Making a home in limbo

Our house looks like an episode of hoarders. Since the loan process turned into a slow, painful slog, we slowed down on packing.  While we intend to pick up the pace again starting this week, our previous push left our house as an almost unlivable pit.

What was once my formal living room.

Loki is happy I haven't covered the
couch in boxes...yet.

This weekend, we made a concerted effort to create a couple of "safe" rooms that are clean and relatively uncluttered.  I am sure that as we kick the packing process into overdrive, this will change, but for now, we can breath again. In the meantime, we have started using our trailer.  It's neat and tidy out there - and quiet!

The Peanut and I started doing our school work out there a few weeks ago.  Once the weather stopped acting like Seattle, it turned into a pleasant place to work.  We have found the table to be a little small -- it's not even half the size of our kitchen table -- but we are finding ways to compensate.  I do fear what it will be like in the Fall when we start with larger scale projects again.  We are on the wind-down with our school year, so we're done with those for now.

Our first day of trailer school.

The space is fine for one or two smallish things at a time.

The two biggest drawbacks of doing anything out in the trailer are the lack of power and the lack of water/bathroom. The car battery attached to it allows us to turn on lights, listen to the stereo, and open/close the awning.  Nothing can be plugged in and, of course, no air conditioning.  Hook ups will happen once we get the loan squared away, but the need to conserve money trumps convenience.

Since we are in the wind down for the school year, it's also time for me to write up our school progress report.  All the school stuff is in the trailer and I need to work in the house because my laptop battery cannot survive for more than 15 minutes without dying.  

My school supplies....

...culled from this.  Needless to say, we're running lean
going into next year.

I started the report a couple of weeks ago and got frustrated that every time I needed something, I needed to either run out to the trailer or make a note in the report to come back to it later.  So enter our latest exercise in trailer trash living:

Is this thing on?!

We bought a $2 piece of foam that's meant for air conditioners to keep the bugs out and ran a 100 foot extension cord from the house.  I now have a small fan and my laptop plugged in with tunes going on the trailer stereo (which is bluetooth, so Google Play on my phone FTW).  No more running back and forth to grab a book that I need.  And now, I should stop procrastinating and get that report done.

The other end that orange extension cord.

Not a bad workspace.

The Slow Wheels of Progress

It's official: We've been working on this home renovation project for just over 17 months now. I thought I'd put together a timeline of highlights of what we've done up to this point.

I have a notebook to track calls and contacts that I make, which I flipped through while typing up this post. The first mention of architects is on January 20, 1996, when I emailed Mike Hally of Michael Hally Design to start asking questions about the design process. By April 2016, we had a preliminary design settled and drawings in progress.

In May 2016, we started talking with Mike about setbacks, surveyors, and building contractors. Our idea was to rework the design and push things back so we wouldn't need to file a petition for a variance with the Zoning Board of Appeals. We abandoned that plan after a few sketches, plus the fact that we have a steep drop in the back yard, so we didn't have much room to push things back.

In June, I switched jobs, which slowed down progress on the home renovation project. I went from taking the train to Boston to driving into Worcester, saving me an hour each way on my commute. Also in June, we got the Bid Drawings in hand so we could get quotes from contractors.

On Wednesday, July 6, 2016, I called the three contractors and the three surveyors Mike had recommended. Things started to get real at around this point. We had meetings with everyone and waited for quotes to come back.

The dumpster in all its glory.

In August, I called for quotes on a 30 yard dumpster so we could throw out some of the piles of crap that had accumulated after 18 years in the house. In early September, we had the dumpster on site and filled it admirably well. We also paid for some space at the town-wide yard sale on the common on Labor Day weekend, clearing out further piles of crap and making a little money. (We splurged on a Playstation 4 with most of the yard sale proceeds.)

That big dead pine tree needed to go.

In September, we paid Trillium Tree to take down a couple of trees and a few low-hanging branches, clearing the way for construction. Somewhere around here, we chose Johnson Building & Remodeling as our contractor. They offered a competitive quote and made us feel at ease. Scott would manage the project and George would head up the construction effort. It's a small company, but they felt right, and they've been very patient and responsive with us so far.

On Wednesday, September 14, 2016, I made a pile of calls to banks, looking for a construction loan. We had a builder, we had a quote for the work, now we needed the means to pay for it. We ended up going with TD Bank, largely because of the commitment to constant communication by our local loan specialist, Jeff.

