Allow enough time for the stamp of compliance

As we move toward project completion, I am going to put together a post on all the new stuff we encountered during this project, as well as old lessons that could have been better learned.  One that comes to mind right away is to leave more time for the land title and survey processes to make their way back through City Hall.

Starting the subdivision process in February to achieve a July closing date wasn't long enough.  To any casual observer, six months is a tremendously long time to get paperwork exercises finished. In Calgary, it does appear that these processes drag on.  A condition of the lawyers and bankers is to have the survey work stamped for compliance, and on new builds the City takes about a working week to deal with that.  

This means that once you have the subdivision complete, you have to get the new survey work prepared, and finally send it back to the City for the compliance stamp.  This will take a few weeks and if you are not right on top of it, or very early, it will not be done by the closing date.  

If you don't have the paperwork ready for the closing date, a lot of grief and un-needed hardship can ensue.  Next time I will get that subdivision done sooner...actually I probably will not.  If you have financing on the property, getting the subdivision done can be a real problem.  You seem to need to get the financing after the subdivision, or hope that the bank will allow a subdivision with the loan in place.  This is a difficult matter, and I don't know how to proceed.  I will have to give my banker a call and see what he says.  I have looked into these matters before, but didn't find out what I needed to know.

Having the closing documents all organized in advance of the due date will save you some grief.  Better luck next time for me.

New sidewalks and road resurfacing for Rosscarrock in '17

Another sign of urban renewal, along with dozens of new homes is sidewalk and road rehab throughout the area.  

I think the street repairs should slow down due to the amount of house building.  Each house will cost $6000 more (city fee), but the paving will make for an improved community immediately.  

Rather than paving the roads that money should have gone toward the alleys. The alleys have some rough patches due to 50 years of garbage trucks and freeze thaw cycles. Having the lanes paved is a more involved process because it requires a majority vote on the block. With all the new building the chances of this happening increases greatly.  My lane behind my Killarney house will get paved next year.  Let's hope as the 41 st community evolves with lots of new families the lane can be paved as well in the next few years  

Ready for new concrete sidewalks, paid for by your friendly home builder.

Occupancy inspection

The project isn't really done until the building inspector returns again to issue the occupancy letter.  This is a critical piece of the project, because without it you can sell your house, but you can't allow the new owner to move in.  

We had some occupancy permit hiccups, I may or may not post what actually took place on my website, however, I can say that it ruined my Canada Day long weekend dealing with the consequence of some irresponsible misinterpretation by the inspector.  Often times you encounter an inspector that will work with you to find a pathway to approval, but every once in a while you get just the opposite.  You'd think malice would not be a role of the inspector (that you pay for through permit fees, yet they decide to undermine you), but in this instance it would be hard to describe it otherwise.

In the end the outcome is what matters, and we delivered a very exceptional house.  Here is the permit that took a solid seven months to acquire.

The final photos

With only a small window between finishing the house, getting it cleaned, and having the new owners move in, it is nice to get some real photographs of the end product taken by a photographer with excellent lenses (not iPhones).  

During the final days before the clients take over the new house, it is a nice opportunity to deal with countless small details and touchups, and appreciate the brand new and empty look of the house. Here are some highlights, and also a link to the full set.  https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4SACAcBIaNIZi1zSG9UWVZ5b3c

Floor squeak repairs

As is typical of building, blemishes tend to show up more clearly after the project is finished, and repairs are more difficult.

In this instance a floor squeak was observed in a bad location.  Diagnosis of the squeak is fairly easy, but the cure can be tricky.

First the carpet and pad is pulled back and solutions are considered

A careful cut is made for further exploration, and a diagnosis of the squeak can now be made.

A block is inserted and the floorboard that is cut out can now be fastened with deck screws.  The squeak is gone, carpet can be stretched back in place.

Construction cleaning - the dirt is finally gone

Construction is a dirty business, and seems to get continuously worse unit the very end.  Hiring cleaners is one of the luxuries of the operation, but it still requires a few days of pre-cleaning just to get to the point where hiring cleaners makes sense.  And of course as soon as it is clean, the mess making begins again, so it is wise to leave the cleaning until the last possible moment otherwise it all gets undone

This house is finally clean.

Railing stain

The painters are back to stain the oak railings in the second house. We've had the shop prepare a stain match to the cabinets.  The concept here is to make a nice contrast with the lighter floor.   

The final survey

after much surveying, from stakeout of the dig to the corners of the lot for fence building, the project gets a lot of attention from the survey company.  

We suffered some delays with the subdivision, however, we had a little luck and the process is nearly complete.  The new real property report is a condition of inspection, so I must hand that to the inspector at the final inspection (or fail, and likely get fined which is very unfair in my view). The lawyers also need to have a copy of the rpr to proceed the sale, so the importance of this step cannot be underestimated  

this is some key paperwork to have ready for the final inspection.  

Final paint

The painters arrived to do the baseboards and roll the walls.  With the paInt now done we can finish a few of the other jobs, have the electricians plate the walls, and start the clean up.  Once the place is a little cleaner we can identify the paint touchups.  

There are a lot of layers of paint on these walls. The last one looks the best because it has the least damage.  

Giant mess pile continues to grow

The garage continues to act as a dumpster and we've now likely got a bin worth of junk accumulated.  And growing.  It is amazing how much waste is produced by the construction site, after the recyclables are removed.  Carpet remains a major villain for lacking reuse options.  We may have to find a recyclable or returnable carpet supplier next time.  Packaging waste other than cardboard is also a tough waste stream to manage.   

