Discover this...

Well, discovery is set for next week. We'll see where that takes us.

And, if you don't have the time or patience to scroll through months of agony, to see only photos, click here.

Will it ever end?

I'm running out of appropriate titles for my posts. "Speechless," "Well...," "Speechless. Yes, again," and the like are all taken. But, are you ready?

Well, way back here, in early May, we talked with a guy who was supposed to give us a quote on topsoil. When I called him, not having heard from him in a couple of weeks, he said he was trying to figure out the most cost effective way to do it, given the limited space between the house and the garage. I then asked him to provide me with a bid on repairing the window well. Today is 24 July and we've never heard back from him. I should note, he's not alone. Bird Stairs, a local building supply company, gave me the name of three contractors to call. I received a call back from one. They referred me to someone who is more specialized. He called me back and was supposed to come out about a month ago. Never called or showed. We've decided that the New Brunswick approach when you don't want to do a job is to just not call (back).

I finally decided to call a guy in the Yellow Pages. He called me back that morning and showed up that afternoon. We went over all the issues with the alleged window well, drainage, etc. That's going to cost about $1400 to fix. But, while walking around he said, "You don't even want to know." Of course I said, "I need to know about anything you think is a problem. It won't do me any good to find out later." He responded, "I don't think your septic field is to code."

Longer story short - and I don't want to include a lot of details since this blog is now public - an inspector from the Department of Health was out here this afternoon and, in fact, the apron and tapers are not to code.

I've complained to several folks about the appearance of the septic field. It's basically a "bump" in the back of the house. Those who knew anything said, "It's a mound system," which means that it goes in above the natural grade. But, without giving a whole lesson on septic systems, the flat part of the septic field has to extend a certain number of feet out from the infiltrators. It doesn't. Then, the taper from the top to the natural grade is to be no sharper than a one foot drop for every four feet of extension out. In essence, it should be a gradual slope, not a sharp drop off, which is how it is now. So, my aesthetic complaint turned out to be "right" in terms of the code requirements. The inspector will be contacting the guy who did the septic system.

As I said to my lawyer moments ago, while this should be fixed by the installer and not a part of the counterclaim, it goes to the absolute breach of contract/responsibility on the part of Jason Friars. As I've said before, I don't think he's set foot on the property since November, unless his cronies called and said, "She just left," and he ran by while I was out. RVH did their last work on the place on 22 January. Exactly how is he in any position to comment on the final product?

So, that's my update. The good news is that the inspector said that the system hasn't yet failed. The good news is that the first guy, above, didn't call back and we didn't bring in topsoil, so it doesn't all have to be scraped away to fix the septic. More good news is that it sounds like we'll have the window/well and drainage issues taken care of before fall arrives. Thank heavens for credit cards.

Simplify

Let's make this simple, shall we? Follow the bouncing ball. Okay, I have no bouncing ball. I'm not Mitch Miller. But, follow along anyway.

Exhibit A - Section of original contract, specifying that eavestroughing is included in the cost and construction of the house.


Exhibit B - Letter from Jason Friars/RVH, dated 22 January 2009, stating that the contract had been fulfilled. In an affidavit to the court he states that this letter is the truth.


Exhibit C - Photograph of house, taken on 24 January 2009. This is two days after the above letter was dated. See any eavestroughing? Nope, didn't think so.


Exhibit D - Photography of house, taken on 26 June 2009. Eavestroughing was installed this morning.


Exhibit E - Bill for eavestroughing.

So, $1017 later, we have eavestroughing on the house. Yes, the eavestroughing that was specified in the contract as "included in the cost of the finished house structure." Yes, eavestroughing that we have, in essence, paid for twice. Nice.

Tidbit of News

I received word yesterday that Sunpoke Energy filed a Notice of Withdrawal with the court. This means that that their small claims filing against is no more. I assume - though we know what they say about that word - that this means that they will, or have, taken care of removing their lien against me.

Just to recap - the cost of the stove and all associated installation costs was included in the contract I had with RVH. But, RVH hadn't paid them. So, as the law permits, they came after me. I had no choice but to respond. Had I not, they could have received a judgment against me by default. That meant filing a response and a third party claim. Those two items, not including lawyer's fees, total $75.00. The lawyer's fees for those two items, specifically, totalled $112.50, plus HST, or $127.13. Yes, here in Canada you pay tax on lawyer's fees. Thus, though I should never have had to deal with the Sunpoke debt, it cost me $202.13. Nice.

Needless to say, unless there's a warranty issue of some kind, I don't plan on doing business with them at any point in the future. It's really too bad, because - up until this - they were, for the most part, really great.

On Friday, 13 June, while I was out of town, we had water in through the basement wall, again. We've rigged a tarp over the window to keep the window well from filling up. So far, it's working. And, it's really attractive, too. Yes, that's sarcasm.

Fellow 1, who was supposed to give us a bid on the repair, never did so. Fellow 2 is supposed to come by this week to check things out. I'll believe it when I see him standing here. We're getting a second bid on eavestroughing on Friday and may even be able to have it done that day. Thank goodness for credit...

That's about it. I expect it will be months before we see any movement on the case with RVH. If it goes to trial, which I expect it will, it won't be soon. The saga continues.

Update: I forgot to note, when I wrote this post, that it has been one year since they started clearing the lot. This is not a year I am anxious to repeat.

Just when you think...

That is, just when you think you can't possibly find another example of shoddy work...

You might remember this photo. I couldn't believe the raw edges that they had left exposed.


Now, compare that to this photo, below, of a different exterior outlet. Why, you might ask, is there a "finishing box" - I don't know what it would really be called - on the outlet that is on the back of the house and none on the far side of the garage? Aside from the danger of leaving raw siding exposed, you might also ask yourself why one is white and the one with the gray box has a white "finishing box." I am beginning to think that they used whatever happened to be in the truck. It's clear that they didn't really care about the quality of their work. But, remember, now, Jason Friars signed an affidavit with supporting documentation attesting to "diligence and dedication."


This, below, is also the far side of the garage. Notice where the siding ends meet each other.


I don't know if it's simply for aesthetic reasons or if there is a practical reason, but the siding is not supposed to have these "joints" spaced so closely together, as you move up and/or down the side of the building.

This photo, below, is also the garage. You can see where a piece of siding is not nailed down at the corner and "sticks out" from the wall. If you touch it, it moves.


Here is, yet, another example - and an egregious one at that - of very poor installation. Not only is the gap too large, but the field cut was not painted. Go here for details on installation.


And, finally, still on the garage, here is the window:


My money says that they found a window discounted because it was damaged and figured, "What the hell?" Remember, most of the work you see here on the garage was done at the very end when, so it appears, Dave Primrose didn't care how badly things were done. And, with nobody checking his work, he was free to do whatever he damn well pleased.

Back to the house. I don't even know how to explain this. I'll simply tell you what I was told. Under the edge of the metal roof you can make out a piece of trim that is not flush against the flat part. On the garage, it is flat. I was told that they must have bent it out to make a drip edge. This area will eventually have eavestroughing/gutters so maybe it won't really show. Maybe that's what they were figuring? I don't know, but it's a mystery to everyone who's seen it.


You might recall that a ledger board had been installed for the deck. Yes, the deck that, while not specified separately in the contract - though neither was electrical, plumbing, windows, etc., we were told would be a 10'-12' x 16' deck. Anyway, the ledger board was installed. But, check out the gap they left between the top of the board and the siding. It's where you see the Blue Skin and the ICF. They guys who did the deck "fixed" this by running a piece of wood across to cover it. We can live with it, but it sure wasn't supposed to look like that.


And, for some "good" update. Here is the house, from the back, as it currently appears. Even though we've paid for it twice - once in the mortgage and once to the new contractor - the ICF foundation has been covered and we have a deck! Just like I've said about the kitchen, when you stand back and don't see how badly RVH did a lot of things, I think it's looks pretty nice.


Onward and upward.

Public v. Private

The few of you who have been following this blog for a while know that when I first began I did not identify the builder or his associates by name. I felt that the purpose of the blog was to record, and share, the process, not the people. Then, when they placed a lien on the house - i.e., going public about the contentiousness of the relationship - I decided to use names, but make the blog private. I didn't feel the need to continue to obscure their identity - and the bad work they do, but I thought it best to share this only with friends and family.

But, since finding out on Monday that RVH has gone ahead with the lawsuit against me, I have decided that there is no point in hiding anything. They have made the conflict a matter of public record in the a very ugly way. They have lied in their documents to the court. They have, presumably, lied to their attorneys. At this point, anyone and everyone should know that they are to be avoided at all costs. Their craftsmanship alone would be good reason, but to accept 97% payment, not finish the house, fabricate extras, file a lien, lie, and then sue... Well, you be the judge. So to speak.

Here's a real joke. They have an ad on Kijiji.

"RVH Construction! Now is the time to take advantage of the new "Home Renovation Tax Credit" Update your Kitchen, Bathroom, Doors & Windows or finish your Basement and receive a tax credit up to $1350.00. for home renovations. Call RVH Construction for details and a free quote. Call Jason @ 506 260 8723 or Darcy @ 506 260 8724.

RVH Construction
Fully Insured
Bathroom / Kitchen / Basement Renovations
Siding / Doors / Windows
Complete interior and exterior renovations
Finish Carpentry
Domestic Solar Hot Water
New Home Builders
House and Lot Packages!"

This is so scary. Who are they targeting now? Whose dream are they destroying now?

Since this all went bad I have met one fellow who is also in litigation with them over almost exactly the same kind of situation. I met another for whom they were doing a major renovation and he fired them for incompetence. I emailed with another who, while I don't know if he fired them, was very unhappy with their work. I met another, a woman, who had the good sense to bail before they signed the contract. Jason Friars had simply not shown up for a couple of meetings and she took that, wisely, as a sign that he was not the man for the job. I've heard about another tradesman who thinks he's a louse. And, I recently heard that local suppliers are getting wise to his antics. So, what do I take from this?

On the one hand it's depressing because I wish I had had this information before we started to work with him. But, on the other hand, I take some relief in feeling that it's not all sexism, homophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment that caused them to harm us. I say "all" because I do think that it allowed them to feel even more at liberty to cause harm. But, clearly, they've mistreated men - straight Canadian men - too.

One of the unfortunate realizations, as we become more aware of some of the problems with the house - though, thus far, a majority are still cosmetic and not structural - is that Dave Primrose was, I think, the real problem. This is really sad because, at one point, I thought he was the saving grace. Go here and scroll to the bottom of the post.

Anyway, that's the latest. As bizarre as it sounds, I still can't believe it's unfolded this way. As far as I know, Jason has not been on the property since at least the second week of November. Go back through the posts. Look at all that had not been completed at that point. We moved in, so to speak, on 17 November. If he has come around since that time, it had to be when he knew that I wasn't home or wasn't likely to come pulling up in the driveway. I have not laid eyes on him since October.

How is it, then, that he has been able to swear to an affidavit that he has "full knowledge of the facts set forth in the annexed claim" and that they are true? Just a reminder, these are the "facts" he swears are true:

1. That RVH "constructed this new home with high quality materials, workmanship, dedication and diligence, the finished product of which is well above industry standards."

2. That "[t]he homeowner has submitted a deficiency list which has been rectified by RVH."

3. "RVH construction [sic] has fulfilled the contract."

4. "The house and garage are complete."

All four statements, in addition to others not included here, are false. Lies. Lies. Lies.

But, one of the real questions is - how would he even know? He could drive by and see that numbers 3 and 4 are untruths. And, if he didn't drive by, how could he make those statements when the last time he was here they weren't true. As for numbers 1 and 2 - He knows, by his own actions, that there was no "diligence and dedication" on this job. I also seriously doubt that Darcy Friars and Dave Primrose told him that all deficiencies had been corrected. He knew on 22 January that we had all agreed that the deficiencies would be addressed in the coming weeks and months.

So, back to the title of this post. I have now made this blog public again. The public needs to be protected. As other builders have said, companies - and I use the term loosely - like RVH and people like Jason Friars, Darcy Friars, and Dave Primrose make it hard on others in the profession. I do think that a first step might be to require the licensing of contractors. But, that's an idea for another post at another time.

Speechless. Yes, again.

I have a few things to report on today...

1. The fellow who we hope will be providing us with some topsoil came by the other day to check things out. E.g., What kind of vehicle will fit between the house and the garage? I didn't know that he was also a drain tile guy. Without prompting he noticed the window well and the drain that sits inside of it. He said that it shouldn't have been done that way and explained what can happen if it's done improperly. Lo' and behold, he described exactly the mess we had a few weeks ago. If we want to avoid it happening next year we should have it excavated and redone. Nice. I'd better start buying lottery tickets.


Here, above, you see the window well that was installed upside-down and the fact that it is two pieces, part of what allowed water from the ground to run into the window well.

2. A new contractor come out yesterday to take a look at the foundation that needs parging, the place where the deck will be going, and a few other things. He was here a while back, but there was too much snow to get a good look at things. He kept saying, "I really feel for you girls." He cannot believe what a crappy job they did with so many things - everything from the siding installation to the lack of appropriate flashing around the deck ledger board to the lack of drywall where Code requires it... And, he pointed out a couple of potential problems with the way the front porch sits on the SonaTubes and the side "deck" sits on the decking blocks, or whatever you call them. Nice.


What happens when the "chock blocks" between the 4x4 and the SonaTube rots and/or falls out?

Will the 4x4 settle further into the block when the shim rots?

3. My partner and I had been talking about getting the water tested. Not because we have any concerns, but just because we should. I did a little searching with my friend, Google. In addition to information on the provincial site, this is what I found:

"At the time a well is drilled or deepened, the water well contractor is to provide the well owner with a water testing voucher. The well owner buys this voucher, costing $137.86, from the well contractor.

Well owners may redeem the voucher at Service New Brunswick offices for an analysis of their well water quality. Well testing kits are available at any Service New Brunswick office.

If there are homeowners who have recently drilled wells and have not yet redeemed their voucher, they are strongly encouraged to do so."

So, this morning I called the firm that did our well. Two copies of the paperwork was given the Jason Friars. The cost, as above, was included in what he paid for the well. He was supposed to give us a copy, letting us know that we could take the voucher to the provincial environmental folks for a pre-paid water test. Never once was anything ever said about this. What an ass.

So, if I go to the NB Department of Environment, they'll call the well driller, get a fax of the paperwork, and give me the kit to collect the water and bring it in for testing.

As I've said so often during this process, and what if I were even more stupid than I've been and/or too old or disabled to take care of all the crap that they left for us to deal with?

How many other people are sitting around dealing with the same crap because of a bad builder? I think my mission in life should be to mandate contractor licensing in the province. The law currently requires licensure only of plumbers and electricians. Well, at least, unlike another couple we heard about, we don't have a leaky roof. And, we've heard good things about the sub-contrator responsible for the roofing. Thank goodness for small favors/favours.

Update: Shortly after I got home from running errands, the doorbell rang. Yup. I was served with papers, RVH Construction, Inc., plaintiff. Nice. Not only are they wrong, in general, but they are suing for a sum that includes over $18,000 already paid to one sub on their behalf. But, here's an interesting footnote. They have a new lawyer at a new firm. Hmmmmm...

%$#@!

Well, spring is pretty much here. It was 80º F yesterday, but settled in around 50º F and windy today. Nonetheless, I took advantage of the sun to try to start cleaning up the yard. This is a snapshot of one part of the front yard - note the snow that still sits in the shade to the left. You can see the excess lumber and plastic. What you can't see are the nails, screws, cigarette butts, pieces of siding, etc.


But, here you see the six bags of stuff that I picked up from around the yard. You name it, I found it. This includes unused creamer containers, coffee lids, rubber bands... and all the stuff listed above. What really pissed me off were the pieces of lumber that had clearly been pitched into the woods along the driveway. They were too heavy to have blown there.


And, lest you think that I've photographed all the crap there is to see... Not having been on the other side of the garage all winter, I just discovered this. An outlet. Well, a very crooked outlet. But, more importantly, siding with raw edges, that were covered with snow all winter. Nice.


In other news. I was served papers by Sunpoke Energy. It's a Small Claims filing to which I have to respond - which, of course, means paying the court $50 to file my response. And, RVH/Jason Friars filed with the court to keep the lien alive. But, I've not yet been served papers or received any notification from their attorney.

We're waiting to hear back from another contractor we hope to hire to at least get the foundation covered so that the exposed ICF doesn't degrade any further. I don't really know what we'll manage to get done this summer, but at least that would be a start...

Surprise, surprise!

No, not a good surprise. Just the surprise one finds when the snow melts. You just never know what you'll find...

Above you'll see sections of a tree that was cut down as well as various pieces of lumber that were tossed to the side of the driveway.


This is the pallet on which the last load of siding was delivered. I had already picked up the plastic wrap and thrown it in the trash. To the left is part of one of the "steps" that Dave Primrose and/or John had made to use while working - so to speak.


Does this look like two cords of wood to you? If you read the materials written by Jason Friars in January, you'll remember that he mentioned one of their "value added" but not charged items was two cords of wood. He valued that at $945. A cord of wood around here goes for anywhere from about $225-$300, depending on quality, etc. But, that's chopped into usable pieces, about 16-18" in length, not entire sections of a tree. Above is the birch tree that Wayne Friars cut up and that Jason Friars said constituted two cords. Note: I asked them to leave some of the hardwood. I did not ask them to cut it up.


The first three pictures in this post were taken on 16 April. By the 19th, more snow had melted. Surprise! Sections of the metal roofing and/or aluminum used on the garage were hiding. This is just to the side of the driveway.


This is mostly the same as the above photos, but taken at a different angle. This way you can see the very large insulated tarp that has been under the snow all winter. I actually think it belongs to the guy who did the pad for the garage.


We've been picking up nails and screws as we find them. I finally went and spent $14.95 on a magnet on a stick, made for just this kind of clean up. This is what we got in about 10 minutes this morning. Almost all of these were right in front of the garage doors. The rest were around the perimeter of the house.


Finally, you may recall that they didn't paint the Hardie siding that goes on the corners, nor the nails. Well, I think they may have actually painted the side where they knew it would be very difficult to paint with the siding there. If they did, I'm guessing they used the wrong paint or didn't prep it properly. This is an example of how it is peeling.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. The hits just keep on comin'.

I saw a lawyer last week and while I'm not going to post details here. But, I will say that if we want the house finished before the summer sun and next winter's snow take their toll, I guess we've got to pay to have it done and hope that we recover it sometime down the road. There is NO - repeat NO, NO, NO - justice. The law is designed to protect contractors, but there's not a frickin' thing that appears to protect homeowners. It truly sucks that you can have a letter from the permit issuing authority that says, in essence, "RVH Construction, Inc. did not complete the house to the requirements of the National Building Code," and all you can do is take care of it yourself and hope for the best with the sloooooooow wheels of "justice."

And again...

So, last night I was sitting at my desk, in the basement, around 10, when I heard something that sounded suspiciously like water dripping. A quick look at the window - see the last post - revealed... more water.



The window well had so much water in it that it was about 6-8 inches above the bottom of the window. Bail, bail, bail. My partner spent the next three hours, in the rain, digging a trench from the area next to the window well to the back of the house. This allowed the water to be diverted away from the window. This was important because it was not rain that was causing the water to collect. Rather, it was water from the soil that was coming in through the holes in the metal liner. We bailed out the window well about four times. We did three loads of wash getting the towels dry so that we could reuse them. A friend came over around 2 am with some caulk and ran some along the bottom where it looks like there just isn't enough of the expanding foam. Who knows. My partner finally quit around 2:30 am.

This picture, below, is of the "drain pipe" in the window well after we removed a bunch of the rocks. Given that it looks like the holes were just randomly created by a drill - as opposed to this being something designed for this purpose - I'm wondering if there is something that is more appropriate for drainage.


This, below, is a close up of the above. The white along the top is the window. The brownish stuff is the ICF styrofoam that does not have any Blueskin weather barrier or the other barrier material used on the below grade ICF. The latter is what you see curled away from the ICF.


While I was taking photos I thought I'd include these updates. Below is the stuff that they left in our driveway when they "finished" the job. In addition to the wood, to the right is a white tarp.


Below is one sample of stuff that is all over the driveway. This morning, I picked up four nails right in front of the garage door, a screw, pieces of the metal used for trim, broken pencil, electrical cable, and plastic wrap.


And, this, believe it or not, is an example of what is all over the driveway and yard. The thin pieces of "stuff" you see here are actually siding remnants from trimming. But, instead of putting a tarp under the saw, they just let the stuff fly all over the place. It is going to take FOREVER to get this stuff picked up. Nice.


So, as I have no doubt said before, the saga continues.

Huh?

I know you've been waiting for an update. Alas, I have nothing on the legal front. But, check out these pictures...

This morning I went down to the basement, as I do every day, to feed the dog. Here's what I saw in the hallway.


So, I went into the "future bedroom" to see what was going on. This is what I found. Well, the towels weren't there, of course. I took this photo after moving boxes and putting the towels down. There were boxes full of clothes we've not yet unpacked. One of my Mexican rugs was soaked. Good thing. It is what kept lots of water from running across to the other side where there were even more boxes.


The new rug under the bed was soaked. But, it's got a latex backing so most of the water that did get on the sisal was only around the edges. But the water ran under there and out to the hallway.


This just shows more of the puddling.


And, we got the rug rolled up and carried it over to the other part of the basement, flipped it over and have fans running.


There are any number of things to be thankful for - we were here and not away, the water didn't travel as far as it might have and wet more cardboard boxes, nothing - except possibly the Mexican rug and a little drywall - appears to have been damaged.

The window well has a gravel bottom. Under the gravel is a drainage pipe. The window well had some, but not much, snow in it. The water did not come through the sash. Rather, it came in at the edge of the window frame - where it is installed in the wall. So, the questions are: 1) Is the window installed badly? I.e., not enough sealant? 2) Is the soil of a type that doesn't allow drainage quickly enough? And, nothing one does to the window will help? 3) Is the soil frozen and, thus, not allowing drainage quickly enough? And, nothing one does to the window will help? 4) Is the drainage pipe filled with ice and, thus, not allowing drainage?

We had some torrential rains last fall and no water got in. But, we've had lots and lots of snow and a big melt in the last few days. But, not enough warmth to have thawed the ground. I suspect that it's a combination of numbers 1, 3, and 4, above.

I actually emailed the builders and their attorney, with photos, to see what they have to say. I am not expecting a response. But, "for the record."

So, the fun continues here in New Brunswick.