In October and November, we had the land surveyed and staked. We had to go back and modify the plot plan a couple of times to support the Zoning Board of Appeals application. It turns out we own more land than I thought we did, though not much of it is usable thanks to a steep slope.

Also in November I started calling well companies. We're planning on building a garage on top of our abandoned well, so we needed to fill it and cap it properly. Winter happened, so this would get pushed off until the spring.

In December, we were moving along in the loan process to an appraisal as we filed the petition for a hearing with the Zoning Board of Appeals. In January 2017, we had a ZBA hearing date set for February, so we needed to take out legal ads in the Telegram and send 11 certified letters to abutters with notifications. Since the ZBA meeting was set so late, we decided to stop the loan process and restart it with the ZBA approval in hand. I learned plenty about what the bank needed for a construction loan, but I was still confused as to why the appraisal process seemed to happen last instead of first. More later on this.

On Monday, February 13, 2017, it snowed just enough overnight to close the town offices. Since the town offices were closed, our ZBA hearing was cancelled. The one big thing we were waiting on needed to be rescheduled. And since various members of the board were on vacation through February and most of March, the hearing was rescheduled for March 27, a delay of 6 weeks. Looks like we wouldn't start construction in the spring like we wanted.

In March, I started to track down Builder's Risk Insurance. In April, we had the approval letter from the ZBA in hand, so we could start the wheels moving forward once again. We restarted the loan process, and started getting serious about cleaning the house out. I reached out to the Department of Conservation and Recreation to start requesting an Advisory Ruling, because a corner of our property is within 400 feet of a tributary that empties into Wachusett Reservoir.

Digging down to cap the well.

In April, I started getting quotes for storage units, either onsite or in a central location. It turns out having a storage container onsite is much cheaper. We started shopping for a trailer to live in, and we got the official OK from the selectmen to allow us to live in the trailer during construction. We also lined up someone to fill and cap the well, which they did on May 1st.

In May, I lined up Stationary Insurance for the trailer, and we signed that loan and took delivery. Between the appraisal and credit check, and in talking with Jeff, we knew the trailer loan would make it tight for affording the construction loan, but it seemed doable. I also nailed down the Builder's Risk insurance, to be paid and in effect when we sign the construction loan. We also received the official OK to build from the DCR.

In June, the appraisal came back. We heard that it wouldn't be a problem, and the first number we heard was right in line with what we needed. The final appraisal amount came in 30% lower than the first number, to which everyone involved said, "WHUT?" That value wouldn't even cover the amount of the loan we're asking for.

This weekend, Christina tracked down comparable sold properties in the area that support a much higher property value and compiled a list. This morning, I sent the appraisal appeal form in, and we'll see what happens next. We may get all the money we're asking for, or we may need to modify the project to afford it. Cross your fingers, folks.

It's been a long road so far, and we haven't even broken ground on the construction part of it.

"Buckle up, kids, it's gonna be a heck of a ride."

Adding Some Stability

I got ambitious over the weekend and played with concrete blocks.

I had a few blocks left over after the support piers went up, so I took about 90 minutes to dig up the grass and pound the blocks level. The bottom landing doesn't move all that much when you stand on it now. The stairs sit on the cinder blocks, so they don't move either. I'll get some wider shims or shingles for the stairs to sit on, since all I had were a couple of really thin shims which won't last.

It's not perfect, but it's functional and stable. I'm really proud that I managed to put this thing together. And hey, it survived the past 2 days of rain.

I charged the trailer battery again today. We get about 3.5 days before the battery dies, as it's powering the clock on the entertainment center and the carbon monoxide detector. Can't wait until we can schedule the power hookup.

The Story So Far...

We've been told that once we get through the process of a complete home renovation, we could write a book. Instead, we decided upon a blog to document our journey. Who knows?  In ten years, we might look back on this whole experience and have a good laugh. Let's start with what's happened so far, shall we?

So why would you even do this to yourselves?!

Good question. For years, I have dreamed of having my own teaching space. Right now, I teach in the choir room at the church that I attend and also work/volunteer at. It's nice space, but it has its challenges because it is a shared space. Also, we bought our house as a fixer-upper special. We did some of the work that was required and then ran out of money. Over the years, we had other priorities and didn't give the house the love that it deserved, so it needs updates.

