Construction: Week 3

Well, last week was rather up and down.

There was a lot of hanging around waiting for things to happen; it felt frustrating and tedious by times.

The plumber was unable to come on Monday, but I couldn't go anywhere because I was waiting for the inspector to come and ok the under-slab insulation and vapour barrier. She came in the mid-afternoon and signed off, so that was good.

My plumber came with an assistant on Tuesday morning to install the in-floor heating pipes.

So neat and orderly.

The pipes are all zip-tied to the wire mesh.

Once all of the pipes were in, the plumber pressurized them with an air compressor to make sure there were no leaks.

My plumber came back on Wednesday to bring me my shower pan and invoices for the work of roughing in the plumbing.

My builder came on Wednesday, too, to have a look at the heating pipes and take photos and measurements, so they can be sure when they anchor the walls that none of the in-floor heating pipes will get ruptured.

The slab contractors weren't able to come on Wednesday OR Thursday – there was just no space in their schedule.

Wednesday was not a fun day. I was in a terrible mood and didn't feel like going anywhere or doing anything.

I felt a bit more upbeat on Thursday, but I still couldn't go anywhere because I was waiting for the first delivery of materials. Since the concrete truck still needs to be able to back up to the form, the materials have to be placed properly on the site, so they won't all have to be moved out of the way when the concrete truck comes. There is a hefty penalty if the concrete truck comes and can't access the site.

The boom truck is pretty cool.

Tucked out of the way for the time being...

Bad news

I received a couple of pieces of bad news on Thursday. For one thing, although the slab crew would come on Friday morning to make their final preparations, it would be Tuesday before the building inspector would be able to come sign off – and therefore Wednesday (at the earliest) before the concrete could be poured. So more waiting was on the cards.

Also, the results of my Efficiency Nova Scotia New Home Construction Program Review came in and showed that there was nothing feasible I could do to be eligible for rebates for my project. My Energuide rating works out at an 82, and there is not much I can do at this point to push it over the threshold for rebates, which is 85. This is partly my fault, because I waited too long to do the assessment – essentially, after making inquiries about it earlier this summer, I then forgot all about needing to do it until a couple of weeks ago... If I had done the assessment before my design had been decided, I might have been able to make changes that would have brought me up to an 85. But, not necessarily. My house is so small that changes to the mechanical systems don't have much impact. Also, the base load in the model is for two adults and a child, rather than one adult and a cat. So, I will doubtless be more efficient in my home than the model shows, but bureaucracy doesn't work like that and there will be no money back from the government for me.

On the plus side, the assessment was done by a friend of mine who works in the energy efficiency industry and we got to have some nice chats as we went back and forth discussing questions and options.

By the end of the day on Thursday, I was in an even grimmer mood than I had been on Wednesday. Fortunately for me, a friend came, helped me get my newly-delivered doors into my shed for safekeeping, took me to play tennis for the first time in years (which was super fun) and then to a party with many of my favourite people.

Next steps

I was in a much better mood on Friday and happy to see the slab contractors come back and finish installing the rebar for the project. I sent photos to the engineer who had designed the slab and he was impressed by the execution.

Continuous lap rebar

The finished underslab

Steps 6, 7 and 8 of the slab got completed this week. Just two more steps to go!

1. Excavation (Week 1)
2. Construction of the form
3. Under-slab plumbing
4. Under-slab plumbing inspection
5. Insulation and wire mesh (Week 2)
6. Inspection
7. In-floor heating pipes
8. Rebar
9. Inspection
10. Concrete pour

I paid for the excavation and the first phase of the plumbing this week. Money is flowing out quickly now, as I knew it would. This project has not felt particularly blessed financially. The bank declined to extend my line of credit. There will be no rebates from Efficiency NS. This makes me all the more thankful to my friend who gave me a sweet deal on the excavation work, and who is also willing to dig a well for me when the time comes. And I am deeply grateful to a couple of dear people who have offered me short-term loans if I get in over my head. 

Ever changing moods

I notice my moods have been cycling more rapidly than usual, which feels challenging. I struggled through the early part of last week, was very chipper Thursday eve through Saturday eve and then quite depressed again on Sunday and Monday over the holiday weekend. I think this is a combination of hormones and the stresses of this undertaking. I have wished, more than once, that I had had the foresight to know that I should build a cabin immediately after landing back in Nova Scotia, when it would have been less expensive and when I was not yet into the emotional rollercoaster of peri-menopause. I feel that many times in my life, I've gotten ready to do things (my personal chef business, my music career) years later than would have been optimal. But, I'm here now. And I'll get through this. While it might have been easier seven years ago (or 10 or 20), it was also not possible for me then – if it had been, I would have done it.

