A construction project is an exercise in patience. Since becoming parents, we feel like our capacity for patience has increased, which is a good thing….

Right now. Things are slow.

And winter is coming fast.

Snow in Summit County - October 9 ,2018. This is taken from our driveway looking to the north.

We’re waiting on a few things, the biggest being our construction financing. The bank should have received the appraisal today, then move to final approval, and then closing. We hopefully will have final resolution on this by the end of the month.

We’re thankful to have found a bank that is willing to work with us, especially with Kelsey serving as the general contractor. Many banks won’t work with homeowner builders since the risk is higher that the project will take longer than a professional builder.

Applying for a construction loan is a pretty lengthy process. The bank wanted to see all our construction documents (basically everything the building department required), budget, and the most time consuming piece — official bids for ALL of the line items on the budget. Gathering bids from everything from all the lumber we’ll need to final finishes took awhile to compile. Then, all the “regular” loan stuff — financial statements, tax documents, retirement accounts, student loan info, etc.

Since the next steps in the projects are big expenses (we’re talking about you, foundation), we decided a couple of weeks ago to make sure the financing was approved before moving forward with digging the foundation. The last thing we wanted was to burn through all our cash from our home sale only to have a big hole in the ground and no money for a house. This may be a conservative move, but in the long run it’s better piece of mind. Once we have final approval, we’ll feel comfortable moving forward even if the loan isn’t officially closed yet.

We submitted everything on September 7, so by the time this is wrapped up it will be about a 7-8 week timeframe.

Now…the foundation.

We had hoped to do a helical pier foundation system because of expansive clay soils on the lot, what should have been a $12-16k solution. However, while we were lining up the helical pier contractor they determined that the cost was going to be $50-60k, so back to a traditional footer and foundation wall system with a crawl space. We will be over-excavating the foundation trench to a depth of 4 feet below the footer, 4 feet to each side of the footer, then backfilling with structural fill and compacting. Then we can install the drain tile and foundation. We decided to hire an excavator to assist us with this. The last thing we want to mess up on is the foundation.

Making this shift, of course, means our structural engineers changing the documents and waiting on a bid from our excavator to do the actual digging. Then, showing everything to the building department for redline changes. More waiting. But, resolutions should be coming early next week.

Also, the construction survey. Sheesh. We got a call a couple weeks ago from the surveyor that we had been working with and they said they were just too busy and we should reach out to another surveying company. Two surveyors later and a weeks worth of emails and phone calls, we should hear back from surveyor number three next week.

Fingers crossed that we will hear back from a bunch of people next week; the bank, the excavator/foundation subcontractor, our engineer, and surveyor number three.

Despite all these delays, we remain hopeful to have a foundation poured before winter arrives in earnest.

Looking to the south on October 9, 2018.

Just like our children have taught us to be more patient, we know this project will do the same. And, will these 2-3 weeks matter in 5 years when we’re enjoying a cool fall evening by our fireplace? Nope. Not even for a second. Patience, young grasshopper.

As my dad, Neil Gallaway, says “these things have a way of working out.” We’re counting on you to be right, Dad.

“These things have a way of working out.”

— Cory's dad, Neil Gallaway

In the good news category, Arapahoe Basin is opening on Friday. Yes! I’m traveling for work and our oldest will be at kindergarten, but Kelsey will take our little guy for opening day! It’s good to be a Summit County local!