You won't believe this!

From today's local paper -

"Man admits to perjury.

A Fredericton man accused of lying on a legal disclosure document admitted to perjury in provincial court Wednesday.

Kevin Paul Ryan, 43, of 148 Canada St. pleaded guilty Wednesday to an April 2 count of perjury.

Police information filed with the court alleged he knowingly made a false statement “that the contractor has discharged all obligations and any lawful claims against him” that arose as a result of a job he carried out.

Sentencing was set over to May 20 to allow for the preparation of a presentence report."

********

This is the same Paul Ryan, referenced elsewhere in the blog, who was working for Jason Friars when they started building for us. He then went to work at another site, then was back again, then disappeared again. I don't know for sure that the above referenced "contractor" was Jason Friars and not some other contractor, but, holy cow. And, given the timing, there's a good chance this was a case involving Jason Friars/RVH. I just can't believe it.

What a jerk...

The plumber had to come make a few minor repairs this morning. Nice guy. A little back story - part of the construction contract was that the basement slab would have the necessary piping roughed in for future connection to solar hot water. Heat mass, not air, is the theory. We have four sections of piping sticking out of the slab. As things started to go bad with the whole project I started to get nervous and thought, "What if they just stuck four sections of piping into the concrete and they really don't go anywhere?"

This morning I asked the plumber about the piping in the basement. In an earlier post I had noted that the plumber was coming to lay the piping. So, what did he tell me this morning? That he refused to do it because he insists on laying more pipe than Jason Friars wanted to pay for so Jason Friars (Dave Primrose, whoever...) did it instead. He even made a comment about them wanting to cut corners wherever they could. The plumber said that if he had done it we'd have about a dozen sections of pipe coming up from the floor, not just four. And, he confirmed that the only way to know that they didn't just stick pipe in the floor to make it look like they did it is to finish it and test it. Of course, when we can spend the money to do it and then we find out that it doesn't adequately heat the floor, we're screwed. The only fix is to tear up the floor or lay pipe and put down another layer of concrete. Since we've got such high ceilings in the basement the latter would be an option. I suspect that they did lay the pipe, but is it enough to provide the warmth that one would want having spent the money on the rest of the system? Only one way to find out.

What an absolute ass.

Siding

I contacted HardiPlank, the manufacturer of our siding, asking if they had any kind of installation certification program, or a referral list for local contractors who have experience with the product. They put me in touch with a fellow in Halifax, a distribution manager for the company. He said that if I sent him some photos he would tell me what he thought. This is his response:

"I don't know what to tell you as you already know the install is bad. The reveal must be kept 1" and a 1/4 no more or less this is very important to the product performance. The butt joints are supposed to be in contact and not caulked. The window should have flashing above it and caulked on the sides. The trim looks terrible and should have been nailed with 2" finish nail so you don't see them. It is clear, the installers did not like working with Hardie and I would ask them to not use it ever again until the read the installation requirements."

In follow-up he clarified that he meant that the reveal must be 1.25" - no more, no less. In a number of places, our overlap is more than that, but probably not enough to be problematic. The windows will be taken care of in the work yet to be done. But, nothing we can do about the joints not being in contact or the poor finishing work - short of re-siding, and that's not happening any time soon.

The upshot here is that, particularly where the edges aren't adequately protected, while there might not be any problems for years, poor installation could mean degraded product at, say, 12 years, rather than 20. And, remember, they left the product in the snow - not what the manufacturer recommends, to be sure.

It just keeps getting uglier and uglier...

Rural Planning

Because we live outside the city limits our permits and inspections are handled by the Rural Planning Commission, not the city. As I may have written elsewhere, there are three required inspections. The first two are performed at earlier points in the process; e.g. when the foundation is being poured and when the framing is complete. The final inspection is done when things are, well, final.

The final inspection is supposed to be scheduled within 10 days of completion. Now, in our case, we know that things aren't "complete," but the builder has said that the contract has been fulfilled and that the house and garage are complete. The inspector told me that builders often let the final inspection slide and that RPC ends up sending reminder letters. I waited a month, well beyond the ten days, just to make sure that RVH couldn't easily say, "Oh, we were about to call..." Well, they could say as much now, but it's a little different than saying it after I called on the fifth day, knowing full well that they weren't going to do so.

So, the inspector arrives and checks things out. In brief, as we already know, the foundation needs to be parged and the siding needs caulking. But, also confirmed was what the contractor who came on Thursday said. That is, that the exposed ICF in the basement needs to be covered. In addition, the inspector said that places where the drywall covers the ICF, but wasn't taped and crackfilled needs to have that done.

The big thing that he noted was - are you ready? - that the window in the "FUTURE BEDROOM" - as it is clearly marked on the plans - does not meet code as a bedroom window. The opening, when the sash is fully opened, is not big enough. The good news is that there are, apparently, windows that are the same perimeter size, but with a different style of opening (e.g., casement), that meet code. So, we can potentially have the window to code, but without having to cut into the ICF, concrete, and siding. It will cost us, because I think he could slide out of it by saying that it doesn't have to be to code now because it's not a finished bedroom. What kind of moron, having plans that say "FUTURE BEDROOM," doesn't make sure that the windows conform to code for bedrooms? Guess we know the answer to that one.

So, I should be getting a letter from Rural Planning outlining the deficiencies. RVH will receive a copy as well. And, of course, their lawyer will be getting a copy from me, too.

That's it for the moment!

The hits just keep on comin'

Well, I had an interesting meeting this morning...

I met with another contractor to get estimates on the parging of the foundation and the caulking of the doors/windows, the two major things that were left undone and for which I don't already have estimates. He had some very interesting things to say.

For starters, he is yet another person who thinks that the lawyer made a big mistake when she failed to hold back a full 15% for 60 days after completion. The "theory" behind that requirement is that the homeowner will be able to pay sub-trades if the contractor does not. Of course, that is completely defeated if the contractor puts a lien on the property, thereby preventing the funds held in trust from being released. But, at least there would have been money to pay the subs eventually...

A few additional things I got "clarified."

I was disgusted at the way they had left the siding. In this photo you'll see the mud. My thinking was that a reasonable builder, someone who was proud of his/her work, would clean this up before calling the job finished. Nope, not RVH Construction.


Back when the bi-fold doors were installed, I was sooooo upset at the gaps on the sides that I could barely sleep. I talked to Dave Primrose about it, thinking that they must have made the openings too big. He gave me a long explanation about why they had to be this way. I asked why, then, this wasn't the case with the doors for hallway closets. Again, long song and dance. I figured, well, what do I know? End of story.

The fellow today took a look and said the gaps are way too big, that they must have left the openings too big. I knew I shouldn't have asked! Grrrr... Dave must have just loved it when I accepted his story. @#$%^&!

In this photo - which doesn't really show it well - you see the gaps on either side.


This, below, is a close-up that gives it a little more perspective.


Then, we took a trip to the basement. I had been told that all exposed ICF (i.e., styrofoam) had to be covered. So, I've been curious as to why this section was left untouched:


In addition to saying that that should have been covered, he pointed out that this - see the white between the wood, below - also needs to have been covered - by something.


He couldn't believe that they used MDF (medium-density fibreboard) on the stairs and said he's never seen stairs done this way. I always thought they were odd, but what was I going to say? We didn't have details regarding the design of the stairs in the contract. Hell, we didn't have details about more major things... But, here's a photo of the stairs where you can see MDF on the sides. Note that one of the stairs has some caulking, one doesn't. Most do. I guess he just missed this one. In this photo you also see where they made their markings on the painted wall and, well, just left 'em.


Finally, the tubs. Dave Primrose said that the way they would finish the tub installations would be to run a piece of moulding across where the tub meets the flooring. I thought this was a bit odd since it meant putting wood at a point most likely to get moisture, and potentially excess moisture at that. He said, "No," that the paint would be protection enough. He, or John, installed it in the one bathroom, below, but not the other. And, they didn't paint it. What you see is the primed product as it comes from the store. My guy just shook his head in disgust.


He really couldn't believe what he was seeing. But, the good news is that we got our estimates and a contact for repairing this:


You might recall that these are photos of where the counter top meets the oven cabinet.

As I said in the previous post, I don't want to say any more about where things stand regarding the lien, my response, etc. because of the possibility that the blog could end up being hacked into. But, when all is said and done, I'll have a few more tidbits to share with you about things I've learned lately. But trust me - these guys are just unbelievable!!!

Up to Speed

I met with a new attorney today. But, I'm not going to post details here. Even though the blog is "private," you never know and I'd rather not risk that information becoming available for public consumption. Feel free to email me if you want to know what's happening.

Also, I've removed the "comment" option from the blog, just to "clean it up." Again, feel free to email me if you have something to say. I'd love to hear from you!

Finally, if you are just joining us, feel free to skip down and check out the photos. There's an awful lot of text here. Skipping to the photos and reading those posts will give you the gist of things.

I will say that we have to now secure estimates for the parging, caulking, and eavestroughing. And, I have to find out which of the repairs fall under the warranty. Then I can figure out what their "walking away" will cost if we take responsibility for completing the house and doing the repairs. I'm so glad I don't have to be up and out to a full-time job. I don't know how I'd find the time or strength to deal with this if that were the case!

I'll post what I can as I feel it is appropriate. But, as above, don't hesitate to send me an email if you want to know more than what I've posted here. Thanks!

Ironies

As you will have surmised, if you've been following along, the big problem - or one of them - with this whole build was the failure to record all changes in writing.

Because I kept track of everything, I have a record of everything we discussed. This tally of credits/debits resulted in Jason Friars owing us: $2525.62, not counting NB Power usage prior to our occupying the house.

So, as a little exercise (in futility), I just calculated what he would owe us if we used only those items for which there exists written documentation and the item (movers' delay) to which he has already agreed, via his attorney. Funny. If we count only these items - that is, we disregard all those changes that were the result of verbal agreements - he owes us $3090.62.

Then, if we add in NB Power usage for the period before we occupied the house, $335.72, RVH owes us a total of $3426.34. I say this because it is documented that there was a bill and there is agreement that we weren't living in the house during that time (9 October - 17 November).

Ironically, the total based on writings is $565 more [$3426.34-$2861.34 = $565] than the figure one gets if you use all agreements, verbal and written. Interesting, eh?

Ho-hum...

So, where are we now? In a world, it appears, where the consumer gets trampled on and the corporate entity gets away with lying, fraud, theft... you name it.

Today I received an invoice from one of the flooring vendors. It's too late for them to file a Mechanics' Lien and, I suspect, fearing that they aren't going to see one dime from RVH, they've billed me. Lovely. I have a copy of an invoice, dated Nov 20/08, that reads: "SOLD TO RVH Construction" with a "SHIP TO" note reading "RVH - Darcy."

Now, I have an invoice, received today, 9 February, BUT DATED "Nov 20/08" that reads: "SOLD TO: Melissa Embser-Hebert [sic]." This was originally written up as a "charge" to RVH because the flooring allowance was included in the contract. Now the vendor has changed it to a "charge" to me. Whatever. I don't have an extra $1,853.47 lying around. I've already paid for this once - uh, yes, that would be when I paid RVH $46,135.59 in cash and then took out a mortgage from which they received their draws.

Contractors take note - apparently in New Brunswick you can sign a contract to build a house, do a crappy job, not finish the job or do the repairs, make up an invoice for extras, lie under oath, not pay your subs, and walk away only to do it again elsewhere. Sweet deal. The subs will either put a lien on the homeowner - oh, and you can do that, too, just to further line your pockets - or just change the invoice and bill the homeowner. Not a bad set-up, eh?

It isn't clear to me yet what protections, if any, exist for the homeowner.

And, while I'm here - I meant to make a note. When Dave Primrose and John leveled the tub, they had to remove some of the tiles in the tub/shower wall. When replacing the tile, Dave Primrose suggested that, since they were going to be back the following week to tear them out (to fix the bad tile job) he wouldn't bother to grout them. Rather, he just ran silicone where you would normally caulk. As we now know - they haven't been back. Did he do that knowing they wouldn't return? Or, were he and Darcy Friars genuine in what they planned to do - only to run into Jason Friars having other ideas? Who knows.

Also, they have not come to pick up the debris that they left. I just dug what I thought was a tarp out of the snow. It was a large piece of tar paper that they had used as a tarp on a saw. But, when they packed up the saw, they left the tarp. These guys - what a piece of work.

Hmmmm...

As in, "Things that make you go..."

So, as I was cleaning up in the kitchen and thinking about Jason Friars and company, it dawned on me. Did he, perhaps, intentionally not write up any change orders, thinking that he had found a good mark? That is, perhaps he thought that if he had no change orders, it would be easier to make the case that we had agreed to everything, even the things that we never even discussed.

Remember? There was only one change order written up and that was written up and signed by Dave Primrose. He was disgusted with the fact that Jason hadn't been writing things up and, since Jason wasn't present and he [Dave] was doing the work, he was going to get it written up. I was pleased, since I actually prefer that kind of paper trail, etc.

Think about it. If Jason Friars had even one change order - one he had written up and signed, that is - he would be hard pressed to answer the question, Why did you write up some things and not others?" But, in the absence of any change orders, perhaps it's easier to get people to believe his assertion that we agreed to these changes. After all, we did agree to the roof (albeit not under the terms he asserts).

It's futile, I know, to try to imagine what he was/is thinking. Taking on the role of a liar, a cheat, and someone wholly lacking honesty and integrity? Nope, not possible.

Shock

I am in shock. I absolutely cannot believe that Jason Friars and company are putting us through this when they know that they are lying, lying, lying. I am not only angry at the fact that I have an incomplete house with significant deficiencies, but I am incredibly hurt that they have chosen us as the targets of their "solution" for their financial crisis.

Questions: Would they be doing this if one of us had a different set of genitals? Would they be doing this if we weren't two women? Would they be doing this if we were from Canada and not the US? I strongly suspect that the answers are no, no, and no. Sexism, homophobia, and the belief that we must "have money" lie, I believe, at the root of their attack. And there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. As was suggested to me earlier, regardless of the pleasant business relationship we had, even in the fact of many problems with the build, I guess all along we were just "those dykes they were building a house for." You have to wonder.

One of the ironies to all of this is that many - if not most - people would have fired them long before the house was even ready for occupation. Many people - perhaps especially those with penises - wouldn't have taken the bullshit they were dishing out. But, no, I was trying not to be "a bitch" and not to be "that woman from the States who was being unreasonable." What a kick in the rubber parts that my trying not to be a pain in the ass has resulted in their taking further advantage of me/us.

So, why the new post? A couple of hours ago I received a copy of the correspondence from RVH's attorney to our (former) attorney this afternoon. First, let me note that I say "former" because she has indicated that a dispute of this nature is beyond the scope of her work. We're meeting with a new attorney on Tuesday.

For those of you who "enjoy" the details (you twisted souls, you), below is that correspondence. Click to enlarge. For those of you who want only the executive summary, scroll down.











So, here's the deal.

1. They agree with some of our response (e.g., the unused plumbing allowance) and disagree with others (e.g., credit for the change to single hung windows).
2. They repeated their demand that we pay for items they allege were outside the contract (e.g., basement stairs).
3. They repeated their demand that we pay for "client interference."
4. They claim that, in sum, we owe them $22,093.76.

Then, they ask for the remaining funds held in trust and state, "Our client will accept the sum of $11,900.00 as full settlement of the balance if provided on or before February 11, 2009."

So, let me get this right. They think (though I don't believe that they really do think this) that we owe them $22,093.76. BUT, to "bring this matter to conclusion and with a view to saving costs to all concerned..." they'll accept $11,900. Yeah, right. Let me tell you, if I thought that someone owed me $22,000+ it would be a cold day in hell before I'd say, "But, hey, I'll take half" - UNLESS I knew that I was full of crap and was hoping to intimidate them into taking the "deal."

Of course, the humour here is that I don't have $1,100 to give them, let along $11,000. I should note, since the tentatively new attorney may read this, that I do have the means to pay him! But, I don't have a pile of money sitting around from which I would just write RVH a cheque. See my earlier comment, above, and this - one afternoon when we were talking about money, Dave Primrose joked, "She's from the States, charge her double." My partner and I talked about the possibility that they believe that since we moved from the States, aren't currently working, and were building a house that they probably think we "have money." I said, au contraire, because Jason Friars knows that the whole thing almost when kaput when the appraisal came in below contract value. But, now I wonder. Do they just think I could/would write a cheque to make the whole thing go away? I have a hard time believing that, especially since, in our meeting with Darcy Friars and Dave Primrose I was visibly distraught over their suggestion that the deck could cost several thousand more than Jason had promised. Anyway, I have a feeling I'll live the rest of my life not really knowing why they decided to attack us this way - except for the desperation of losing their business because they are in financial trouble, and we just happened to be the current job being wrapped up.

A few of the "curiouser and curiouser" things - today's letter said, "Without going into detail on each item..." Uh, yeah, because you might have to respond to things that would not be favorable to your client - like the lack of eavestroughing, caulking, and parging or the NB Power bill. As my partner suggested, Mr. Big-Shot-McInnes-Cooper-Queens-Counsel-Attorney probably hasn't even read through the documentation or asked his client about the details. I imagine some associate has "done the work" and he just signs it.

I am just at my wits end. Right now I have tar paper, nails, a tarp, a hose, and lumber on our property. All left by RVH Construction. I emailed them to ask that they retrieve this stuff before noon Sunday when we host our son's birthday party. Of course I didn't receive a reply. I won't say what I'd like to do with it all. Sunday was supposed to be a happy day, our son's first party in his new house. I'm sure that, for him, it will be wonderful. He's so excited. Me? I'm pretty miserable, in case you couldn't tell.

Now I'm going to spend hundreds - and more likely thousands - of dollars responding to this bullshit. And, I'm still going to be stuck with an incomplete house with major deficiencies. It's hard not to say I f'in hate Canada. Intellectually I know this isn't "Canada." It could as easily be any place else, even Minnesota. But, it just so happens that we are in Canada. We are immigrants. We may speak English, we may be educated. But, we're still "from away," as they say here. Oddly enough, though, the RVH folks are originally "from away," too. But, they are Canadian.

BTW, almost two weeks ago I wrote to four people at the New Brunswick chapter of the Canadian Home Builders' Association asking for advice. I didn't hear back from a single one of them. Their website says, "The Canadian Home Builders’ Association works to promote the interests of housing consumers." I guess not.

We have a beautiful lot, with great neighbors. We've met some wonderful people. We enjoy a lot about Fredericton. But, if I could leave tomorrow, I'm not sure that I wouldn't. Of course, to some degree, that would be letting them "win," wouldn't it?

Whatever...

I hadn't posted since last week because there's been nothing of substance to record. Apparently our attorney has heard nothing from RVH's attorney. And, of course, we've heard nothing from RVH directly.

I did pull a 10-12' piece of lumber out from behind the garage. Nice of them to have left it there - with large nails sticking out of it. It's not like they don't know there's a seven year old who plays back there. So, we've got that, a step that Dave Primrose built to use in construction, a tarp of some kind, a hose of some kind, a roll of tar paper, a box of nails, and a very large pallet on which the siding arrived - all left by RVH. Nice.

Yesterday I did receive the packet of material from the Atlantic Home Warranty Program. Seems pretty straightforward. More on that another time.

I was also in touch with one of the great guys at Maritime Flooring and they're going to fix the trim that was cut short. I just have to find a piece of the same trim. He said that while it doesn't make sense that his guy would have cut it so short, it also doesn't make sense that anyone else would have cut it. Nice to work with someone who actually takes pride in the work his company does. Note: They don't appear to have a website, or at least I couldn't find it. Otherwise I would have included the link as I will recommend them to anyone looking for flooring products.

But, lest I become bored with the lack of movement - I just received an email from our attorney's office with a pdf of the lien that was filed by Sunpoke Energy. I guess I can't blame them because they have only until on or about 12 February to file the lien. But, the whole "mechanics' lien" system really pisses me off. The contractor fails to pay, but the legal action goes against the home owner.

We also received the replacement part for the porch light. The glass was broken in the original shipment. Alas, I guess we won't be having the light installed any time soon - unless we want to hire another electrician to do so.

There simply aren't words to describe how pissed I am right now.

Clues and Tongue Twisters

Just a few weeks ago I had a conversation with Darcy Friars - I can even tell you exactly where we were standing - and people who know me aren't at all surprised to read that! I was expressing concern over the sub-contractors who were contacting me about payment. He said, first of all, that "nobody ever files liens" because they're a waste of time and money. He then went on to tell me that he had once left something like one light incomplete so as to extend the "completion date" on the project. This is relevant to a lien issue because one has a set period of time in which to file a lien and the clock runs from completion. In New Brunswick, as I understand it, that's 60 days. He then said that his lawyer told him to "give it up," that leaving something small like that (e.g., "punch list" items) does not serve to postpone the date from which the clock starts running. At the time it didn't even register that this was a significant indication of his shadiness. It struck me more as something humorous that he had tried when younger only to be somewhat chagrined into acting more responsibly. Now, I wonder. On to the "tongue twister."

Our attorney said, several times, that the Friars were arguing that completion (further defined in the law as "substantial completion") occurred when we moved in on 17 November, never mind that we couldn't even bathe. But, I digress. Insert clue here: In our meeting on 13 January, the question of when we moved in came up. Hmmmm? Anyway, our attorney made it clear that they were arguing that completion was back in November. This "works" to their advantage in claiming that payment was long overdue - never mind that the bank wouldn't release the funds until January.

Now, and you've got to work with me here. Back in late November/early December, the bank refused to consider the project "complete" because the garage wasn't finished. In fact, it was barely started. Thus, they wouldn't release the final draw and we couldn't convert from a construction mortgage to a mortgage. Make a note - this was resolved (and the garage was further along) and the final draw was released to our attorney on, I believe, 7 January. I'm keyboarding in the dark and don't want to start digging the papers out.

The Mechanics' [even the lien has it wrong, stating "Mechanic's" - geez] Lien Act calls for, in this case, 15% of the contract value to be "held back" for 60 days. Contractors and sub-contractors have 60 days to file a lien for unpaid invoices. First, I can tell you that the last draw disbursed by the bank to our attorney didn't equal 15% so, technically, the Friars shouldn't even have received all they did in the draw prior to that point.

