TRIP TO KANE COUNTY GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.....

So, Jim decides that we need to have a little pow wow with the folks at Kane County Building Commission....  This consisted of the Building Inspectors - 2 people, and the Zoning Inspector - 1 person...

We take down our plans, explain what we need and ask for advice.  They actually were really quite nice.  We decided that we didn't want to have our property re-zoned, but we needed information from the Buildings inspectors - one lady, and one man.

They gave us all sorts of information that we really didn't know about - like, we need to have the septicsystem plans submitted with the building permit package, we need to dig the hole, and then have a compaction/soils test done, but, we have to have the perc test done before any digging is done.... So, strange.  The septic system is one of the last things to go in, but is one of the first things you need plans for... I don't get it, but it's the rules.

We found out that we have to have the outer structure of the cabin, that is the walls, and the doors and the windows and the roof, all completed within 1 year.... We aren't really dealing with 12 months here - there's an issue of snowfall, which will stop the whole process, so time is definitely a factor here.. So, we decided to hire someone to frame the cabin in.  We found a framer down in Hatch that seems to meet our needs... Kind of a young guy, family man, lots of kids... and I mean, lots of kids....and wives....Ok....  Very nice man...He came highly recommended... We're now waiting for a bid from him.  He said he can provide a whole crew and the framing will go up in about 2 weeks...  I guess it's good for him to have a whole crew built in... Giggle...

This guy told us where to go to buy the wood/supplies at the best price in the area, and I think he is going to prove to be very helpful.

Cheri

OK, this is pretty cool to watch. LOL. Just for you Cheri.

I had to do this because of Cheri's last Blog entry.

OK, so watch it.  I'll bet Cheri can't watch it to the end.

Here's the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FI_07YVS3tY

This is synchronizing your wind turbine generator to the grid so you can put back energy and get a credit for the energy you are providing to the grid.

Bye for now, Jim Streeter

WHAT THE FREAK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, JIM?

I suggested Jim look into the whole idea that we can power our cabin with wind generated energy.  As I expected, many people read his post.  It is really quite interesting, but I am sure that most of you read his post, and then in your minds, said.."WHAT THE FREAK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, JIM?"  I know, I did.

Let me explain...  You know those big huge wind turbines that you see here and there... Well, we are going to have a little one to power our cabin.  That's the whole thing in a nutshell...

Please remember, Jim is an amazing engineer... that's the key word here... engineer.  He accuses me of staring at the ceiling when he talks, or rolling my eyes... I don't mean to - but, sometimes my mind just wanders when he gets into the depth of some subjects....

I personally like the idea of powering the house without having to rely on Utah Power, but basically, if I get up in the morning, and the lights turn on, and my blow dryer works, I'm good....

I love you, Jim....  Cheri

What About Wind Energy?

Cheri brought up an interesting idea the other day.  Why don't we put up a wind turbine to generate our own electricity?

I did some research and found a wealth of information and products on the Internet.

The size of many turbines are determined by the average electricity usage in the home, but here in Utah you can sell your excess back to the energy grid and if you size it correctly, your electric bill can be zero each month.

So, what size?

The average home uses up to 1 Kw per day.  I'm thinking of a 2 meter rotor that can generate up to 3.5 Kw per day.  This would offset any days where there is no wind.  But every time we are at the cabin site there's a wind blowing.  Remember we are up at 6,800 feet of elevation on the side of a mountain.

Food for thought.

Bye for now, Jim Streeter

Our Development has a Home Page!

Believe it or not, I just found this today.  Check it out.  LOL, I must be getting old.

http://brycewoodlands.com/BW/Home_Page.html

Bye for now, Jim Streeter

What will it look like, really?

Cheri asked me what the cabin will really look like.  She said she couldn't understand the drawings so I searched the web for a cabin that looks like our's will.  Here is the best I could find.

Our drawings look like this.

So, there will be no stairs on the left, but there will be a deck across the front and down the right side.  The roof will look the same except our's will be a metal roof.  The siding on our's will look like shake shingles but will actually be vinyl siding.  The vinyl siding will look like the drawing.

The windows are a little different due to the fact that we've already bought what is in the drawing.  The only addition is that there will be two symmetrical windows on the lower level.  That is actually the garage on the lower level.

Jim Streeter

Local Information

If you are ever wondering what is going on around the cabin site the closest website with local activities, up to date photos, and news worthy information you can go here;

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cedar-Mountain-True-Value/180822097269

This is the local hardware store, but they are very active in the local politics and people.

This article popped up this morning.

