Jason from TNRD called me this morning with the welcome news that our Building Permit was ready for pickup! <Woot, woot!> I went down the street and picked the package up from Leanne at the permit desk at TNRD.
I called Bob Granberg to give him the good news. He had spoken with Tom at Linwood Homes this morning. Tom told him that he felt that the house materials would be on site in 3-4 weeks.
Ok, so that's permits....check!
Colours picked and house ordered....check!
Contractor ready to go...check!
Snow all melted and mud gone from driveway....not so much :(
It does feel good to know that now we're just waiting for the weather!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
New Address
We are almost official. We received a letter from TNRD this morning containing our new civic address. This is kind of important as we need to have a civic address before a building permit can be issued. I called the building inspector, Jason Tomlin, to give him the good news and check on the status of our application.We had waited patiently all week (Thursday was 3 weeks since we submitted our application), hopeful that we would get a call that our permit was ready to pick up. Then we got the mail this morning with the info on the address. Jason, we were told, would not be in today, so I guess that we will have to wait until next week to hear about the permit.
Oh, and our new address.....
4845 Sinclair Road
Yay!
Oh, and our new address.....
4845 Sinclair Road
Yay!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Decisions, decisions
We're very happy to have hired Bob Granberg and his company to put in the basement and complete the house to "lockup" stage. Bob has built many Linwood Homes houses, all over North America and even one in Scandinavia, and surprisingly, will be a neighbour as he lives only 10 minutes down the road from our property! We had asked for two bids on this part of the project and both bids were very similar, price wise. We chose Granberg Construction primarily for the reasons stated above.
Saturday, (my birthday) we arranged to visit the property with Bob and see what if anything could be started right away. We met him at his beautiful log home, high above Robbins Range Road and were introduced to Carl, who will be supervising the framing of our house. We loaded into two trucks (ours and Carl's) and rumbled up to our place. The road through the Crown Land was in excellent shape where Jayson had put in the crushed rock but the driveway on our property was quite muddy. The lower section was a little dryer than when we visited last week, but the upper portion had started to thaw and was quite gooey. We were leading the way in our big Ford and had little trouble getting up to the house site, but Carl barely made it, choosing to stop just shy of the building site. We all agreed that it was going to have to dry out before any real work could commence. They both liked the site and said the slope would be perfect for the walk-out basement, but were concerned about heavy concrete trucks being unable to navigate the muddy driveway. So, work with us folks...everyone should ask their favourite deity to bring warm, dry weather to our little part of the BC interior so we can get started. Thanks, in advance!
On Friday, we spoke briefly with Jason Tomlin, our TNRD building inspector. He advised that we needed an engineer to certify that the "prow-shaped front" of our house design was structurally sound. Linwood has their own in-house engineer and indicated that this shouldn't be any problem at all. I should have the paperwork on Tuesday, March 23rd.
We have been considering our colour choices for siding, roofing and trim as we need to inform Linwood of these when we order the house. We have settled on the "Autumn Red" siding from Certainteed (fiber cement product), bright white for soffits (aluminum), fascia and trim (Smartside engineered lumber). The roof will be Certainteed fiberglass 30 year shingles with the "Mountain Timber" colour scheme.
We will be signing off the drawings and placing the final order for the house tomorrow. Pretty exciting!
Saturday, (my birthday) we arranged to visit the property with Bob and see what if anything could be started right away. We met him at his beautiful log home, high above Robbins Range Road and were introduced to Carl, who will be supervising the framing of our house. We loaded into two trucks (ours and Carl's) and rumbled up to our place. The road through the Crown Land was in excellent shape where Jayson had put in the crushed rock but the driveway on our property was quite muddy. The lower section was a little dryer than when we visited last week, but the upper portion had started to thaw and was quite gooey. We were leading the way in our big Ford and had little trouble getting up to the house site, but Carl barely made it, choosing to stop just shy of the building site. We all agreed that it was going to have to dry out before any real work could commence. They both liked the site and said the slope would be perfect for the walk-out basement, but were concerned about heavy concrete trucks being unable to navigate the muddy driveway. So, work with us folks...everyone should ask their favourite deity to bring warm, dry weather to our little part of the BC interior so we can get started. Thanks, in advance!
On Friday, we spoke briefly with Jason Tomlin, our TNRD building inspector. He advised that we needed an engineer to certify that the "prow-shaped front" of our house design was structurally sound. Linwood has their own in-house engineer and indicated that this shouldn't be any problem at all. I should have the paperwork on Tuesday, March 23rd.
We have been considering our colour choices for siding, roofing and trim as we need to inform Linwood of these when we order the house. We have settled on the "Autumn Red" siding from Certainteed (fiber cement product), bright white for soffits (aluminum), fascia and trim (Smartside engineered lumber). The roof will be Certainteed fiberglass 30 year shingles with the "Mountain Timber" colour scheme.
We will be signing off the drawings and placing the final order for the house tomorrow. Pretty exciting!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Warmer ...so now, it's muddy!
