Week 1: Already over budget by 25%!

For some reason they won't give me the keys...

The title of this post is a wee bit facetious, but only a bit. Though we did our best to research costs prior to starting this project, there are just a lot of things we could only guess at. We knew we were in an expensive part of the country, but most of the bids we've gotten have been in the range of 100-400% more than we guessed they might be. Queue "belt-tightening."

Our grading contractor has been FANTASTIC and is willing to work with us on an hourly basis, which means we carry the risk if something crops up. Cropping began on day one when the soils engineer requested a much pricier building pad technique than had been anticipated. FUN! The good news is that the two days of work the grading crew has done so far on the driveway, basic scraping, and swale has clipped along at quite a good pace, so maybe we've made up for some of the extra cost of the pad work.

John digs in

Well, there is no turning back now! We're still planning to do as much of the work ourselves as possible, and thought it may be rice-and-beans for many dinners to come, if we're eating on our little plot of paradise, that is OK by us.

Permits R Us... let the deluge begin!

We finally received clearance for our grading permit, which ironically is one of the first permits you need to start a project, but the last we we were able to lock up (we were OK'd for subsequent permits, like the actual building permit months ago). YAY!

Thanks to us, the worst drought in recorded history and many months without a drop of rain were brought to an immediate halt. Within two days the storms began, and the prediction for this next bout is 10 inches of rain, flooding, etc. OK, so the drought is not even remotely over, but at least we played our part!

In between raindrops the engineers staked the lot so the graders will know where to put the driveway and building pads, and how much to "cut" and how much to "fill." I'm kind of amazed at how much variation in elevation there is in what to me seems like a big old flat field.

Today, in between storms, John and I hope to put some of the storm water mitigation into place. The county doesn't want our construction goo to run into our neighbor's plots or into the roadways so we have to do a bunch of things to contain the dirt and water. Today: Straw Waddles! Unfortunately, since I picked such a convenient time for my reconstructive surgery and can't lift more than 10lbs for the next month, John will have to do all the actual labor. Luckily, I am well versed in pointing, barking directions, and sounding like I know what I'm talking about so I'll be able to support John in this endeavor in the way only a wife can.