When we moved into our new home it was already occupied by "Yup" you guessed it ... Cluster Flies. These slow moving flies appear as if they are suffering from Mad Cow disease as they tend to roll around on the floor for an hour or 2 and die.... Well I went to a local hardware store that specializes in equipment for farmers and purchased an automatic dispenser (every 7 minutes) for killing flies... Well dropping like flies is an understatement... I now vacuum the garage (Unfinished) twice a day of the approximate 100 dead flies.....

Wishful thinking

We hoped these little visitors were remnants from the house building phase before it was complete but just to make sure we had our contractor sniff around the house for possible points of entry... Well you can just imagine this guy (Freaking out) & running away when he pulled off some of the insulation in the basement and was inundated with about 500 live flies....He discovered 3 differnet points of entry all linked to ducts leading to the exterior of the house (Air exchanges and Fireplace). He resealed all 3 entry points and we are now waiting to see......
Hmm... Looks like he mised one of the ducts.....on the second floor....

Shitty Pipe

Well I have now spent a total of 3 full days buring our septic pipe that has a tendancy to float in the water. The first attempt was futile as the rocks I piled on top were no match for buoyancy of the pipe . Second attempt was blostered by "Cement Deck"Post holders, quant 2....

Unfortunately the tie waps couldn't handle the load and the pipe was still boyant in the middle. Appeared as if we had or own Ottawa River Ness for a while...

Not fooling around anymore I purchased no less than 6 concrete blocks and aluminum wire to hold this mother &^^#@# down.... A full day of burying the pipe in the water and success... I thought.....

2 weeks later the water level has now receded so that I can inspect the under water job done before.... I.E. The bloody pipe is sitting on top of the ground ! (Not buried deep enough!) . Now it looks like it is also too short.....%&^^&$%*&^$ Note: Threw my back out 4 days ago so really really not looking forward to shovelling mud....

Autumn Colors

Autumn Windows Background Check out this link.....

Its what I am currently using as my windows background screen. A quick picture looking out over the water from our 2nd floor (MBR)....

Feel free to explore the advertising links should they interest you....


Location location location......

Its been over 1 year now since we have had our place up for sale, and a good time to mention Location Location Location. Yup, for some reason, in Ottawa, corner lots are not considered prime property but are the opposite. Even though we have a double lot, it appears that the local s shy away from corner lot properties....

When our realtor found out that we were building our new house beside a "Bar/marina" she almost had a fit.... Are you kidding she said in disbelief..... Well low and behold our neighbour (The bar Owner) has been having difficulties with the bar/marina and has now decided to shut the place down an build his own house. Yup, we'll have a new neighbour.....and Location, Location, Location.....

Dumpster, going, going, gone...

We have also been playing neighbour to a local city sponsored dumpster strategically positioned 50 ft from our front door. Our dog Karie would graciously announce every local visitor coming to vist this dumpster, and managed to scare off a few with her loud bark as well.... We complained to the city that it was not be best location for the dumpster and after their attempts to sway the locals into cleaning up the mess they chose to remove the dumpster this week......

Rock Garden

I think we are going to specialize in Rock gradens as our entire lawn constitutes a rock garden at this time. Our contractor laughed (Belly laugh) when I asked him the best way to remove the rocks......He showed me his 2 hands and denoted ths was the only way as our property is 80% rock and 20% earth...Mom has spent the better part of 3-5 weeks rock picking... and now all thats left is to order and spread about 4 truckloads of earth and seed....to cover the remaining rocks...

A few more pictures to post and I'll be calling it a day with the New House build Blog.......

I just want to thank all of you who have sent me your thoughts and "laughs" after reading this blog, as it has helped me get through a few tough times in the past year....

SO one last word of advice if you are thinking of building your own dream home....

Don't do it !!! Unless you are a glutton for punishment !

When asked if I am pleased with the results, yes overjoyed. Would I ever do it again....

NEVER !....... Well Maybe.......

Kitchen Design work.

Well we have been telling you about our woes with the kitchen design place and bad just went to worse. After delivering the cabinets we and the installers identified the following 19 discrepancies.
Items needing addressing

(Preliminary review of Cabinets delivered 15th July 2004)

Kitchen

1) Cabinet Glaze should be brown (Missing)
2) Kitchen upper corner cabinet too high
3) Kitchen lower corner cabinet wrong layout
4) Pantry too wide (Both set of doors need to be equal in size)
5) Pantry doors above Fridge do not align with pantry doors beside
6) Upper cabinets left and right of window incorrect size (Interfere with moldings)
7) Lower cabinets under windows incorrect size.
8) Upper cabinets above stove wrong size.
9) Lower cabinets by stove wrong size.
10) Tray holder section missing on island.
11) Pot Drawers Missing On island
12) Cabinet depth inappropriate for microwave (SB 15+ Inches)
13) Towel Rack Missing
14) Door Knobs missing

1st floor bath

15) Cabinet too large and hits toilet.

2nd Floor Master

16) 1 Cabinet too large
17) Both Cabinets missing drawers

2nd floor Main Bath

18) Design called for 1 sink on right.
19) Drawers missing.

After 2 days delay the designer finally came to the house to see the magnitude of the design flaws, after which he said hell look into fixing them.

It is now 15 days after there failed installation and we received a call from the President denoting that the price we paid on the contract is the wrong price and he wants $4,500 more or he won't finish the job.

Well to say I blew a gasket is an understatement. He them accused me of harassing them, threating them, as well as knowing that they had messed up with their pricing.

So today I spent the day calling the likes of CTVs greyhawk and The Ottawa Citizens Tony Cote, Customer Advocats. As well as the BBB in Ottawa.

Pictures Galore

.

Aggie Checking out the sand

.

Moms favorite hole in the ground

.

Landscaping Required ?

.

Rafters

.

Roof Taking Shape

.

House Taking Shape

.

I can see it now

.

Looking Good

.

Old House on New Foundation

.

New House

.

Shingles

.

Shopping for Entranceway Floor Tiles

.

Shopping for Laundry Room Tiles

.

Shopping for Bath and Shower Tiles

.

Fireplace Installed

.

Insulation

.

Garage Floor Drain

.

Underfloor Basement Plumbing

.

Basement Before Cement

.

Garage Before Cement

.

Basement Cementing

.

Garage After Cement

.

Gyproc Delivery

.

Well Drilling

.

All Downhill from here

.

Well Drilling 2

.

Well Drilling Truck

.

Well Drilling Pipes

.

Garage Doors

.

Front Door

.

Diningroom view

.

Joints 101

.

Joints 102

.

HVAC (Heating, Ventilation,Air Conditioning)

.

Peatmoss Tank SB650

.

Septic Tank

.

Septic Drain pipe

.

Well Overflow Drain Pipe

.

French Drain Overflow

.

Septic Pump

.

Septic Tank Positioning

New Realtor Brought On-line
Yup, thats right, Realtor Ken Flack has now been hired to sell the house. Our Broker (Remember top 10% in Canada) just wanted us to continually lower our price on what seemed to be a weekly basis....Sorry fella....he went just a little too far...So I now have a new FSBO (For Sale by Owner) sign on our property (Actually the old one from Caldwell Banker our first realtor who never picked it up)and have attached flyers for the locals to pick up (Actually modified flyers from our second realtor Royal Lepage). Within the first 2 days we have had 10 flyers plucked from our plastic holder in front of the house and 1 follow-up phone call... We have also created our own Web site for the property www.3wintergreen.ca that features the voice of announcer (Who Else) Ken Flack providing a overview of the home...

Painter and Ceramics Guys in Cahoots...

As my painter lives across the street from us in Pte-Fortune and we have no hot water yet in the house the Ceramics guy asked the Painter if they could borrow a bucket of hot water to mix the epoxy grout for our shower. A few minutes later I see both of them emerging from the house with bucket in hand and the painter doing up his belt. (Hmm..) I commented to the ceramics guy, "Looks like the 2 of you have become very close", and he replyed "Well we had to pay him for the water somehow".

Aggies worry of the week...

Well, as mom has run ot of worries lately, I was kind enough to tell her about the concern of the carpenter.As he is installing the hardwood floors in the house,he denoted that Oak is a very stong wood, but you must be very careful not to let any sand get on the surface of the hardwood lest the surface be damaged. (Remember our "Old Landscaper who we fired" for deliverying us sand instead of what we needed) Yup thats right, our house is now surrounded by 220 tons of sand. To make maters worse our entire lawn has become a mud swamp with the excess water from the artesian well and other plentiful water supplies. The sequence of events to get to the front door is now you walk through ankle high mud, then into the Sand which sticks to the mud, and then enter the house and walk on the hardwood floors...Mom hasn't slept for the last 2 days.....Poor Aggie....


Shit a Brick(Layer)

We now have an estimate from the bricklayer to lay the bricks (2 weeks) and he has me losing sleep at night... After his 2nd day at work he was the last to leave and close the house.. He left the Garage door unlocked (With over $10,000 worth of hardwood and siding on the floor, he had dumped his Brick Cutting Water tank on the floor to empty into our new ($10,000) septic system, and he neglected to turn off the water at the tap, allowing the hose to leak all night long on the garage floor.