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2013/12/08/movement-gorge-gridlock-closure-remains-effect/

Bye for now, Jim Streeter,

LOT JOINDER

We have three lots in Brian Head, and the cabin was going to go in the middle of two of the lots... So, we found that in order to build in the middle of two lots, we have to join them as one.

So, I get all the paperwork, and it includes old maps, and new schematics and tax notices and paid receipts from the taxes... all kinds of little things.  I get it all put together, and send it to the people at Kane County.  Apparently, it has to be sent to Kane County, and when they have their little county meeting, it has to be reviewed.  It's a whopping 15 minute procedure, but we were told that one of us has to be there for the proceedings.  They, of course, aren't held on the weekends, or in the evenings, they are held in the middle of the day.  But, we are then told, that we can telephone conference in, so that saved us missing a day's work, and 2.5 hours travel time... for a 15 minute meeting... Uhuh...  This whole procedure costs $500.00.

So, I scan and send all the information to them.  I get an e-mail from the woman in charge and she asks where the labels are... Labels?  What labels?  She explains to me, that a letter has to be sent to every land holder within 500 feet of our property, and ask their permission to join our properties...  and I'm like... let me get this straight - I own the property, all three lots, and I have to ask permission from the neighbours if I can join the properties that I already own?  Funny, I didn't have to ask their permission when I was buying the property....  And, I am supposed to scour the public records, and figure out who owns the property, type out all these labels, send them to Kane County, and they send out a letter.  On top of that, it costs $10.00 per letter, and guess what... there are 30 letters to send out.  So far, this little joining the property adventure is costing us $500.00 + $300.00 = $800.00.

Then, the lady e-mails me and says that we have to have a surveyors stamp on new drawings.... Are you kidding me?  What's wrong with the surveyor's maps that THEY had drawn up when we bought the property?  Apparently, in the 2 years since we bought the property, there was a major earthquake or something, and the property lines changed.  The little surveyor is going to charge us, yep - $1,000.00 for a new drawing.  So, update, the price is now, $500.00 + $300.00 + $1000.00 =  $1800.00... just to join two pieces of property that we already own.  Amazing.

Jim and I reached the conclusion that we are going to move the cabin to the center of the middle lot, and be done with it.  This is getting ridiculous.  We are going to put some serious money into Kane County in the next couple of years, and they just want to make it as difficult as possible...

Utterly ridiculous.

Cheri

BLOCK!

We are building a glass wall between the commode and the sink in the upstairs loft bathroom.  I have been collecting glass block from all over the place...  We found this little gem yesterday at Habitat for Humanity in Salt Lake... it was covered in muck, and dirt and looked awful.  I told Jim that I thought I could clean it up and it would be just fine.... It has a different pattern from all the other that I have collected so far... Well, it was definitely a diamond in the rough... Cleaned up beautifully - nicely yellowed and perfect for what I need it for...  Stoked!

Cheri

PS - I was just thinking... I got all excited about a block of glass...  wow...

ASSIGNMENTS!

Jim came home from work on Thursday and told me that he is going to make assignments for the cabin... My assignment was to get everything together to get the building permit...(He said that because I loved making lists and stuff, this would be right up my alley...)  so, Friday was filled with getting the actual application for the building permit from Kane County, getting the paperwork to join 2 of the 3 lots together, getting the paperwork that Jim needs to complete the Perc test and get the application for the septic system from the Kane County Health Department!  Jim's assignment was to find a soils engineer for another test that needs to be done.

Well, it took some doing, but I found out where to get all the information... These people don't see very willing to depart information... took a whole lot of telephone calls and e-mails, but finally got it.

We got the final plans from the stupid engineer that was stamping off our plans... I don't know who I dislike more... the architect or the engineer...  They make the mistakes and then want to make it look like it's our fault... I mean really... who puts a pole in the middle of the garage?   Apparently, the stupid architect thinks this is normal...  Bloodsuckers... that's the only word I have for them...

The only good thing about the architect is that he actually sent PDF copies of our plans.... that's AFTER he charged us $125.00 for a papercopy... which we didn't want...  didn't get the lot layout from him that he said was in the package deal...He said when we picked up the plans that if we wanted the layout from him, it would cost us another $150.00.... But, I am so done with him... Jim and I think we can do the layout ourselves...

So, I have all my files set up for all the different forms and such that I need...  I love doing this kind of stuff...

Cheri

MORE STUFF

Saturday was a big day in the life of our little cabin... We found a propane furnace, right size, right price - so we are totally stoked!  We also found two 6' front windows!  When we had to have the front of the cabin redesigned because of a little booboo on the part of the architect, we had to buy two windows to fit the new space... So, we're back on track again!