Saturday morning we awoke to a blizzard. Great big snowflakes were getting blown sideways in the warmish easterly winds. The temps were hovering around the freezing mark so most of the snow was melting, but we still had an inch or two on the road as drove off to pick up Alex. Knutsford appears to have its own weather system because by the time we got to town (Kamloops) not only had the snow stopped, but it was 8*C and almost sunny. The roads weren't even wet so the snow hadn't visited the city at all that morning. Alex wanted to do some grocery shopping (i.e. take advantage of our vehicle to shuttle the groceries back to his place) so we hit the specials at Superstore and Safeway before heading out to Barnhartvale.
We usually expect the weather up at our property to be similar to that in Knutsford as the elevations above sea level are nearly identical at 1,040 metres. Today, however, that was not the case. No snow had fallen and both Robbins Range and Campbell Range Roads were in pretty good shape. The first part of our driveway through the Crown Land quarter section was quite good as well thanks to all the crushed rock that Jayson's guys had installed in the swampy areas. The gate had dropped down onto it's proper position on the hinge so I could tell that the ground was thawing. That would prove foreshadowing as the lower portions of the driveway proper were getting quite soft and muddy. Thank goodness for our 4x4 truck! There were only a couple of tense moments when we slowed as the tires lost grip before the big diesel just sucked it up and pulled us through. It was a confidence inspiring ride. The upper portion of the driveway still had some snow and ice covering it so the ground hadn't thawed as much underneath. Joey normally flies up the hill leading our vehicle all the way to the house site. Today, with all the gooey muck, she had slowed to a walk by the time we got to the top.
We only spent a few minutes enjoying the view this day as we had to get home and rescue the bread dough from the bread machine. We were making dinner rolls today to enjoy with Carol's awesome spare ribs and had to get them out of the machine before they rose too much rendering the machine an unusable, gooey mess (don't ask how we know this!).
On the way home, we took Campbell Creek Road, eliminating a return to Kamloops before heading back to Knutsford. Alex hadn't been down that way before and it is quite a scenic little valley. After hitting Hwy. 5A, we turned left up Jackson Road. Our current place is also on Jackson Road but the road is not maintained past our place, so this lower 7km section can be dicey.
I could tell by Alex's giggling that he was enjoying my efforts to keep the truck moving up the hill. To say it was muddy would be a major understatement. There were times when there was so much water streaming down the center of the track that I fully expected to see kayaks enjoying a romp down the rapids we were ascending. The mud was horrific covering the truck with a coat of runny goo - very attractive. It was a white-knuckle affair at times, wrestling the big Ford up seemingly endless climbs through the slick muck. Eventually, we did make it safely back to Roy and Patou's place (our landlords). The snow had even stopped up there!
*Friday night, we received the first of the framing quotes. We have only invited a couple of companies to bid the job as we weren't comfortable having just anyone do it for us, but instead met with a couple of builders recommended to us by people we knew and trusted. We are expecting the second quote on Tuesday this week (March 15th). Both builders have indicated that they are ready to go now, as soon as we have our building permit. So it looks likes whoever we chose, work on the basement will be commencing in the next 2 or 3 weeks. That's very exciting!
We usually expect the weather up at our property to be similar to that in Knutsford as the elevations above sea level are nearly identical at 1,040 metres. Today, however, that was not the case. No snow had fallen and both Robbins Range and Campbell Range Roads were in pretty good shape. The first part of our driveway through the Crown Land quarter section was quite good as well thanks to all the crushed rock that Jayson's guys had installed in the swampy areas. The gate had dropped down onto it's proper position on the hinge so I could tell that the ground was thawing. That would prove foreshadowing as the lower portions of the driveway proper were getting quite soft and muddy. Thank goodness for our 4x4 truck! There were only a couple of tense moments when we slowed as the tires lost grip before the big diesel just sucked it up and pulled us through. It was a confidence inspiring ride. The upper portion of the driveway still had some snow and ice covering it so the ground hadn't thawed as much underneath. Joey normally flies up the hill leading our vehicle all the way to the house site. Today, with all the gooey muck, she had slowed to a walk by the time we got to the top.
We only spent a few minutes enjoying the view this day as we had to get home and rescue the bread dough from the bread machine. We were making dinner rolls today to enjoy with Carol's awesome spare ribs and had to get them out of the machine before they rose too much rendering the machine an unusable, gooey mess (don't ask how we know this!).
On the way home, we took Campbell Creek Road, eliminating a return to Kamloops before heading back to Knutsford. Alex hadn't been down that way before and it is quite a scenic little valley. After hitting Hwy. 5A, we turned left up Jackson Road. Our current place is also on Jackson Road but the road is not maintained past our place, so this lower 7km section can be dicey.
I could tell by Alex's giggling that he was enjoying my efforts to keep the truck moving up the hill. To say it was muddy would be a major understatement. There were times when there was so much water streaming down the center of the track that I fully expected to see kayaks enjoying a romp down the rapids we were ascending. The mud was horrific covering the truck with a coat of runny goo - very attractive. It was a white-knuckle affair at times, wrestling the big Ford up seemingly endless climbs through the slick muck. Eventually, we did make it safely back to Roy and Patou's place (our landlords). The snow had even stopped up there!