Note: His truck is missing the rear window and has masking tape and plastic as a makeshift window. Looks like it been there for the last year...

I have now relocated the hose to the rear outside of the house where leakage can cause no harm, instructed him to cut all bricks outside the house, and to empty all brick cutting machinery outside, before putting in the garage for overnight storage. Still can't sleep since the HVAC guy told me he is worried that the brick layer may drop some grout into the Heat Pump. (Remember Ken "Pick up heat pump cover at home hardware")

Bell Nomobility

I decided to call bell from my cellular while driving to the house from Ottawa to make an appointment for them re-connect their lines, and install express-vu (Free install). Well after the first 30 minutes I managed to get them to confirm a date for the Bell phone line activites before being cut off the Cell Phone. I called back to complete the activities only to find out that Bell couldn't transfer me to the same agent whom I had discussed all of these activities. Fortunately he did find my file and was able to pick up where the first agent had left off. He denoted that I would have to call express vu directly as I also wanted to have Direct PC installed (High Speed Satellite). When he tried to modify my file he recieved a file lock error as the original agent was still in my file.He then put me on hold as he sent an Email to the original agent to ask her to release the file. (Did you hear that, am Email ! ) To make matters worse it appears that Bell has a sepcial on if you activate your express-vu from the internet versus the phone.(They are now pushing away from using the phone for their business actities)
Go figure....

Shit flows uphill

After finishing all research on septic systems and accessories it came to the day of discovery (Installation) where the theory meets real life.... After a quick survey of the site, and the recommended location of the septic tank (3.9 cubic meters) and the ECOFLOW Peat Moss filter (SB650B) submersable bottom it appeared that all was well. We could locate these items exactly where they appeared on the drawings and all would function properly...... BUT with this location all future access to the property for Landscaping purposes would be permanently obstructed by these 2 large tanks. Shit, Shit Shit... I was instructed that I could move the ECOflow up on our property, to allow for vehicle access but this would put the ecoflow tank approximately 1 foot above the septic tank outlet requiring the Shit to flow uphill. As we all know "shit flows downhill" a "Shitty pump" is required to perform the lift....PLUS another $2,000.00 big ones.... A moment of self contemplation (Why Me ?) and I approved the expenditure for the shitty pump. Upon further discussion it was determined that the electrical requirments for this pump need to be performed by a qualified electrician.

I called my friendly neighbourhood electrician Denis "Jiggy Doo" Fournier and he happily agreed to find me another electrician who would perform this electrical connection for as little at $200.00. Hmm. I pondered why would this normally very agreeable person insist on finding another electrician for this task..... Well it turns out that the connection can be made either inside/ or outside the Shitty Pump Tank and putting yourself in the electricians shoes , when it comes time to service this electrical service, they don't really want to get into it if you know what I mean. Soo... I have now been waiting over a week to get someone who is not afriad to touch this tank..... I have an open gaurantee to any local electrician that I will not/can not call them in the event of a failure to pump crap. (I.E. I'll call the septic Tank company)

One Brick at a Time

I made the big plunge and ordered the brick for the house. One of the conditions I put on the Brick Seller (BAKX) was that they had to supply me with a brick layer and that the job needed to be started within the week......I neglected to say when it needed to be finished.... A big strong burly Bricklayer promptly showed up at the house with his son (Apprentice in hand) and began the task of setting up shop. (After seeing this process on TV I was expecting a 2 or 3 day effort, watching these guys fling mud to and frow, with the bricks flying into place...Well not so fast... I now have some of the most perfectly laid bricks known to man. Literally every brick is measured for level and height in all 3 axis and this Bury fellow has the touch of a feather while tapping each brick strategically into place. After the first 4 hours on site I counted 6 bricks had been layed... Alot of set up time I assumed.......When my HVAC contractor inquired of my Carpenter/Ex General Contractor when the bricklayer would be finished so he could install the heat pump, he laughed and replied do you mean what year !.......I think there is actually a conspiracy going on here as I pay by the brick (Sq Ft) for the job and by taking so long it allows for my neighbours to steal bricks from the pile to do their lawn landscaping.....one brick at a time...

Hardwood (Amber Alert) Nowhere to be found

Guts or stupidity, I don't know... When my contractor let me know I had 7 days to supply him with the hardwood I jumped to the task and went directly to my lowest bidder (Lucy) Home Hardware in Hawkesbury... Of course she wasn't working there that day so I convinced her boss Gilles that she had quoted me $4.75 a Sq Ft for #1 Natural Grouleaux Red Oak and that I needed it in 1 week. He promptly notified me that the 2 suppliers they had Grouleaux and Husky were both on strike and would it be accecptable for him to supply me with another supplier. Sure I said, Lets see the samples.......Hmm.... New Supplier means the samples have not yet arrived so if I wanted the wood in 1 week I would have to purchase $5,000 of Hardwood sight unseen..... The order was placed and I was assured delivery for the following Friday (7 days).....On the Friday I called Home Depot to find all of the Lumber Personnel (Lucy and Gilles) were hiding from me. Apparently all their calls to the supplier were being un-answered...... A voice mail left denoted the wood had been shipped by a trucking company, but after inquiring with the shipping company they had never heard of our order......After a day of delays I was assured of delivery for Monday......Monday......Same story... calls unanswered, promises of delivery.....Re-tasking my contractors (At a $1,000/day) for the 2 carpenters they have now finished putting up about half of the siding for the house...Still no wood......

Move to action I drive to Hawkesbury to confront the agents (Lucy) as the truck delivers the wood to their lot (Tuesday Morning). I run out to the lot to inspect the wood, kiss the crate and hug the shipper(Big burly man like the brick layer, who looks at me very strangely). They load the wood onto their local delivery truck and I provide their driver with turn by turn instructions on how to get to the house...... Wood delivered....... Tuesday a.m.....

P.S. Thursday morning Home Hardware shows up at my new house looking for a sample kit of the hardwood.... Tough luck, it looks like it never made it.....Loooks like some other lucky fellow will have some decisions to make sight unseen.....

P.P.S. The wood delivered was actually white oak (My Preference) versus red.

Landscaping 101

Well with all this activity going on on our property and water leaking out of our lawn virtually everywhere, I decided to get some quotes for landscaping/drain installations. After a brief review of the site with the landscaper he promptly sent me a quote for over $7,000 for a few loads of Top Soil, Rock 3/4, Crushed Rock, Fill, and Drain hose, not to mention a bulldozer and Backhoe....No Problem I pondered. I would just convert our lawn into "Lac Flack" (Thanks Eileen) instead of spending all this money (That I Don't Have)......A little discussion with the septic company and for $90.00 an hour I could have them do (Backhoe)whatever I wanted plus the cost of any materials.....$1,500 later and all of my jobs are almost complete (Less topsoil ) that needs to wait until next year to let the land settle......

I'm Back !

Yup after a delay of 1 month 18 days of no blog entries I am back !

Sand, Sand and More Sand.....

Well in order to get the electricity and well installed at the house it was necessary to get all of the backfill surrounding the area in place. It was expressly demanded that under no conditions could it be rock or sand as the well guy uses a air based drilling rig. Earth or Clay were preferred.... Similarily since we were getting fill, I had asked that we get crushed rock delivery to the back of the house were I will be making a patio in the future......My carpenter/ex-contractor said he would take care of it....Low and behold I arrive at the house to find all of these locations filled with Sand....Apparenty he had called in the same guy who had originally overcharged for the foundation... He has a sand pit on his property and rather than listen to the customer and deliver what they order he apparently takes liberty and delivers whatever he wants.....I told my former contractor that he was now responsible for this error (AGAIN) and I would obviously not accept any charges for the sand.....I have now found a local firm in Hawkesbury to take over all land fill and landscaping responsibilities. (Meeting tomorrow...). I have also now found out that sand will tend to leach into "French Drains" clogging them up.... Looks like a registered letter is to follow to my ex contractor again.......


1st Sealed Well in Pte-Fortune

Well that new Inspector in Pte-Fortune did take to heart her desire to see me with the best well in Pte-Fortune and as a result I am now the proud owner of Pte-Fortune's 1st sealed well.It only cost an additional $1,500 big ones. Upon studying the local surroundings our local inspector identified that our neighbours septic tank was leaking (Approx 100 ft away) and our other neighbour who was also approx 100 ft away had a system installed over 25 years ago that doesn't meet with local standards. The recommendation was to go with a sealed well and protect the integrity of the local water table . (Top 15 ft of the well near the surface are sealed for a 20" perimeter of for the first 5 meters by a Cement/Bentonite mixture.....

There She Blows !

Oh I forgot to mention that our new well is an artesian well. Yup that means we have a virtual geyser on our property now with water pouring down the hill into the river. (I actually thought of creating a riverbed across our property). Apparently due to the high pressure, they don't recommend trying to seal the top of the well as it may explode (Great eh ?). They are going to attempt to put a "Special" Drain hole in the side of the well 4ft beneath the ground (Work begins tomorrow)

4 day old Leaky Roof

Hmm. I was not too impressed after the first rain storm with my new roof installed. Leaks in 3 different places around the house.... Fortunately it appeared they had not completed sealing the "Sides" with a stepped flashing yet, and these were the locations affected by the rain....She is now signed, sealed and delivered...No Leaks this week...so far...