Large and growing, how much more trash can there be. I may leave this pile until both houses are done and deal with it all at once.   

Landscape final

The guys are back to finish the fence, gates, and grass in the rear.  This is always a lot more work than it appears, and more costly than you'd otherwise suspect.  With the landscaping finished the attention can revert back to the interior of the house where we have the painters back to deal with the baseboard paint and the final coat on the walls.  

With the gate on, grass planted, and sprinkler running, we can call this back yard complete.  We painted the garage man door and the trims today, so we are ready to clean out the garages of all the junk that has accumulated and finish these houses.

Glass shower

the glass crew is back with the custom shower install. These are always an impressive installation and finishes the bathroom off nicely. 

Sunday spray with Sabi

the painters are back to spray the railing material. Normally we do this before the flooring but in this style of stair we needed to do it after.  Once the painters are gone we can unmask and clean off the area.  Let's hope the overspray is kept to a minimum.  With the drywall touchups sanded last week and the railings done today we can get back on the walls and do another coat plus paint the baseboards that went on the hardwood and tile areas.  

sabi himself arrived to do the spray.  He is super busy with some 10,000 sq ft mansions.   You know the job has been squeezed in when sabi is working Sunday.  

Aerial tram - Portland summary

Portland is making great use of its tram system. In addition to ferrying hospital staff up and down the hill it's a tourist attraction as well offering great views of the Mt. St Helens volcano, and multiple other snow covered peaks.  Unfortunately this tourist lacked a camera and had little cell phone battery for photography.   

Portland has a premier network of low floor downtown trams and LRT style options that offer a get on, get off convenience that is unparalleled in any North American City I have visited.  The difference between the Calgary system and the Portland system is very stark, there the tram  adds seamlessly to lifestyle and convenience, in Calgary it just takes lots of people downtown to work.  The system works from the moment you arrive at the airport to your hotel doorstep, and to any neighbourhood within Portland you'd like to visit.  In combination with high investment in bridges, bike routes, and busses, there is no real need for car ownership during the work week there.  

Before arriving in Portland, I had expected to rely heavily on Uber to get around, but never once did we feel compelled to need a driver.  In good weather (such as what we had) bikes would be an even better option, however we didnt make use of the bike share service, though it looked good.  

I didnt see much about Portland that was not truly fantastic in the few days we were there.  This City is a place we can really learn a lot more from.  I think the downside to Portland is very costly housing in the desirable districts, and congestion on all the roads and bridges leading out of the core.  This isn't a problem when visiting, but could be for residents.  We also looked at a house with a $14k tax bill, that was atrocious.  Hopefully another visit to Portland can take place and more of the State can be visited.  The wonderful vegetarian cafes and many breweries will be missed!

Rear landscaping

The landscapers are back to finish the fence and rear yards.  With this exterior work done I can call the development completion inspection.  This is a dp related checkup to see if you actually built what you said you were going to at the planning stage. the landscaping makes the home a much more turnkey offering. Gates and grass are the finishing touches for the new home owners. 

Not allowed in Calgary

visiting Portland, it seems like some of the best urban neighbourhoods are places that wouldn't be built in calgary due to the zoning bylaw. 

not enough front setback.  Not enough soft surface landscaping. Not allowed in calgary  

The most valuable tree in Calgary is?

My future project on 26a st in Killarney features some really nice elm trees, in places the canopy completely overhangs the street.  While not native to Alberta, these elms seem to be an ideal long lived deciduous tree.  With the advertising in place for the upcoming semi detached DP, the parks department has labeled the two closets elms' replacement value.

We need to run the sewer line in the vicinity of the tree, but we are going to have to give it a wide berth.  The tree value closest to the project site is over $17,000.  The tree immediately to the north is even bigger, they are reporting it to be worth over $28,000.  That is a seriously valuable tree. The next time I have to communicate with the parks department, I am going to ask them what the most valuable tree in Calgary currently is, and where.

This is the start of the comment period on the new semi detached project

The upper part of this block has some exceptionally large canopy trees that completely overhang the street. This is another reason 26a is such a nice location to build new houses.  We'll need to exercise some serious caution to avoid these trees. The good news is we have the corner of the block and the trees there aren't an issue.  We will be able to drive machinery in from the rear and the side as necessary without harming any of the big trees along the front.  What we are going to have to do with the sewer is a much bigger issue.

Appliance progress

The plumber is back with needed gas supplies. Fridge, dishwasher and gas range is going in nicely.  

Looks like we've got gas at the cooktop.  

Bear traffic jam

You know you are in the Rockies in the summer when you have too many bears blocking the way.  The curious cinnamon coloured bear was a little shocking to me when he poked his head up and we had a little face to face stare down (I lost) on the corner of the husky road  

After heading downhill there was a safe distance for some photos. Fortunately a few riders came up behind me with some dogs.  With bait available in the form of dogs, passage was possible.  Cute bears. 

These bears were not interested in the humans passing by on bike.  This road is so steep the bear could easily outrun a climber.   

Garage inspection

Given the increasingly tight timeline of finishing the semi detached project I elected to get the garage final. I intentionally failed the garage inspection at the end of the last month so that I could avoid a reinstatement fee.  Now that it is complete we passed today. Next inspection is the big one however, and we lack some needed paperwork.  Let's hope the subdivision goes through and I can get two new real property reports.... soon.