My teaching space.  Nice piano and big room, but I have to share it with Creepy
Mozart. He lives in the shadow box over there on the filing cabinets.

Two years ago, we decided it was time to do something. Move or stay put? Moving meant sinking some money into our house so it would be "market ready", plus we would have to mess around with Title V septic system stuff (also costly). Then, when we found our next house, unless we got really, really lucky, we would still need to do renovation work to make a studio space for me. How many houses do you know that have a big open space with a separate entrance, a bathroom, waiting area, and sound proofing? If we stayed, we wanted to create our dream house because we have no intention of moving any time soon. This may cost more money (maybe) than moving, but we have a great location -- just a few doors down from Tower Hill Botanical Garden in a relatively quiet little town. After quite a bit of discussion and researching the housing market, we decided to stay put.

We hired an architect and designed our dream home to be built on the bones of the existing house. Our cape will become a gambrel colonial.  Our segmented first floor will become an open floor plan. And we will have an addition that creates a studio space for me and gives us a two car garage. Designs were done by Fall of 2016 and we found a great contractor shortly thereafter.

Drawing of the front of the house.

The downstairs.  Check out my swank music studio in the back.
And a two car garage -- no more shoveling out cars!!!

And the upstairs.  Look at those bee-yoo-tee-ful walk-in closets.

Here's where I am going to take a moment and recommend our architect, Mike Halley. He's a really nice guy and is awesome at taking your requirements/wish list and turning it into a solid plan.

Work Starts in March and Other Adventures

Our house is too close to the road. It's not the house's fault. The town widened our road long before we bought the house. This means that any work we do requires us to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals.  ZBA application work was done in December before the holidays. Meanwhile, the contractor gives pencils us into the work schedule for March. Before loans can be applied for and permits pulled, we have to have our stamp of approval by the ZBA. In hindsight, this is something that we should have moved on more quickly.

Too close!!

Mid-January, we have a meeting scheduled with the ZBA and we run the legal notice in the paper and send out all the certified letters to our neighbors about it. The day of the meeting in February, we get a snowstorm. Meeting canceled. And it can't be rescheduled until late March because one of the board members is a snowbird and is in Florida. So much for our timeline.  

The contractor pushed our start date out to the beginning of June. Our meeting finally happened on March 27th where the design was approved. We got our official notice (after the requisite waiting period after the meeting) in April. Construction loan application is started.

This is where we learn that construction loans are bigger pains than a standard mortgage. And here's where we sit, waiting on the bank. This is a slow process. If the appraiser approves of the work and the bank doesn't want to dicker over the payment schedule with the construction company, it looks like we'll probably close mid-June.  This means we lose our current slot on our contractor's schedule, so stay tuned when the actual start date is.

Trailer Trash

Given that the house will have it's entire second story removed to create a colonial, we cannot stay in the house. The construction is slated to take approximately 5 months, so couch surfing, staying at the in-laws, and a tent in the backyard were not options. We decided to obtain an RV Trailer and park it in our yard. The construction company is happy because we'll be there to answer questions. We're happy because we can keep a close eye on things.

Picking out the trailer was the easy part. We went with the biggest one we could afford.

Roughly 320 Square Feet of Living Space for 3 humans
and 2 cats (one of which is flatulent).

It turns out that buying a trailer is actually easier than buying a car.  The process from beginning to end was painless.  Delivery has been a whole 'nother ball of wax.

On Wednesday, the Trailer Delivery Guy showed up around the time he said he would (8:30am). After he and Wombat disassembled the swing set, he backed our shiny new trailer into its spot more easily than I can back my CRV into the driveway. This is when he tells us that in order to set it up permanently, we need 55 cinder blocks and some wood to make piers. (This will keep movement to a minimum when we walk around in it, etc). He tells is to go get the stuff and he'll come back and do the set up.

Side note: This is the first time we are hearing this in spite of countless phone calls and several visits to the dealership. They knew it was being parked in a yard and not on a pad in a campground.

So off we go to Home Depot. When we arrive, we are told all the rental delivery trucks are out, but one will be back within the hour. We go to find someone to help us collect the blocks and the wood. Once it's all done an hour has elapsed.