Outside Plumbing

Well I never did quite take a good look at the drawings for the house (I mean between the first and second floors) but after seeing the house built it was a little strange to see the second floor overhanging the first floor by about 2 ft. (I never saw a house like that before). At first I though the contractor screwed up but upon closer examination of the drawings it was evident that this is the way the designer had designed the house... SO I thought I would just enjoy this "New" architecture design feature until.... Along came our new plumber cutting holes in the floor for his piping from the master bathroom and low and behold the next thing he knew he was staring at the ground outside the house 2 stories below... Hmm.. he chuckled. First time I ever had to install my plumbing outside a house.......I called an emergency meeting to adress this obvious disconcerting discovery. (Panic Attack !). No problem by contractor says. He just installed more insulation in the floor and with a supplimentary heating duct installed by thr HVAC guy the piping could be routed through the floor and remain "INSIDE" the house....

Règlement sur l'évacuation et le traitement des eaux usées des résidences isolées

I.E. Septic Tank regulations.

Well of course this was the one regulation that I hadn't taken the time to read being only in French and about 100 pages long....Oh SHit......Well here I go sticking my face in it again. I called in the sub-contractor who had overcharged on the land fill to see if he would give me a deal on installing a septic system. He came over reviewed the site and denoted that the permit I had been given by the old city inspector was no good and that he couldn't install the system originally proposed ($3,500) and he would need to install a system (ECOFLOW) for about $10,000 that had a limited lifespan of 8 year before it needed servicing.....I told him that I already had a permit and that he should see if he could install the original system proposed. I supplied him with the city inspectors name and # and was expecting him to investigate this apparent discrepancy. (Note: 1 other supplier had already quoted an install). The next thing I know I get a call from the city inspector accusing me of asking this guy to install a system (Not to the City Code). She tells me that she will not accept/permit me to do any installations until I get a special ground testing and analysis done by an independant testing company. (SHit Shit Shit, anthoer $650.00) SO....here we go again...I research all possible systems myself, get the city to provide me with the surrounding locations of all wells and septic systems, and then I call this company to perform all tests. They identify that my property is covered by earth (Well no kidding) and that there is insufficient space provided for the system as originally proposed by the city due to a local well across the street. So here is go again getting quotes for a different system.....but 4 weeks after the initial delays. I finally approved a new supplier to install an ECOFLOW system for $7,500..... more than initially planned but less than the other contractor....Work Starts On Tuesday with a final inspection by the city contractor on Wednesday....


Alarm!

On the first day of installing the electrical rough the electrician tells me that I should get another company to install the TV telephone cabling, and alarm wiring rather than him. (Who Already accepted this in his contract) Well he said, he is more expensive, doesn't put on covers etc......So I got on the phone and called up his recommended company to discover they can provide me an estimate,and install all necessary cable in 2 days while the walls are still open. A quick cost comparision, contract awarded, cabing done... He was right.... He just didn't want to lose the initial contact award so he said he would do it..... Actually a really nice guy...


Frigging Electrical Codes

Ok, just my luck new electrical codes were introduced May 28th this year, and you are not allowed to put light switches outside a bathroom for a bathroom or within reach of a shower. (Reasons being that one could be injured in a bathroom without lights or electrocuted in the shower turning them on or off..Well it just so happens that our newly created 1st floor bathroom has a shower and a Pocket door. So the switch can not go on one side of the door as it is a pocket door, and can not go on the other side as it has a shower. It can not go outside the bathroom as this also breaks the code..... SO we are now the proud owners of a bathroom without a light switchJust kidding. We have strategically located it 5 ft from the door on a far wall within code, so that you have to search all walls within a 5 ft radius of the door to find this switch in the dark...when you really have to go....but just don't know where to go.....I don't know whats worse getting electrocuted,slipping and hurting yourself on a wet bathroom floor, or shitting your pants trying to find the light for the toilet....Time will tell....(I think I am going to install one of those motion detector light switches to prevent alot of soiled underwear....)

Broken Link

Well we have all heard stories about broken links in a chain and how it stops a production line... Well how about this one....Because the inspector didn't approve the original well install, and we needed to get a sealed one, there was a delay. When the well was drilled it was discovered to be an artesian well which prevented them from installing a pump. As a result the plumber can not test the pipes he has installed to see if they leak. As a result the gyproc can not be sealed around the plumbing. As a result the Joint (MUD) guys can not complete the joints, the finishers can not complete all the finishing anf the painter can not complete the painting....

So.... I fished out of our shed (Under and behind our old house which is packed inside it, 2 hour job) a 200ft hose and ran it to our neighbours water main. (Did I teel you that I threw out my back this week and caught a cold the same day ?) The pipes have now been tested... and don't leak.....anymore....Apparently they tried pumping air into the pipes originally to see if they leak, but since the leak was so small they couldn't find it...Fortunately water forms droplets that are easy to find...

Hard to find good hardwood

Well it appears that all of our neighbours are HW installers or own floor installation companies but none of them can get a good deal on Hardwood.... Maybe they just heard what a son of a bitch I can be if I am given inferior product and are scared shitless (Good since we have no septic system yet) to offer me a quote... I have now been forced by my Carpenter guy to find the Hardwood myself as his supplier had the worst prices going.....

Your Fired !

Well did I ever tell you about this company RMS where I have been visiting them getting quotes for over 2 months. I now have seen every sales rep in the place and have about 10 quotes for the same items, all in an effort to get lower pricing...

Last week I met the best representative for pricing (Chantal) and she was nice enough to provide me extensive discounts across the board for all the products I was looking for. She even said she would phone the supplier (Due to large the quantities) and try to negotiate better pricing. 4 days past and no call.... So I phoned to find out that she was no longer working for the company......(I had gotten over $1,000 in discounts so was very disturbed). After a few more calls, they agreed to honour her quotes, while letting me know ths was the reason she had been fired. She had been lowballing the other reps and causing the company undue concern. SORRY !!!! I really liked her....

Paint Facts

1) 100% Acrylic is best !
2) Latex Paint doesn't come in Gloss
3) Primer designed for New Gyproc is best..
4) Only Italian Painters use Oil based paint
5) Everyone uses Flat White Latex on Ceilings
6) Stucco doesn't exist in Quebec.....

All these facts and more thanks to my new neighbour the painter (Andre)

Well Explodes !

Ok, now that we have a competent GC (General Contractor) on-line things are starting to move....Sort of.....When I got around to hiring the Well guy (Forage St Denis) he promptly notified me that he was unable to drill in the location as identified on the surveyors drawings... (Keep in mind I spent about $1,000 big ones getting the city and Surveyor to agree to everything....) It seems that his enormous drill rig would sink in our property and he would have to cut down half our trees as well as relocate our neighbor's shed to facilitate drilling. No Problem I said , I'll just give the new city inspector a call to see if we can move the well about 12ft, and get permission from our neighbour to drill from his property.etc.............Recent feedback from locals had identified this new inspector as a BNBTB Inspector "Bad News By The Book" inspector who was uncaring as to cost or reason. I prepared for the worst..... I was met by a pleasant (and attractive, did I say very attractive ?) lady who was open to my input and was extremely cooperative . She simply asked for a brief identification as to the new proposed location and she would investigate the specifics to see if all was possible.... A call later that day let me know to ensure 100ft separated the well and septic system, and to call her before we started to drill.... Sounds good eh ?..
I preped up the drawings identifying the specifics and after sending in an email, I received a call from the inspector....
Hi Mr Flack, she begins, I just wanted to tell you that I just completed a course on well drilling (On Monday) and that I(Mr Flack) will be the first to benefit from her recently gained knowledge, and that I will have a "Perfectly" positioned well by the time we are finished......(Did you ever try to put on a smile, and say "That's Great" while at the same time you were gritting your teeth and jumping up and down saying "Oh No, No No Why me ?" ) .... I was hopeful that we had already finished.... My well guy was/is to begin drilling this week !

I sent her my latest drawings, and........No response.........(More to follow)

Hired ! Hired ! Hired !

After extensive reviews of contractors for Heating (6) , Plumbing (7) , Electrical (4) I decided yesterday to award the contracts......
The electrician was on site the same day hooking up additional power for the carpenters (Who had gone deaf listening to their generator on site for the past month) , Plumber was preparing to do the rough in for the basement plumbing (He was really impressed by the HUGE amout of Foundation Fill I had ), and the HVAC guy... Well he is around somewhere.......
I have enclosed links to the "Spreadsheet" estimates forms should anyone care....
Electrical

Gyproc & Joints

Plumbing

Septic

Note: I have left out the drawings that were also enclosed.

All Roof trusses delayed. 2 ft too short !!!

Well we found out why our trusses were delayed by almost 4 days. Apparently the client before me had placed an order for trusses but neglected to inform the firm that they had enlarged the house by 2 feet. So, all trusses were 2 ft too short. They promptly remanufactured them for the client but delayed our order in the process..... Delivered yesterday !

Urgent Meeting Called by Contractor. Translator to be present !

