Seriously. Yes we dithered with our decision on the builder (and funnily enough we went with one of the first builders that we first talked to before Christmas after all that), but I can’t believe we are 10 weeks in. Did I miss a week? Sometimes we just don’t have any energy left to talk reno after a day of work (it is a little stressful) so we make most of our decisions on Sunday’s which is the only day Sarah and I have off together. It is also sometimes nice to talk about something other than the reno. We both have a little COVID fatigue and after spending all day in front of our computers in our home office, we don’t get too excited about answering reno emails and doing research. Everything moves at it’s own pace
So here we are.
We booked our house scan with Measure Masters this week but they are backed up so can’t actually come for a couple of weeks. Luckily i can’t see people roll their eyes when i say, “How’s Monday?” as if i am their only customer. Apparently the reno business is booming as everyone spends more time at home looking at all the things that need doing. We need to get the scan and the “as built” plans before the architect can start on his drawings so we are not going to get to that for a few more weeks Bummer. I definitely would have done that earlier had i known. It isn’t magic and does not have to go through your builder or architect. You can pay $50 to do a search with the City of Vancouver but that is only useful if someone pulled a permit at some point since 1979 so we didn’t bother. If you think it is a possibility it is a great deal because we are now spending $661 and have to wait a few weeks.
We are also waiting to get an official site survey done that will link up to the city’s GIS system and provide elevations. Apparently we need to get the corner pins reset because there aren’t any. Or they are old. Or something. So what was an unexpected cost of $2000 to $3000 is now an unexpected cost of $4900. We are off to a great start. This is how budgets get trashed. 1% at a time…. What are the chances the rest go smoother?
In other news..
We got our EnerGuide report back from Peter at City Green. It is much fancier than the one we got in 2005 but lines up pretty well despite them having changed the way the rating works. In the past the higher the number, the more energy efficient your house was. Now it is the opposite. Our rating of 120 indicates that we use 120 GJ/year of energy.
After we get the renos done, someone from City Green will come back and tell us how we did. They estimate that if we do all of their recommended upgrades (we likely won’t) we will reduce our GHG’s by 2.9 tonnes a year. There were a few inconsistencies like saying that we only have 20% of the main floor walls insulated. I’d say it is closer to 40% but oh well. Most of it is pretty accurate. We will be fixing the foundation, windows and hopefully the main walls so we will get most of it done. Jury is out about the attic spaces. Air leakage was a big one and i hope that the new foundation and a few other changes make a big difference there.
Once we are done our drawings apparently we need to send them a copy for review and they do another report that goes in to the city.
When I am not on the sofa…
I managed to get a couple of sessions in on the shingles this weekend despite the wind and rain that kept moving through. I can’t do more than a couple of hours at a time in my hazmat kit so i do a bit each day and wash it when i am done. I don’t take a break because i don’t want to eat or drink when i might have asbestos fibres on me. I know that I am likely being a bit of a nervous nelly but i also don’t have the strength to be climbing the ladder, pulling nails and swinging around the shingles like a 25 year old for 4 hours at a stretch. I go out between my first and second latte and work up a bit of a sweat until i either need some water or a bathroom break then come in, strip off in the laundry room, have a shower then relax on the sofa with my coffee.
I am almost done the foundation portions on the west side (east and front were done a decade ago when the front porch fell off the house) and I think i have done 5 sessions so far. My technique is getting a bit better and more are coming off whole because i am pulling the nails rather than prying them. The remaining basement shingles on this west side are now all a pain in the butt: there are some behind the gas meter, under the phone and cable boxes, and they are all caulked into place around the window. I might just work around all that for now if I can. I also took some off on the front porch when i noticed the rain and am feeling a lot better about my progress.
I also managed to bake a couple of loaves of bread and the best damn hot cross buns i have ever had.
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