*Friday night, we received the first of the framing quotes. We have only invited a couple of companies to bid the job as we weren't comfortable having just anyone do it for us, but instead met with a couple of builders recommended to us by people we knew and trusted. We are expecting the second quote on Tuesday this week (March 15th). Both builders have indicated that they are ready to go now, as soon as we have our building permit. So it looks likes whoever we chose, work on the basement will be commencing in the next 2 or 3 weeks. That's very exciting!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Bonfire
Jayson visited me at the store on Friday and indicated that he was basically done what he could do at the property until some of the snow melted off and we received our building permit. He has finished hauling all the sand and gravel up for the drainage around the foundation and basement. The sand will also pad the trench holding the water pipe from the well down to the cistern by the house. So now...we wait. It is only three weeks until we get our building permit. That realization has grabbed our attention. We need to get the ball rolling on a number of fronts. First, we need to decide on colours for the exterior siding, trim and roofing materials and then we need to actually order the house! Linwood tells us that once ordered, it takes 6-8 weeks before the house is ready to ship to the site. We want to start building sometime in May - as soon as the load restrictions placed on the soft, thawing roads are lifted. Then we can get concrete trucks up to the site for the basement and foundation pours. Soon after that happens, we can actually start framing the house.
We will be using Certainteed ColorMax fiber cement siding and Certainteed Landmark roof shingles so we will be looking for some local installations of these products to help us with our decision.
On Saturday, Carol and I went up to the property for our weekly visit and to install the hideous black and yellow "No Trespassing" sign on the gate. We want to discourage "tourists" who might be tempted to drive away with some of our materials! Being a little warmer than recent visits, we thought it might be nice to have a small bonfire and spend some time just enjoying the views. We had packed the new Stihl 290 chainsaw and found a suitable fallen tree. I limbed it off and cut it into two foot lengths (bucking) and built a small bonfire on top of the snow near the house site. A little diesel fuel from the gerry can helped get it started. It was very satisfying to enjoy the warmth of the fire while standing just a few feet from where our new home will be built. We are both very excited at the prospect of getting started with the build. Here's hoping all continues to go according to plan.
We will be using Certainteed ColorMax fiber cement siding and Certainteed Landmark roof shingles so we will be looking for some local installations of these products to help us with our decision.
 |
| Carol with the bonfire on March 5, 2011 |
On Saturday, Carol and I went up to the property for our weekly visit and to install the hideous black and yellow "No Trespassing" sign on the gate. We want to discourage "tourists" who might be tempted to drive away with some of our materials! Being a little warmer than recent visits, we thought it might be nice to have a small bonfire and spend some time just enjoying the views. We had packed the new Stihl 290 chainsaw and found a suitable fallen tree. I limbed it off and cut it into two foot lengths (bucking) and built a small bonfire on top of the snow near the house site. A little diesel fuel from the gerry can helped get it started. It was very satisfying to enjoy the warmth of the fire while standing just a few feet from where our new home will be built. We are both very excited at the prospect of getting started with the build. Here's hoping all continues to go according to plan.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Paperwork...yuck!
It's been a good couple of days on the always exciting paperwork front. Yesterday, Tim delivered our "pink sheet" from his preliminary tests for our septic system and then later in the day, Celeste from BC Home Protection emailed with our Owner Builder Authorization. Yay! These were the two items holding up our application for a building permit.
I ran down the street to Universal Reproductions and had them print 2 sets of the latest plans from Jim at Linwood Homes. These new drawings included the trapezoidal window in the ensuite that was missing from the earlier plans.
So, this morning with plans, completed building permit applications, septic "pink sheet" and Owner-Builder Authorization all in hand, I went down to the TNRD offices and applied for our building permit. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes! Leanne was great. She explained everything and printed us a copy of the charges we could expect to pay once the application was approved and was optimistic that we would have the permit within 3 weeks - Double Yay! Two hundred dollars lighter, I returned triumphantly to the office dreaming of sitting on our deck, admiring the spectacular view and sipping on a nice Merlot. It's nice to savour a small victory every now and then. It keeps us motivated!
I ran down the street to Universal Reproductions and had them print 2 sets of the latest plans from Jim at Linwood Homes. These new drawings included the trapezoidal window in the ensuite that was missing from the earlier plans.
So, this morning with plans, completed building permit applications, septic "pink sheet" and Owner-Builder Authorization all in hand, I went down to the TNRD offices and applied for our building permit. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes! Leanne was great. She explained everything and printed us a copy of the charges we could expect to pay once the application was approved and was optimistic that we would have the permit within 3 weeks - Double Yay! Two hundred dollars lighter, I returned triumphantly to the office dreaming of sitting on our deck, admiring the spectacular view and sipping on a nice Merlot. It's nice to savour a small victory every now and then. It keeps us motivated!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)