Now, let's use the garage doors as an example. They were installed around 15 January. I didn't write it down, but they had said, "between 10 and 15 January" and my recollection is that it was about the last day within that time frame. The unpaid bill for the garage doors is around $2,000 and change. The garage door company has 60 days from the date they completed the work to file a lien. That would make it mid-March. But, the Friars demanded and expected payment of all remaining funds (which they would, in fact, have received, had they signed the memo outlining the remaining work and repairs) in those days immediately following. Even now, if things get worked out, they will get the last remaining funds as soon as they lift the lien. That means that there is at least one sub-contractor (this is true of, at least, the roofing folks as well) who is still within their window for filing a lien, but the contractor will have received all the funds. That leaves us vulnerable to a lien being placed by the sub-contractor with no recourse regarding the contractor. And, the outstanding invoices do sum to more than the remaining funds available.

Now, in a separate conversation with our attorney, she said something about them filing on 23 January, the day after they finished the garage, because they had to do so within 60 days of completion. So, which is it? Was completion the 17th of November as earlier asserted? Or, was it the 22nd of January? Note: I don't dispute that the 22nd could be considered "completion" even though there is still work (i.e., parging and caulking) to be done. I don't think repairs "count" and, since the "work" cannot be done until Spring, it wouldn't be fair to hold up everything in terms of payment until then. Crap, there I go being reasonable again.

Anyway, if the date of completion was 17 November (remember, the bank didn't agree and I certainly wouldn't agree, but Friars themselves were arguing this point), then they had until 16 January to file the lien. It was filed on 23 January. Although the lien itself is based on false statements and should never have been filed at all, it is an interesting set of issues. Either they are making the case that they should have been paid long ago because completion was back in November, or they should have conceded that completion wasn't until 22 January and not filed a lien the next day for payment that wasn't even available until 7 January and a invoice based on lies. Hmmm - "lien" "lies" - notice the similarities.

I don't know if this is at all clear to the reader. But, I wanted to document it as another point of contention. It's as though, between the bank, the lawyer(s), and the contractor, people are picking and choosing whichever date "works" for the immediate moment. But, to reiterate, since the lien is based, in part, on a false invoice, it should never have been filed at all.

When I spoke with the other attorney [the one we might have to hire to obtain true completion], he said that he would never suggest paying a contractor everything while there is work outstanding; that it doesn't leave you with any leverage. This is exactly the perspective I was taking when trying to, at a minimum, get the memo written up. Except for integrity, which we know is completely lacking on their part, why would someone who has received 100% payment feel compelled to complete the job, and in anything resembling a timely fashion? Remember, we're dealing with the construction industry here, where they tend to take on too much business anyway. So, why come do my job when they've received all the money and they have another job where they want to keep making progress so that they can get paid?

I have a very, very, very strong suspicion that there were mistakes made that go beyond those made by the contractor. That's all I'll say here. But, as I learn more about this, I am convinced that a few things should have been done differently. But, Jason Friars is "Mr. Smooth Talker" and could probably get just about anything he wants when he "turns on the charm."

So, where things stand at the moment is this. The lawyers are talking. The proposal is that they lift the lien and get their last remaining funds, about $8500. They owe something like $10,000 to sub-contractors, some of whom they know are past their window for filing a lien. So, do they just ignore them and pay those still within the window? Or, since they wouldn't have reason to care if the latter file a lien, do they pay the earlier debts and let them file a lien? Or, do they pocket the money and pay no one? Then, giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that they pay everybody - borrowing, I'm sure, from Peter to pay Paul - what happens with the unfinished work and the repairs?

One thing that occurred to me is that another reason they filed the lien was to make us so upset that we don't even want them in the house to do the repairs. That way, they can come back and finish the exterior work (if that) without us even being here [though that caulk is still in the basement] and they're off the hook for what has got to be several thousand dollars worth of repairs to the kitchen and bathrooms.

One of my readers called them "yahoos." That's an understatement, eh?

Well, you might note that it's now about 3:30 in the morning. I guess I'm on a new sleep schedule. And, I've got stomach pains. Not nausea, mind you, but a "pain" in my stomach. Lovely. If you've read this far you deserve some kind of award - or you should consider going to law school... okay, that's it for now. Cheers.

Factoids

Entering the search terms: maliciously filed a lien [no brackets or quotations marks] on Google, results in 92,600 hits.

Entering: contractor malicious lien - results in 82,400 hits, including this one: "Filing a construction lien is incredibly simple, and here is a secret: when filing, no one checks to ensure that the property owner actually owes the claimant any money [emphasis mine].

[material deleted for brevity]

In determining whether someone has abused the liening process, the courts will simply consider whether they had a right to file the instrument...not whether they will prevail in trial related to the underlying obligation or contract. In Washington, for example, court's have even go so far as to state that 'a lien is frivolous only if it presents no debatable issues and is so devoid of merit that it has no possibility of succeeding.' Intermountain Elec., Inc. v. G-A-T Bros. Constr., Inc., 115 Wn. App. 384, 62 P.3d 548 (2003).

That court goes on to sum up its findings with a phrase very applicable to this portion of our discussion, that 'every frivolous lien is invalid, but not every invalid lien is frivolous.'"Source

Note that the above info refers to two states in the US, not Canada.

Just in case you couldn't sleep and decided to check in...

Liars, Cheats, and Scoundrels

Let's see, where are we? Yesterday I stopped by the office of the attorney who had been handling things up to this point so that I could get a copy of the lien. Up to that point I hadn't received any kind of notice, service, etc. Turns out that she had spoken with Jason Friars' attorney and they were going to see what they could work out. So, we assembled all of the documentation that I had been keeping so that she could send it off to him. We'll see what happens.

Here is one example of something that is not in his fake invoice, but about which he apparently told her that he had no intention of paying. Back when they were at the point of wanting electricity from NB Power and a temporary pole was in place, we had to deal with getting an account set up. Jason Friars asked if I would mind putting it in my name at that time, rather than changing it later. His reasoning - this is, now, too ironic - was that he has "had trouble" with people who, once they occupied the house, didn't get the account switched over right away and ended up owing him money; money that he had difficulty collecting. Again - trying to be reasonable - I said, "Sure, no problem." We agreed that I would do so and that he would just pay me when all was said and done.

Now, we moved into the house on Monday, 17 November. I used NO power of any kind prior to that. Just so happens that NB Power read the meter on 14 November. It was 2593 kWh for service from 9 October-14 November. When we arrived on Monday [I hadn't yet received a bill, of course], I had the presence of mind to have written down the meter reading. It was 2931. That means that, from the reading on Friday to my reading on Monday, 339 kWh had been used. Well, that was because they had all of the thermostats turned up.

When I received the first bill I did the calculations, taking responsibility for the connection charges because, after all, it was my house being connected. But, after calculating the usage for 9 October - 17 November, they owed me @264.76 plus tax for usage prior to my ever living in the house.

Then, from 17 November until 25 November, when they were working away indoors, keeping the thermostats turned up, leaving windows open, running extension cords, machinery, etc., 724 kWh were used. At $9.54 per kWh that was $69.07, plus tax.

Then, after the interior work was essentially complete, they were working outside. But, since the exterior outlets weren't live, they ran their extension cord through a window. I stuffed a towel around it, but frequently they would leave and not come unplug.

So, being generous, I figure they owe me about $333.83 plus tax, not counting the fact that they were using power from 25 November until they quit on 22 January. But, Jason Friars apparently told our attorney that he doesn't plan on paying any of the NB Power charges. Huh? So, they did all the work from 9 October without using electricity? Not. That would have been green!

In other news, last night, after a rousing game of Scrabble, I went to sleep around 10. I woke up at 2:15 and, while lying there, had some kind of horrid acid reflux or something. I'll spare you the details, except to say that I had to get up and have some crackers and juice just to take the burn out of my throat. Stress is so much fun.

Today we were doing some organizing in the basement and I noticed that in the "future bedroom" there's a section of ICF, up near the joists, that didn't get covered with drywall. We were told that all exposed drywall had to be covered. Maybe up that high it doesn't matter? The linear footage of the perimeter of the house is about 152 feet and all except, oh, 15 feet is covered. It just gets curiouser and curiouser.

Here's one of my favourites, though. Back to the issue of the lien. On page two it states, "I, Jason Friars, of the City of Fredericton, in the County of Fredericton [sic] and Province of New Brunswick, MAKE OATH AND SAY AS FOLLOWS:
1. That annexed claim is true."

Okay, first, who are these clowns at the "la-di-da" firm that don't catch, when it appears correctly an inch or so below, that Fredericton is in the County of York, thank you very much? I am not impressed.

The "annexed claim" [not attached] is apparently the "invoice," etc. Yes, the one where he stated, "The home owner has submitted a deficiency list which has been rectified by RVH" [see photos to the contrary], "RVH construction [sic] has fulfilled the contract" [see photos to the contrary], "The house and garage are complete" [see photos to the contrary], and "We are submitting to you an invoice for extras that the home owner agreed to above the initial contract." Agreed to? I had never even SEEN the damn thing and we never had conversation one about any of this being outside the contract!

He SWORE an oath that those claims are true. All are patently false. Even if still experiencing mental health issues, he can't be that delusional. More to the point, I have questions for his attorney, an apparently well-respected senior attorney at one of the more "elite" firms in town. He was "called to the bar in 1960," has practiced real estate law for 40 years, and has been awarded the "title" of Queen's Counsel. I.e., "An archaic designation of a barrister, phased-out in most jurisdictions, indicating of the title holder allegiance to the Crown, but more recently, contribution to the professional activity of lawyers or to the law at large." Clearly this guy is no chump.

But, I would ask him, given the opportunity:
1. Did you ask your client if he had ever shared the "invoice" with the home owner? [To be fair, maybe he did and Jason Friars lied about that, too.]
2. Do you have change orders for the work listed in said "invoice"? [To be fair, maybe he did and Jason Friars lied about that, too - though this would be really stupid. Of course, I keep waiting to see change orders with my signature forged on them.]
3. When did the home owner's attorney receive the last draw? [Answer: 7 January]
4. Do you realize that it's been only 15 days since her attorney received the draw?

I am beyond appalled that someone who is apparently such an experienced and well-regarded attorney let his client file a lien without, it appears, so simple a question of whether he had ever even shown the home owner the invoice, let alone tried to collect.

My attorney said something like, "He is just believing his client, like I believe you." Right. But, don't you think that before filing a lien with the province, or whatever, you might at least ask a few questions?

Every time I stop and think about some other aspect of this debacle, I am amazed all over again. And what of the brother, Darcy Friars, who had seemed reasonably sane and told me only hours before Jason Friars showed up at my attorney's office that they were taking care of everything, he'd sign the memo, and go pick up his cheque?

What of their mother and business partner who received, from the Canadian Association of Social Workers, the 2008 National Social Work Week Distinguished Service Award for the province of New Brunswick? I'm not that naive (though you might think otherwise), but, come on, a social worker? Someone who is on the tail end of a career in a "helping profession" is engaging in this kind of crap? What of their father, apparently retired from the Canadian Forces? Again, I'm not saying folks in these career fields are all above reproach, but I would think that integrity might be one of their central principles. Okay, yeah, I guess I am naive.

That's about it. Signing off from a permanent state of disbelief here in the [not so] lovely province of New Brunswick.

Mechanics' Lien Act, New Brunswick

Well, since I can't sleep (again), I might as well try to educate myself. There's a reason, by the way, that I never wanted to practice law. Try reading through regulations/statutes and making much sense of an of it.

"R.S., c.142, s.21; 1965, c.27, s.2.
23(1)The Registrar, upon receipt of the proper fee shall file a claim of lien describing it as a “Mechanics’ Lien” and shall index the claim of lien in a book to be kept and entitled “Mechanics’ Lien Index” and the lien shall appear as an encumbrance against the land or the estate or interest in land therein described.
23(2) Repealed: 1980, c.30, s.2.
23(3)If a claim for lien is settled without an action, the owner is liable to the lienholder for the fees disbursed under this section, and also for a solicitor’s fee equal to ten per cent of the sum claimed, but not to exceed twenty-five dollars."

So, let me get this right. If we were to have a conversation with the contractor and come to terms such that he discharged the lien, we'd have to pay him something, even if just $25.00? If that's the case, what's to keep any unscrupulous contractor from filing a lien - except the possibility that it costs more to file than what he'd collect? Surely I'm missing something there.

I was trying to find out if this malicious behaviour, even when resolved in our favour, will have any negative impact on my credit. I'm just now establishing credit in Canada.

I've also been unable to find anything that addresses filing a lien based on patent untruths. It appears that the "benefit of the doubt" always goes to the contractor/sub-contractor. Lovely.

It would also seem that a contractor would have some obligation to give the homeowner an invoice and reach an impasse before filing a lien. It doesn't make sense that they can give the invoice to one's attorney the day before filing and consider that adequate notice. I didn't even see the "invoice" until after he had filed the lien. It also doesn't make sense that what they apparently consider "completion" (although the law defines completion as "substantial completion") took place on Thursday, 22 January, the same day that the invoice was presented to our former attorney, and a lien was filed, apparently, the next day. Even if there were anything accurate in the "invoice," wouldn't he have to at least have presented it to me and tried to collect?

I really, totally, absolutely can't believe that after spending from November 2004 until June 2008, and thousands of dollars, getting us to Canada, that this is what I'm having to face. I really just can't believe it. But, details of that are best saved for another post...

If you're just joining us, be sure to scroll down and get caught up. Welcome to my nightmare.

Lucky Seven

This posting is just to alert the reader that there are seven posts following this one, all written on 24 and 25 January. They each address slightly different issues. Thus, you might want to scroll down to "Fulfilled and Completed" and read each post up from there. If you have the fortitude, that is.

Response to Friars' Invoice/Documents

This is really, really long, but I'm using the blog as much as a memorandum device as for sharing this information with friends and family. This is my "point by point" response to the materials that Jason Friars left with our former attorney.

********

Regarding RVH Construction “invoice,” dated 15 January 2009.

I. Response to each of the “extras” noted on page 1. It should be noted at the outset that there are no change orders for any of the listed items. The only change order that was written was for blocking in the tub/shower walls so that grab bars could be installed. This order was written up on 18 September 2008, and signed by DS [Dave] Primrose and Melissa Embser-Herbert and is not in dispute.

a. “Upgrade to steel roof - $7,000”

In initial conversations with Jason Friars (hereinafter JF), prior to signing the contract, I expressed my desire for a metal roof. He discouraged me from doing so and I allowed myself to be convinced by his arguments against a metal roof. Thus, the contract stated, “Roofing will be the 25 year warrantied, standard, organic, three tab type, unless otherwise advised.”

On Wednesday, 16 July 2008, I attended a forum on sustainability issues and became convinced that I should have insisted on at least getting the costs on a metal roof before dismissing the idea. As noted in my blog on 18 July, “But, as it turns out, it may not be as costly as suggested. So, we're getting some info and may be able to do it after all. If so, the big decision is color! I was leaning toward forest green, but P really likes red. I also like the contrast with the trees that red would provide. We're doing natural cedar shake siding so it will be natural to begin with and eventually gray, or a mix thereof.”

Some time between 24 July and 19 August, my spouse (not a named party to the contract) and I met with JF at the house we were renting in downtown Fredericton. JF had the bid for the unpainted, Galvalume roof, for both the house and garage. The figure was as indicated above, somewhere around or exactly $7,000. He indicated that the labour and materials for the asphalt roof was “$1800 and change, each,” or a total of $3700. That was out of the question for our budget so we inquired as to what he had budgeted for the rear deck. His response was $2600. That meant we would owe $700, a more manageable figure. [$7000 - $3700 = $3300 - $2600 = $700] For a variety of reasons that can be addressed verbally, I did not insist on a change order. And, neither did JF offer one.

We discussed whether we could have him build the deck in the spring or summer, when we could come up with the cash, and whether he would build it for the same $2600. He agreed to do so, but, again, neither of us brought up putting it in writing.

I should note at this juncture, several relevant items. First, the contract – in retrospect, a very poorly drafted contract – did not specify a rear deck. But, JF, from the beginning talked about a rear deck. In the conversation recounted above, he acknowledged that he had planned to do a deck that was about twelve by sixteen feet in size and that he had budgeted $2600 for said deck. As things become more adversarial, I was concerned that he might renege on his statements that, although not specified in the contract, he had always planned on building the deck. Dave Primrose, the lead carpenter on the project, noted, just recently, that “Jason told me the deck was cancelled.” While this doesn’t convey JF’s promise to build the deck at the same cost, it does provide additional “evidence” of his intent to build the deck. On 13 January 2009, when meeting with Dave Primrose (hereinafter DP) and Darcy Friars (JF’s brother, a principal in RVH, and the person who had taken over the project when JF started experiencing mental health issues; hereinafter DF), they were shocked that he had valued the deck at only $2600. But, DF said he “knew where Jason had gotten the figure” and related a conversation regarding another project that would have led Jason to use that amount.

In sum, while we do not dispute that the cost of the metal roof was $7,000, after deducting the estimated labour and materials for the contract product of asphalt roofing ($3700) and the value for the deck that JF says he included in the contract ($2600), the upcharge for the deck is $700, not $7,000.

The following two items are consolidated as my response is the same.
b. Basement stairwell/basement hallway - $3,000
c. Painted walls and ceiling, drywall installed, finished, painted
basement stairs/finished pine stairs - $1200

The plans for the basement show a “future bedroom,” “utility rm,” and “family rm.” As specified in the contract, the utility room was changed so that part of it would be roughed in for a basement bathroom ($700, included in contract). All walls and stairs specified in the “invoice,” are shown in the plans. I was, however, unaware that they would actually be built. Neither was I aware that code requires that the interior of the ICF walls be drywalled. When I saw that the walls were going up, I commented that I was surprised that those walls were being done and that I wished that JF had indicated how close to being finished the walls would be as I would have had him tell me how much it would have cost to drywall the rest of them. I remarked, more than a few times, to DP that it was one example of the communication failure and that I wished JF had been more clear about what he had planned to do. In a recent conversation with DP, I specifically said, “I had no idea, for example, that the basement stairs would have walls,” His response was, to paraphrase, “Of course we have to do walls.” I replied that I had been in plenty of homes where the stairs to the basement don’t have walls. DP and I had numerous conversations about how much I wish that I had known more about what JF had included in the basement. DP responded, at various times, with comments about, e.g., the center load bearing wall having to be there, the stairs having to have walls, etc.

As a side note, I’m not sure why the “invoice” includes “basement stairs. With the electrical panel, well pump, and water heater in the basement, I’m not sure how now putting in stairs would even have been permissible.

d. Hearth - $575

Per the contract:
“Flooring Budget and Description: $9,800 is the allocated allowance, and will incorporate wide plank wood flooring and additional tile/stone at front door and at hearth, as selected by Purchaser.”

We originally discussed, per the above, setting brick into the floor to create the hearth. JF then indicated that it had to come above the floor by a couple of inches. At one point, when things were becoming quite delayed, I indicated that, if JF would tell me what he budgeted for the hearth construction, I would be happy to pay the difference to obtain a pre-fab hearth and save them that piece of work. He never got back to me with a figure. When I called him to ask about it he said that the hearth was already completed. Soon after I was talking with DF and DP, together, in the basement, and DP said that he needed to talk with me about the hearth as he planned to start it that afternoon. I looked completely dumbfounded and said, “Jason told me it was finished.” DP and DF looked at each other as if to say, “Oh, no…” We talked about the ongoing problems with JF and then DP and I discussed the hearth. DP, and another worker known only as John, built the hearth. When I first saw it I was not happy as it was six inches high. But, not wanting to create problems and thinking it might “grow on me,” I agreed that it was fine. Never was the hearth that was ultimately built addressed as a change order to the language of the contract.

e. Building a false wall in laundry room to accomidate [sic] electrical and plumbing - $500

This cost was the result of design errors in that the pipes would have had to come through a joist. Since this is not feasible, the pipes had to come up “outside the wall.” I don’t even know what to say about the fact that this appears on this “invoice.” I was very unhappy with what is actually a “half wall” addition to the “real wall,” but wasn’t about to tell them that they needed to have the plumbing re-routed, etc. Thus, I agreed to “live with” the “half wall;” a wall that was a result of an oversight in which I had no part.

f. Work delays due to client interference - $2,700
5 hrs a week for 12 weeks @ 45.00 an hour

As with “e,” above, I am dumbfounded and insulted. First, when spending a total of about $XXX,XXX on a home, I, as the homeowner have every right to stop by and check on progress. I actually had conversations with DF and DP about not wanting to be “in the way,” but wanting to know how things were going. They told me stories of a client “on Burpee” who wouldn’t let them get anything done and that the time I had been there I seemed respectful of their work, etc. In addition to those conversations, I wish to note that had I not been present, there is no telling what errors would have been made. E.g., I arrived one day to find Paul Ryan (PR) on the site and, while chatting, Kent arrived with a delivery. I said to PR, “You do know that those are the wrong doors, don’t you?” He did not. They were the wrong style of pocket doors. Given all of the other errors, I have every reason to believe that they would have installed the doors without noticing. Thus, my presence potentially saved them time! This item is beyond ludicrous. The way this “item” was invoiced suggests that I spent one hour on site, Monday-Friday, for twelve weeks. Having expressed my concern about not wanting to “be in the way,” I was told explicitly that an hour was not intrusive.

The above subtotals to $16,921.75, including HST. The only amount due to RVH (and this is without taking into account the funds due to me for, e.g., not using allowances, NB Power usage prior to occupation of the home, etc.) is $700 for the roof, plus HST, or $791.

II. “Value Added Features and Services Above Contract”
a. “Electrical finishing in entire basement, framed in future bedroom has full electrical, central lighting, outlets in future bedroom/outlets in mechanical room/outlets in future family room/outlet in basement hallway, 1 switch, 2 lights, phone and TV cable, wall sconces (lights) in hallway - $900.00”

When I met with DF to do a walk through regarding placement of outlets, etc. he took me to the basement and walked through where he thought outlets, etc. should be placed. Never, and I repeat, never, did he mention that this was “above contract” or use any such language suggesting that he was doing me any favours. In fact, he was very nice, making suggestions about where he thought things should be placed and agreeing to place an outlet where we planned to put a freezer. Never was anything said to suggest that this was an “extra.” I recall commenting that I didn’t realize how much would be done and was told that, of course, they had to run to electrical prior to the drywall. An ICF foundation requires drywall on the interior. Had the drywall been installed, bringing the space to code, without prior installation of electrical outlets, etc., any such outlets would later have had to been run outside the drywall, the drywall removed, or channels cut into the drywall. Clearly, at the time, JF/DF realized that part of the job was the installation of said electrical finishing. I also asked about lights and they said that they would put in those little white things (I don’t know what they’re called) so that we could have a lightbulb overhead. Never was any of this discussed as a change to the original “structure” or as work outside the contract.

b. “Upgraded programmable thermostats (10) throughout the house $590.00”
Written on 15 October 2008 and posted on 16 October 2008: “Yesterday I went to the house to meet D, the electrician and the builder’s brother, to discuss programmable thermostats. In thinking about where we would really need them I asked what the price difference was between those and the non-programmable. He said, no cost to me, given what I’ve been through with the project. Then as I was thinking about where it would really makes sense, he just said he’d put them in throughout. This is wonderful and a huge savings, both up front and in terms of energy. Not worth all the headaches, but a really nice gesture.” His reference to “what I had been through” was at least, in part, a reference to that fact that, at that point, we were six weeks behind the date I was originally promised that I would be able to move into the house.