Ok, my old contractor called me into town to have a meeting to discuss a few items at his house. He said he was also calling in a translator to ensure all items are clearly understood........"Jaws Music". As we sat down to review his agenda, he blurts out WE need $3,000 or we are not going to support you if you have any problems in the future ! Sensing some tension in the air, I sat quietly and listened, as he explained that his recent refund of funds to placate my complaints about the foundation being too expensive, were how should I put this.. Excessive... They wanted $3,000 back to cover future incidental costs, and besides that, they were not making any profit on the house at all. Everything was being provided at contractors costs....


So being the little Hitler that I can be, I continued to complain about excessive costs, and asked for some additional breaks from the foundation guy... (Well, they almost exploded. Talk about red faced...Pissed off...Incoherent) When the arms started flailing in the air I knew I was pushing them a little to hard, and I simply denoted I had no problem providing them with an additional 3K as long as they were able to get me a good price on landscaping and a new septic system....I think I had to repeat the statement about 3 times as smoke was still billowing from both of their ears and they couldn't hear properly. (Could also be caused by the rental generator) Once the smoke had settled, we continued to review new bills and projected expenses... Miraculously, all other expenses are now right on budget, with little or no projected over-expenditures.

Temporary Permanent

Talk about ups and downs... Mothers are always worry warts and so, being the dutiful son that I am, I feel it important to issue an item to Mom to worry about...(It makes her feel better). Now keep in mind each time I do this it causes her a lost nights sleep, and countless memory cells (Which are already in decline)....The latest in a series of items on her list was that our expenses were too tight and so I was going to have to delete a few items from the house (Namely a cement floor in the basement and garage). She lost the nights sleep wondering how the car would stop from sinking in the garage without a floor and she simply just couldn't picture herself walking on a gravel floor in the basement to get to her "Freezer". To make a long story short she went to the hairdresser, to relieve some stress and get a permanent to further beautify herself. After over an hours delay, I went to visit her at the hairdressers, to see her almost in tears as the hairdresser was incredibly apologetic. (I know what you are thinking her hair was burnt to a crisp eh ?) Well, not really, apparently, if ones metabolism is out of whack, due to stress or an over/under active Thyroid the application of a permanent may or may not take.
Needless to say, Mom has her cement floor back in the garage and basement.....(Instead I have now deleted the fireplace, brick and siding from the house. I told her not to worry about these until winter time when it gets cold and wet...She didn't sleep again last night... Poor woman)

Good Excrement disturber

Well I never thought I would be caught dead talking about how much shit could a toilet move if a toilet could move shit. Yup believe it or not one of my acquaintances now works for the government testing laboratories (Standards Specialist, Standards Department ,Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada) and he heard I was looking for a good toilet. (I guess I am paranoid about broken toilets now that I have had a flood that cost us $80,000 in damages). So this guy sends me a link to Maximum Performance Testing of Popular Toilet Models

I actually read the god damned article and have even included Figure #3 (Page 8) as one of my minimum performance specifications for a toilet. Must be able to move at least 500 grams in a flush.... !

New General Contractor brought on board !

A new General Contractor has been brought on board. Although he has little experience in GC activites he does have the clients best interests in mind. His name is Ken Flack.... Yup, its final, my contractor has been demoted to the level of prime carpenter, and all remaining GC activities will be perfomed by #1....

Along with the demotion the General Contractor forfeited his fees of $7,500 against the extraordinary costs incurred for the foundation. (He recognized he screwed up) and I am getting a very nice foundation at an excellent rate... (It appears my contract cancellation fax caused him a lost nights sleep, and I gained one) .Apparently he was concerned about payment of the $50,000 PLC outstanding for the invoices he has....Go figure .....

Get Ready.....for a busy month.....

He was kind enough to let me know that I had 3 weeks before the start of activities required for

a) HVAC
b) Electrician
c) Plumber...

and that the pricing he had managed to get to date was "Crappy".

So I figure I have 1 week to get firm quotes and award the contracts...... No Sweat.

Oh yea... preferable the septic and well need to be completed at the same time..... and the well needs to be moved 20 ft so the truck can drill. The existing location is inaccessable.......

So I need to see the new City Inspector, get authorization, get an updated set of drawings, and updated permit.... Getting the idea.......

Plumbers Paradise

Just a small note. It appears that most plumbers own their own stores and like to only install for persons buying all supplies from them. As we purchased some of our own stuff from CDN tire... we were put on his bad books and no install is possible from him....

Early Retirement

Its no wonder plumbers and electricians retire early. They all seem to charge about 6,000 for 1 days work either running pipe or wires through a house.... I think I am taking up a new line of work.....

Contract Cancelled

Ok, so you guys have been watching me see a few little items here and there go up in price right...? Well, sometimes one can only take so much ^^&%&*%*&^%& so today, with the 2nd floor almost complete, I decided to cancel the contract with the General Contractor... WHAT ? After 9 months of waiting for this guy you just up and fire him ! Well so so.... yesterday I dropped into town to check up on the place and to review some of the latest bills with the contractor. (Now remember he is supposed to get quotes in advance, review them with "ME" and after approval go ahead with the issuing of the sub-contract). So he hands me an invoice for the demolition costs and excavation costs.... I had been waiting to see how much money I saved from the 7K estimate since I managed to get our neighbour to take the old house. I.E. Just try and charge me for taking apart a house that isn't there I thought... Well son of a bitch did just that. Said it was going to cost me 17K (YES THAT'S $17,000) for digging a hole in the ground and filling it with some rock........I friggin freaked out on the spot. My contractor then went on to tell me the cost were for hauling away the old foundation, as well as getting rock and sand for the new foundation (No Concrete though..).SO after about 30 minutes of blasting this guy he finally came out and said look I'll give you $2,000 off of my "Contractor Fees"...... Now an increase in price of 10K for something I thought was going to decrease and then a gesture of good will on his part to give me $2,000 out of the goodness of his heart, rang alarm bells as loud as big Ben ! So I continued to tell this guy that something was wrong here and that he had to go back to the people who were charging him and correct the problem.... Somewhere, someone had screwed up big time...... He said he would do just that..... Feeling uncomfortable with the situation I decided to pull out one of those seldom used clauses in the Canadian Consumer Protection Act . Section 59 is the cancellation clause with a sample cancellation agreement on page 91 of 110. (I can't believe the document the government expects the average consumer to go through to find out this stuff.......) I was nice enough to also supply my contractor with a 2 page "if you do these things" I'll reconsider signing a NEW contract... The really strange thing about this contractor was that until yesterday we were operating without any signed contracts. We had a well documented 9 months of intense review of virtually every conceivable item yet when it came time to finalize the contract he had been slow in providing updates and amendments so I didn't sign until yesterday.
Yup, that's right, I cancelled it today, less than 24 hrs later......So the Fax has been sent and a follow-up registered letter will be in the mail tomorrow.


START OF LOAD RESTRICTION PERIOD FOR HEAVY VEHICLES

Now here we were sitting at home trying to figure out how everything we were doing has somehow doubled in price from our initial estimates....The contractor just kept telling me that the house I had selected had changed and it was bigger...... When talking to Mom and she mentioned how small one of the loads of sand they were dumping was from one of the trucks......"Bingo" Way to go AG ! That's it !. Every spring the Gov't puts in place load restrictions for the spring thaw . Well look at that, the load restrictions were imposed one day before construction started......and my contractor, come to think of it did mention that he was going to delay the filling process as the load restrictions were in effect.... He somehow forgot to mention that they had always been in effect and we were paying for half loads to be delivered......

360 Pictures

Ok you know how I like pushing the envelop so try out this really cool 360 degree view. Download these 1.5 and 2 MB files and you can view a 360 degree panorama of the fist and second floors of our new home.

Before proceeding Right click on the link you would like to see, and select "save target as". Pick a file name of your choosing as select desktop to save it to desktop....

1st Floor

2nd Floor

I have a slow update link so be patient...

If you are using MS windows XP it in many cases has the apple quicktime viewer installed....Otherwise after uploading the files, you'll need something like apples QuickTime viewer to view these .mov files.

Left click on the item after downloading
....
After loading you need to click on the window (Hold the left mouse button down) and drag across the screen to take in the 360 deg panorama.

Enjoy !

Kitchen Update

I had indirectly approved their last quote submitted but needed to approve the last few items (Sink tops, material, design, and sink(s) included, Glaze colors, Knobs, Kitchen Door design).

After a few tense moments (I.E. They tried to denote that integrated sinks were not included in Vanity tops) we agreed to all outstanding items. In the end there was a compromise of approx $3K where I felt they were over charging but this in retrospect to the $7K saved on the auction. Overall it allowed us to get the Granite countertops I wanted..... A lot of negotiations, but it appears the Auction process and subsequent negotiations netted a savings of about 4K......

Heating System

I saw it coming, the quote as expected was higher than estimated by about $1,700.... They had submitted 2 quotes, one for the furnace and one for the "Chimney". The Chimney quote rounded out between 1,600 and 2,000......

After a brief review of furnace models (Oil) I recognized that if you purchase a high efficiency furnace they don not require a vertical chimney as they are so efficient at retaining the heat that an exterior wall vent is all that is needed....I promptly sent the contractor back to the drawing board, and told them to quote a high efficiency furnace.....(No Chimney !)


What no Windows !