Happy Happy!

Cheri

TRILLIUMS SINK!

I love Trilliums!!!

Here's a little update!  Here's the sink that is going in one of  the bathroom in the cabin.  Jim and I bought the greenware and I had Steve, the guy that did my tattoo, draw me some trilliums on it... Now, we're going to paint it, and have it fired, and it'll be ready to go!

I love it!  Steve at Anchor Ink Tattoo in Salt Lake City, Utah... ROCKS!!!

PS:  We went to the ceramics shop this afternoon to pick out the colours... While looking at the sink, I realized there was a little lady bug drawn... I was even more excited!!!  If you look at the bottom picture, on the left hand side bottom.... you'll see a tiny little ladybug!

We are going to do the sink with white trilliums, green leaves,  yellow highlights, red ladybug...and all outlined in black..    I think it's going to look amazing!!!

Cheri Streeter

Here's a couple of pictures from Bryce Canyon - right next door to where we are building the cabin.

Cheri

Unloading the First Logs

Today I fired up the backhoe and with TJ's help we unloaded the trailer.

Remember these are 30 year old logs from a barn in Idaho.  

The interior of the log is pristine, but the outside, when sand blasted and finished will look like this, well sort of.  We have other plans, but they will look sort of like these.

Moving a thousand pound log is delicate work.  I tried hard to not knock down trees or damage cars.

Well these are now put to bed until they are needed next year.

Bye for now, Jim & Cheri

Logs . . . Big Freakin Logs!

OK, so today we made a trip up to Liberty, Utah to pick up the first load of logs.  We hooked up the trailer that we have for the backhoe and departed.  Now this trailer is bigger than a car hauler, so we figured it would be plenty big enough for, well the smaller logs.  So, here's what she looked like fully loaded, strapped and chained down.  Holy crime-any the little logs look freakin big.  I told Cheri, every step of the way was going to be an adventure. . . . Seven down and thirteen to go.

We're going to have to rent a bigger trailer for the big logs.   I'll quote a line from "Jaws", "We're going to need a bigger boat!".

Bye for now, Jim & Cheri

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.... GROAN!

Well, I've decided that building a cabin is an interesting and frustrating experience.  As you know, we sent the plans off for concrete bids... upon looking at the plans closer, we found that the architect, you know the man that drives me crazy, has made some reasonably unconventional additions to our plans... For instance, there is a pole in the middle of the garage...  he says it's for support - but, who in their right mind wants to have a pole in the middle of the garage?  So, it's back to the engineer and he's going to make some changes.  We are going to bypass the architect this time, and the civil engineer that signs off on the plans, is going to make the changes.  Soooo frustrating.

We are about to take the backhoe down to Manzanita and start to dig the hole, an hopefully, between the civil engineer, the backhoe operator (Jim) and the concrete guy, we can have work completed by the time the snow flies - which seems to be a little early in the year down at Brian Head!

Cheri

We are out for BIDS! ! ! ! - Well the concrete part at least.

We are sending out the basement drawing that has the footings and foundation information on it for quotes.  We have no idea how much it will cost, so we are biting our lip and hoping.

We are hoping to get this completed before the snow flies.

Jim & Cheri

OK, It's official. The state will let me play in the dirt now!

Just received this in the mail.

Wow, I passed the test.  LOL

Until next time,
Jim & Cheri Streeter

Yep... we gotta inventory the storage building

Well we keep finding fantastic little additions for the cabin.  This week we found these brackets, or what ever you want to call them.  Beautiful thick teak, carved brackets that will hold up the mantel that sits on the rock wall and that will surround the wood burning stove in the living room.

 
And yes they are in Inventory now!  Cheri loves it when I talk organizational things to her.

Jim & Cheri

Storage

Moving all the stuff for the cabin from Storage A to a bigger Storage B... This is storage B...

Cheri

FARMERS TAN!!

We realized a little while ago, that we were running out of storage space - where we keep all the materials for building the cabin...So, we rented a larger storage unit, and decided that today was the day to move everything from one storage unit to the larger unit...  It was warm this morning, Brad and Brianne and TJ came out to help us... and by 3:00 this afternoon, I was scorched and have a farmer's tan on my arms... Sad day...

We didn't get everything moved - Jim guesstimates that we got about 25% moved, and we'll complete the project this next week.

Hard work...  thank goodness we had help!  Cheri

Manzanita - in Winter. Holy Mackerel. . . .