Thus, I don’t disagree at all that this was a “value added,” but it should be noted that DF agreed to do so once he came on board as more than an electrician, but as a principal of RVH, because of the problems that JF had created. It is offensive to now see this noted as them having, some how, done me a favour.

c. “Moving appliances (1); setting up washer & dryer (2); leveling appliances (3); assembling beds (4); closet shelving, etc. (5), moved boxes into house (6), cut two cords of wood at client’s request (7) - $945.00

1. JF had originally said that we would be moving in by 1 September. We ordered appliances and, to make a long story short (see blog entry for 27 September), had to take delivery of the appliances on 17 October. Since they could not be moved into place, DP and DF agreed that they would, of course, move them when the kitchen and mudroom were ready. I specifically asked about installation of the cooktop and wall oven and was told that “Darcy would take care of that.” I asked about the washing machine and was told that the plumber would do that.

2. Someone (DP and John?) did unbox the washer and dryer. They did not put them on the pedestals, nor did they balance them. We paid someone recommended by Sears $150 to properly set up the washer and dryer.

3. Free standing appliances include the washer, dryer, and refrigerator. As indicated above, the washer/dryer were not leveled by anyone associated with RVH. Although DP said that he would level the refrigerator, as arthritis/bursitis make it difficult for me to get down on and up from the floor, that was never done. The refrigerator remains out of level.

4. Knowing that my son and I had to vacate the apartment, referenced in the “invoice,” on 17 November, we moved into the house, albeit without a functional shower. DF and company offered to move up whatever we needed moved so that we could sleep in the house. They moved the mattresses, but I couldn’t easily get to the frames so I slept on the mattresses for the first week. With my partner arriving on 26 November, and urging me to get the bed set up (as it was very difficult for me to get down to and up from the mattress), I carried up all pieces of the bed except the headboard which was too heavy. I asked DP and John if, before leaving that day, they would mind bringing up the headboard. They did so, and held one piece in place so that I could assemble the bed. Thus, I do not dispute that they were of assistance, but it is ludicrous to say that they “assembled beds.” Further, given that it was RVH’s actions that caused me to have to have my belongings delivered to the basement for storage, it hardly seems civil to then describe moving a headboard as “value added.”

5. As things were getting closer to completion, I asked DP what they usually did with closet interiors. I had planned to do Closet Maid installation myself. DP said that they would typically install a rod for hanging clothes. I told them not to bother with that, but that, if they could just install one piece of Closet Maid (that I would then hang the standards on) in lieu of the rod installation, that would be great. DP said that of course they could do so. I purchased the materials and, in consultation with DP, had him install these pieces in six closets. As above, it is offensive to see this cast as “value added” when, in fact, I saved them the expense of the rods and hardware and installation of the Closet Maid bar is arguably easier.

6. Prior to clearing on the land, I asked JF about leaving some of the hardwood so that we might have it cut for firewood. That was the end of our discussions about firewood. On one occasion I arrived on the site to see someone, later determined to be JF’s father, Wayne Friars, cutting up a birch tree with a chain saw. Yet, I had never asked that the wood be cut, only that it be left on site. Thus, the assertion that wood was cut “at client’s request” is completely fallacious. In addition, the wood, cut but not split, is still in the tree line, under snow, and I have no idea how many cords of wood it will amount to once we cut and split it.

III. Re letter dated 22 January 2009.
I’m not sure if the point of this letter is anything except to make RVH “look good,” but I do wish to address several of the points made in the letter.

“RVH Construction Inc. has constructed this new home with high quality materials, workmanship, dedication and diligence, the finished product of which is well above industry standards.”

On the question of “workmanship, dedication and diligence,” I refer the reader to the blog I kept regarding this project. Note that access to the blog now requires my permission.

“As a gesture of goodwill . . . $2300.00 for an apartment for a period of one month.”

We have expressed appreciation for this “gesture.” However, it should be noted that the only reason this was necessary was that JF had promised that we would be in the house by 1 September. This date was then changed to 15 September, then 1 October, then 15 October… By that date, we had to vacate our second set of temporary quarters. PR and DF expressed nothing short of shock and surprise at what was coming to light regarding JF’s behaviour and the build and agreed to provide housing. Otherwise we would have had to leave New Brunswick or become homeless. I also gave DF a note, handwritten by JF, showing his “once we’re in all we need is 5 weeks” plan to get us in by the end of September. Thus, while we appreciate their provision of housing, the need to do was created by their lack of diligence.

“Ms. Sheridan Embser-Herbert [sic] insisted on using Eaglewood Flooring against our advice which resulted in a three week delay.”

RVH, while they had serious conflicts with Eaglewood at the point when flooring was scheduled for installation, never advised against using Eaglewood. The contract called for wide plank wood flooring and Eaglewood was the only vendor in Fredericton that we could find to supply that product. While we eventually changed to a prefinished product so that the flooring could be installed in a more timely fashion, again, RVH never advised against doing business with Eaglewood Flooring.

“The homeowner has submitted a deficiency list which has been rectified by RVH.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth. In a phone conversation at about 9 am on 22 January, DF indicated that they would be taking care of the repairs specified in the Memorandum of Agreement including, but not limited to, purging the foundation, repairs to the bathroom, repairs to the kitchen, and building the deck. As of 23 January, some of the deficiencies have been addressed; most have not. The purging cannot be done until after the snow is gone. Neither can exterior caulking be completed until things warm up a little. Materials for caulking remain in our basement. The bathroom repairs were to have been completed this week, but we were never contacted regarding said repairs. In addition, we had made arrangements with DF to have the kitchen repairs completed in early April 2009 while we are out of town for several days. Other more minor repairs have not been addressed. A list will be attached to this memo. Photos of those deficiencies that were able to be photographed are contained in the aforementioned blog.

“RVH construction [sic] has fulfilled the contract.”

Above details should speak to the contrary. Again, photographs that speak to the contrary are contained in the aforementioned blog.

In addition, from the contract:
“Warranty: Provided through builder via Atlantic Home Warranty Program.”
I contacted Atlantic Home Warranty Program (AHWP) earlier in January to determine whether or not the required papers had been submitted by RVH. I was told that they had not, but that my call would prompt a letter to RVH. On 13 January, when meeting with DF and DP, I signed the “Certificate of Possession” and reminded DF that AHWP required it be delivered no later than 16 January. He assured me that it could be received via fax with the hard copy to follow. As of a call to AHWP on 23 January, they have not received the Certificate of Possession. Thus, RVH has not fulfilled that aspect of the contract.

On 5 January, fearing the worst, I contacted the Rural Planning Commission. I was afraid that I might find out – given what had transpired and the fact that things seemed to be getting worse – that permits had never been pulled and/or inspections performed. I found out that the first two, of three, inspections had been performed. But, the “upon completion” inspection [as specified on the Rural Planning Commission web site] had not yet been performed. As of this date, 25 January, I do not know if it has been performed.

“Eavestroughing: Eavestroughing will be white in colour and is included in the cost of the finished house structure.”

Eavestroughing has not yet been installed. In my last conversation with DF and DP they had to check with the sub-contractor regarding when installation could be scheduled.

“If the Purchaser chooses materials that come in under the allowance for any category outlined above, a subtraction adjustment would occur, such as there would be an addition adjustment of materials chosen came in over budget.”

We came in under allowance for flooring, plumbing, and light fixtures. Thus, RVH owes us for these amounts. Details attached.

We agreed to an overage of $300 for the kitchen and a change order for blocking ($203.40, including HST, not specified in the "Work Voucher."). Thus, we owe RVH for these amounts. Details attached.

It should also be noted that the contract states, “Any additional material and labour costs incurred during construction by either the Purchaser or Service Provider must be agreed to in writing and will be documented in an addendum to this contract. All changes and/or additions will be signed off by the Purchaser prior to commencement of said changes and/or additions.”

With the exception of the change order for the blocking, none of the many changes to the work specified in the contract were put in writing.

HardiPlank

This could have been included under the post, "Living With It," but it really warrants its own attention, so here I am.

In sum,
1. We wanted natural cedar shake siding. E really wanted natural cedar shake siding.
2. The builder approached us about switching from cedar shake to fiber cement.
3. This was for his own reasons, but we were agreeable as he said it could be done more quickly.
4. No change order was written. I wasn't worried.
5. We chose red.
6. This is why we went with a silver roof.
7. He was going to use the "shingle profile" because that was was we would have had with cedar and it was the "look" we wanted.
8. Claiming that he had been given the wrong information, he then said that the "shingle profile" was cost prohibitive. Being understanding of his dilemma, we conceded that we could live with lap siding. We were trying to be accommodating.
9. I specified a 4" reveal.
10. We don't have a shingle profile and we don't have a 4" reveal. We do have poorly done siding.

Okay, so where are we otherwise? We get the Hardiplank delivered. Some of it was installed. A lot of the siding was left outside. HardiPlank directs users to "store flat and keep dry and covered prior to installation." I asked Dave Primrose about the fact that the siding was getting snowed on, etc., and he responded that the manufacturer was a bit overzealous in their guidance; that is, was, after all, siding. It's purpose is protection from the elements. This didn't seem unreasonable to me, but I took some photos, "just for the record," as I was a bit concerned that this may prove to be a problem in the future.

Needless to say, the siding was not being kept flat, dry, and covered. Unless you include snow cover, that is.

When looking at the installed product, I was concerned about the gaps between the planks. Dave Primrose said that there have to be gaps to allow for breathing. This may be true. It sounds reasonable. But, now I'm skeptical about virtually everything I was ever told by them. Without going into all of the details regarding gaps and installation directions, I'm not sure if the gaps are appropriate or not.

We also had one significant problem with the reveal, and I don't mean the fact that we did not get a 4" reveal as requested. That I just decided we had to live with. The one problem has been repaired, sort of. The reveal is still not even, but it's not visible to the normal eye. But, in talking about this with Dave Primrose, he said that there were other places around the house - I've not gone looking - where the reveal was "off" and that that was how it had to be.

In reading more Hardiplank information and posts on various sites, I now understand that a good installer would, it appears, insure that the reveal was even. And, they probably wouldn't leave their materials sitting in the snow.

I plan, if I am able, to find an experienced HardiPlank installer so that I can know if there is anything in this installation that is likely to create problems down the road. The question, as with all of the tradespeople I need to find, is how to make sure that they aren't cut from the same cloth as the folks with whom we've been working. I still can't believe how this has turned out.

The Latest

Earlier today, a friend of ours spoke with an attorney about our situation. While he can't help because he isn't a litigator, he had some advice. One was to start getting bids on all of the outstanding work, both completion items and repairs. That gave me the idea to document as much as I could of where things stand today. If Jason Friars is asserting that the contract has been fulfilled and "the house and garage are complete," I'd best document the degree to which that couldn't be farther from the truth. I spent several hours last night responding to the outrageous assertions in his bogus "invoice," but I didn't have any record besides what I'd typed up as my recollections.

The four posts below are all new. They are, I think, self-explanatory. Take a look. Let me know what you think. Mostly I thought that this would be a useful way of sharing this information with an attorney. But, I really would like to know what others think. Does this look like completed work to you? Do these alleged "deficiencies" look like we're being too picky. Be honest. I really want to know what an outside observer thinks.

That's all for now. I'm still in disbelief that someone [Jason Friars] who, while ultimately flaky didn't ever seem hateful or vicious, could put together the ridiculous assertions that he has. He really seemed like such a nice guy. That's actually one of the reasons that I persisted, even when I had my doubts. He just seemed like a good, albeit a bit disorganized, guy. Here's one example of why he's not - a good guy, that is.

In his "invoice" of 15 January, Jason Friars includes a charge for "work delays due to client interference, 5 hrs a week for 12 weeks @ 45.00 and hour," or $2,700. Now, first, call me crazy, but when one is spending over a quarter of a million dollars - land and taxes included - on a custom built house, one would think that the homeowner has an interest in the progress. This is even more the case when so many things were going wrong. For example, one day in October I was talking to Paul Ryan, briefly the site manager of sorts, when Kent delivered the pocket doors. I said, "You do realize that those are the wrong pocket doors, don't you?" He did not. I am absolutely confident, given what I had observed up to that point, that they would have installed the doors without ever realizing that they were the wrong profile. Thus, my presence probably saved them money. This was one of the most offensive parts of the "invoice" and letter.

I can't count the times that Dave Primrose asked me questions like, "On which side do you want the hand rail?" "Have you picked out door hardware?" "Which way do you want the stairs to face?" Had I not been available at virtually the drop of a hat, he would have, many times, been held up until he had an answer. Invariably my response was along the lines of, "I've been asking Jason when we were going to deal with that," or "I've been trying to get Jason to tell me what the options are..."

I actually spoke with both Dave Primrose and Darcy Friars about my being around the site and that I wanted to be respectful of their work and not get in the way. Darcy Friars told me about a woman at one of their other jobs who would corner one of the workers and not let up until they quit, and that I seemed to be there "the right amount of time." Damn straight. Oh, I wish I had a list of how many problems my presence prevented - e.g., when I noticed that the kitchen sink was leaking or that the wrong toilets had been installed. And I won't even get into repeating the details of how I had to go obtain the documentation and convince them that the toilets had been installed incorrectly; i.e., with the adjustable flange flipped the wrong way. Grrrr...

Living With It

As anyone who has followed this blog knows, there were many problems with this build. It looks funny to write that, it's such an understatement.

Just to recap a few things I've written about previously...

Jason Friars and I went to Kent so that I could select door and window trim, which I did. When I came by the house and saw the first few doors that had had trim installed, I was aghast to see that it was the wrong trim. But, not wanting to ask them to remove it and start over, I decided I could live with it.

When my partner and I met Jason Friars at Kent to go over exterior door selections, etc., we specified a mudroom door that, like the other exterior doors, would be full-pane glass. When the door arrived it was a more typical door with nine panes above the middle of the door and solid below. Not wanting to delay things further, we said the door was fine.

When the kitchen cabinets arrived, the glass in the one door with glass was the wrong glass. We have since said that we could live with it. When the cabinetmaker was here putting the cabinets in, I noticed that the dishwasher opening was on the wrong side of the sink. He explained that he thought this was a better design than what we had asked for. I explained that the reason was that my left hand is very arthritic and it's easier to work to the right. But, I said it would be okay.

The house, in the renderings, appears to be just above grade. We had discussed how we hoped, in the future, to be able to build a breezeway to connect the house and the garage. When they excavated, they went down only far enough so that, given the slope of the land, four of the five basement windows would be above grade. This resulted in a side door that required seven steps from grade to "deck." It would be virtually impossible, if not just unsightly, to construct a breezeway. But, by the time we realized this all, it was too late.

The plans called for two bedroom "suites" that were mirror images of one another. The only difference was (to be) that one of the closet would have an adapted floor to accommodate the stairs to the basement. But, Dave Primrose took it upon himself - thinking he was doing us a favour, I'm certain - to widen the stairs to 39 inches, rather than 36. To do so, he took 3 inches out of one of the bathrooms. Had I been asked, I would have said to leave the stairs at 36. Can we live with one bathroom that's slightly smaller? Sure. Would it have been nice to have them ask before doing so. Yes. But, I wasn't about to tell them to change it.

Finally, there is the "half wall" in the mudroom. As I wrote in September, it turns out that the mudroom wall that abuts the stairs was right over a joist. You can't put a hole in the joist so the plumbing for the washer/dryer had to come up "outside the wall." Their solution was to extend the wall 4" but we couldn't do so all the way up without interfering with the attic access panel. So, there is a little ledge behind the washer/dryer and where we would have had a coat cupboard or some such. Now such a cupboard cannot be flush against the wall. I will eventually get used to it, but "losing" 4" in that spot was annoying, as is the ledge. This is one of the things that Jason Friars has invoiced me for as a change to which I agreed. I guess technically I did "agree" - but only to accommodate them, not wanting to be a bitch and tell them to figure out how to fix it. In fact, I asked a day or so later if it wouldn't be possible to just bring the entire wall up to the ceiling, rather than having the ledge. But, when Dave Primrose said that he would then have to move the attic access panel I said that of course I wouldn't ask them to do that. So, I agreed to "live with it." And now I'm being billed for their error? Holy cow!

The door trim, change in flooring, and a host of other things completely changed what was supposed to be more "cottage/cabin" in feel. Other things didn't impact the aesthetic, but were not what was supposed to be. But, we weighed "this against that," most of which had to do with accommodating the builder, and decided that we could "live with it [them]."

Jason Friars, in the materials he left with our attorney, tries to make it appear as though he has fallen all over himself doing us favours. Not so. But, to the contrary, trying to be accommodating, there were things, as indicated above, that we decided we could live with. This was primarily when they were things that just seemed to costly to have them do or that had too much potential to make things worse.

This is where the door trim meets the floor in one of the bathrooms. When Dave Primrose and I talked about it, he explained that the person who installed the floor, a sub-contractor, would have cut the trim and that, in this case, he cut it too high. He tried, as the story goes, to "fix" it with grout. You can see from the above photo, and that below, how well it worked.

But, not wanting to "ask too much," I offered that this was something that I could repair with some wood filler and paint. Right, I'm so unreasonable. Well, that's what Jason Friars told our attorney anyway.

This photo is of the door, on the right, and a closet, on the left in Bedroom 1. If you look closely, or click to enlarge, you'll see that the "bubble" is perfectly centered. The top of both pieces of trim are at the exact same height.

This photo is the same as the above, only in Bedroom 2. Again, look closely or click to enlarge and you will see the bubble significantly off centre. When I first brought this to Dave Primrose's attention, he initially he said that he often made the door higher than closets, but when I asked why, then, in the other room were they perfectly level, he sheepishly admitted that this was his error, that he must not have checked it with a level.

Again, I said that we should just not worry about it. I can't, of course, fix this with wood filler and paint, but most people would never notice it and there was a significant possibility that fixing it would make it worse. So, we'll live with it.

Unfortunately, the timing and chaos of many aspects of this build meant that flooring went in before a pretty significant amount of work was completed. When we moved in on 17 November, into a veritable construction zone, there were no fewer than six or seven men working inside the house. Not everybody - well, almost nobody - was very respectful of the brand new floors. The above photo shows one of the gouges in our new Marmoleum floor. I couldn't get photos of them, but there are also numerous scratches and dents in the new hardwood floor. Obviously I'm not going to ask them to replace the flooring - though some people would. But, yeah, I'm just so difficult and unreasonable.

Finally, there is the issue of the front porch and side deck. At one point we had talked with Jason Friars about options for decking materials. He talked about the possibility of cedar. After the first posts were installed (not pictured), I talked to Paul Ryan about the fact that there was a large piece sheared off the corner of one of the main posts. He said that it might have happened after it was installed because "Dave [Primrose] would never have used a piece like that." Well, Dave would and Dave did. I don't know if you can really tell, but the photo, above, shows one of the other posts that is missing a piece right on one of the more prominent corners. Jason Friars was soon removed from the job - by his brother, not by me - and we never again had the opportunity to talk about decking options.

I was told, by several people, that New Brunswick - a centre of forestry, ironically - gets the "shit wood," that the better quality wood goes South. Now, wouldn't it have been nice if someone had said to us, "We've budgeted for pressure treated [not, by the way, at all 'green'], but let me show you what it's going to look like." I would have asked for estimates on using cedar and if that wasn't possible, I would have offered to go pull the materials from the lumber yard and inspect each piece myself. Instead, we have prominent posts that have sections looking like they were sliced off.

But, did I demand that they be replaced? No. It didn't seem reasonable. We'll live with it. But, I forgot, I guess I'm demanding and unreasonable. Right.

Repairs

On 13 January 2009, we met with Darcy Friars, an owner of RVH and the electrician, and Dave Primrose, the lead carpenter. We discussed all of the deficiencies and agreed as to how they would be rectified. I agreed to type up a Memorandum of Agreement outlining all that we discussed.

Deficiencies included, in abbreviated form: the bathrooms, the kitchen, the window well that had been installed upside down, siding issues, some damages to interior trim, and the entry way tile/transition strip. These are distinct from the items that were outstanding in terms of completion (e.g., parging).

As I've recounted elsewhere, at about 9 am on Thursday, 22 January, Darcy Friars said that they would be taking care of the repairs and doing the deck. I told him that, rather than our trying to meet, if he would just take the signed MoA to our attorney, she would provide him with a cheque. He said, "Great."

Instead, Jason Friars showed up and said that not only would they not sign the MoA, but that's when he dropped the bogus invoice off with our attorney. Attached to the invoice was the letter, cited elsewhere, indicating that the house and garage were complete and saying nothing about outstanding repairs.

Here are photos taken on Saturday, 24 January 2009, regarding areas that need repair.

As in a number of the close-ups, it's difficult to see clearly here, but if you look at the centre horizontal grout line you'll see that to the left of the vertical grout line it is grouted. The vertical grout line and the horizontal grout line to the right are not grouted.

John left the above items here, at the entry way, on Friday, 16 January. He said that he would be coming back some time the following week to finish the grout. As of this evening, 24 January, they remain on the entry way.

The kitchen is deserving of its own post, but I can't get good photographs of many of the problems. Above is one example where the seams of the cabinetry have cracked. We made arrangements with Darcy Friars and Dave Primrose to have the kitchen repairs done while we are away in early April. Darcy Friars explained how they were going to use some special product, used I think in auto repair, that wouldn't crack, either from expansion or drying up. Now, with a letter stating that the house is "complete," and making no mention of repairs, we don't know where things stand.

