Drainage Thing

I don't know what this contraption is for exactly (It's a drainage system of some sort), but I do know that it is costing us $1800 that wasn't accounted for in our original budget (thank you city of Lakewood for this requirement) and worse...no never mind the $1800 is pretty bad...no the next part may be worse...that green thing might be sticking up in our yard even after grading and grass is put in. What!

Wired for Sound

Ben is wiring the downstairs and back patio for speakers. The first time he did it the inspector made him take it out because he said that the wire was not up to code. So Ben got a different kind of wire - that looked pretty much the same and wired the patio. He wasn't about to let the money and work he had already put into the interior wiring go to waste however so it became a matter of timing to be able to use the existing 'illegal" wire. He had to go back into the crawlspace again to take his wire out and up the ladder to undo multiple sections of stapled in wire. Then he had to wait until after the insulation inspection but get it in before the sheetrock was in. So he basically worked along with the drywallers trying to be one step ahead of them. They were pretty fast so he had to ask them to cut out one section to get his wire at one point but they were helpful. And I've never seen a construction worker with a doctors mask and eye protection they might wear in surgery. He looked like he was about to perform knee surgery. Which I guess makes me the nurse...I'd better get that drill - stat! (for the record I have never heard Ben say "stat", I think that just might be a tv doctor thing)

In case of hurricane

There are 37 of these tie downs on the house. They are embedded in the foundation and go 4' into the studs of the frame. Because we chose to move the location of a window the top 4 inches of one had to be removed. The consequence? The inspector wouldn't pass it off, even though the engineer said it was fine. A day and a half worth of work and three machine rentals to drill a 1 1/2" steel rod into the foundation. Now we'll be safe in case a hurricane hits the Pacific Northwest. In the meantime it delays our build by a week.

On the right is Bob hard at work.

Love to hate

Why do some people love to hate? At times it seems as if there are people involved in this build that have nothing more in mind than to obstruct progress. Unfortunately one of these people happens to be the inspector assigned to our project by the city of Lakewood. Anytime he comes out there he finds something of zero consequence to identify that inevitably holds up work. No work can continue until he gives his blessing. Unfortunately that often requires repeat visits from subs which equals extra days and more money. Currently he is demanding an on-site meeting w/ the engineer about some structural changes that had to be made. Of course, the engineer is out of town on vacation right now. Why cannot this be done via correspondence? Because then the inspector would not feel like he is flexing his muscle of authority. So we wait.

Nailing Patterns & Certified Mail

So our windows and siding are supposed to be going on tomorrow but there is an inspection hold up. Something about the nailing pattern used as well as a missing beam? Whatever the problem is exactly, the inspector won't let the framing be covered up by siding until the issue is resolved with the approval of an engineer. The engineering company that we used had to downsize and they now only employ one engineer. And he is on vacation.

Meanwhile I keep getting certified mail deliveries from law firms, which after the threat of a lien makes my skin crawl everytime. They all say somewhere near the top that THIS IS NOT A LIEN and then proceed in legalese to sound like legal action is being taken but what they really are is due warning that the company who is hired to perform service for us has the right to put a lien on our house should we fail to pay. I don't know if this is business as usual for building a house or if word got out that we might not be good to pay.