I was searching for webcams in the neighborhood of the cabin one day and I found a small business that does snow removal in the winter time.  They had these pictures on their site.  I was not too excited about them.

Snow removal with an extendable boom / forklift?

 

           before                      and                                  after. . . . . . are you kidding me?

                    

In-tombed.

Well we are in for an education.  One winter and we'll be going to Phoenix from then on.  But only from December through April it seems.

Jim & Cheri Streeter

The Blueprints are complete, well sort of . . .

OK, so about a week before the blueprints were to be finished I get a call from the archetect.  He needed to get a copy of the topographical plots of the cabin site so he could prepare a site plot of where the cabin was going to be situated.  This is needed to get a building permit.  So I sent him this TOPO and about 6 others very similar to it.  The two blue squares are the Streeter lots.

The archetect calls a few days later and tells us the drawings are all finished.  I go by and pick them up and get a bill for about the same amount he had quoted. ($2,174.00 vs/ $2,100 quoted)  I told him I didn't have the money with me and that I would drop it off tomorrow.  He agreed.

So I blindly take the prints home and view them later that night at home.  The site plot drawing is not there.  I am so upset I have Cheri call him and he responds that "it will cost an additional $120, but Jim could make that himself and it's really easy to do."

For three days I am so incensed I can't bring myself to take him the money.  Finally, I agree to take it to him if Cheri goes with me.  I refuse to pay this man any more money.  He has been difficult to deal with from the time we agreed to have him do our design.  Never replies to e-mails, doesn't answer his phone, doesn't return calls or messages, etc. 

So we go over and while there I ask him why he wanted the TOPO information if he didn't do the site plan drawing.  His response was that he needed it for the civil (PE) engineering details. Huh? ? ? 

At that point I just paid the guy and we go to leave.  He then says if we want, he'll do the drawing for free if I give him a sketch.

I'm done.  I just tell him I'll get back with him.  (But, I'll do my own.)

I'm just done.

Jim Streeter

FINAL MEETING WITH ARCHITECT!!! THANK GOODNESS!!!

We had the final/final meeting with the engineer this afternoon... that man is so annoying - glad it's over!  Jim will have to explain the events, but all I want to say about it, is Jim is an honourable man..

Love him..

Cheri

Things are picking up!

A lot has happened in the past couple of weeks.  We found an old cast iron claw foot bathtub for the bathroom off the loft.  It is about a 1930 and the porcelain is in perfect condition. 

It's dirty from being in storage for 10 years and the outside paint is peeling.  Cheri thinks we will scrap off the flaking paint, put new hardware on it, get the claw feet replaced or repainted black and it will be good to go.

Meanwhile we approved the final plans and the architect has produced all of the final drawing copies and the engineering calculations for us to get the building permit.

Now we will submit the request to have the two lots joined together and the building permit granted.

On Wednesday I will start a class on performing the perculation testing so a septic system can be built.

Then we start digging.  Here comes summer!

Jim & Cheri Streeter

WAITING, WAITING, WAITING.......

Still waiting for the engineer to check out the plans and get them back to us... I swear, these engineers take so freakin' long with.... EVERYTHING...  Jim said that he talked to the architect a couple of days ago, and Dave the architect said that he should have them back from the engineer some time this week...

Really?

Cheri

I know this will end, but when? ? ? ? ?

I checked the webcam at Brian Head ski resort the other day expecting to see grass turning green.  This is what I saw on the camera.

Notice on the left the wind sock is completely horizontal.  Oh the inhumanity of it all ,. . . . .

The Plans for the Outside are Complete

We picked up the final plans for the outside views of the cabin on Saturday.

Now all we have to finish are the electrical installs and the plot elevation view to get the building permit.  The plans are scheduled to go to the structural engineer on Wednesday.  Once stamped off we will apply for the two lots to be joined and the building permit after the perc test is completed.

We will keep you informed.

Jim & Cheri Streeter

Putting the Design All Together

As we search for stuff for the cabin we run across items occasionally that although they might not be for the construction of the cabin, we have to buy them for decorating when it's done.  Since we are stuck here in March waiting for spring to officially arrive I thought I would post a few pictures of some of the items we have bought for the cabin.  Double click on the photos to see the details.

This is a ceiling fan we purchased to be installed in the loft above the bed.  I think this will be so beautiful turning at a slow speed on hot summer evenings.

We found this pine table and six chairs at a thrift store.  A little sanding and varathane and this should look fantastic in the dining area.

