July 28 2005, Here we go again!

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Site Work

The septic system is almost completed. Here’s a picture of it before it was backfilled.

Nearly covered, an access pipe still needs to be installed. This will allow access for the "honey wagon" when it is full.

The leach lines are underneath that black fabric that protects dirt and debris from entering the leach lines. The leach line is just a perforated PVC pipe that rest on a bed of gravel to allow for drainage.

Delivery

The delivery of the modules will probably happen on 11th of August.

Here are some more photos of the modules:

A picture of two of our modules waiting to be delivered

The kitchen window that was redesigned at the last minute.

The front entry. The walls are primed and will be painted on site. That hole in the wall that has since been covered up is an access panel for the hydronic in-floor heating.

Foundation

The foundation is completed and not without its problems. To make a long story short, we had to fire the foundation contractor after the stem wall pour. He failed to show up to finish the job. We found an awesome carpenter with the help of Tianter General and he finished the sill plates and the remaining knee-wall in two days. I don’t seem to have a photo of the foundation but I will update and elaborate tomorrow. I think this is the most interesting aspect of our project currently since the sill plate is built differently in order to accept the modules without perfectly aligning the foundation anchor bolts with the modules… which are already built and in Utah!

I shouldn’t have said that the foundation is complete because we are still in the process of fixing many of the embedments that the foundation contractor misplaced. We’ve had to retrofit a few anchor bolts, cut out an extra foundation vent and we are now working on solving a new problem with the hold down straps. One strap was placed in the doorway of our pantry! It seems that the other straps weren’t measured (or measured at all?) and their locations vary from the plans as much as a couple of feet. We have a couple of weeks to sort it out with the help of Tianter General, which by the way is the foundation contractor that we really wanted to hire but were persuaded by a lower bidder.

Set Crew

We've had to find a new set crew. It has been incredibly challenging to find an available set crew in Southern California since summer is a very busy time for them. Usually, modular home manufacturers send their own set crew, so there aren’t too many companies who do modular home setting independently. A set crew is responsible for the groundwork (prepping, strapping, guiding, nailing the module) during a modular house set and their presence is necessary since the crane operator cannot do it on his (or her) own.

After calling scores of contractors (as well as crane companies for referrals) I found Sturdy Built in Thousand Oaks who were interested in helping out on our project. Although they are very busy for the duration of the summer, the owner promised to work with our GC to find a solution for us.

Sturdy Built offered to send their set crew foreman and a couple of their available workers, although they don’t have the manpower for a full set crew. They also invited us to observe a modular set next week, which I think will help illuminate the process. This is the perfect solution for us since it gives our team the knowledge and personnel to get the job done right. When we first got the bad news, our GC was certain that he wanted to handle the set crew himself anyway and we feel really good that we are now working toward a solution.

Money, again

We are again short and we have to have our project reappraised. I want to thank Marshall here at LiveModern for putting us in touch with Isaac Lassiter of Cutting Edge Homes who is helping to find an appraiser who is familiar with modular homes. We can only borrow 80% of the appraisal value and hopefully with a fair appraisal we’ll be able to unlock more money to complete the project.

We’ve been in contact with a lot of helpful people while we’ve been trying to sort out these problems and I feel very grateful for their knowledge. The very least I can do is link to their information.

It seems like we’re in the stage of a construction project when it’s very important to remain optimistic. I think it is really easy to despair, especially when it’s your own home. After reading through some of my old entries, I realize that nothing is unfixable and that we always have options. With some luck, we’ll have all these issues resolved within a few days and we’ll be ready to set the house!