As recounted elsewhere, we returned home on Friday, 5 December, to find that the "repairs" that the cabinetmaker had made were not only poorly done, but that there was spray paint all over one of the countertops, the KitchenAid, and a pottery plate. I called Darcy Friars who explained that they could remove the paint without damaging the counter top. It's hard to see here, but the paint remains.


These two photos, above, illustrate one of the kitchen problems that I was most upset with. The wall oven sits in a corner, such that counter top on each side abuts the trim of the cabinet in which the oven is mounted. Dave Noble, the cabinetmaker, appears to have pushed some kind of putty in there and painted over it.

It should be noted that Jason Friars, Darcy Friars, and Dave Primrose all agreed that there were major problems with the kitchen. Dave Primrose said, at one time, that there were things I hadn't mentioned that he wasn't even going to show me. And, in fact, there were some things about which Darcy Friars seemed even more upset than I was. Yesterday, our attorney told me that Jason Friars had indicated to her that, yes, indeed there were significant problems with the kitchen. Yet, nowhere in his letter does he address the alleged forthcoming repairs.

In other posts I've discussed the problems with the tub/shower walls. What I haven't noted was that, since first noticing this myself, I have since found out from Dave Primrose and the plumber, that both the fellow who installed the tile and the plumber and Dave Primrose and Darcy Friars all noticed it, but declined to bring it to my attention. It seemed, as with other problems, that they decided to take a "wait and see" approach; that they would deal with things if I noticed. Even though it's tough to capture, I think you can see here that some tiles are a bright white while others are more gray.

Both prior to as well as during our conversation on 13 January, Darcy Friars and Dave Primrose both discussed that they had been in touch with Kent, the store where the tile was purchased. They were waiting to hear if Kent was going to credit them the cost of the tile and, possibly, any labour. We agreed that they would give us cash in the amount of the credit so that we could purchase new tile and we agreed that if we decided to go with a more expensive tile, we would pay for the difference. They would cover all labour and any additional materials, e.g., new backer board. Dave Primrose even asked that we leave the garage open as the backer board was going to be delivered and needed to be inside. We never took delivery of any backer board. They were supposed to tell us later that week how much we had for tile and that, if we could get the tile, they would start on the repairs the week of 19 January. That was the last we heard about it.

The bathroom sink in one of the bathrooms has a chip in it. Darcy Friars agreed that, at $154, it would just be replaced; that even if it could be repaired it was likely cheaper just to replace it. Dave Primrose said that he didn't think that the cast marble product could be repaired and they said that they would just put it in a rental where the tenants wouldn't care. Dave Primrose later asked if we were sure where they had come from and we clarified exactly which product they were and where Jason Friars had purchased them. The sink has, obviously, not been replaced.

The hand rail on the basement stairs had to be lowered and, after bringing to their attention that the holes from the previous mounting had not been filled, Dave Primrose filled them. But, as with this kind of repair, it sometimes takes twice. The holes along the hand rail need to be filled again and painted.

For some reason one of the outlets had a rough edge where there was a chunk of drywall missing. This wouldn't be a problem, except that it extended above the outlet plate. Dave Primrose spackled it. This is how it remains today.

Are we just picky? Given the numerous conversations with all three aforementioned parties; conversations in which they conveyed wholehearted agreement, it hardly seems that way.

Dedication and Diligence

In his letter to our former attorney, Jason Friars wrote, "RVH Construction Inc. has constructed this new home with high quality materials, workmanship, dedication, and diligence, the finished product of which is well above industry standards."

dedication
noun
1. complete and wholehearted fidelity
[irrelevant meanings deleted]
5. the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action;
[www.dictionary.com]

diligence
noun
1. constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind.
2. Law. the degree of care and caution required by the circumstances of a person.
3. Obsolete. care; caution.

While this entire blog provides a plethora of examples of the lack of dedication and diligence, these are a few photos I snapped today, after the alleged completion of the job.

This is a "step" that one of the builders put together for their use in various places; e.g., under scaffolding. It is now sitting in the snow behind the garage.

Throughout the entire job we found granola bar wrappers, what seemed like an infinite number of Tim's cups, hundreds of screws and nails - to name a few - all over the place. Even our son was flabbergasted at their lack of caring "for the earth." They did seem to try - too little, too late. In the above photo they actually placed the light bulb boxes on or near the recycling box that contains paper. But, no, they didn't flatten them and put them in the box. And, I guess they left that one last Tim's cup just for old time's sake.

This is what I found in the bottom of our trash bin when I went to put a new liner in it. Kudos for doing some - albeit not much - sweeping, but why put it in the bottom of the bin when we had already discussed that our garbage collection does not "dump the bin" into the truck, but only pulls bags from the bin. Obviously I had to dump it out and sweep it up to put it in a bag.

Throughout the job we were constantly both disgusted and amazed at the lack of care in so many areas. Whether it was trash thrown on the ground, sawdust or sanding residue not swept up after working inside the house, grout that we can't get off of the bathroom floors, or the overall lack of care in much of what was done, we were very disappointed. But, maybe our expectations were too high. Nonetheless, "dedication and diligence" did not appear to be the order of the day.

"Fulfilled" and "Completed"

At the end of Jason Friars' letter to our former attorney, he wrote: "RVH construction [sic] has fulfilled the contract. The house and garage are complete." The pictures in this post enable the viewer to decide. Is this house truly complete?

As you can see, there is no eavestroughing (i.e., "gutters") on the house. The contract stipulates: "Eavestroughing: Eavestroughing will be white in colour and is included in the cost of the finished house structure." And, yes, there must have been a dark cloud over the house when I took this one! [Just trying desperately to maintain a sense of humour...]

Here you see the rear of the house and the foundation that has not yet been parged. For the uninformed, that's a stucco-like application used to cover the ICF foundation. We understood, and agreed, that parging could not be complete until after all the snow has gone. But, with that pending, is the house complete? This photo also shows the place on the house that was created for the attachment of the deck, another point of contention.

Between the trim on one of the doors and the siding you can see some of the "Blue Skin" that they wrap around doors and windows. Dave Primrose said that these areas needed caulking, but that things had to warm up a bit before they could do so.

Here is the box of caulk that they left under the stairs for when they can do the caulking.


We now have the light for the front porch, but it hasn't been installed yet. Will it ever be?

This is just an example of one of the siding nails that still needs painting/daubing.

I had asked about this window where the siding was cut a bit too small. Dave Primrose agreed and said that he was going to try to fix it. This, too, is an area in need of caulking.

This is one of the corners of the house. As in other photos, the foundation lacks parging. I had asked Dave Primrose about trimming the corners to be even and he said that of course he would be doing so and explained why he prefers to do it at the end of the job. According to Jason Friars the job is "complete."

This is some kind of tarp and a hose that have been left by the builder's crew.

Here you see the Blue Skin and some mesh under the siding. Again, unfinished.

Ditto. Next to the stairs going up to the side door you see the unparged foundation and the mesh that hangs from under the siding.

This is where electrical runs from the house to the garage. I'm guessing that this needs caulking. Without it the siding will eventually degrade as its got an exposed edge that has not been painted or caulked as specified by the manufacturer.

This delight is the corner trim on the garage. You can see where there's a gouge on the trim. That piece should not have been used. In addition, you see the nails that, I would think, require painting/daubing.

This shot is of the garage interior, in between the two overhead doors. Either they left materials because there is more to do or, more likely, as was the case for the entire job they are sloppy and left them behind.

When we returned home on 23 January we found this in the garage. I believe it is a roll of tar paper. Back against the wall is a pile of tin debris from, presumably, the fascia/soffit finish work or the covering of the door trim.

This is the trim for the "man door" to the garage. As was the case with the side door of the house, [until I brought it to their attention] the holes need the little caps that cover them.

You tell me. Does this look like a contract fulfilled and a house that has no work outstanding?

I should add that, a couple of weeks ago when I was becoming very concerned that they might just up and disappear, I contacted Atlantic Home Warranty Program to ask if the required materials had been submitted. Short story - they had not. I still had to sign a "Certificate of Possession." Darcy Friars brought it for me to sign on 13 January. I reminded him that it had to be returned no later than 16 January and he assured me that it could be faxed. As of Friday, 23 January, Atlantic Home Warranty has not received that document. Without it they cannot issue the warranty. The contract stipulates, "Warranty: Provided through builder via Atlantic Home Warranty Program." I've been told that they will issue it late. I hope so, or there's another breach of contract...

Could it get any worse?

At various points during the last seven months - we broke ground on 24 June - I've asked myself this question. Inevitably, the answer was, "Yes."

It's not over yet. I am too exhausted to write much in the way of detail, but here's the latest, in abbreviated form. Yesterday at about 9 am, D2 said that we were all set regarding a Memorandum of Agreement that I drafted after our meeting last week. It spelled out what repairs needed to be made, what work was outstanding, etc. He even rattled off the things that they would be doing, including the deck.

Then, at some time later in the day, J (the original builder and D2's brother, who we haven't seen since late October/early November) showed up at our lawyer's office saying they weren't signing the memo and that we owe them money. He's claiming it's overages/upcharges, but I've tracked everything and he doesn't have "change orders" on the things he's now changing his tune on. I'll write more about this later, perhaps, but - in brief - we both made the mistake of not putting change orders in writing. This all has to do with me not wanting to be a total bitch or seen as the ass from the States. I made the mistake of trying to "go along, get along" in a place that, it appears, doesn't do business anything like that with which I'm familiar. It sounds like he's now going back on everything we had agreed to verbally. But, that's all I know at this point because we can't get in touch with either of them. Their cell boxes are full. A call to D2's home went unreturned.

I'm not going into a lot of detail here because there is a good chance this - unless I find out that J is wacked and D2 doesn't even know about what he pulled yesterday - will end up in litigation. And, while I'll leave this blog public for a while, I may eventually make the blog private and the 3 or 4 of you who are following it will have to be granted permission. I don't know. I don't really have the strength to even keep writing about what a nightmare this has become. And who thought it could get worse!

Stay tuned for an update.

Update: This blog is now private. So, you're only seeing this if you've been "invited."

I spent two hysterical hours in our attorney's office today. Long story short, Jason Friars, the original builder, has cobbled together a horrifically bogus invoice for additional costs to the tune of $16,000. Adding that to the last draw that they were due, he filed a lien on the property for $43,000. Now, I have to meet with another attorney, one more skilled in these disputes. I will be spending the evening typing up my notes regarding the false nature of his invoice and, using the blog, documenting everything that contradicts his assertions.

I went to each of the three sub-contractors with whom I have a relationship and explained to them what was going on so that they would know and, hopefully, not file their own liens. I think we're in good shape there. They've all known, for months, how wrong everything has gone and they are really, really sympathetic.

Anyway, that's the latest. Since those of you who might be reading are also folks I email with I probably won't post anything else any time soon as I can keep you up to speed via email.

Will it ever end?

Give me a break, please.

On Monday, 5 January, I called the office of NB Public Safety to ask whether there was any mechanism for filing a complaint about a tradesperson. I spoke to a very nice fellow in Technical Inspections who was appalled at what I described. I also found out that our plumber's licence had expired last week. The TI fellow said that he was going to have the plumbing inspector contact me.

Yesterday morning, Tuesday, I received a call from the plumber. Not the inspector, but the plumber who did the work. He was clearly frazzled, having received a call from the inspector himself. He met us at the house around 12:30 and discovered that some of the putty around the drain had dried, shrunk, and left a gap. That explains why it didn't leak right away. I also talked with him about the tub that isn't level. He said that the carpenter put a 2x4 on the wall to serve as a support for the tub and if it was too high it wouldn't be level. That is correct - and clearly the 2x4 was too high - though it doesn't explain why he didn't figure that out when he installed it. Nice guy. But, I'm not too sure about his plumbing work.

Last week I had been told by our lawyer's assistant that the bank required the Atlantic Home Warranty number - for our property, not the builder's member number. On Monday I contacted Atlantic Home Warranty in Halifax and the good news is that the builder actually had us listed with them. But, the warranty isn't issued until we sign a Certificate of Possession. We've never done so.

On Monday afternoon we left D2 a message about the tub and the warranty. As of this afternoon, Wednesday, we had not heard from him. More on that later.

Finally, on Monday, I called the Rural Planning Commission to make sure that the required permits had been pulled and inspections performed. Fortunately, the builder didn't cut corners there. All that remains is their final inspection.

Yesterday we met with our attorney to sign the mortgage papers and talk with her about all of the deficiencies and how that was going to be handled, especially given that the builder, D2, hasn't contacted us since 5 December.

The paperwork had a mortgage rate and monthly payment that was different from what the broker had written up, and to which we had agreed. Bottom line, with a construction loan, the bank uses the rate from 90 days ago. Only after disbursement is the rate adjusted. So, I was being told to sign paperwork agreeing to a rate that was .95% higher than that I had been offered. I wasn't really happy signing papers agreeing to something that was not what we had been promised, but I was basically told "that's how it's done." The broker assured me that we had the lower rate and I, nervously, signed. This morning, the lawyer's office called to say that it was, in fact, the higher rate. I about lost it. Longer story short. I went to the local branch where they were able to look it up in the system and they called the broker. She hadn't returned my call. But, they got in touch with her. All is well. We do, in fact, have the lower rate - a difference of more than $6000 over the 48 month term. I don't understand how any system has a procedure that requires you to sign for something that isn't what you are actually agreeing to, but I guess that's how they do it here. Strange.

While I was in the bank manager's office I received a phone call from the fourth sub-contractor looking to get paid. Two flooring companies, one wood stove company, and the cabinetmaker are all looking for the builder - or, more to the point, the money.

Finally, about an hour ago I called D, the guy I've referred to as the lead carpenter. We found out that D2 has a new phone number. Of course, given that he hasn't called us since 5 December, I can hardly expect him to be proactive and give us his new number. D tells me that garage doors are scheduled to go in between 10 and 15 January and that the last of the siding is to be delivered on Friday. They are supposed to be here on Monday to finish that.

That, of course, doesn't resolve this list:
Trim piece at one bedroom door was not filled/sanded before painting
Trim needed in closet at floor
One tub is really not level; other is moderately not level
Shower/tub tile needs replacement in both bathrooms
Vanity top is chipped
Light bars not centered over faucets/vanities
Edging not put in where tubs meet floor
One piece of door trim does not go all the way to the floor
Door/closet trim not level in one bedroom
Gouge to door frame was filled, but not sanded
Two different heights of metal edging were used at front entry
Damaged door frame was not filled/sanded before painting
Trim on hearth was not completed
Wall at outlet near mudroom needs patching/painting
Peninsula counter top was cracked upon installation
Oven cabinet is really poorly finished where it meets the counter tops
Pantry door warped and “chipped” on interior corner
Panel in front of cooktop has bad patching
Floor was gouged
Wrong drawer slides were used
Wrong glass in cupboard door
Bad paint throughout – tacky or glossy or thin
Shelving poorly cut (rough, “torn,” etc.)
Shelves in cabinet up and to left of cooktop are not even
Oven cabinet and left piece not well matched at floor
Fridge cabinet, left and top, poorly finished
Paint on countertop from cabinetmaker's “repairs”
Damage to Marmoleum floor in mudroom
Holes in drywall on stairway not yet filled, sanded, and painted
Sconce needs to be installed in stairway
Electrical in “future bedroom” not complete
Builder's materials (e.g., dehumidifier, ShopVac) in mechanical room
Window well appears to have been installed upside down
No exterior power or power in garage
Foundation below siding not finished
Siding nails, etc. need painting/daubing
Siding above NW window not cut evenly
Screens that were removed were not replaced
Porch wood is really crap
No caps in mudroom exterior door frame
Porch light and rear light not installed

And, believe it or not, the excavation company's compactor is still sitting in the front yard!

So, there you have it. The saga continues.

Luck

You know that expression, "If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." Consider the latest in our, er, adventure in home building...

1. About a week ago, the guys were installing siding on the garage. They were working on the side that faces the house. I walked out of the mudroom door and noticed that the last piece of siding, about 3/4 of the way up the side of the garage, was visibly uneven, causing the reveal on the piece below to be visibly uneven as well. I told D about it. He measured it and said it was "Off less than a quarter of an inch." I responded with something like, "I live with these eyes," because we've talked before about how I notice things that others have to measure. I had to run. When I got back, he had NOT fixed it, but finished the siding on up to the soffit. So, there is one piece, right at eye level when you're on the "deck" outside the mudroom, where the reveal is clearly off. I can't believe that even after being told about it and when it was easily fixable, he ignored it. One lesson I've taken away from this is that I think I should have been a completely demanding bitch on wheels, rather than have tried to be as accommodating as I have been. I didn't want to be seen as the "ugly American" or "the bitch." But, I think I was wrong in that approach. Frankly, I'm sure that if I had different genitals - or had at least acted like I did - things might have gone differently.

2. We have one window that is below grade. Prior to the backfill, they put in a corrugated metal window well. I remarked that I was surprised at how sharp the edge was as I didn't recall that from others I have seen. But, I was also never "inspecting" them, so maybe I was just remembering them wrong. The builder's solution, shared by his cronies, was to suggest that we slice a section of garden hose and pop it over the edge. They even left a piece of garden hose. I never planned to do so, but I didn't want to insult them so I just let it go. But, it kept bugging me. Something just wasn't right. The edge was so sharp, right next to a walkway, and we have a seven year old. A couple of days ago I Googled, "window well" "rolled edge" and, sure enough, there are the ads talking about the safety of the rolled edge. Next I went to Kent, the store where I'm fairly certain they would have purchased it. And, there they were, corrugated metal window wells with a rolled edge. I'm willing to bet big money that when the window well at our house is dug out we will find that they put it in upside down, with the rolled edge below the dirt. I keep thinking it can't get any more bizarre. Then it does.

3. The basement isn't "finished," but its functional. Because of the ICF, the exterior walls have been drywalled. There is heat. There is lighting. There are outlets. So, we have it set up with our sofa, LCD television, DVD player, and Wii. The tv stuff is all on a brand new tv stand. Tonight, after giving the aforementioned seven year old a bath, we went downstairs to watch a movie. My partner said, "What's that on top of the tv stand?" I looked and, horrified, realized that it was water. I looked up and realized that everything was set up right under his bathtub. Clearly, the tub had leaked. The good news is that it doesn't appear to have touched the $1000 television. The bad news is that it damaged the top of the new tv stand. We just can't catch a break. Welcome 2009.

In other news, I've decided to call the Rural Planning folks and make sure that all of the necessary permits were pulled, inspections completed, etc. I was a little nervous about doing so. Heaven forbid they say, "No... and you have to move out." But, it's in the contract that all permits are the responsibility of the builder and while any negative result would be a major pain in the @**, they would have to take care of it. I'd rather know now if there are likely to be some problems related to Rural Planning, etc. down the road.

Tomorrow is four weeks from when I called to let D2 know about the paint on the counter top. I've not seen or heard from him since. I'm so glad I put Christmas lights on the front porch - that we never got to turn on because we still, four weeks from when promised, still don't have exterior power.

I am so pissed. I'm not sure how this is all going to turn out. But, I am so pissed. I am beyond pissed. I am enraged.

ICF/Wood Stove Report

Although it wasn't terribly cold today - probably around 0C/32F - we had the wood stove going. With no electric heat running, it was 24C/75F in the living room/dining room. The adjacent rooms, again - no electric heat running, were between 20C/68F and 22C/72F. Not bad. The fire died down a couple of hours ago and right now, in the living room/dining room, it's 21C/70F. We'll still have fairly hefty NB Power bills because all of our appliances are electric, we're heavy computer users, and we have a tv/gaming set-up. But, we do have mostly CFL bulbs and don't run things when we don't need to be doing so. Right now I'm tracking the kWh to see when usage is up, down, etc. But, I love being able to warm the house so well just by firing up the stove!

Note to Self

Week of 1 December - D2, the "builder," says that we'll have exterior electrical by Thursday, 4 December.

Friday, 5 December - Cabinetmaker comes to do "repairs" and gets spray paint all over one of the counter tops. I call D2 to let him know. He says that it can be removed without damaging the counter top.

Sunday, 21 December - I have not seen or heard from D2 yet. Yes, over two weeks later...

As of right now, putting aside the long list of general deficiencies, there is electrical work to be finished in the basement and they have a lot of their materials in the mechanical room and under the stairs.

On the outside -
We have no exterior power. I'm so glad I put up lights and got a block heater installed.
Foundation below the siding is not started or finished.
Siding nails need daubing/painting.
A piece of siding above one window was not cut evenly. Grrr...
Screens that were removed were not re-installed. Nice.
Mudroom door frame is missing some caps.
Front porch light needs ordering and installation.

The garage is "parkable," but doesn't have doors, siding, or electrical.

I picked up a bunch of metal cuttings, scrap wood, nails, screws, etc. from around the garage today. I didn't post about it, but on Tuesday I picked up all kinds of junk - including their extension cords, signs, etc., - and put it all in their junk pile. It's now gone. Pigs.

I can't believe that, with all the problems and things hanging, I've not heard from D2. But, oh, his brother did manage to call our attorney to ask for the final draw. Not!

We did have the final inspection for the bank's purposes so that's good news.

I fear this will be a long(er) haul.

Winter

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I've posted an update. I've thought about it many times, but they're wearing me down. I'm just sick of dealing with house things. Sick, sick, sick. Nonetheless...

We've decided to leave the chimney where it is and deal with it. Too many suggestions that the ceiling couldn't quite be repaired "just right." Now, I don't really buy this. If you can take 8-10, or whatever, 4' x 8' or 4' x 12' pieces of sheetrock and tape and mud them beautifully, I don't know why you can't fix a 12" circle as well. But, given what has transpired here, we're not taking our chances. And, even if taped and mudded wonderfully, they said they'd have to paint the entire ceiling in order to not see where it was painted. If we decide we can't stand it, doing it later would be the same process. So, in fifteen years...

I may have already posted some of this, but I don't have the fortitude to go back and re-read everything to find out... are you ready? The tubs are not level. The master, in particular. The water collects to one side of the drain and when you stand to shower you can feel the listing of the tub. So, in addition to having to tear out and replace the tiles, they'll have to mess with the tub. Nice.

There is grout - or something - all over the floor of both bathrooms. The floors are just a mess. My recollection is that this is the result of the work that was done after the floors were complete, not the floor installation itself. Since I can't easily get down on my knees or sit on the floor, I can't work on cleaning it up. There was even a big glob of grout in one of the vanity drawers. Of course, once removed, it left a mark and took off a bit of the finish in the drawer. Oh, well. At least it's in the drawer. That would be contrasted with the chip in the vanity top. Call me crazy, but if I were installing a vanity top I might examine its condition and return it if it were chipped.