Sorry for the delay in updating the site. A lot has been going on this past week. We dropped into town twice to see the progress and pick up some more quotes (All higher of course, than estimates).... We started to see the first signs of a real house developing with the basement walls being completed, 1st Floor, and 1st floor walls going up. When I reviewed the site in detail and entered the basement I took a long gander at the view from the basement and even took a few pictures.

Unfortunately, when I returned home to review the pictures, a small detail was missing from the basement. (NO WATER FACING WINDOWS , beside the sliding door !) I was freaking out, as we had added a sliding door with 2 adjacent windows in our updates. This seemed to me to be more than a little detail to overlook, and this prompted a wild rush of adrenalin, and a thousand images of all of the other small details they may be overlooking....!!!!! So I reviewed every photo I had taken, to explore every nook and cranny of our new house. A few cracks of light here and there but no other major deficiencies. I quickly phoned our contractor to enlighten him to this small detail, at which he denoted it wasn't a mistake. Hmm... I pondered.... What do you mean its not a mistake.....He mumbled something about needing to see alignment with the above windows, etc... A bunch of $^#%$&^ ( I knew I needed to set this guy straight and quickly, so at 03:00a.m. I prepared ,unknown to the contractors, to prepare to visit the building site in Montreal.) I arrived at 07:30 & waited to 08:30a.m. for them to show up at which time I presented them with a 3 page update to quotations we would like to see amended, as well as to provide a lecture on honesty, truth and to find out what really happened to my 2 missing windows.... After a long drawn out explanation it finally slipped that when they were doing the basement he didn't have the quotes for the windows with him, and so wasn't aware of the actual window size. So he just left the full wall there to come back and modify it later once he had the drawings....Since I have a COST + contract..... Sounds like future discussions over price will be forthcoming.......

Pictures Picture Pictures

Ok Ok, Everyone wants to see pictures so here goes !

Basement




Floor




1st Wall



2nd Wall



View from water looking up





View from 1st Floor Looking out at water



4 Walls complete (1st Floor Exterior Wall Complete !)



View from Water 2 (1st 4 walls complete)<br>


Sunrise Save picture to desktop to view completely

Updated Kitchen Quote Arrives

Well it looks like its 1-0 for the Flack vs the Kitchen company. A new quote arrived today updating the kitchen from MDF to Birch with Glaze and $3,000 off the bill.......Meeting set up for Wednesday to select door design & colours....

A Kitchen conundrum

Ok, I mentioned a little earlier that I had sent an email to the kitchen company. Well after discussing the letter with the president it was clear that they had no intention of giving me a $15,000 kitchen. He said " There is no way you are going to get a kitchen for 50% off. I wouldn't be in business if I did that." Apparently he didn't/doesn't recognize that when you advertise a $15,000 kitchen you need to deliver.....a $15,000 kitchen if its to Ken Flack....


After this "unproductive conversation" he finally did say that he was going to "Quote" for the kitchen I had wanted. I recognized that I needed a little more back-up to ensure that I was to receive the quality and value I was expecting, so I sent a little letter to the local Ottawa Citizen Customer Advocat Tony Cote to see if I can muster a little more support...After this its onto the Better Business Bureau, and if that still fails, The Globe and Mail where I still have a few friends.

There is nothing like a lot of free time on your hands , and $7,000 at stake to get ones heart beating and energy levels up to a good long negotiation. Stay tuned... It'll only get better from here on in ... Looks like the gloves are about to come off...


Granite Deal

I forgot to mention last week, when we were checking out fireplaces that we picked up a beautiful granite piece for the base of the Fireplace. All in Deer Brown Granite with full bullnose. It was a return (Customer replacement) to the shop and we picked it up for 1/2 price at $150.00. We need more deals like this one.....

The storm before the calm


We'll how does the saying go....


Yesterday was the big day for switching realtors... A meeting was arranged with the local top seller, for 09:30. Just before the meeting we rec'd a call informing us that our existing contract with our previous realtor hadn't expired and he was not able to come until provided with proof of the contract cancellation. I informed him that all was in order and I had trusted documents to prove such. When he showed up, a small detail was missing from my documents... The realtor had signed in the witness area but not the realtor area for the cancellation. None the less, the realtor should have cancelled the contract as per our agreement. So a hasty call to my old realtor was not responded to and I was forced to re-schedule the meeting with this new realtor. After several calls and a threat to bring a complaint to the ORB (Ontario Real Estate Board) I also notified them that I was showing up at their office in 2 minutes to settle the issues... 1 hour later, after signing a new cancellation agreement, and getting authorization from their Toronto office, all appeared corrected..... Today, my house is still listed with them, sign is still on the property, and key box is still there.......NO PROBLEM ! They had assured me they will be here promptly at 10:30 to correct everything......OOps it's 10:42..........
11:10a.m. Old Realtor arrives and returns Lock Box key, house is de-listed......

Note: My old realtor had inquired if I was lowering the price (Maybe I responded), because you have got to give us a chance at a lower more attractive price he said... My response was I have already given him 2 attractive price reductions previously, without sucess....

New Realtor on-line....We have now hired Royal Lepages best realtor (top 5 % in Canada) to sell our home and have dropped the price another $25,000 to move quickly.... This is now a $75,000 drop from our initial listing in July 2003....(The house is a steal at $475,000!).


Dog's have a fifth sense

I know that we have a good realtor because Dogs are a good judge of character and Karie didn't stop barking until he left this morning. (He must be ruthless ! )

New Kitchen Update, Going, Going, Go...ne ?


A follow up call to the kitchen place has not been responded to. Today is the day of discovery....
Looks like I elevate this issue from VP to President......A second follow-up call went un-responded to. I have now contacted him on his private cell phone 3rd call (Got Him!)....but he denies ever receiving the detailed demand email of last week. I have now forwarded him a copy and given him 1 hour to review. 15:00 today...

Geothernal Heat Pump Estimate


Just rec'd the most beautiful HVAC estimate for a geothermal system.....
I guess for $35,000 it should look nice......
We'll my original plan was to use a regular heat pump with an oil back-up for cold days. This would allow for Hyrdo Quebec's DT rate under .04 per KW/hr versus .07 without the back-up system.

It appears that Geothermal heat pumps are not qualified for the DT rate and consequently even though they are twice as efficient as a standard heat pump their electrical operating costs are double the system I was envisioning with Oil Back-up. Oh yea, and Oil back-ed up heat pump system can be had for under 12-15K versus the 35k for geothermal....
This decision is a no brainer....


I forecast a slight delay with the building schedule. "Deja Vue"


Friday: Cloudy with periods of rain. High near 7°C. Winds NE at 16 km/h to 32 km/h. Chance of rain 70%.

Friday Night: Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low around 2°C. Winds NNE at 8 km/h to 16 km/h. Chance of rain 70%.

Saturday: Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High around 7°C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.

Saturday Night: Overcast with rain showers at km/h Low 3°C. Winds N at 8 km/h to 16 km/h. Chance of rain 50%.

Sunday: Rain mixed with snow. Highs near 4°C and lows near -4°C.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with snow showers. Highs near -2°C and lows near -7°C.

Tuesday: A few snow showers. Highs near 3°C and lows near -2°C.

Wednesday: Few showers. Highs near 4°C and lows near -1°C.

Thursday: More clouds than sun. Highs near 4°C and lows near -1°C.

Friday: Occasional showers. Highs near 7°C and lows near -1°C.

Saturday: Chance of showers. Highs near 7°C and lows near -1°C.

Sunday: Chance of showers. Highs near 9°C and lows near 3°C.

Business is Booming

Crash, bang, boom.....Bottom falling out.... I can't explain it yet but Google has been making changes all week and it appears that revenue from their advertising has dropped 50%. Similarily referrals from their site are down about 30%. I have seen activities like this before (Last Sept) and it took almost 3 months before a full recovery was made. So... DOES ANYONE NEED some REALLY INEXPENSIVE, HIGH Quality inkjet Cartridges? Just visit www.metawatch.ca . Or on the other hand you can also check out my development site http://inkjetprinter-refills.com where I have listed under the classifieds, all 25,000 computer related items that I sell.

Costs Rising !

Ok we knew what we were building was bigger and better than our other build option but we are starting to get a handle on the increased complexity. Items that were just a little larger are in some cases 3 times mores expensive due to the construction requirements. I.E. The floor I beams were initially going to cost us about $1,700 and the revised cost for the new design has just come in at $5,600...


Ouch...


Similarily the roof trusses for my "Square Box Design" was only $6,700 and is now $8,600... due to our multi tiered roof design.....


Still more surprises to come.

Expecting quotes for Heating (HVAC) Heat Pump with oil back-up, etc.. next week.Already know its coming in at about $3K more that initially estimated.


Our first fireplace quote is also coming in about 1K higher....


Last but not least

Kitchen Catastrophy "To be or not to be?"