This is a coffee table for the great room.  It is a slab of cedar tree 4 inches thick set on twisted oak tree roots for legs from the Washington state area.  It came out of a lodge up in Wyoming I was told.

I bought this antique bowl and jug as a Christmas gift for Cheri.  I think she's planning on using a triangular wood stand in the loft bathroom to display it.  The bowl is about 18 inches in diameter.

We have ideas of using glass door knobs and escutcheon plates like these for all of the interior doors.  All of them will be different, but the glass door knobs will all match.  Sounds like fun to me.  So far we have collected just a few.

The ceiling in the cabin will be 16 inch diameter log construction with tongue and groove pine spanning the entire surface.  Similar to these photos.

Well, we'll keep dreaming of summer and posting every so often.

Jim & Cheri Streeter

I WAS FEELING HOPEFUL

Ok, so we go to Home Depot last night, and I picked out the flooring for the outside shower.... Yes, we are building an outside shower - if you have never tried it before, don't knock it!!!  It's amazing - as I mentioned in a previous post, when Jim and I got married, we rented a cabin in Idaho, and it had an outside shower... very, very private...  we tried it, and loved it!  Soooooo peaceful, birds flying around, mountains in the background, sunshine on your back... absolutely amazing....You would be amazed how calming it actually is...

Anyways, I was thinking about this shower and I had originally said that I wanted a ceramic floor - but, upon thinking it through, the ceramic will be too slick when it gets wet and I am not sure how well it will stand up to the winter cold... So, I thought about paving blocks... We went to Home Depot last night, and I found some pavers that are amazingly beautiful....the pattern is called Marseilles stone...  I think it's so pretty...  and it will give enough grip so nobody will fall!

I'm still trying to feel positive - even though it's snowing like crazy outside.  I told Jim this morning, while looking out the window - it's going to be a really pretty Christmas..

Cheri

The Transition into Spring is here.

OK, so we wake up this morning to snow.  Let's go out and celebrate spring by building a snowman! ! ! !

And I check the local webcam to see what the cabin site is looking like and this is what I see.

So, we go from beautiful spring days in the 60's to freakin freezin and snow.

We got about 2 inches in Provo last night.  Why you might ask?  I think it's because we went to Home Depot last night and bought steer manure for the garden, a new chain for my chain saw to trim trees, and a new barbecue.

That's my reasoning and I'm sticking to it.

Jim Streeter

It's the weather transition that sucks. . . .

OK, so it's spring.  Let's go out and celebrate by building a snowman!

GETTTIN' CLOSER....

I must admit, I'm getting excited for summer...  Jim and I were talking last night, and the warmer it gets, the closer it gets to breaking ground!  (Still a lot to do before the backhoe makes an appearance, but it's turning into a reality....)

I am stoked...

Cheri

The weather outside is getting better.

The closest little comunity to the cabin is:

Duck Creek

Current: 55° F
High: 55° F
Low: 29° F
Elevation: 8400 ft.
Wind: N 4 mph

Last Update: 2013-03-13 12:12:00

 

At this rate, the snow will be gone in no time.

 

Jim Streeter,

ARCHITECTURAL PLANS!

We are one step closer with the plans.  Jim met with the architect on Saturday - no, I didn't go again... and the guy had more plans... we now have the basement, the ground floor and the loft completed... I think there are a few more changes and the plans will be completed.  then, the plans need to be sent to an engineer to get his stamp...

It all seems, still, so far away.... We have go wait for snow to clear before we can break ground, but before that, it's merging two pieces of property to make one, getting a building permit and getting the perc test done... Lots of little picky details...

We're sick of winter... 

Cheri

Cabin Fever, why me? ? ? ?

I think the stretch from New Year's through the end of March is only made worse because there are no holidays during this time.  No three day weekends.  Which only makes the time pass even slower.

While the cabin site most likely looks like the. . . .

We have dreams of this.

I save the occasional photo from the web in an Ideas Folder.  These are from it.  

One of the ideas I am cultivating is collecting vintage switch plates and outlet plug covers from the 30's and 40's.  Remember our goal is a new cabin with all the modern conveniences but built around a vintage cabin decor/concept.  I have collected about 90% of the needed covers.  It's a small part of the design, but I think it's the little things that make the difference between "just OK" and "Wow".

With the 16 inch diameter logs, the 1927 gas fired stove, the vintage looking faucets, Cheri's fabulous stained glass windows, 100 year old doors, a wood burning stove in the great room and the magnificent all wood ceiling, we are going to have a cabin worthy of calling a home.

Until next time, Jim Streeter