And, speaking of floors, we have about 18 pieces of ceramic tile at the front entry. Overall it was nicely done. But, apparently cutting corners as usual, the builder's guy used the "Schluter" knock-off that they had and an additional piece they had to pick up. Too bad they were two different sizes. So, the edging at the front/width of the tiled area has "Schluter" that is a bit raised above the floor. That is, it doesn't meet flush. @#$%!!!

Our exterior outlets are not yet live so we have lights on the front porch, but no way of turning them on. And, no way of plugging in our ailing '98 Honda Civic. The garage foundation is in and the walls are up. The roof should have gone on today, but we had quite a bit of snow overnight so that's not happening today.

On Friday the cabinetmaker - so to speak - came back, unexpectly, to do some touch-ups. I showed him where the peninsula counter top had been cracked by a screw from below being put in too far. He said he had some patch. Uh, NO! Patch is what you do when the homeowner has screwed something up in a house they've been living in for a while. Patch is NOT what you do when the builder/sub/installer mess something up before you've even converted from an interest only construction loan to a mortgage. They will be replacing the countertop. Unfortunately they will no doubt screw something else up in the process.

We got back later and - I AM NOT KIDDING - he had spray painted one section of cabinet that needed repair and got paint all over the countertop. There is paint on a piece of pottery that was sitting there and paint on the KitchenAid. When you move the KitchenAid you can see where the paint mist covered the counter, except for the outline of the KitchenAid. He must have worked on the doors that showed "run" on the top because they were - and still are - quite tacky. Nice to have mentioned it. And, one door is remarkably glossier than the others. Oh, you might wonder how we knew he spray painted? Besides the "mist" that settled on the counter top, he left the top of the spray can in the cupboard.

The oven is in a corner cabinet. Where the counter top meets the cabinet on either side, he apparently didn't know what the hell to do. I can't take a close up to show it, but he "fixed" the place where the counter top meets the cabinet by using some kind of putty. Um, how about wood putty that you then sand so that it looks like the cabinet. This looks like he took Play-Doh and filled it in - not smooth at all. This is the same guy who didn't use the right glass in the cupboard door and didn't do the vanity doors in the style we had agreed upon.

I don't know that I've mentioned the nice scratch in the kitchen floor - probably from when the appliances were moved into place - or the gouges in the mudroom Marmoleum. Those we just have to live with...

The siding that is not yet up is, for the second time, under snowfall. The Hardie guidelines are to keep it dry. Now, I know that once siding is up it's whole purpose in life is to deal with the elements. So, maybe that's just overkill. But, this siding has been snowed on, rained on, and sitting out for weeks.

The front porch and side stairs/landing are finished. But, I wish someone had bothered to say, "This is what you'll get with pressure treated lumber" and "This is what it would cost to use, for example, cedar." Or, even better, it will cost X if we look for better pieces. Three of the main posts have big slices out of them. Apparently it's crap. Nice. I would have gladly paid for them to actually think about what they were doing and use posts that didn't have big slices out of the corners. The guy who did it, D, is generally fabulous and is the only reason there is even a house here. But, his line of "It's a house, not furniture," while cute, just doesn't jive with my idea of what a house should be. BTW, I know the pressure treated isn't "green," but we couldn't afford to go with some of the new composites and, as above, we never had a discussion about what wood would be used.

I'm sure there are things I'm not thinking about at the moment. But, the above is surely enough. It sickens me to think of a brand new house as being a work in progress.

It occurred to me the other day that the title of this blog is a bit of a double entendre. We began wanting to build as green - as in environmentally responsible - as we could manage. But, this is also our first - AND LAST - attempt at building a house. Thus, we are building green - as in novices to the experience. It is one I do not recommend. Ever. To anyone. Don't do it. Of course, there are LOTS of things we could have done differently. Oh, one, for example, might have been to follow my gut and not work with this clown. I'll have to write a separate post that focuses specifically on building a house in a country in which you've just arrived.

But, you say, surely there must be something positive to be said. Yes, we absolutely love the neighbourhood. One of our neighbours dropped by with her daughter last Tuesday evening. They were bringing us a wreath as a welcome gift and letting us know that the daughter babysits. That was fabulous. Our immediate neighbors to one side and across the street are delightful. On Saturday, we drove to the bottom of the hill and bought our Christmas tree from a local guy who sets up shop at his home. That was delightful. And, this was the view from our front porch yesterday afternoon.



Can't beat that. Does it make up for flawed floors, tippy tubs, crappy cabinetry, etc? I don't know. Everyone promises that everything will be fixed. Everything that can be, that is. Will I live through it. I hope so. Meanwhile, I can enjoy this view. It's really something.

Inching Along

I returned after running some errands to find... the toilets beautifully located about 1" from the wall - as they should be. Turns out, for all of the protests, the information I hunted down was correct. The toilets come with an adjustable flange allowing them to be used on either a 10" or 12" rough-in. I may have learned more about toilets than I ever cared to, but I got 'em fixed!

While I was out I stopped at the place that sold and installed the woodstove. Long story short, I'm going to have things fixed so that the stovepipe is where it should be. Another story of men who want to do things the easy way, or so it appears.

The tile at the front door was grouted today and the hearth was sealed, grouting tomorrow. The painter was here doing touch-ups. And, as above, the plumber dropped by, too. It was too cold to pour the garage foundation.

The main thing that needs to happen is cleaning and unpacking... and figuring out how to work these new-fangled appliances.

Oh, over the weekend I unrolled the rug that I had purchased on-line. A risky undertaking, but I knew that if I didn't love it, it would be perfect in the space that will define my "office corner" in the basement. Turns out that, because of the way the "walking paths" fall, the dining room really needs an oval. We're looking at a braided rug - it will go perfectly with the aesthetic we're working toward.

That's about it for now. There's snow on the ground, but later this week they're calling for rain. Yuk. We're going to have mud heaven.

Follow-up/ICF

Here's an interesting link regarding the different types of ICF. And, within that, an ICF comparison chart. And this link, too. Too bad that if the real reason J went with Logix was because he truly thought it a better product, he couldn't say that to the person who sells Nudura.

Miscellaneous thoughts...

I never remembered to make a note of the fact that, earlier this summer, after some of the lumber arrived, D and the guy working with him, J2, noticed carpenter ants. The lumber was returned. I'm making the note for when I think about all that has gone wrong. I guess I should think of that as something that has gone right.

As some of you know, yesterday morning my son and I were outside while the guys framed up the concrete forms for the garage. He wanted to play and I thought, “Great!” I told him he could go just to the edge of the trees as long as he could see me. Then it dawned on me that I had been told that one of the concrete guys was going to be late because he was going to “get in a morning hunt.” So, I asked, “What are the rules about hunting around here?” Two of the guys debated the law regarding distance from housing. Then D said, “If he’s going in the trees he ought to have an orange vest on.” Holy @#$% Batman! So, I told my son to stay in the “yard.” Fortunately, deer season ended today. But, this morning, as we were getting ready to leave I heard gun shots. I am not kidding.

BTW, the law is no discharging any firearm within 200 metres of a dwelling and no discharge of a rifle within 400 metres of a dwelling. Oh, I feel so much better.

You may recall, if you've followed this story for a while, that we were supposed to build using an ICF product called Nudura. Then, about a month into it, the builder told me that he was switching to Logix. I had nothing to do with this decision. I didn't question the builder. As recounted in the previous link, he said that Logix had a greater R-value. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. But, today I was told that he told the Nudura supplier that the switch was my choice and that I did so to save money.

That is very interesting on several levels. First, it's a flat out lie. I was never consulted about the change, never asked about the change. I was just told about the fact that there was a change. And, if Logix is, in fact, cheaper and it saved money, I wasn't told that either. I was also told that he changed because he didn't manage to complete the course that is required for a builder to use Nudura. The latter doesn't make sense to me since he did none of the actual labor involved in the ICF; it was all sub-contracted. But, as always, something's not quite right...

Then, it is now clear that we will not be able to close/convert the construction loan to a mortgage before the first week of December. As I understand it - and I'm waiting to hear back from my mortgage person - our rate was good for six months from the date of approval. That was the first week of June. The rate is about a quarter point higher right now. That has the potential to mean about $35/month more in mortgage payment, or $2128 over the first five years of the mortgage. If that's the case I will be so not happy.

What else? Oh, Rogers connected our phone and Internet service on Thursday. I have Internet service. Thank goodness. And, I can call out. But, I'm unable to receive calls. One more thing...

So, what's the good news? It snowed this morning and when I slid at the bottom of the hill there weren't any cars coming. We picked up our dog from his 36 day kennel stay, $813.60 later. Feels like a MasterCard commercial in that the true cost/value of his care with Chris at Foster's is... priceless.

But, we have heat. We have water. Onward and upward.

Moving In

When I last wrote, it was Saturday afternoon and we had been told that we'd be moving into the house on Monday morning. Given the condition of the place it was hard to believe. But, on Sunday, in the rain, I took a load of our things over to the house. On Monday morning I dropped my son at school and went to the house. I set up the refrigerator and, finding out that they fully intended us to move in that day, left to get the rest of our things out of the apartment. I stopped to run a couple of errands and at 10:40 the phone rang. It was D2 , wondering why I wasn't moved out yet. By 11:12 I was sitting in the parking lot of the apartment, the car fully loaded. Turns out they expected me to be out first thing that morning. As I told D2 later, I would have been happy to be out early - if anybody had told me that was what they needed.

So, off I went to the house. I unloaded the car into the construction zone that is our house. The guys carried our mattresses up from the basement. I didn't want to bring our beds up, even though getting up off the floor kills me. Not only was there tons of work remaining, but all of our stuff in the basement is filthy. The entire house was filthy. Writing this today, Thursday, I barely remember Monday.

I think that's when I discovered a little problem with the tile. It's all a blur. Turns out that the window framing wasn't square. This is what it looked like:


That has since been repaired. But, at some point - I honestly can't remember when - I noticed that - are you ready? - the tiles in the shower were two different whites. One is very gray, the other quite white. Either one would be okay. But not both. I don't know how easy it is to see here, without having seen it "in person," but, if not, trust me. Click on the photo to enlarge.


My son and I went out to dinner as there was no way I could cook - not only can I not get to any of our kitchen things, but... everything was filthy. Do you sense a refrain? When we came back and I turned the car off - oops! - you couldn't have seen your hand in front of your face. I had to use the flashlight I keep in the car to get in the house. You see, the exterior light has not yet been installed.

Tuesday afternoon I asked when the plumber was coming back. The response was, "Why?" Umm, maybe because there are no fixtures in the shower. I had been told that, because of the grouting, we wouldn't be able to bathe until Tuesday. That was fine, but as of Tuesday afternoon, not only did we not have fixtures, the bathroom was a mess. D put the fixtures in, but by then I had decided I just couldn't tackle cleaning the bathroom to the point that it could be used for bathing.

Off we went, pulling over in a parking lot where I know I can get connected through the Fredericton e-zone. I made a hotel reservation at a place where I could catch up on e-mail, take a phone call, where my son could go swimming, and we could bathe. Ahhhhh...

Wednesday was another day. More of the same. The list of deficiencies keeps growing. But, the good news is that I now have Internet access. Tomorrow I'll have a phone. And, this was the view outside this morning. That's "good news."


The garage isn't going in as we had planned. Long story involving the way the utility lines were connected, the angle of the driveway - which can't be changed, etc. I'll just have to live with it.

Everything is still filthy. I managed to clean the kitchen, but the drawers/cupboards all still need vacuuming, wiping down, etc. We're still sleeping on mattresses. The bathrooms are still full of sanding dust, etc. But, little by little the construction materials, tools, etc. are disappearing.

So, there you have it. We're in. But, not really. I'm writing this while sitting on a mattress. No chairs, no table. Once their stuff is out of the basement I can start sorting boxes, cleaning, etc. and maybe getting more settled. In the meantime, thank goodness for mattresses.

T minus 38 hours

Well, as it turns out, our builder is having some serious personal issues. I'm obviously not going to say any more in this forum, but D and D2 are running the show now. And, hopefully J will be doing better soon.

As of this afternoon, the showers were being tiled. The appliances are installed and there are just a few connections to be made, etc. There's cleaning to be done. Then, in terms of the interior, it's mostly correcting deficiencies, touch-up painting, etc. There are a few things that I'm waiting to look at again - e.g., the toilets looked way too far out from the wall. I don't know if they're actually connected or were just set there. I'm a little worried about that. And, there are a couple of more major things that still need doing - e.g., the entry way flooring and the hearth.

The stove was delivered yesterday and the chimney installed. The stovepipe won't be connected until the hearth is finished. In the picture below, look past the stuff in front and you'll see a "box" that is about six inches high. It will be slate on the top and sides. When that's all done the stovepipe will run straight up.


But, the big news is that I got a call this afternoon around 4:00... we're moving in on Monday morning. The guys will be ready to move some of our stuff up from the basement. Unfortunately NB Power still hasn't righted the utility pole so we won't have Internet or phone service. I have to call them again on Monday.

So, there you have it. Tuesday, the 18th, is 21 weeks from the day we broke ground. The 24th will be five months. For folks who might read through the blog and think, "That's not bad," I agree - it's just not what we were told. First we were told three months. Then, we had about three weeks of rain. Then, once we were able to really get going, we were told Labour Day. When that didn't happen, we were told 30 September. J had been saying "Five weeks, once we get in, five weeks." He even sketched out, at my request, what was going to happen each week to get us in by the 30th. Well, that came and went. Then it was 17 October. But that, too, came and went. It's been week to week since then. But, now, we should be moving in on 17 November.

Watch for updates. There's still a lot to happen.

Well, there is a full moon...

Last week, around this time, I asked J, the builder, if the hearth for our wood stove had been built. Rather than a pre-fab from the wood stove people, J was going to make a slate hearth. We had talked about going a tad larger than code requires and just making it 48" x 48" - but, since code requires only 42" in one direction I was calling to say let's go with the 42". But, since he said it was done I said nothing. No biggie. Okay, now fast forward to today.

This morning I got a call from him, wanting to check on which faucets go where and to clarify some closet details. He asked if I could come up to the house around 2:00. It clearly sounded as though he was going to be there and that that was why he wanted it to be around 2:00 and not earlier.

I got up there a little earlier, to work around school pick-up. I'm talking with the guy I think of as the lead carpenter, D, and builder's brother, let's call him D2, about the faucets. D says, "And I also need to talk to you about the hearth." I said, "Huh?" He then tells me that he's going to build it this afternoon. "WTF?" I told them that J, the builder, had told me last week that it was done. D and D2 look at each other as if to say, "Not again?"

Turns out there have been all kinds of goings-on and D2 has basically taken over the project. Or so it seems. D, I might add, appears to have an entirely different attitude toward me than has often seemed the case. As we chat further I realize that he is only now becoming cognizant of the kinds of things that have been going on. And, even he says, "Clearly you've been being told one thing and we've been getting a different story." Interesting, veddy interesting. J never shows up. I leave around 2:30. Now let me back up again.

This morning, at 10:47, before talking to J about the faucets, etc., I had sent him an email saying: "Thought I'd leave a msg rather than bother you by phone. If I don't hear back by tomorrow I'll call you. I need to touch base with the kennel. Where are we at in terms of the septic and baths?" At 4:03 I receive a reply, "I am and will be away in Saint John. I have not been at the house today. Please contact D2 XXX-XXX. They are working very hard to get everthing finished." Again I say, "Huh?" But, it gets better.

When I was talking with D about things that need to be fixed he said that he had marked a number of things in the kitchen that need to be touched up, etc. He then said that he told the cabinetmaker, D3, not to bother to come back until they were done, thus avoiding the need to again touch up things that might get dinged while finishing appliance installation, etc.

This evening, the phone rings. It's D3. He's apologizing for not getting back out there yet. I said, "D told me that he had suggested that you not come back until they were completely finished." He, thinking I'm confused explains to me that he is D3, not D. Yes, I know that. He then tells me that J had called him today insisting that he get out there today and finish up.

I think I've entered the Twilight Zone.

In other news...
For some reason, the "it-takes-a-day-and-a-half--two-days-at-the-most-septic," has now taken a week. The septic field is in. The inspector came back and, apparently, took a shovel full of dirt with him. D said he's never seen that before, but he's not concerned. Either he's truly not concerned or he's trying to keep me from completely losing it. Now it just needs the inspector's seal of approval and covering.

NB Power has still not come to fix the pole. I asked D2, who is the electrician on the job, if he had talked to them and he said that they had him on hold so long he hung up and, "Oh, yeah, I need to call them back."

The tile guy is supposed to be in this weekend...

The wood stove goes in tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow is the end of the fourth week that our dog has been in the kennel. Thank goodness it's the Club Med of kennels.

As always, stay tuned.

Furniture

We need a new dining table. I was facing the case of knowing what I wanted, but not being sure I could find it. I think that's more of a challenge than looking and looking, knowing that when you see what you like you'll know it.

I should first note that, in the area of furniture, we have to largely abandon most, if not all, in the way of green principles. Most of what is marketed as "green" - because of the materials used, where made, etc. - is both too contemporary for our taste and cost prohibitive. Really cost prohibitive. As I've written before, as this project has evolved we have had, by necessity, to focus more on energy efficiency than what one might call "true" green. But, we're keeping it in mind as we move forward.

So, I had been doing a lot of web exploration and finding great tables - reclaimed barn wood harvest tables, for example. But, none of them were located anywhere near us. By the time we would have rented a truck, driven to Ontario or Maine, forget it. I hadn't found anything in the Maritimes. Then, I turned to that thing some of you might remember. It's thick, made of paper. Kids sometimes sat on them to get higher in their seats. Yes, the phone book!

That's how I found Peter Atkinson Woodenworks, Inc., located about five minutes from where we're currently "living." Long story short, early next year he will be making us a six foot table of clear pine, turned legs, with a natural top and a painted base. We're thrilled. It's not reclaimed wood, but it will have been made by a local, independent craftsperson. No miles and miles of shipping. No big box. Just a cool guy in his workshop down an alley, a stone's throw from the Saint John River. Fabulous.

We're hoping to find an assortment of different wooden, straight back chairs for seating. Let the hunting begin.

Composting

As it becomes somewhat more apparent that we might actually someday live in this house, I'm thinking about some of the other things that we want to do. One of those is composting. We did so at our previous house, but never had time to do so properly or use the results ourselves. Now that we will rely on a septic system, there's even greater incentive. I.e., we chose not to install a disposal. But, as with everything these days, there are just too many options.

The first consideration, beyond that of "to compost or not to compost," is whether to use a homemade bin or one of the many commercially available bins. The former isn't terribly appealing to me because, while less expensive and easier to turn, they are also more easily invaded by rodents.

With the commercially available bins, the main - for me, anyway - decision point is "bin or tumbler?" This is what we had at our last place. Note that I'm not hyping any particular site, just linking to readily available photos. They are relatively inexpensive and don't take up a lot of room. But, I have read of rats becoming quite comfortable in them - and I don't mean the nice guy from Ratatouille. It's also not very easy to turn the contents.

So, I've been reading about compost tumblers, e.g., this. They are appealing because they are easy to turn and are completely enclosed. They are, however, quite expensive. In addition, the downside of Internet research is that you can find somebody, somewhere, with a complaint about practically every model out there. Too heavy to rotate, parts breaking... What's a person to do?

Another fly in the ointment - or should that be in the compost? - is that even though a fair number of compost bins (and rainbarrels, but I'll save that for another post) are made in Canada, they don't appear to be readily available for sale in Canada. Compost bins already incur significant shipping costs because of size and weight. Add the costs of international shipping...

So, in all this reading, I came across something that looked perfect for us. We are more interested in an alternative method of waste disposal than we are in creating "black gold" for our (future) garden. The latter is appealing, but we don't anticipate needing pounds and pounds of compost. The "Green Cone" seemed perfect! But, at US$160, I don't know. Seattle residents, through what is a great subsidy program, can get one for $25. But $160 - plus shipping, etc. - that's an awfully hefty price for a plastic cone. I've just received the name of someone who is, allegedly, their Canadian distributor, so we'll see if I can find one in Canada.

I think we'll end up with a Green Cone and a small tumbler. But, probably only after another twenty hours of reading about composters. Opinions, anyone?

November...

We've got news! The septic started going in yesterday. You can see from these photos where a little more of the trees in back were cleared. The inspector has to come back to inspect the "base." Then it will be completed. Then he has to come back for final approval.

To the left

To the right

And, the siding is almost complete. There's still some more to do on the back, the other side, and the porch roof.


But the really big news is that if you look closely, below... you will see - A POWER LINE!


We'll see what gets accomplished by Friday afternoon. Watch for an update! By the way, it was incredibly foggy this morning - thus, the haze in the photos.

One Step Forward, Two Steps...

This is the kitchen as of about 8 am this morning. At the end of the counter, on the left, there will be a small peninsula. Of course, the sink, fixtures, and appliances need to go in. But, the floor, save some minor detail work, is in. And the cupboards have been closed to the ceiling.

I'm really torn about that last detail. We had asked that the cabinets go to the ceiling. That detail was ignored. Then, there was the issue of that pipe. Having seen the cabinets with the top exposed, we kind of liked it. But, there was no good way to deal with that exposed pipe. This takes care of that.

I like to think that once we get appliances in place and other decorative touches, I won't be so aware of the top sections. I think if I hadn't seen it the other way I would think this was awesome and I do like it better than the "heavy" crown moulding. Oh, well, no dust. Again, click on the photo to enlarge if you wish.

We are still waiting on NB Power. And, this morning there were about 6,500 homes in the area without power due to rain and extremely high winds. Lovely. I imagine that pushes us back on the list to heaven knows where.

We are still waiting on septic. The inspector was supposed to show up Monday. I don't know if the rains were a problem. I asked the builder to call me and let me know where that stood. He has not called. Nor has he returned my call of 8 am this morning. I am not a happy camper.

The bathroom floor needs to be grouted. The flooring guy is hoping his tile-man can "get to it by the end of the week." The mudroom floor goes in on Monday with appliances being delivered on Tuesday.

There was a pile of baseboard heaters. I imagine, now that the floor is done, those will go in sometime this week. There are still a lot of switches, outlets, etc. to be installed.

There is a lot of detail to be completed - doors hung, thresholds installed, etc. Of course, if we had water/septic and power we could still live there while some of that is resolved. I am NOT happy that our dog will be spending more than two weeks in a kennel. Fortunately, it's a fabulous, fabulous place.