It looks like our "Auctioned" Kitchen is going to be causing us a little more strain that first anticipated. Were we given our first written quote after initially setting the bar 3 weeks ago, only to see ourselves being presented with a price 10K higher than expected and not quoting to our preferred materials.
Fortunately we have 3 other quotes in our range and prefered materials to fall back on but "We need to get our money back !" The way the auction worked is that it was sponsored by the ottawa citizen. They give the money to charity and offer X $ worth of advertising to the firms that sold the items. So we had to pay the Ottawa citizen up front as part of the deal, while the goods haven't yet been formally defined or delivered. Our demand letter to the kitchen firm has not yet been responded to(We established our terms $, and materials) .... Later this week....


A no go on the house showing

The couple loved the house, but not the location....location, location...


We have set up a new meeting with a new realtor for Thursday as our other contract expires with our old realtor on the 31st... Too bad.....

Our Spirts are high !

Yup that means we starting drinking alot ! Just kidding... Here are the latest shots of the construction site....(Always lifts your sprits to see it coming along...)

My Pet Rock





Foundation Sealing 101





Old House on New Foundation






View from above





Water Mains

Oops

The one word a contractor should never say when moving a house....When we were giving away the house to our neighbour, the one caveat was that when they moved it they had to preserve our "Finnish White Oak Tree" on the lot. I had planted this tree that was smuggled in from Finland over 30 years ago and it has grown into the most beautiful Oak you have ever seen. So, just for the hell of it, I decided to visit and see the progress as the house was moving across the property. Well all I had to do was walk on the site and take one look at the tree and the house, and it was clear. Oops was an understatement. The house was not going around the tree but straight through it.....

.


No problem I said to the contractor and neighbour. Just leave the house where it is, the deal is off. No tree, no house.....

Twist and Turn


After a short discussion with the neighbour, the contractor replied, no problem, we'll just give the house a little twist and turn.....

.

The deal progressed, a little twisting, and turning, and cursing (That I was there) and the house slipped off the lot and on to our neighbours with but a 2 day delay to move around a tree...

"Greenpeace here I come! Tree Saved !"


David Copperfield anyone ?

In their rush to re-position, it just appeared like the house wasn't quite as flat and steady as one would like it.



Ok... Maybe its just an optical illusion....

Yes, the house has successfully been moved to the neighbours lot !


1 down and 1 to go !

The work begins


Oh crap ! Yup remember that frozen load of Sh...it. Well it had to go... and go it did... As the contractor let me know it was really no problem moving the septic system but it did (Hmm... how did he put it..) stink while it was coming out....

Move my new house ?

Within minutes of getting to the site the contractor jumped on me and said boy its great that you are here. We have just a few questions (PROBLEMS). Is it OK if we move the house over a foot or too he asked with a grin? "So after spending something like $1,000 big ones to get Land Surveyor drawings meticulously drawn, approved by the city, and stakes strategically positioned within millimeters, he asks if he can move the house a few feet ! Let me also say that he delayed starting by 1 day so that these stakes could be positioned by the surveyor ! He went on to say that he needed more clearance on the left side of the house for his "CAT Shovel" to dig....After a brief review, knowing that we were still within code, I allowed him to move the house a foot or 2.......


Shake, rattle and roll

Next he asked where I wanted my old deck, as this CAT Shovel tossed it in the air, with beams shuttering and cracking....




By the shed I responded.... as he tossed it over....


A Little Rock

One more little detail he said, come here and stand in the mud he instructed me (In my shoes), as I sank about a foot....
He goes on to say this foundation will not hold up in this mud. Its too soft ! Well NO Kidding, as I try to pull my feet/shoes out of the mud...He then says it'll cost me a little more for the foundation that we had initially discussed. He said we'll need to buy a little more rock. Maybe 3 or 4 THOUSAND DOLLARS worth. Ok ?




Well now how do you respond to a statement like that, no go ahead and let the house sink in the mud !
He was nice enough to say that this would be the last time he asked for more money....

(But did he mean that day, week, or for ever ?)

Well there went another 4 big ones...

Pat it down




Looking Good !




Remember I said I needed Cement & alot of it....


Cement Truck One




Cement Truck Two and Three




Cement Truck Four and Five




Too bad that my buddy at Nuvo didn't come though with a good contact for discounts. It was Lafarge deliverying the load...Looks like 20 big ones are gone.....WOW that's alot of cement !

And we're not renewing your contract !


Just had a brief email exchange with our realtor and after reading a few paragraphs of explanation why our house hasn't been sold, I responded with a by the way we are not renewing your contract at the end of the month. We can only hope and wish you the best with selling our house in the next week....... Now after over 2 months without a single showing at the house I rec'd a call today for approval of a showing tomorrow.... Time will tell.....

Fire Hazzard

Serendipity to say the least. After having a short conversation with our neighbour about his efforts to remove the chimney before they moved the house he had this startling discovery to announce. Our Chimney had burnt right through the bricks in the second floor and there was exposed wall in my upstairs bedroom. SO much so that the wall board had started to burn. We were 1 large fire away from the entire house burning down....(Incredibly enough we had joked about hoping the place burned down so we could have the insurance $ to re-build). Best not to joke about such things.. Sometimes ones wishes sometimes come true ! (Twilight Zone Music...)

Virus on the loose


Looks like I can't get away from IT. Our Kitchen design place TripleAAA Kitchens was hit by a swarm of viruses and it knocked out their servers and our designer lost over 100 drawings. Our kitchen drawing survived, but many of the bathroom drawings were nowhere to be found.... He continues to recover his files and hopefully we'll see some drawings this week....

Foundation Lalonde


Still curious what a foundation Lalonde is... It is the company name !.... I thought so... It took me a few minutes with the contractor to discover, after he got up off the floor laughing, what was behind this mysterious item...

Lost post....

After a short discussion with the land surveyor it was discovered that one of the key markers on our lot was layed to rest under the wheels of the construction equipment when the house was moved... a few more $$ will get it restored and get us back on track....Work starts today !

Panic Attack


I now know what it is like to be a mother. Every living second, ones thoughts are centered on all the possible mishaps that can happen to ones child (The new house in this instance), and 120% of ones effort is leveraged towards circumventing any possible problems. I now have a list (and Growing) of the 200 questions I MUST ask the contractor to ensure that every possible potential problem (No matter how small or large) is being appropriately taken care of......(Relax, count to 10, take a valium, snooze... then phone the contractor)

House Moving Day


Pictures Speak Louder than words.......







Well the house was lifted after 4 days of set-up time. Most of the efforts was in cutting the floor joists from the concrete. 50 Years ago the concrete was poured with the beams inside them. Moving is about 30 ft per day with most of the ongoing effort to re-position the steel beams and leveling with 1/8' shims... Slow but steady. If all goes well she'll be resting on her new home (Our next door Neighbours Lot) by the end of the day....

Oh Crap " 1st Problem before we start.....


Well we called the local D&L waste disposal company to have our septic tank emptied today. My contractor starts work on Monday.... and we wanted to make sure we started with a clean slate so to speak before digging up the old septic systems..... Got a call shortly after 10:00 to inform me that our Holding tank was frozen solid ! The contractor said he'll have to start none the less and try to dispose of it full..... Little does he know that the Septic guy mentioned that they normally don't survive being picked up full....I told him to expect my emergency call early next week when the shit starts to fly.....


No Pegs ! 2nd Problem


Well in order to ensure they build the house in the right place we need the local Surveyor to stratgically position pegs identifying major locations for the house, well and septic. Originally slated for next Wednesday I had to re-book them for Monday, as the contractor doesn't want to start without these pegs. Now the contractor will be starting on Tuesday.....

$$$$$ You are the high Bidder ! Auction Ottawa.. A New Kitchen !

Unbelieveable, I was there upping my bid for the kitchen to the very last second. I had 2 computers going, refreshing the screen every 5 seconds watching price changes, and upping the bid when necessary. We managed to get a $15,000 kitchen for $8,563..... When you are trying everything to try and save a buck why not bid on a kitchen I always say... Well I was/am one of three lucky souls who won on the bid. We just finished visiting the place today (Where they do the design) and was fortunate enough to have a kitchen designer (Vice President) who is just finishing his interior decorating certification. It seems like this place is different from all the rest, and they literally just listen to your likes and dislikes and disappear for a few days to come up with a 1st class design.(Time will Tell). Their name is Triple AAA Kitchens and Bath, 3000 Conroy Road, Ottawa Ontario. A Real 1st class place....Thay also deliver and install in Quebec...

Windows and Doors

Well just rec'd a price update from the latest Windows and Door place , their name is "Portes et Fenetres" ...on 81 Don Quichotte in Ille Perrot, (I pronounce it Don Keyshot, and mom pronounces it Don Key hoo tee. I wonder who is pronouncing it properly... chuckle.....). Looks like we managed to save a few K by getting windows they call casement...Thay have no sashes...What ever that is....In the beginning when money grew on trees we had asked for a quote for the old cottage and rec'd a price of $32,000 buckaroos. We have now negotiated for double pane argon filled PVC windows with triple locks for under 15K.....Wow....Excellent owner, his name is Alain Lapointe.

Cement

Well it looks like I have done well on this negotiating thing so why not keep it up. Today I started looking for Deals on CEMENT. Yup, thats right, that stuff they use to put on peoples feet in the Sopranos (Season 5 starts tomorrow). Well it just so happens that at the last company I worked for Nuvo, one of their customers was a company called Lafarge. GUESS what they sell ?
CEMENT, and alot of it....They, I believe, are the largest Cement dealer in Canada...... I just dropped a line to one of my Nuvo buddies (Jacques Latour), a brilliant Network Managment Architect (VP), to see if I can find a contact to get a discount...Lets see how this one develops.....

