In March, we still didn't have the soil report or the foundation plans. We went to their office and we called several times and they finally admitted that they could probably get us the soil report soon but the foundation plans hadn't even been started. Sigh...
We had no desire to start the process over again, if we could even find another geotechnical engineer. So we told them to finish the results of the soil report but to cancel the foundation plans. We said 8 months was a ridiculous amount of time for us to be waiting. The receptionist agreed but said they were sad to lose our business. Whatever.
Finally, after another month had gone by, and after I had called them twice a week, every week (squeaky wheel, right?), we received our soil report. 9 months after we started this process. Sheesh, a whole human being can be created in that amount of time! Lol!
At the end of April, I called around to several other engineers and found one whose price was reasonable. I sent over the soil report, floor plans, ICF block information and the physical address of the build site. The next day, I sent a follow-up email making sure everything was received and asking for an estimate for when he thought the plans would be done. No reply. The following week, I sent another email. No reply. Why are engineers so uncommunicative? I decided to just wait because what else are we going to do? Start over AGAIN? So we waited. Finally, at the beginning of the 4th week, I got an email saying our plans were finished and we could pick them up. We were there that day.
Yay! Now we can move forward! It was difficult convincing ourselves to move into the motor home and begin deconstruction of the house when we didn't have all that we needed to move forward. The "what ifs" kept us frozen. But now we don't have to wait anymore.
The motor home has a new kitchen faucet and we ran water through it and there are no more leaks! We ran the bathroom faucet and the shower. No leaks! Hurray!
Sam and Jeff have their tents set up next to the motor home. Apparently, they really want separate tents. REALLY, want separate tents. Fine, in the name of family harmony, they each have their own tent.
We've all been sleeping in the motor home and tents for a few nights now. Glenn says the bed in the motor home is more comfortable than our own bed. He's actually sleeping better out there.
We moved the washer and dryer outside. They are hooked up on the patio. Hank ran an extra 220 plug for the dryer since the one we had is being used by the motor home. He said the only thing we shouldn't do is try to run the dryer and the motor home's AC at the same time. Gotcha!
All we have left to move out of the house is our bed (it's going into storage), the living room couches (they are going into the trash), the kitchen (so many small things), and my classroom. Stay tuned!