Another side note:  Y'know those big shelves that Home Depot has?  The ones they put palettes of big heavy stuff on? So apparently, they are supposed to rotate the palettes so the heavy stuff never ends up all the way in the back because then you can't reach the heavy stuff nor can you use a forklift to get it down because...physics.  Our concrete blocks were sitting at the back of one of those palettes on the second shelf up.  The Home Depot guy had to climb up on the palettes and retrieve them one at a time with the help of another Home Depot guy, all while telling us how this goes against regulation.  This is why it took an hour to get our stuff.

Materials collected and paid for, Wombat returns to the desk where you rent the truck. Initially he's told there is one, but jk.  The one in the parking lot is actually slated for a grill delivery.  After briefly pondering how badly we would break the CRV with all those blocks, he leaves me to hang by our carts of stuff and goes down the street to Budget and rents a box truck. While waiting for what seemed like hours, I had one old lady question whether I was helping Trump build his wall. An older gentleman wanted to know who would let a "little lady" do the hard labor that these materials would require. Plus general stink eye because, god forbid, you had to take an extra 5 steps to walk around me.

55 concrete blocks.  3 Carts of stuff.

Once home, Wombat calls the trailer place to let them know Trailer Delivery Guy that we were good to go.  The Trailer Delivery Guy Scheduler informs Wombat that Trailer Delivery Guy actually had to go do something else for the afternoon, but maybe he'd be back in time to take care of it.  Or maybe it will be tomorrow.  (It turned out it would be the next day - much later than they said it would be).

The two hour estimate for delivery, set up, and walk through, actually turned out to need several days to get it done.  This is just the pre-game.  I can't wait to see how the actual construction will go.

Trailer Walk Through

With the tiny house movement in full swing, I know many people who are excited (or at least morbidly curious) about how one goes from a full size house down to an oversized garden shed with a bathroom.  Wonder no more, my friends. While the better part of this blog will be about the fun and excitement of construction, I am sure that the experience of trailer living will come up on occasion.

Before we move in and make a mess of things, let's explore our trailer, shall we?

We selected a 2017 Keystone Retreat Loft Destination Trailer. The trailer measures 40ft 8inches in length and is a little over 13 feet tall on the outside.  Interior ceiling height is 8ft.  Wombat is 6' 4", so this was a big selling point for him.  It features a master bedroom with a king size bed and a loft that can sleep two.  It also has a huge (by trailer standards) open living space with kitchen, dining area, and living room.  Price wise, this was a mid-range trailer.  Cheaper trailers were smaller with lower ceilings.  The kitchens and furniture were not as nice/comfortable either.

The trailer has 2 propane tanks for heat, cooking, and hot water.  Water can also be heated electrically.  It has a small back-up battery that can run the lights and expand the bump outs.  (We have 3 of those).

Welcome to the trailer!  This is the view as you come into the sliding door.

The kitchen has plenty of storage space, a full sized fridge, an island, and a 3 burner stove.  The stove is really the only thing that makes the trailer kitchen any different from a regular small kitchen.  The oven is tiny, so I won't be doing much baking.

The living and dining area has a pull-out sleeper love seat and side-by-side recliners with center console.  Unlike most other trailers we looked at, this one has a table and chairs.  Most trailers have something that looks like a restaurant booth.  We also have a full entertainment system and gas log fireplace, which will be nice come the fall.

The master bedroom.  The really big closet will be used for clothes right now, but can hold a top & bottom washer and dryer.  The bed platform lifts up for additional storage.

The loft will be the Peanut's domain.  She plans on keeping the two foam mattresses stacked for extra sleepy cushioning.  The open side is big enough to accommodate her IKEA drawers, so she's all set for clothing space.  The platform in the front corner of the room can hold a small TV, but she plans to use it as a workspace.  

And finally the bathroom.  It's positively palatial compared to other trailer bathrooms.  You cannot sit on the potty and brush your teeth in our bathroom.  We do need to work out where we can hang up hooks for wet towels because they failed to include those with the final product.

Plans are afoot to create an outdoor living space, but we need to work with the contractors so we aren't in their way.  

Also, all the post-it notes you see in the above pictures are a function of my OCD.  I have begun planning what will go where.  I was pleasantly surprised that after going through the first pass with mostly kitchen, homeschool stuff, and linen storage, I still have some space to spare.