Pay To Play.

I should probably fill you in on some of the things that have gotten us here up til now. And by "here", I mean to our lovely foundation hole as pictured. I especially like the little tractor thingy-it's so official!

  I gaze lovingly at this photo just like it's one of my kid's baby pictures. One that seems oh-so-long ago, yet 'remember when'.  

One of the most mind-boggling things about building is the incredible myriad of waiting periods, permits, and reports that have to be made. No one tells you about all that. They REALLY don't mention how much of your budget goes to stuff that doesn't require nails or appliances! 

After you get in a whole marriage with your architect, comes a structural engineer. This dude has to be The Bomb, cuz well, he/she has to make sure the puzzle works plus withstands all conditions set by the 3-ring circus at the city (and in our case as well, the coastal) commissions. These permit folks are no joke. And some are, but that's another blog.

We also get a soil report  where they drill six feet down to kick yer wheels, a geological survey, methane tests (way fun), and compaction reports. Those are linked to the soil folks whom you'd better like cuz they own your butt now and have to repeat visits to do 5 minutes worth of work while charging you $340 just to drive out. Four times. I'm in the WRONG business cuz no one pays me to get to work. Nor do I get to withhold any one's reports if I complain about being overcharged. I can't even count how much money this paragraph cost us. I'm thinking my kitchen island is getting smaller by the report. 

So almost a year into this thing, is our nice foundation dig hole. Pretty huh? But now it's official. WOW... and narrow!