Saturday, October 28, 2006

...and the tearing down begins

Power was finally disconnected on October 16, and final permits for demolition issued by the town on the 26th. But, why wait? Trees started to come down on the 25th, and the rest of the trees are now down. The lot is much more open, which means the new house will be able to breathe. We hope to not have issues with mildew, mold, and other ugliness in the new house. (I just found this blogspot site with a guy's rants about home construction in Japan and the moisture issues he has there - the comment on the shoes has been a challenge for us, as well)

With the trees down, the stone wall that marks the property border is more visible, and gives us a sense of things we might do with the landscaping once all the work is done. The ferns and other natural growth will set the stage for whatever we do, so it still fits in the midst of the woods. This space will not become some manicured suburban tract.

Here's how the view has opened up...

There's a sense of progress, but it's sobered by a sense of having abandoned the house and leaving it to suffer great violence. Much of what could be removed has been and is probably settling in to some other person's home. The kitchen counters were carried off, along with the sink and kitchen appliances, the washer and dryer, the wood stove, the furnace and thermostat, and even some light fixtures. All the sliding doors to the deck have been removed, and hopefully will find their way to some second life as well.

Here's how the kitchen looked a few days ago, with the various piece-parts removed...

We had hoped to find new homes for as many things from the house as possible, so they'd have continued use rather than ending up in a landfill. It turns out that unless you're good with tools and have a big truck or are willing to hire it out, it's hard to give this stuff away on a charitable basis. But, there's always someone who wants something, and we're glad that the subs found stuff of interest. Since the house is coming down, nobody needed to be particularly careful, so the kitchen looks like a tornado hit it. The living room is scattered with leaves, bits of wallboard, and other scrap. A lower level wall was ripped down - perhaps to get the furnace out more easily - and the sliding door met a bad end, with glass all over the floor and the frame removed. Ironically, the front door is locked, in a facade of serenity and security that belies what awaits you within.

During our visit to the house yesterday, it was also raining pretty hard. Word has it that someone played a practical joke on one of the tree guys and let a big chunk of tree fall on the house (he apparently didn't know it's getting demolished - wish I could have been there to see his reaction when it happened), leaving a big gash in the roof and our very own waterfall in the entry hall, furthering the reality of our abandonment.

Not sure where the mice and chipmunks are currently eking out a life, but a good-sized snake sidled up against the house under a bunch of leaves while I was walking around the perimeter. Hopefully it'll move on in time Monday, when the crusher arrives.

It's progress, but it's still sad to see the passing of the house.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

The Long, Slow, Slog

The last month has been filled with inactivity. Move-out happened on September 21, with the full expectation that within a week the last two gates would have been cleared to get the permit for demolition. It, of course, hasn't worked out that way.

To get the permit, we needed to: (1) have the oil tank pumped and removed from the house; and (2) have the electric utility disconnect the house from its grid. Sounds easy.

The oil tank folks were to show up on the 22nd, and never did. Of course, they didn't respond to our call ever, and only returned out builder's call about a week later, claiming they knew nothing about the job. Through our builder, we networked to some other folks, who were definitely on the ball and - amazingly enough - even called when they expected to be 15 minutes late! We like them. So, the oil tank is pumped and removed and here's a shout-out to Arthur's Oil Company for coming through.

Our electric utility has been a bigger problem. They seem to handle disconnects only when Mercury is in retrograde concident with the Planters Moon. This being Autumn, that's not seeming to happen. We got a subtle sign of progress on Friday. The daily call to their customer service team generated the following: "A team was out there yesterday, but they couldn't find the <>. We have another person assigned to it for Tuesday." Hmm. At least they know we exist and have a request.

Meantime, we'd like our builder and his subs to be at work...they actually need to have work in progess to put income on the ledger. There's a small worry that some of the guys are going to have to pick up other projects, creating that nasty cascade of delays. You can't blame them, but it sure would be a drag...

On the plus side - there's no going back. The November issue of Dwell magazine references our project in the context of the Dwell/Empyrean partnership. The issue is focused on prefab, and while I haven't had much chance to look at it, it seems like it might contain some interesting things for people interested in pre-fab and kit construction. This is the kind of stuff I'd like to see them focus more on, rather than some of the commercial and product-y emphasis of recent issues. Hopefully as some of the buzz around this will increase people's interest in pursuring this style of home, and to managing the footprint and impact of the house on its environment.