Another visit with the Home Discovery Show

Yesterday I was happy to talk again to Ian and Steve at the Home Discovery Show on CKNW and the Corus radio network.  We chatted about where we are in the process.

And where are we in the process?  Well the city wants to see a report on the soil stability by a geo-technical engineer, plus we need to have an architect sign off on the plans to make sure the structure can support the living roof.  PLUS it turns out that the height allowance for laneways is calculated differently than the height allowance for the average build (a calculation difference that is not mentioned in the literature and is so arcane that it cannot be described over the phone).  So it was back to the drawing board for our designer at Novell to lop a foot off the top floor (good-bye 9 foot ceilings).

But all that is done, so we are looking forward to having the plans accepted. Soon.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the demo has started on the basement, and the front and side yards were ripped apart for the new water supply.

That’s all going smoothly.  When they ripped out the basement rooms they found no moisture (yeah!) but they did find a little bit of asbestos in the tape holding the heating conduits together.  So that means calling in the experts, taping off parts of the basement, and taking out the asbestos safely in a process called abatement.

One step forward, half-a-step back.

Ian brought up an interesting point:  a lot of families fall apart over these little projects. But we’re all looking forward to this so much, we honestly have not had any differences at all.  Sure, we were crushed when we found out we couldn’t have a spiral staircase in the laneway (they need at least 12 feet clearance, which is basically the whole house).  And we still haven’t decided which yellow is yellow enough for the exterior, without being too yellow.  But these are just subjects for discussion, not points of disagreement.

Everybody just gets along.  And I think the compromise process is so smooth we don’t really notice it.

Right now we are looking for a place to rent.  We would love that to be in East Vancouver, so we can get used to our new neighbourhood, establish which Starbucks is “ours”, plot out our trips to our new grocery store, etc.  So if you hear of anything in the area around Rupert and Broadway, let us know.

We’re already packing for it.