Siding is done about 1/4 up all the way around.

That's all I know.

Inching Closer

Let's see - this week saw the soffit and fascia installed, the strapping finished, and the siding begun. Some of the light fixtures went in and when I stopped by on Friday afternoon, the cabinet maker was working in the kitchen.

We're still waiting for the bathroom floors to be grouted and for the tub/shower walls to be tiled/grouted. The septic inspector is supposed to show up on Monday. We're still waiting for NB Power to grace us with their presence. But, the big news is that the wood flooring is supposed to be installed on Monday and Tuesday. When I stopped by today to snap some photos, the cabinet maker had stuff all over the place. He likes to work on the weekend so maybe he's coming tomorrow and will pick up. I just know that if the flooring installer shows up Monday and he can't even get to the floor it will not be pretty.

At this point it would possible to be in next weekend, but it's not likely. That is, if everyone did what they were supposed to do this week, without event, we'd be able to live there, even with some stuff yet to be completed. I can't believe it will end up being November...! It's a far cry from August.

Anyway, here are a couple of snapshots. The kitchen, in its current state, and the siding, up close and personal. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Okay, seriously

I think I'm at risk of people thinking I'm making this stuff up. Really, I'm not. That would take way more creativity than I possess.

Around 8 am this morning P and I went by the site to put some things in the basement. From there we went to the storage unit to meet the guys with the truck. They arrived just after 9. We left there around 11, stopped by Charlotte Street to pick up our bikes and kayak, and arrived at the site around 11:45. Everything was going to be stored in the basement. We were doing it now because P was here to help with the process - take loose stuff in the car, etc. - and because now that we have a huge corner of the basement, why keep paying for a storage unit? Also, it is only getting colder and doing this in the cold would be even less fun. Finally, you may recall that this is the same company that was going to be delivering the appliances anyway, having tried once before.

Everyone in the builder's company knew that things were being moved in today. They even built temporary stairs so that it could be done. No problem, right? Ha.

Picture this. We pull up and see all kinds of activity. There is a large truck in the "driveway" and some kind of medium size excavator. We get out, we get closer. There is a trench from about 20 feet in front of the house all the way back along the side to the corner. It's probably about 6 feet deep and 4 or 5 feet wide. The temporary stairs are now moved away from the house. In short, there is absolutely no way anything of significance is getting into the house. The well company had arrived to connect the well - previously dug - to the house. I walked away and told P she could handle this one. Just about everything we own in the world was in a truck, with no place to unload it. I was ready to lie down in the middle of the road.

D (remember - electrician, builder's brother, part owner) pulls up with his apprentice, ready to work on the electrical panel and meter - now inaccessible. I thought he was going to pop a vein. More because I don't think he could believe there'd been yet another "issue" than that it was keeping him away. By the time I got back to the car, I had a message from the builder telling me about this saying that they were supposed to have come yesterday or first thing this morning. In the latter case they were to be done by 10 am.

Fortunately everyone agreed that the only thing that could be done was to send them off for lunch - at $70/hr - and hope that the well guys finished soon. We went off to get lunch, too. I had P call the builder back. They're going to cover the two extra hours that it took for them to be able to get back to work.

Later, the project manager called to make sure that we knew about them covering the cost and to say that, while he didn't want to lay blame and while everyone knew our stuff was being delivered today, only one person knew about the well guys coming yesterday or today. Hmmm... I guess you know who that was.

I understand that they didn't want to tell them not to come and risk that it would be another two weeks before they could come back, but warning us so that we might have seen if we could schedule the truck for a little later wouldn't have been a horrible thing...

Thank heavens P was here. I might have had a complete brain explosion otherwise.

But, aside from that, the rock that hit our windshield this afternoon didn't cause a crack, just a tiny, tiny chip that I'm not even sure should be called a chip. The person who was driving toward me on our side of Killarney Road pulled back to the other side before hitting us. The Honda Civic That Could didn't get stuck in the dirt when we were driving through major construction. And, the bathroom windows finally arrived. I'll take the "wins" for the day.

In the "not-a-win" column - we still don't have a date for the wood floor installation. They are still saying that the sub-floor is too damp. We've re-scheduled the mudroom floor installation for 3 November. We've re-scheduled the washer/dryer delivery for 4 November. We've re-scheduled the woodstove installation for 14 November. I sure hope we have a floor by then. The bathroom floors should be finished early next week. Still no word on septic. Power could be connected next week, but they have until the 30th if they want. Bureaucracies. Monopolies.

That's it for today. We have to go back tomorrow and try to find some winter clothes in the chaos that is a room full of way too many boxes. As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day."

Here we go...

Written on Wednesday, 15 October -

The kitchen cabinets were delivered on Friday. They were installed on Monday. But, they don’t, as the builder and I had discussed, go all the way to the ceiling. And, contrary to what we had discussed, they had crown moulding around the top. Okay, fine. They looked nice. I was just trying to avoid another place for dust to collect. Allergies, you know. But, the big issue was that this left a pipe that could not be put into the wall (ICF error) exposed. And, not just exposed, but exposed in one’s exact line of sight from what will be a living room sofa. We discussed a variety of “build outs,” none of which I was particularly happy with, but what could I do…

Yesterday I went to the house to meet D, the electrician and the builder’s brother, to discuss programmable thermostats. In thinking about where we would really need them I asked what the price difference was between those and the non-programmable. He said, no cost to me, given what I’ve been through with the project. Then as I was thinking about where it would really makes sense, he just said he’d put them in throughout. This is wonderful and a huge savings, both up front and in terms of energy. Not worth all the headaches, but a really nice gesture.

We’re still going back and forth with the flooring people claiming the sub-floor is too damp. A super-heater ran all night, as well as a giant dehumidifier. I haven’t yet heard of they were out to do a reading today. But, no movement on the floor…

This morning I went to the house to clean the corner of the basement where we’re going to store our stuff and to meet with P, the project manager of a sort. We covered a few more details that were “hanging out there.” Then, he told me that they had arranged for a furnished apartment for us to stay in until the house is finished. Two weeks ago we moved into an empty townhouse, thinking we’d be moving in the house on the 17th. Although it’s a great unit, getting up off the futon on the floor is killing me. My knees hate me. But, apparently, once the whole story of one problem after another, one inaccurate “we’ll be done” after another, got to P and D, somebody – besides me – decided we’d had enough. Thank goodness.

As I was talking to P, a lumber delivery truck pulled up. It was some boards for temporary steps to the side door. But, as P was signing for it, he noted that the slip also included the three pocket door slabs. Fortunately he said, aloud, “Roman…” I said, “Those are the wrong doors.” I explained that the doors are two panel smooth, but not the Roman design, which has the top of the top panel curved, not straight. Fast forward to this afternoon when I was there talking with J, the builder. He mentioned the doors and I said, “You do know those are the wrong doors?” “Huh?” He went to the basement where all of the doors are stored until the floor is in. “Yup, wrong doors.” I am absolutely certain that, had I not made myself such a part of the process, they would have installed those doors.

Then, when I went back this afternoon, the builder, the electrician, and the cabinetmaker were all in the [future] kitchen talking. I had told J that I was truly okay with the lower cabinets, but that I was really unhappy with options for hiding the pipe. Well, he and the cabinetmaker apparently discussed their miscommunication and decided – I suspect with D’s influence – that the cabinets needed to be the way that they were supposed to be. I told them that it was difficult for me to visualize their “fix,” but that I’d take their word for it. So, from the top of the cabinets to the ceiling will be built up with bead board – the same inset as will be on the doors – and a more simple moulding will be used to finish it to the ceiling. Fingers crossed. I’m really not sure how it will look, especially since the cabinets aren’t all the same height. But, well, at least the pipe will be hidden.

We then discussed where the dryer vent would be. Without boring you with the details, again, good thing I was there to have the conversation. What else? The painters were back today and finished the stairwell to the basement. Apparently they weren’t supposed to do it, but, again, miscommunication between the builder and the sub. Are you sensing a theme here?

When I left around 3:30 the electrician and his assistant were working on the connection from outside to the interior electrical panel. The carpenter who was supposed to come to finish the mudroom wall and build the stairs hadn’t shown up yet. I sense tomorrow will be a busy day.

Meltdown

The jury is still out on the subtitle of this blog...

Let me try to recall what has happened since my last post.

The trim arrived. I saw it after several sections were installed. It is not the profile I selected. But, not wanting to delay things any further, I decided I could live with it - even though it completely changes the aesthetic we were seeking. Learning point - even if your builder keeps postponing getting your input on things like trim, hardware, etc., make him (or her) do it before s/he tells you s/he wanted it yesterday... Here's a snapshot of the trim.


The profile I had selected was less Victorian. And, while I agreed to headers, as opposed to mitred corners, had we had time to actually look at illustrations, etc., I would have gone with the mitred corners. Don't get me wrong. These look very nice. It's just too ornate for what we were trying to do.

So, we then had what felt like a complete disjuncture between the more ornate trim and a natural pine floor in 4, 6, and 8 inch planks. Enter chaos regarding the floor, aside from the synthesis - or lack thereof - between flooring and trim.

The floor was supposed to be installed on the 6th and 7th and finished between the 8th and 11th. I spoke with the installer and he said that the subfloor was still measuring too high in moisture. Then there was the argument between builder and flooring company chief about which happens first, flooring or base cabinets. It became clear that the flooring install was going to be delayed until after this weekend, which would put the finishing at later next week. We're supposed to move stuff in on Friday.

I talked with the installer about the flooring - which pretty much everybody was against. Originally we were going for a more rough hewn, cottage-look. The softwood was fine. But, everybody - used to doing more, shall we say, "suburban development" building - thought it was a mistake. Well, the delay put me over the edge. I went to talk with the president of the flooring company to see what our options were for changing at this point, given that the flooring had already been delivered. He was wonderful and we are now doing a prefinished 2 1/4" birch, natural color, with a semi-gloss finish. Two day install. Done. This isn't the vendor, but here's a photo of the product.

That still meant hours - and I mean hours - of conversation to get the builder and the flooring company on the same page regarding cabinets, timing, etc., but I think we're there. The cabinets were going in yesterday afternoon. If the subfloor is adequate, flooring should go in Tuesday and Wednesday.

We've been waiting - and waiting and waiting and waiting - on septic approval and power. We finally got the temporary power connection and the septic is supposed to go in on Tuesday or Wednesday.

In the midst of all of this there was confusion regarding the stove and hearth. Our builder just vaporized our conversation about him doing the hearth. That's now resolved, but not without another mini-crisis. And, when I was at the stove shop, I found out that they lost the stove. No biggie as they can get another one in well within time - especially since we've had to delay the stove installation. But, a 400 pound stove has disappeared.

Then, I went to see the Marmoleum samples. I had requested larger samples because making a decision on the basis of a sample that was about 2" square seemed a bit ridiculous. Well, the new samples are - hold on to your hats - 3" x 6". Wow. So much better. Not. And, one of the two samples was not what we had requested. So, we're just going to go with Eucalyptus and hope for the best.

The bathroom tile - matte white 3/4" hexagon - was installed on the 2nd. But, it hasn't been grouted because it's too cold. It's too cold because the bathroom windows haven't arrived yet. And, without windows, the tile for the bath/shower walls can't be done. And, of course, without the floor being finished neither the toilets nor vanities can be installed. Ho hum.

What else? It occurred to me to ask how they had planned to put in the stairs to the side door. Good thing because I don't know that he would have bothered to ask. And, as it turns out, the way we want it is not what he was imagining.

So, yesterday - a beautiful, dry, sunny day in Douglas - I went out the the lot around 1:00. I had been told that the septic would be done yesterday and that the cabinet installation would be happening. It was perfectly quiet. Not a soul in sight. I called my realtor - the person who had connected us with the builder and who has continued to try to help get things done, etc. - and said that we needed a meeting with the builder, that I had had it, etc. She called the guy who was supposed to be his "right hand man" in managing the build, but who we hadn't seen since June. Longer story short - he met me up at the site and we walked through every issue - from what was happening with the big stuff (e.g., cabinets, septic, floor) to some questions I had about less than acceptable finishing details. He was wonderful. A couple of hours later he called to let me know that the cabinets were being unloaded as we spoke and that he had gone to talk to the flooring guy to make sure they were all on the same page.

Cabinet installation should be done today or tomorrow. Monday is a sort-of holiday, Canadian Thanksgiving. Flooring and septic, as above, should be done by Wednesday. I still don't know the story on the bathroom windows and a lot hinges on that. But, even if we can't stay there starting next weekend, our stuff will have been moved into the basement.

This, mind you, just gets us inside. There is still siding, soffit, fascia, stairs, backfill, gravel, and a garage to be done. But, I don't care as long as we get inside. Stay tuned...

Doors and more...

The doors arrived! And, after some exceptionally hard work, they're in! Yet another error on the part of the subs who did the ICF. The opening for the "man door" - that just cracks me up - to the mudroom was about an inch too short. So, D had to saw off an inch of concrete and foam. He said it's never taken him so long to install a door.

Our fearless builder, however, ordered the wrong door. But, while the slab could be swapped out, we've decided to keep it. We had wanted full glass there, too. But, the half glass is more energy efficient and probably more reasonable on the door that will get the most use. And, the side of the garden door that opens, open the opposite direction of what we had discussed, but, truthfully, I think it works better this way. So, more glitches, but nothing we can't live with. On to the latest photos...

"Man door" to the mudroom. No, the landing is not yet truly in place!

The garden door at the rear, off the dining room.

The front door with vented sidelights. We love this door!

Front of the house, coming along...

I don't know if any interior trim was installed yesterday. When I left around 2, D was waiting for materials to be delivered. Priming was to happen today. Painting is supposed to be completed by Wednesday. Between the damp - okay, torrential rains - weather and trim delay, we'll see.

After a variety of opinions about extending the wood floor into the bathrooms - we wanted as much of an old-world, "cottage" feel as possible - we decided to go with tile. We're using Olympic tile, Jasper, 3/4" hexagon, white matte, with a pale gray grout. That is scheduled to happen on Thursday and Friday.

The wood flooring is to be delivered on Friday the 3rd, installed on the 6th and 7th, and finished over the period of the 8th-11th. Before that happens, the on-site guys need to lay the entry way which will be, roughly, a 6' x 3' section of natural slate at the front door.

The woodstove installation is scheduled for the 14th. Before that, the on-site guys need to build the 40" x 48" brick hearth/slab on which it will sit.

Other than all that, the big question is when the cabinets will arrive. The cabinet maker was supposed to call me on Monday or Tuesday, before he left to go moose hunting. Didn't happen.

Other details? We're doing the shower walls/window "trim" in white 6" x 3" "subway" tile. We've got faucets, mirrors, closet shelving...

We've identified all the interior light fixtures except for the bath which is proving to be a challenge. And, we're still trying to decide on exterior lighting fixtures.

The mudroom floor is going to be Marmoleum - color TBD - scheduled for the 20th.

But, I do have to tell the appliance story. We ordered five appliances - fridge, oven, microwave/hood, cooktop, and dishwasher - from the Co-op. We ordered them a while back because we got a $400 discount - i.e., free microwave/hood - for buying five pieces. At that time we also thought we'd be in around the first of September. They said they could delay the actual order and then hang on to them for 2-3 weeks.

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from the Co-op saying we had to take delivery by the 24th of September. Uh, okay. Well, that's what prompted the change in the mudroom floor - which we're happy with. We figured the only way to limit potential damage to the fridge and the walls was to have it sitting just inside the door, in the mudroom - as opposed to going to the basement. The other things could easily be put in the basement.

I had told her that the house wasn't finished, etc. No go. In retrospect I wish I had been more of a jerk and said something like, "Six thousand dollars in appliances and you can't keep them a couple of more weeks? C'mon." So, delivery - which gets subbed out - was scheduled for this past Wednesday, the 24th. The truck arrived and the guys saw that there were no stairs. They asked the guys working the site to help and, thankfully, they said no, that if they got hurt they couldn't work. So, the delivery guys called their boss who said to just bring them back, that they'd hang on to them. They are a moving and storage company. They were very nice about it all and had had this issue with the Co-op before.

I had seen their display ad in the phone book the day before when I was looking for someone to line up to move our stuff out of storage. Before they left I got the manager's card. I called him later. He was really nice and said that he had a feeling I had taken delivery "under duress." He's going to keep the stuff until the move, bring it in the truck to unload the storage unit, and move it in all at once. Hopefully that will be happening on the 17th.

In the midst of all this I've been on the phone with the lawyer, the mortgage broker, and the builder, trying to make sure he gets his (delayed) draw. I've been on the phone with NB Power and getting a credit reference from our former power company, Xcel Energy. I have to say, they have both been great. Xcel emailed me a credit letter to forward to NB Power. I've been on the phone with our former water utility because I received a bill that I thought was wrong. I was right. I've been on the phone with and into the insurance company to set up homeowner's insurance. And, I've been dealing with Rogers to get Internet access set up. Hmmm, what am I forgetting?

We are still waiting on the inspector so that the septic can be done. Fortunately they tell me that once they have the final papers, it's a matter of a day, two at most. Fingers crossed.

I think that's it for this update. I'd say that'd enough! As always, stay tuned for the next bit of news.

Interior Photos

Drywall and crack filling is happening...

Mudroom, from the side door; dining room is through the doorway.

From the mudroom, facing the kitchen, across the dining room.

Dining room, doors to deck behind the buckets, kitchen to the right.

One of the bathrooms. Low tub for 7YO and bad knee days...

7YO's bedroom, looking toward the front of the house.

One of the hall closets, just outside the other bathroom.

Windows in the front - still waiting on doors.

Little by little...

Things are happening. The interior walls are in. Plumbing is in. Electrical is in. The drywall guys - and they were guys - were going at it like gangbusters when I left earlier today. But, not surprisingly, this has not been without its glitches. I am such a bad glitch person.

Turns out that the mudroom wall that abuts the stairs was right over a joist. You can't, obviously, put a hole in the joist so the plumbing for the washer dryer had to come up "outside the wall." The solution was to extend the wall 4" but we couldn't do so all the way up without interfering with the ceiling access. So, there will be a little ledge behind the washer/dryer and where we would have had a coat cupboard or some such. I will eventually get used to it, but "losing" 4" in that spot is annoying, as is the ledge.

The windows started to go in today and, overall, they look great. The basement windows are "sliders." But, something I've never seen before is this - On the side of one sash are two locks, as though it's a single hung window turned sideways. I've always seen sliders that either have a less obtrusive clip or even recessed locks. I hate how these look. Not that anyone asked me before they were ordered.

When we met with the cabinet maker, he and the builder agreed that we could do 48" vanities in the bathrooms. I really didn't care, but I did say, "Are you sure that 48" vanities will fit?" The guy who did the plans had said 42" was what was called for. They said, "Oh, yes!" Guess what? They won't. And, while that wouldn't be a big deal, the vanity tops we had planned on using don't appear to be available for anything between 36" and 48" vanities. I called the cabinet maker to see about meeting with him and learned that - separate from the bathrooms - he didn't know that the kitchen cabinets need to be in by 6 October when the floor goes in. He's leaving to go moose hunting on Wednesday. Let's see, that's 24 September. He seems to think it's not a problem... the timing that is - and, yeah, I guess the moose hunting.

I told our builder from day one that finding the right bathtub for our bathroom was going to be an issue as we are leaving a fabulous, 5.5' cast iron clawfoot. We've solved the problem, but only after having two tubs delivered and me having a mini-meltdown. Geez, if this guy would ever listen, half these problems would be avoided. I sent him an email with several options about two months ago!

After having most of July and August to just hang out, with my partner here, asking repeatedly what kinds of things we could be deciding, etc. and getting nowhere - I'm now being asked to make dozens of decisions (e.g., interior doors) immediately. He called on Wednesday to say he just needed to get my okay on the "standard" Colonial 6-panel doors. Uh, NO! Consulting with my partner, we agreed that they were "too much" in a small, simple, cottage-like home. No problem price-wise. But, then he called Thursday morning to say that the store didn't have enough of them. I about lost it. We are on such a tight schedule. If he had bothered to ask about doors say, six weeks ago when nothing was happening... Same for hardware, lighting, trim... His lead guy - see below - made a call and they're going to be able to get them.

Don't get me wrong - I actually like the guy. But, geez, does he need some work on his organizational skills! Fortunately, his lead guy is awesome. In fact, I don't know that there would be a house if it weren't for D. I gave him a $100 Tim's card today just to say thanks. He blushed and tried to refuse. Not a chance. He has been an absolute lifesaver! In fact, that gives me an idea. I think if I can get Lifesavers here I'll give him a box when it's all said and done.

Well, here's a snapshot of some of the latest work... This is the mudroom window, over a basement window. Now, on to the next glitch.

Let It Shine!

Given what we've seen this summer, you might think I was talking about the sun. Mais, non! I'm talking about our roof. It was difficult to get a shot that really shows the profile, but click on the photo to enlarge and you will be able to see it. Also, it's silver, not blue.


The boxes for ceiling light fixtures went in yesterday. The basement bath rough-in is complete. Interior wall framing was going on today and the concrete guys are on for tomorrow. "Concrete?" you might ask. Yes, the basement floor still needs to be poured. With the rain, if they had waited for that, we'd still have no house. So, they're pouring it after the fact.

Walking around inside had/has me a little freaked out because, while we wanted to go small - and the main level of this bungalow is 30% larger than our previous home - it does seems awfully small. Even the ceiling seems low. The lead carpenter tells me that it always seems smaller/lower when it's open and unfinished. I know, from measuring out the numbers - e.g., 11' x 12' - there's plenty of room for what we were trying to do and how we want to live, but I'll have to see it to believe it. Hey, I guess as long as our taller guests don't get hit by a fan blade... Seems perfect for our "Canadian getaway" and/or retirement home!

I'm headed to Maine this weekend and will probably pick up a bunch of light fixtures there. The selection is better and even paying the taxes to bring them back I'll probably come out ahead. Is there a light at the end of this tunnel? Mais, oui!

Persistence

First, a photo taken looking down the street at about 7:45 this morning:


Then, the front of the house this afternoon. The metal roof - the reason I titled this post "Persistence," is on the back of the house. Unfortunately - or, fortunately, because it's because of the trees - I can't get back far enough to get a picture of it. I'll have to wait until the front is finished. And, we've also got a power line, on a temporary pole, connected to the main NB Power line. Moving right along...

