May 9, 2005 Fire Department Approval (!) & Much More

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Permitting

The Fire Department clerk called late Friday and left a message informing us that our plans were ready to be picked up. I was certain that this meant that there was a set of corrections ready, but was pleasantly surprised that it was their final approval. I cannot tell you how happy I am that we are cleared with them.

We also received approval from the Grading & Drainage and the Fuel Modification departments last week.

The only thing left is Building & Safety's approval. I spent all day last Friday putting together all the necessary information for the plan checker. He wasn't able to review our permit application until we had the CA State aproved stamped plans (I only received them last Friday afternoon). David spoke with the Building & Safety plan checker this morning and he said that he will review our plans on Wednesday and hopefully we'll have our permits on Thursday.

It was over three months ago that we initially submitted our permits!

Clearing

Our final phase of clearing the property will be complete on Sunday. Our property was a total mess when we first bought it and we've been slowly cleaning it up.

Before

Most recent clearing

Nevermind the dead brush in the last photo. The last two pictures were taken facing east.

We're renting our second roll-off and hiring the local backhoe guy to take out all the stumps, dead bushes and other undesirables this Saturday. The main objective is to clear out all the vegetation to comply with the approved Fuel Modification Plan. Everything that is being removed is non-native, sick or dead. After construction is complete, we'll replace those open areas with hardy, native species. The new plants will also restore the privacy that we enjoyed earlier on the property.

Foundation

We're waiting for our contract from the foundation contractor. We revised the bid to exclude the recompaction service and the contractor was able to come down a couple thousand dollars for the foundation work. The total amount for the foundation should probably be around $22,500, which is $5,000 less than the first bid.

Hopefully, the foundation work will start within a week or so.

Factory

Things are really progressing at the factory. The framing and electrical is complete; the plumbing is nearly done and the windows are due to arrive next Monday.

We're paying our second installment of $21,000 this week. Whenever a payment is made to the factory, they send pictures verifying the work was done. Hopefully I'll have new photos to post later today or tomorrow.

The factory thinks that our house will leave the factory the 2nd or 3rd week of June. We're really excited and a little panicky about the close timing and we're trying our best to line everything up.

The factory owner and his son, who is building our home, will fly out to Southern California on the day of the setting just to make sure everything runs smoothly. I am really surprised and pleased that they'll be here the day of the setting.

Crane Contractors

I had a bit of trouble finding a crane company experienced with modular homes close enough to our site. I managed to find a company located in Ventura who is very experienced with modular homes. I'm meeting a guy on the property on Wednesday to set up a bid. I really hope it works out with our budget since I had a tough time finding them in the first place.

In order to receive a quote, he needs: to look at the site to determine its acessibility; weights of the modules (this is generally 450 pounds per lineal foot); and a diagram of the module arrangement. Thanks to Gregory La Vardera, this was included with our elevations.

Fixtures

Ikea

I've completed revising the final order and I'm just waiting for the corrected changes. We need a complete and correct invoice for the construction loan draw. I am sooo sick of looking at Ikea products right now. I am so well-versed in their product line, I probably know as much as the Home Furnishing Consultant. I'm not exactly proud of this.

iFloor.com

David and I decided to go with cork planks after much contemplation. When I put together a supply list for linoleum flooring, I realized installing it would be laborious and would result in a thicker floor than the cork planks. We were trying to find a thin floor that wouldn't block the heat from the heated floors.

I got a really great deal too. iFloor had a sale price of $2.59 sf this weekend on the very product we plan to purchase. They kindly extended the price for us for 14 days, which gives us ample time to get our lender to wire them the money.