Money Money Money

Now that we are quickly approaching build date I have been looking for areas to save $$$. Just found a Newspaper sponsored Auction site that is auctioning off new kitchens. They have set up for an auction of a $15,000 kitchen.... I am currently one of the high bidders...Check them out....Auction Ottawa

To be or Not to Be
Well talk about luck of the draw, or a horseshoe up my proverbial (rear end ) as my cousin Arlene would say. Our local city building inspector, after over 10 years serving the local community decided to up and leave his job with 1 days notice. Apparently he didn't see eye to eye with the local mayor. Now, here comes the horseshoe ! We both (our neighbour and us) had an appointment with him on his last day to finalize our building permits, and the inspector chose to complete both of our permits on his last day ! UNBELIEVEABLE

Preparing to Move a house
As I mentioned earlier my neighbour had a few little items to relocate to enable him to move the house. The only thing I wasn't aware of was that I would be playing a major part in his preparations.


1) My Ski Doo

Well after preping this little baby for the winter for the last 7 years I was looking forward to moving her from her parking spot under the "Tempo". After a few spits and hiccups.... she was up and running..
10ft later she was dead.... Starter, never to start again......None the less a few trusty pulls of that starter cord and OOPS "There goes my back". While grimmacing, & swearing a little (OK alot) , I manage to pull the ski doo another 5ft in front of our shed and lay her to rest....

2) Tempo

Well let me tell you there is nothing temporary about a tempo when you try to remove one in the middle of winter. Since my aching back was already creating a hunched over position, it was just perfect to get on my knees and with a trusty hammer attempt to remove 6 inches of rock solid ice from the lower frame and flaps of my trusty tempo. ( 1 hour later, I was prepared to remove the cover)
But then "What about those 12" nails strategically positioned in an X to ensure thay didn't allow for any play of the frame by mother natures winds". Talk about secure.... My neighbour laughing...... (Yes one more hour and they were out...


Strike one, Strike 2, Strike 3


Strike 1 ...Well I tried to clear a path to the storage shed with my "Yup" trusty snowblower, and got about 20ft. (Alot farther than the ski doo) before she started spewing black smoke and spitting up oil.... Looks like those 25 year old fan belts are a little tempermental, when you try to use them when its cold out !Boy they don't build them like they used to. It seems like the entire snow blower needs to be completely disassembled to remove and replace that important little belt.!$@#^#%^


Strike 2...Down the street comes the worlds largest Snowblower attached to a farm tractor the size of our house.Well ,my neighbour realizing he needed to clear a path 30ft wide through our property to move the house, called upon the big guns. He started the blower up and "Swoosh" this monster cut through the 6 ft city snow bank like butter(While he was making small talk on his cellular) .....but then.....(Kaplunk) The local farmer hops out of his tractor and starts inspecting the "Insides" of this blower assembly...."Hey do you guys have any rocks on your property he yells out?" .Hmm.... I thought, there was just the one 250lb er right about where he stopped the machine...."NOPE" I assuredly bellowed.... A few short moments later he discovered he had lost a bearing on the main snowblower assy.... I wonder what could have caused that ? No Problem, he said, I'll just go back an pick up my other blower ! I thought this beast was a one of a kind but apparently it had a little brother.....2 hours later after warming up this little brother the blowing continued (Albiet a little higher off the ground for some reason..)

Strike 3
Just as he approaches the shed to clear my path (Nothing but silence could be heard...) This time the chain had become dislodged....No Problem for the farmer....I'll be back in 2hrs he says.....

Launching the boat in Feb

We still had this one item left to move. My 22ft boat, all 4000+lbs of her......

I hooked up the 4x4, 4.7 liter Jeep Grand Cherokee and gently slipped her into LOW, LOW...and watched as 4 tires spun in perfect sync on top of the snow, digging 4 shallow holes in the ground......
You just had to be there to witness the heads shaking back and forth. NO Way this baby is going anywhere....So, we went back to inspect the trailer and cleared the last inch of snow off of the 4 wheels (Tandem Trailer) to see 6 inches of solid ice surrounding the wheels....OK, this means back to that bent over position and hammer in hand.....We also sped up the process by buying 5 bags of salt and surrounding the tires in a "Salt bath for 30 minutes".....
The Tractor returns.....
After a few brief moments of discussion it was decided that this HUGE MONSTER tractor would try to budge the boat from its icey mooring with a chain attached to it. "SNAP". Yes the chain broke without so much as a hairs movement from the boat...Double her up he said, and I'll give her a pull and a running start.... Well the front end of the boat lurched into the air like a bucking bronco and 2 wheels on one side started to move. He gunned the tractor , its wheels spinning, and the bronco bucking. Suddenly the Boat Launched forward and it had become free at last.....

Come on Baby
Off drove the farmer, proud that he had accomplished what no 4x4 could have ever dreamed of doing. I hooked the boat back up, put her in low low, and gave her some gas. The car started to slide sideways down the property but ever so gently pulled the boat behind. A little more gas and a turn of the wheel and we were moving towards the ice encrusted driveway. Only 4 move vertical feet to go and we would be out of the driveway." A local passerby stopped in the center of the driveway to watch the activites" . I screamed we are not stopping so you had better move quick..... Jumping out of the way just as we rolled onto the road with no less than 2 out of 4 tires spinning on the wet sandy surface and at least an inch of clearance on either side of the boat. She was out !


We are ready for the move

ebay WOW

ebay is really a wonderfull marketing device. Just for the hell of it I threw up an ad to sell our country house (Intitally for 10K and then reduced to 5K). Over 1500 people have visited the add to date. That's Less than 1 week... Still No Ebay offers BUT just heard back from our neighbour in Pte fortune.

Lift, Carry, Drop

Well it looks like my neighbour has managed mission impossible. He has found 2 house moving companies(Really ! Pick up the house and move) to relocate the country house by March 15th. It looks like it will cost him a pretty $18K for the operation but there are a few minor details.
(Manual Labour)
1) He has to manually destroy (Get Rid of) the brick fireplace before the move.

2) Has to remove the "Porch" (15'x25') as it is to unstable to move.

3) Has to remove the deck (I am keeping the deck).

(Exterior Decorating).

1) Get a snow plow/blower to remove enough snow from the property to move the house (ALOT!).

2) Move (Ski Doo Tempo)

3) Move my Boat (& Store)

4) Empty Spetic Tank (It may not survive the house driving over it.)

5) Take down Cedar Tree (50ft +)


We meet on Wednesday to discuss the details ! (I'll be taking ALOT of pictures for sure when the big day comes)

Money, Money, Money

Something never to be forgotten is the small detail of payment for this new house to be built. Well it looks like my neighbour has managed to save us some 5-7K by taking this old house off our property, but we have this small detail to deal with of selling our current home.With detail only an accountant can appreciate, I have calculated that with the help of a few close friends we can manage to have the house built and paid for at exactly the same time our bank account approaches 0.
(Hmm... Nervous-Never, Petrified-Absolutely, Living Dangerously-Always)
Soo.. I saw our broker today and gave her the news to "Lower the listing price" and to sell in the next 30 days OR ELSE. Check it out.... http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=2226358

Modifications, Modifications,MODIFICATIONS

Well, I have now just finished spending 2 full days trying to get a handle on all the modifications required to complete the design. I think I have completed a draft needed for the Builder to review, but am somewhat dismayed by the simple fact that one of my modifications seems to be directly where a main support beam supporting the family room lies. I.E. I have asked to move that strategically placed wall ! Will it be accepted ?

Building Inspector Feedback

Ok, today we heard back from the Building inspector and the Flood plan architect. Well here is the long of the short story. Our current house is built to standards that don't meet with current building codes. We need to be 2.0 meters from the closest property on both sides and we need to be at least 25 ft from the front of the road.

When they positioned our property within these dimensions we are 5 ft past the 100 year flood plane, and can not build without having a engineering firm certify the basement design and are not allowed to have windows in the basement. (Note: We were putting in a walk out basement, not an entrance for the river to pass). But Wait apparently there is a bylaw, grandfather clause , that will allow one to build on the same property in the event of a loss due to fire or replacement in the same location (Regardless of bylaws) within a period of 12 months from the time of the event. "I screamed that's the one we want !". Just rec'd an email copy (of a bitmap file) 1mb that is in negative form and is close to illegible from the architect. I don't want to hassle anyone at this point in time so I just told them that their latest drawings are perfect !

Drawings Arrived

Unbelieveable but true the building drawing have just arrived (8 Copies) and were are overjoyed !

Changes Galore

Just completed a 2 hour re-design session with the lady of the house and have decided on a set of minor changes to

a) Master Bedroom
b) Bedroom # 3
c) Basement
d) Family Room
e) Main Floor Bath
f) Laundry Room
g) 1st floor office
h) Kitchen

That's it ! Hopefully for good.....

P.S. Thinking of you now May (I remenber how you told me you had to pay $$ to delete items from architect drawings..... Time will tell....)