More good news...

This is what I found this morning...


and here's how it looked five hours later:

We (almost) have a roof!

And at the end of the day...

Raisin' the Roof

Today was a day of backfilling and starting the roof. I quit recording before they were done, but once it was up they "walked it" to the other side. Talk about nerve-wracking!



It was drizzling when I left - not sure how much more they accomplished today, but I'll take what we got!

Progress

Good news! I met with J for about an hour last night. We discussed a variety of things and I got him to sketch out how he imagines progress getting us in by 30 September. Between today and tomorrow we should have a roof and some backfill.

Week of 1 Sep: Framing interior walls, electrical, plumbing
Week of 8 Sep: Electrical, plumbing, strapping
Week of 15 Sep: Drywall, crackfilling, painting
Week of 22 Sep" Cabinets, trim, flooring

Feels ambitious, but...

This morning I went out to pick up the larger pieces of foam, etc. before the backfill happens. While I guess it's a matter of it being landfill here or landfill there, I just couldn't stand the thought of leaving the larger pieces there. I spent about two hours doing that and talking with J and his lead guy, D.

More as it happens!

27 August 2008

1:42 pm
Temp: 24/75
Still a beautiful day; sunny and dry.

It didn't look like so much as a twig had moved since this morning. I sat and read the paper until 2:12 at which time I departed. Nobody arrived or called in the interim.

Dear Diary...

This blog was intended as a way to share progress with others and keep track of the project for future reference, especially for anyone who might be interested in trying to build in a somewhat "greeen" fashion. Given the way things are going, it's now going to be more of a simple record for me to track what's happening; or, more to the point, what's not. Thus, there will be entries that are just "notes." Just thought I'd explain the potentially terse nature of forthcoming posts.

10:22 am
Temp: 21/69
It's a beautiful morning; sunny and dry. Perfect day for working outside; you know, doing construction work...

It doesn't appear as though anything has happened since mid-day yesterday. Maybe it did, but it's not apparent to me.

It's supposed to be fabulous today and tomorrow; significant chance of rain Friday to Sunday. We were supposed to have a roof by the end of the week. If not, and we get big rains, we're talking more delays.

Me, in calll to builder: What's happening today?
Builder (J): Finish the floor sheeting/sheathing and layout the roof.

J did not return my last two emails or my phone call of last evening. I told him that we needed to get together. He said possibly this afternoon/this evening. I said that my schedule was far more open than his; that he should just call me later today to let me know what will work. And, call me if it turns out that nothing is going to work. He agreed to do so.

I'll be going back up to the site later today to see if anything has transpired.

Walls

The exterior walls for the main level are up. The concrete is poured. I went out to the lot this morning around 9 and they guys were removing the metal supports that they use while the concrete is poured. But, having gone back at around 2, I'm not sure why that's all that's happened today. The skies have been looking threatening, but it's still dry. Another day shot. Anyway, here's how it looks now. More and more like a house.


There was talk of the roof going up this week and the framing of the interior walls. There are still three days left. We'll see.

More Progress

About one o'clock this afternoon the walls of the main level were going up. The concrete folks are scheduled for Monday. They tell me that if all goes well, they could be weather tight by the end of next week. I have a feeling that windows and/or doors will be delayed, but then I'm just learning not to be too hopeful!

Sun, Sun, Sun!

Hard to believe it's been over three weeks since my last post. Not much has happened except for rain, rain, and then, rain. But, the past few days have meant some progress. Apparently they started work on the floor over the weekend. Yesterday when we stopped by the well guys were drilling. Progress. Last night the builder dropped by with a sample of the metal roof profile just to make sure it was what we wanted. Today they are supposed to be doing more work on the floor. And... drum roll, please - it is sunny and cool. No quitting because it's raining. No quitting because it's too hot. It's gorgeous!

One little blip in the good news, however, occurred Monday evening. We stopped by on our way back from a weekend away. One of the guys from the contractors' desk at the local lumber/hardware store was unloading some wood from a trailer. He was the only one there. I said, "Hi," and that I had recalled meeting him in earlier in the summer. He said he was just dropping off some stuff, doing a favor for "the guys." He then said - pretty much one of the worst things anyone can say to [neurotic] me... "I guess they had some trouble with the floor. The joists were too short." Huh? To which I replied, "I haven't talked with J [builder]. Do tell." B replies, "I guess they were about 1/4" too short." Then, paraphrasing, he said that they "fix" was better than the regular plan and that everything that is built ought to be done that way. Can I begin to tell you how badly I thought my head was going to explode. "Fixes" and I do not get along.

Later in the evening, I spoke with J and he explained that the joists, in fact, had been built 3.5" too short. I suspect that B was doing some fast thinking when he said 1/4"! The solution was that, rather than have the beam run under the joists - where, from what I can understand they would have rested on the beam, but with too much space in between - the beam is now level with the joists; thus, in the floor itself, rather than below it. P keeps telling me that there is no way in hell they're going to build the floor in a way that risks it falling in to the basement. That, of course, is what I picture. Complete collapse.

The ICF was set properly. The plans are correct. Apparently the engineer who designed the joists from the plans, did so incorrectly. At least that's what I'm being told. I swear I'm probably going to think about this every frickin' time I go in the basement. Rule number one - if you're neurotic, don't build a house. Or, tell them to build it, but that you don't want to know anything. Nothing, zero, zip. Just give me the keys. I so wish that B had kept his trap shut...

So, that's the latest. The forecast for the area looks fabulous. Sun, sun, and more sun! The walls for the main level should - yes, should - be up by the beginning of next week. We'll see. J kept saying that he needed five weeks from the day they could get back to work. If that was Monday, say, then, 20 September would be then end of the fifth week. Not holding my breath, but sure hoping... I don't care if we sleep in one corner in sleeping bags. I just want to get out of temporary quarters! Stay tuned.

The Movie

I was just playing around with iMovie HD to see what I could do...

Voila!

Disclaimer
This is in no way intended to be an endorsement for Logix ICF.
I was just playing around with the pictures I had available.

Hallelujah

I had given up on going up to the lot to check things out. It has rained some part of every day lately. More to the point, I asked/told our builder to call us if there was work happening as I wanted to document it and hadn't hear from him. This morning, our realtor and I were getting together for some other business. She suggested that we take a spin by the lot to see if anything was happening. I thought, "Yeah, right." Lo' and behold, this is - essentially - what we saw. I say "essentially" because I actually went back later this afternoon to snap these photos.

This is the view toward the front of what will be the house.
To the left is a basement window.

This is just a close-up of the same window shown above.

This is farther along the left side, looking to the right side.
You can see the openings that have been left for the basement
windows that will be in the back corner.

I'm a little freaked out about the grade and what they claim will be resolved with backfilling, etc. And, right now - when I imagine the main level added on - it seems as though it will look ridiculously tall. But, I'm trying to keep the faith that it really will make sense in the end.

I guess the plumbers are supposed to come tomorrow to lay the pipe that will be in the basement slab. We're doing the rough-in for future solar heating of the water to heat the slab.

Well, that's it for today. Unfortunately right when things are happening we're going to be out of town for a week. Sure wish we weren't going to be gone so long!

Flexibility

Where to begin? Well, we've had a fair amount of rain this week and that has cost a lot of lost time. Gravel was supposed to go in today. ICF installation was to have begun tomorrow. Instead, we met with our builder to go over a range of other details regarding changes that have come up.

As I noted below, I very much had wanted a metal roof. Various folks had discouraged me from taking this route. But, after spending some time in Fredericton and seeing many, many, many metal roofs, I started to reconsider. I love the look. And, after attending a talk last week about rain barrels, again thought about the debate about using rain from a fiberglass or asphalt shingle roof. So, we're getting pricing on that. We will likely (at this point, anyway) go with unpainted Galvalume. You can see some images here. This isn't the vendor we're using, but there are some photos of the unpainted Galvalume in different profiles on that site. We were thinking green or red because of the natural shakes, but now that we're going with fiber-cement, we're putting the color in the siding and not the roof. While at Kent this morning we ran into a roofer who said that if you could afford it, "Metal was the way to go." Now that's what I've been wanting to hear!

Our builder, among others, has not been really thrilled with our choices. Just not "upscale suburban" enough, I guess. But, we've been working on the "cottage in the woods" look, not subdivisionland. So, I think we're getting there. The really cool thing about the above changes is that both are way more environmentally friendly than our previous "choices" of cedar shake and fiberglass shingles. Woo-hoo!

Another change - that I only heard about this morning - is that we'll be using Logix ICF rather than Nudura. According to J it's got a higher R-value. Okay. Some things I just have to take and not go digging. I do like their website and the info on the environmental aspect, etc.

Other than that, we're just waiting. And waiting. We talked about the time table and now we're praying that we might be able to start moving some things in around Labour Day while they finish the outside.

The forecast doesn't look good, but fingers crossed for gravel to go in tomorrow!

Footings

The footings went in today. If all goes well, the ICF framing will begin on Monday. We'll see!

In other news, we're back to reconsidering a metal roof. I went to a program on the 100-mile diet and local farming on Wednesday and a brief discussion on rain barrels and vegetable gardening prompted me to begin some more investigation. We had abandoned the idea of a metal roof - one of the things I had really wanted - because of cost and the fact that we are probably not going to be able to do a lot in the way of vegetables anyway. But, as it turns out, it may not be as costly as suggested. So, we're getting some info and may be able to do it after all. If so, the big decision is color! I was leaning toward forest green, but P really likes red. I also like the contrast with the trees that red would provide. We're doing natural cedar shake siding so it will be natural to begin with and eventually gray, or a mix thereof. Your thoughts?

Kitchen

Well, we finally met with "the kitchen guy." He was very nice and his work looks terrific. Aside from the fact that it's nice to patronize a local independent craftsperson, we are also seeking to avoid the really bad stuff that's still out there in a lot of cabinetry. We can't afford wheatboard, etc., but keeping the horribly off-gassing stuff out of the house is important. I've not written about it, but we're trying to balance not only "green v. budget," but energy efficiency v. "healthy house."

The kitchen is "U" shaped and the cupboards will be white with beadboard insets. We're having, for cost reasons, to go with laminate countertops, but they're one of the easiest things to replace down the road if we decide to do so. I'd love to have Paperstone, or a similar product, but at about $140 a square foot that's not an option right now!

The big budget item in the kitchen is the induction cooktop. My partner (P) was beside herself that she wouldn't be able to cook with gas and we didn't want propane. So, after a fair amount of research, we decided to break the bank and go with induction. Although the units aren't yet Energy Star rated - which I'm hoping is just because they are so new to North America and too expensive to be in widespread use - they are very energy efficient.

We're going with a 27" wall oven, a 1.7 cf microwave/range hood combo, a 19 cf fridge, and a standard dishwasher. We debated back and forth about the dishwasher and decided that it was the way to go. This is a personal choice that has to do with how we hand wash and lifestyle. I haven't had a dishwasher since 1991, but I think it's the right thing to do in a new build.

We forgot to talk with him about it, but we're going to see about a built in recycling center. And, while I had toyed with a built in compost bucket I think we'll just leave it to an on the counter option. We'll also have a small section of lowered counter that can serve as a breakfast bar or place for 7YO to sit and work while one of us is cooking.

The best thing is that there will be a window over the sink that will allow us to see out the back. In our old house, on a city corner, we couldn't see the yard from the kitchen, an issue when wanting to let a 5-6YO play outside.

I think that's about it, at least in terms of what I can describe. But, finally meeting with the guy was a major accomplishment!

A Hole

We now have a hole in the ground. It's a sweet little hole. It's all staked out for the 42' x 34' of house that will eventually sit there. This morning I snapped this photo:


Later, we had this:


So, we have an honest to goodness, hole in the ground. And, 7YO found a split geode in the churned up dirt. I'm going to take that as a sign of good luck. He's really into his "gems."

Tomorrow - limbs and digits crossed - footings.

Woodstove

We've decided on a Pacific Energy Alderlea T4. We like the traditional appearance. We debated the merits of a pellet stove, but decided that we would probably like the aesthetic of the woodstove "burn" a bit more. And, since it's right in the middle of what is essentially a great room, rather than "hidden" in a corner...

We also liked this model because of the swing out cook-top. Winter power outages are not unusual in these parts. Since we will have electric cooking in the kitchen, being able to heat soup on the woodstove is an added bonus. For those wondering about electric, this area doesn't have natural gas (yet) and we don't want propane. More on electric cooking at another time.

In researching woodstoves, we decided that this model was at the right price point for the value, etc. and while it seems you can always find a disgruntled customer venting on the Web, not only did we really like the service at the local shop - and they carry Pacific Energy - I found a fair number of positive reviews on-line.

Back in Minnesota, where we used our fireplace for aesthetics only, we were paying $125 for a quarter cord. Although prices will surely be up this year, I'm told that last year folks around here were able to get a cord for $190. So, while we will use more wood and more quickly, the cost of the wood seems more than reasonable.

The combination of the ICF and the woodstove should put us in really great shape for warmth. We will have electric baseboard heat as an alternative source, but are hoping that we won't have to use it much.

I'm not a fan of electric heat - it's expensive, not exactly "green," and the province is trying to encourage folks to replace it or not install it at all. But, there are advantages that were appealing. When it comes to my allergies, not having duct work is huge! Yeah, the woodstove can be an issue with that, too, but it's all about the trade-offs. We will have the option of heating rooms individually; i.e., each with their own thermostats. So, between the ICF, the woodstove, and our being used to keeping the house at about 54 F during the night, we should be able to minimize our use of electric heat. We'll see how it goes!

That's it for now. More later!

Floor Plan and Elevations

If you click on the drawing, you'll get a viewable version.

The front door and sidelites and side door, entry to the mudroom, will be full glass with grid.



The "wall" and fireplace will be replaced by a freestanding woodstove with a stove pipe running straight up.


The "utility room" will have plumbing roughed-in for a future bath with mechanicals going in the back corner.


One of the unanticipated bonuses of the ICF is that the fire code, so I'm told, requires that the walls be Sheetrocked/Gyprocked so that the foam is covered. So, while we won't truly be able to finish the basement right off, it will be more finished than is often the case.

We're also doing a detached two-car garage that will sit to the left of the house. It won't have any extra rooms, plumbing, etc. Just enough to keep the snow off!

Regarding size - we had to, due to restrictive covenants, go to at least 1200 sf. This ended up being 1428, mainly because - in this climate and with a child and dog - I refused to give up a decent mudroom. Finally, we're building out rather than up with an eye to the future and limited mobility. So, while it's not as small as some might build, it's far smaller than the average new construction in North America.

Insulated Concrete Forms

The house is being built with insulated concrete forms, or ICFs. We're using a product called Nudura. I think of it as something like hollow Legos that you then fill with concrete. According to their website, "NUDURA gets its Green in a number of ways. The material of the webs is 100% recycled. The material for the foam is 100% recyclable. The EPS foam emits no CFC or HCFC’s or VOC’s. Using NUDURA as opposed to traditional building methods cuts down the amount of wood used, which has become a precious commodity. By minimizing mold growth and giving a more sound proof home, your indoor comfort is increased dramatically. By reducing waste and shipping space required, NUDURA also impacts the environment in a very positive manner. These are just a few of the reasons why NUDURA ICF is an environmentally innovative material to use in your buildings." Unlike some construction where ICFs have been used only for the foundation/basement, we're doing the entire envelope (edit: sans roof) with ICFs. We've been told to expect a 50-75% reduction in heating costs.

If all goes well - though I've heard that before - the foundation and walls will be in/up by 11 July. I'll be posting photos, as I am able, as it happens.

The Clearing

And, this morning this is what we found:


The orange speck in the middle came with us. He's known in the blogging world as 7YO (i.e., 7 year old). I don't know if they're done clearing. Supposedly so, but we're spatially challenged when it comes to seeing the footprint of the house.

Update

After a hectic month of packing, moving, dealing with banks, etc., here's a long overdue update.

On Monday, 23 June, the frontage of our lot looked like this:


At 8:30 am on Tuesday, 24 June 2008, it looked like this:


The work has begun!

The bottom line, from my perspective, as far as green building goes is that, until the banks catch up with what the province is - sort of - encouraging and what the world needs, people who wish to do some kind of greener building will have to be able to finance more of it themselves than a typical 20% down payment.

Keep in mind, too, that we're focusing - because of expense, not desire - on "green" as in energy efficiency more so than green as in things like Paperstone countertops, recycled wood flooring, etc. We just can't afford that. But, we are doing it as "green" as we can manage. In our case that means, primarily, insulated concrete form (ICF) construction, a high efficiency woodstove, cedar siding, dual-flush toilets, non-formaldehyde cabinetry, etc.

One of the things I've discovered is that every product as several "sides" to it in terms of "green." E.g., The cedar siding isn't highly renewable, etc. But, it's not a petroleum product either. And, while a laminate countertop isn't at all green, it's not $150 a square foot nor has it been trucked 2000 miles from the quarry. With every aspect of the build, over which we have any control, it's been about learning what is and isn't ideal about a particular choice. So, it's all about trade-offs. That's for sure.

Now that the build is actually in progress, I hope to post more frequently about how things are going and various aspects of the process.

The Irony, Part II

So, I found it interesting that the article, below, is focusing on the difficulty of getting people to understand the value of putting money into building rather than into their energy bills, yet, if those people were to decide to do so, there may not be an avenue for them to finance doing so. Hmmm... What's wrong with this picture?

The Irony, Part I

Green Homes Need Help
More financial incentives needed to encourage environmentally friendly construction

By Cole Hobson
Times & Transcript staff
24 May 2008

As heating and electricity costs continue to soar, government and industry around New Brunswick are turning towards the promotion of environmentally sound green buildings and construction practices.

While there are long-term benefits tied to heating cost savings, it's the lack of sufficient incentives and promotions to turn homeowners on to green building that concerns some people in the industry.

"They may think they want to go with green construction, until they sit down and look at dollars and then most people are looking at dollars and going to the least expensive option," said Glen Chamberlain, vice president of the Greater Moncton Homebuilders' Association. "I'm finding that some, not all -- they're looking at today's dollars and savings, they're not looking at the future dollars."

Currently, through an Efficiency NB initiative, the government offers between $1,000 and $3,000 in rebates for homeowners who follow specific energy standards in their designs, as well as an additional $250 grant for those who install energy-wise appliances. Whether it's a lack of enough incentive, or a lack of public knowledge and education, Chamberlain believes not enough people are going green these days.

"People that are building a $200,000 home are not going to go for the long-term geothermal and costly stuff... They don't have $10,000 extra to stick into saving on heat for the next 10 years, they just want to save for today," he said.

Joe Waugh, senior residential advisor with Efficiency NB, counters that while there are increased startup costs involved, green building is a wise decision both environmentally and financially over the long haul.

"The challenge is getting everybody involved in the process to actually do the math, do the economic analysis to see what the long-term return on investment is," he said. "The money is there, the energy savings are there to pay for the better home, but people have to get into that mindset, they have to go through that thought process and buy into it."

Waugh adds that the government rebate program is merely meant to be a "carrot" in order to entice more people to think of green options when building a home.

"The real savings aren't those (rebate) dollars, they're the long term, the year after year savings," he said.

Waugh says in the first year they had 450 homes in the province, 16 per cent of those built, go through the energy efficiency program and they hope to have upwards of 800 homes this year.

Leonce Cormier, owner of Comfort Home Builders Limited and president of the Canadian Home Builders Association New Brunswick, said more and more clients are talking to their builders about green building and he believes the New Brunswick government is doing a great job of promoting and educating the province on the benefits.

Darren Hill, vice president of construction for Hills Bros. Realty & Investments Ltd in Fredericton, said where government provides incentives for green building now, it will soon become industry standard as more and more homebuilders request green practices.

Hill adds that New Brunswick is a leader per capita when it comes to development of R-2000 homes, which are a minimum standard energy efficient and indoor air quality home program that surfaced in Canada in 1981.

David Foster, director of environmental affairs with the Canadian Homebuilders' Association, said a lot of progress has been made and Environment Canada data shows that Canadian homes are releasing 8.5 per cent less green houses gases than they were in 1990, which is more than the Kyoto Protocol target of six per cent.

"I think the key thing for people is, when you buy a house you need to think of the cost of ownership, not just the cost of the mortgage," he said. "If you can spend $5,000 more when you buy the house to cut $1,000 a year off your heating costs, after five years you're laughing."

While larger financial incentives would no doubt play a role in having more New Brunswickers laughing their way to green building practices, Waugh hopes more homeowners can look at the bigger picture.

"We provide the technical advice on how to get there and then some incentive to draw their attention and the resources to help get them there," he said. "If we paid for everything, sure, we'd get everything we want, but obviously we don't have those kind of resources... We've got to think about the whole financial package."

Quick facts

Efficiency NB offers between $1,000-$3,000 in rebates for homeowners who use green building practices. The following are some of the other incentives available throughout Canada:

* Nova Scotia — Department of Energy provides incentives between $175 and $500 to offset the initial cost of an EnerGuide building plan evaluation.

* Ontario — Up to $5,000 in rebates available for a home energy retrofit that includes ENERGY STAR qualified furnaces for heating, solar domestic water systems and insulation.

* Quebec — Up to $2,000 in incentive’s available for high-efficiency Novoclimat-certified houses heated with natural gas.

* Saskatchewan — energy efficient rebates start at $1,000 for qualified ENERGY STAR or R-2000 homes and move up to a maximum of $2,400.

Our Canadian Home

I had intended to maintain a little blog about the building of our new, "green as we can afford," home in Douglas, New Brunswick, Canada. In October 2007 we found a nice one acre lot. We closed on that purchase in December. Since October, I've been working with our builder, had plans drawn up, hammered out a contract, worked with a mortgage broker, and thought that, minor delays aside, things were going to work out.

I came to Fredericton on 20 May to attend an academic conference and to take care, I thought, of some last minute things regarding the build. On Thursday, 22 May, much to my surprise, I was told that the appraisal didn't come in high enough. In short, the appraiser did not find anything truly comparable in the area. He used a non-green home and came in $22,000 under contract value.

The province is encouraging people to think about energy efficiency. There are various incentives for retro-fits, etc. But, the banks are completely devoid of the ability to realize that some of us might wish to build green, but also need financing. Even TD Canada Trust's marketing of a "green mortgage" isn't really a green mortgage at all.

I don't know how this is going to turn out, but it's prompted me to shift gears a bit and focus on the broader challenges of green building, rather than just our personal journey to green building.

Welcome aboard!