Here I am, in the present moment, taking things day by day – or hour by hour, when that's necessary. Sometimes, I'm in a crappy mood and feel overwhelmed and anxious. And sometimes I'm in a great mood and feel like I can manage everything just fine. And that, my friends, is my life these days.

Lumber is Salinger's favourite camouflage.

On the map (A tiny home/land development report)

It has been another busy week!

Since the shed was finished a week ago Thursday, this week has been a week of inspections and legitimization. And also a week of sweet peace and quiet, now that the genny and nail guns have moved on to other projects.

The (almost) entirely finished shed

I'm developing an affection for the cascading nature of this process. Each step leads to the next.

NS Power came to inspect the electrical work on Monday and issued a connection order. They told me that I would have power within 10 business days. No word from them yet, but ostensibly within the next 6 business days, they will come and install poles and lines and hook me up! After that, I can contact Eastlink and hopefully get high speed internet hooked up as well so I can work seamlessly from my tiny home.

The municipal builder inspector came and okayed the shed on Wednesday which meant that on Thursday, I was issued my civic number. I think I can be officially declared a civic number nerd – I was SO excited about getting it.

Salinger pretends not to be excited about our civic number. But he is. You know he is.

There are two reasons why I am excited about my civic address. One is the sense of permanence it gives me. Even though I won't be living here this winter because I can't afford to build a winterized dwelling yet, I still have the sense that this is my forever address – something for which I have been longing. As soon as I can get myself properly set up, I will get to stay here as long as I like. I can't be evicted or impacted by anyone else's decisions about the place where I live. I will be only at my own whims – and of course, the whims of the VERSE.* I can't even find words to express how desperately I've been longing for this. Security. Refuge. Shelter from the Storm.

And of course, getting a civic number is tied to getting postal service. I have been a postal nerd for many years. I love mail. I haven't been getting or sending much personal mail lately, but I plan for that to change.

I've had a big dilemma this weekend deciding how I want to have my mail delivered – I was given the option of setting up a mailbox, clustered with my nearest neighbour's box close to the top of my driveway, or receiving my mail in the community box down the road. There are many pros and cons to each option – The personal mailbox would be close and homey and convenient, individualistic and fun – but it would also need to be shoveled out and set back up every time the snow plow knocked it down. The community mailbox is about a 20-minute round-trip walk, or a 6-minute bike ride, or a minute-and-a-half by car, so that would either prompt me to get more exercise (a good thing) or drive needlessly (a bad thing). I wouldn't have to shovel it out or occasionally re-erect it. And it would be more secure, which is probably important, given that about half of my clients still pay me with cheques sent through the mail. The community box is more generic and corporate-feeling; it doesn't have any personality, but its setting is fabulous – next to a lovely little bridge over the Petite River.

The (sun-drenched) Petite River by the community mailbox.

The more I think about it, the more I think that I will opt for the community box, but once I'm living here permanently, I plan to set up a box at the top of my driveway too – well off the road, out of the path of snowplows (and therefore also mail carriers) and use it for miscellaneous pick-ups and deliveries from friends and neighbours. Maybe I'll even establish one of those cute little free libraries...

This week has involved some DIY stuff for me. I installed my civic number by the side of the road and installed the door knob and deadbolt on my shed all by myself. Neither job was very smoothly or elegantly accomplished, but they were accomplished nevertheless.

This has been a good week. I've been appreciating the heck out of the weather. I have been appreciating the heck out of my neighbours, my community, my cat. In general, I am appreciating the heck out of my little woodland retreat. This is the perfect place for me to be right now. My emotions have been all over the place this week. I've been very up and I've been very down. I'm ending the week feeling a bit fragile and sad. But there is fluidity to my emotions and that's important. I'm not feeling stuck. The best thing of all is that I feel like I have a safe place to be however I need to be. That is priceless.

* VERSE=Very Enormous Random Swirl of Events

The shed: Part 3 (A Tiny Home/Land Development Report

It's been a busy week! Saturday and Monday were wrapping and shingling.

By Tuesday, only the back and edges still needed to be shingled:

 

Yesterday, the shed was basically completely finished! There are only a couple of little touches left to be added. One week from nothing to beautiful shed – amazing!

This morning, the electricians came and did most of the work needed to hook up power.

The meter case being installed on the back of the shed

The roof sprouts wires!

My mostly-assembled electrical panel

Of course, there are still quite a few stages to complete.

The electricians will be back tomorrow to complete their work.

The shed will be inspected on Monday.

The power company will come to install the power poles and lines and then hook the shed up with electricty. I've been told to expect that I should have power in two weeks – or less! Super-exciting!

Editorial note: I linked to Tilia Builders in part 2 of this series, but didn't link to them again here and they deserve huge thanks and big shout-outs for their impressively quick, high-quality, extremely beautiful work! 

Also, here are links to Part 2 and Part 1 of this series for anyone who missed them.