Internet Translation

Being the internet savy person that I am, (Laugh) I was certin that I could use the trusty internet to simplify some of the difficulties we have with translating some of the quotes we receive. Rather that spending endless hours with the contractor translating each and every word, we just overlook some of the more minor priced items ($400-$5,200 ) etc and I expect I can research it later.So here I go jumping to the trusty "Babel Fish Translation " service hosted by Altavista and type in a few words to be translated from French to English.

A Few samples of the results follows

French .................................................English

Foundation Lalonde................................Foundation Lalonde
ruff balayeuse centrale............................ruff sweeping power station
poutrelle et ferme de toit.........................beam and firm of roof


Now I still haven't figured out what Foundation Lalonde is so if any of you out there know please pass it along to me. (Its apparenty worth $5,200.....I guess we must really need it....)

P.S. If ever you need to send something important NEVER use these services to translate anything......

Hot off the press
Looks like our neighbour still can not resist the thought of getting a FREE house and is trying to arrange for friends/neighbours anyone who can help to lift and move/push this house. I talked to him today and he is now on a 30 day window to get this task accomplished. We wish him the best, as he is the best of neighbours and really needs a new place to call home. The existing place is really quite nice being about 30 ft by 40ft its a 1200 sq ft home with another 600 sq ft on the 2nd floor. The only thing that concerns me is he is talking about moving the house across our lawn, through our trees, and over my boat... Hmm...sounds complicated. Definitely some interesting topics for a future blog entry...

Sell a house on Ebay

To hedge our bets we have also just posted our house on eBay for $10,000 or BO (Best Offer) in case our neighbour doesn't come through with the big move....

Here is a link for all of you who would like to see the place.
eBay house link

1st Days Blog, Frustration 101

Ok Here we go ! Just thought that I would express my "FRUSTRATIONS" by letting all of you out there know what its like to build a new house from scratch!

Well, in reality I am a little behind the ball here as I actually started the process of planning the house in July 2003.

In the beginning

We were discussing upgrading our country house and felt that for about $100,000 Canadian we would be in a position to add a large extension to our existing country house and upgrade it to a full time/year round home. This would enable us to sell our other property and work from our country house, as I had recently started my own internet based business www.metawatch.ca and no longer needed to be in the city to go to work daily.

The First Drawings, but not the last....

I set to creating an existing drawing of the house so I could create an add-on that could be quoted on by various contractors. I found a great little design program called 3D home architect and started the process. Measuring the house, each room, elevations etc....

After this initial process, time came to review the drawings and upgrades with the little lady of the home.... I am now at revision 200+ with no known limit in site to changes......

The first Project Plan

To make the process of bidding easier for the contractors I felt I could build a project plan detailing all of the steps necessary to perform the upgrade. This would also allow me to develop a time scale for the project length....

So what was on this list.... Simple

a) Raise the house
b) Re-Build Foundation (Add Basement & Plumbing)
c) Add Extension to house
d) New Well
e) New Septic System.
f) New Floors
g) New Walls
h) New Ceilings

Getting the picture.....

Well it ended up being a 200 step process when each of the above areas were broken down....

The First Spreadsheet

Well being this well planned out individual, I had to create a detailed project plan where we could review all estimated costs and track expenditures. (Over 200 Line items)......

The First Quotes

As I mentioned earlier, we had started this process in July 2003, (In QUEBEC, CANADA) where the contractors take off for Vacation in the end of July.....

Franglais

Oh, did I forget to tell you that we don't speak French, and virtually all contractors in Quebec are Francophone. Yup, one little more complication to add to the mix.... We decided to do as the locals do and we asked for local reputable contractors to quote on the job.... Well they all spoke French...

Not to be swayed by this little language problem I decided that my broken French and their efforts to speak English (Which were pretty good) in comparison would overcome any difficulties we may encounter....."Are you laughing yet ?"

September 1st Quotes Continued

Yup, almost 2 months have passed since we sent out a quote package to multiple contractors, with the hopes of starting to build in October 2003. 1st of all, every contractor laughed and started their responses by I hope you are not intending to build this year !

None the less we marched on hopeful that we would prevail.

Quote Review

Well, 1st of all 50% of the contractors had decided to quote on building a new house and the other 50% decided to quote on the additions we had asked for......

Remember our hope up upgrading for 100K. Well that went out the door in about 5 seconds.....

We had a mixed review, where those contractors who initially said they would perform the upgrade came back and said that they felt a rebuild was in order.....

Hmm.. Looks like a re-build was in order......

No Problem, I just updated my spreadsheet, and continued to move toward finalizing the costs.

Why not give our old house away and save demolition costs ?

OK, why give all this demolition money to contractors, who will probably sell me back my own wood from the first house to build a second house ? We'll give our house away to one of our neighbor's, as good Samaritans, and maybe along the way save a few $ in demolition costs. Hmm.... well our neighbour jumped at the idea, only to find out moving costs (200Ft) for the house and foundations costs and land surveryor cost would probably put the total cost for a free house in excess of $60,000.... Well not such a great deal eh ? (Rebuild costs for the house were running in the order of $120,000....

Land Surveyor

OOPS, forgot to mention the new house is to be built on waterfront property, where the water levels vary each year due to a "DAM" located 1.5 km upstream. This means we needed to have a flood plane drawing created showing both 20 year and 100 year flood levels. Onto this plan was added the location of a new well, septic system, and house location. All of which had strict requirements with reference to distances and locations from each other as well as water and neighbours.

Building permits

OK, its 23rd of September and we have successfully met all pre-requisites for the local building inspector and have obtained out building permits for House upgrade, Well, and septic System. Valid for 1 year from date of issue.......

Kitchens and Bathrooms & Carpets, and Heating and...

Well, the local contractor gave us a list of his favorite local contractors for the above, and all we needed to do was to drop buy and pick out our favorite items for kitchens and baths...Etc...

Well since they don't give you quotes on the spot, as you are dealing through a contractor, we pick out our items we are accustomed to and voila (Our house costs just went up $35,000 )

Building Delayed

Well I mentioned earlier that no one wanted to build until next year and that's the case. The one contractor who provided us the low bid came though and has decided to start tearing down the old house in Mid March (15th), 2004

The Great Internet Search

Well after version 200+ on the interior drawings I had made (Very extensive including every outlet etc...) I decided that there must be something better than this squared block house I had built. When looking at the drawing the house looked like a rectangle with absolutely no aesthetic value.

Virtually a block house !

OK, even though I had spent the last 4 months of my life toiling over these drawings and room sizes as well as the negotiations with the contractor, I said I have a few months before we begin, so why not take the time to review what some real architects have done.

Oh MY GOD ! There are some really beautiful homes out there ! Yes, no I went through every imaginable web site and house drawing (1000s) trying to find the perfect home..... Guess what I found ! Almost an exact copy of the home I am currently living in, a little smaller, (We Wanted That) and can be purchased (Drawings) for a price cheaper that that of getting a local architect to draw up our modifications we had asked for...... Great...... Now all we need to do is get the contractor to agree to build this new house for the same price, and get new building permits, and get new quotes for Kitchen and both, and heating, and .........

Don't freak out the Contractor

Now that we were thinking of changing the plans from a modest rebuild of the same building to a complete tear down and re-build operation 4 weeks before the contractor was/is to start working we needed a strategy to keep these guys happy so they don't pull out. First and foremost was to enlist the aid of a Francophone speaking friend (Thanks Rene) to ensure that what we were about to communicate wasn't mis-represented and didn't freak them out. Second was to ensure that the message was written in French (Translated) and 3rd, it was sent via registered mail. (It just seemed like we needed to register this important message).

Plan Executed

The plan worked perfectly, the contractors seemed a little confused, that we were still working on the old drawings and quotes, but asking them for pricing for this new house.... So, here we go, on the path to a new house build without having firm pricing. What the contractors recognized was that these wacky Anglophones had managed to select plumbing and kitchen cabinets that they would have never dreamed could have cost so much, and now 4 weeks later have decided to throw out 6 months of work and start a new house rebuild project. (What they did next was very smart.... We now have a cost plus contract versus a fixed price contract !!! Go Figure )

The beginning of the end.. Drawings en route....

Well I have just begun the process of house build # 2. Ordered the drawing last week from NEBRASKA and am tracking their location via UPS 1Z68x0956841686937 . Track them if you wish along with me.... http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/index.jsx.

Updated Surveyor Drawings

Well the surveyor needed a perimeter measurement of the house so I sent him a email yesterday, after waiting 2 days to get a copy via fax from the contractor. We are trying to get the drawings finished before Wednesday, as the city Building inspector who needs to approve them to get a building permit only works 1 day per week ! Got a call this morning letting me know that they only got the cover sheet. (In reality , it was 1 tiff file with 2 pages) but I sent them a FAX rather than educating them about Tiff file and MS fax viewers.

Oh where oh where has my contractor index gone !

I have now spent 3 hours looking for the list of all of the contractors we need to visit to get everything done within 1 month before they start construction. The file is lost and I need to get the contractor to send me another copy... SH...It...

Distance is everything

Did I tell you I live in Ottawa and am building the house 150 KM away... SO everyone I need to see and talk to is a 1.5 hour drive away !