Our Country Cottage a Narrative   /     Episode #27 An OCC Update & ITB Wrap Up

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In this episode I will bring you up to date with the goings on at OCC and, as promised, the ITB wrap up. Finally I can close the book on ITB, In The Beginning. No more confusion with episode numbers and ITB progress month numbers. Hey, it was getting confusing for me. *******On With In The Beginning Wrap Up****** It was at the end of month 27, (no, lets not go there again) two years and three months, that there was a logical point to finish with contractors, etc. and take sole claim of Our Country Cottage. Not everything was finished but enough was enough and we decided to cut the cord. As reported last episode, keys were returned and good byes said. Now the only thing left was to pay the final bill, but how much would that be? Changes had been made, there was that bill that was only partially paid by the first site supervisor, incorrect items delivered costing more to install and on and on. I don’t mind telling you I lost a lot of sleep trying to figure all this stuff out. I had kept notes, records and receipts so I could have gone through it item by item… It would have taken a long time and forced me to relive all the problems we had had over the past two years, plus. I really didn’t want to go there. Everything was still very raw and I just wanted to see the end of that phase of the project, construction etc, and start the next phase, the phase where we start enjoying OCC. So instead of turning up to the final meeting with the project organizer with a pad of paper listing every item of contention, I came up with an alternate concept. With some of the bigger items in mind I arrived at a figure that I would be comfortable with. It was more of a gut thing. I know people who would have gone through every item, every receipt and done a full accounting so as not do pay one more penny than absolutely necessary and probably end up still unhappy, thinking someone had fooled them to pay more. I remember back a few years there was this one person who was looking to buy a house and came to me to ask if I thought it was a good deal and did I think they could pay less somehow. Not being a house appraiser or even seeing the property, I asked if the property was worth it to them and left it at that. Well that’s how my mind works anyways…. I am going to take this opportunity to tell you how the Our Country Cottage project was organized, financially speaking. There was a contract drawn up with expectations of cost. In all fairness the hard costs for the building package were accurate but things got added and changed which was partly reflected in the construction plans. Once we had settled on a floor plan and made the modifications to make it our own and once the plans had gone back and forth several times, (I just checked, and we were up to version 5)the final version had to be sent to the manufacturer with a deposit. Shortly after, there was a production deposit. Then the project company, who was going to assemble OCC and organize all the trades, etc, needed a deposit. These deposits were required by the various companies to add OCC to their schedule boards. The balance of the cottage package was due on the delivery of the kit to the site, there abouts. It was the delivery of said kit that started the “In The Beginning” instalments, by the way. Soo around the kit delivery month, the well was drilled and paid for and the solar power system required a deposit. A couple of other items requiring money were the septic system and getting setup with a propane tank. A bit later the folding doors between the sunroom and living room and the masonry heater required a financial injection. These were some of the extras I was handling myself. Back to the nice neat payment schedule that was laid out by the project co-ordinator\ company. These consisted of five payments that would be made on the completion of certain stages, 1- When the foundation was complete 2- When the framing was complete 3- When OCC could be locked up and the exterior was complete 4- When drywall was complete 5- The possession and occupancy stage For all these there was a 10% hold back on each stage that was payable 45 days after possession in one lump sum, all being agreeable. Just to add to the confusion, the project company adds a percentage to anything that went through them or that they arrange. Towards the end of the project, and with full knowledge of the project company, I started dealing with the contractors myself, which helped with the costs. Actually the project co-ordinator suggested it, as we were getting into areas, for want of better terms, that were not on the plans. This resulted in another series of invoices that had to be paid separately from the original contract. Custom work by the contactor and eves troughs (as reported in the last ITB) would be some examples. I was nervous going into that final meeting, not knowing how my proposal would be received. I guess he was as anxious to finish the project as I was and after a bit of explanation and going back and forth a bit we arrived at a number, the check was written, hands were shook, and that was that. It was actually an odd feeling knowing that I wouldn’t have to go back to that office again and that OCC was bought and paid for. I slept a lot easier that night. There have only been a couple of times where I started second guessing my financial decisions but they were quickly alleviated remembering the rational that got me there. Yes, parts of the Our Country Cottage project cost way more than expected but there was value added. The first amount set aside for contingency was blown through at an amazing rate and at least two more contingency allotments fell but at a slower rate. One thing for sure, don’t go into your dream cottage in the woods project with just the bare costs covered. Have a healthy percentage set aside for the unexpected and try to anticipate where costs could be cut back if required. Also, try to get as much completed by your contractors as you can. It is easy to say, Oh I can finish that myself. But in reality it will take you way more time and effort than you expect and in most cases become a lingering item on that list of things to do that will keep you away from enjoying your new retreat. For example I decided to paint the loft over the garage myself. For me it was a major undertaking. Filling and sanding the ceiling and walls. Wiping them down, ready for paint. Balancing on the very top rung of a ladder trying to reach the peak of the ceiling and limit the amount of paint getting on a clear coated beam. Then on my knees doing all the same sort of stuff for the baseboards. Trying to neatly cut in all the window and door trim. Save money, maybe. Reduce stress and enjoy OCC nope. I still have items to be done…. Well that wraps up the ITB wrap up, now on to the ****** Our Country Cottage Update ****** I will start this update by answering some of the questions I posed at the end of the last episode. The fan error, ahh the fan error, was it just a software glitch. No. The fan was causing more and more errors but it would still work, up to the point where it didn’t. More on that later. The deck railing did get fixed and some other weak points were strengthened. The duct tape repair on the mower grass shoot worked out pretty good. I think little repairs from time to time will be required. The summer seemed to flash by with the second half starting with a three day visit. Grass was mowed and weeds were wacked. During the second day, I was in OCC when I heard a familiar sound. Poking my head out the back door I found the generator had decided to start itself. Hmmm, this was just before noon with the sun shining brightly and the batteries were fully charged. No reason for it to run at all. I tried to shut it down from the solar control panel inside OCC but it would not turn off. There were no errors or any type of event logged. I ended up going out to the generator and turning it off at its control panel. It co-operated and shut down. Once shut down I put it back in to AUTO and all seemed normal. Now, the generator itself produces a log, so later, I looked at that and found it ran as an exercise event. Most of the time this type of generator sits in an urban backyard waiting for the power to fail so it hardly ever runs. Under these circumstances you would want to run, exercise, the gen every so often to make sure all is ready to go. My application is different. My gen gets a real good work out. It doesn’t need exercise. The only way I could figure out not to have exercise time is to program exercise in, lets say, a couple of years in the future. Well looks like it had been a couple of years since I set that up and I just happened to be at OCC when the event came due. Wow you can’t write this stuff, um, I just did, but you get what I mean. Wonder if I will be on site in a couple of years for the next exercise. Oh, and the exercise stuff is all generator stuff so the solar control panel would not have been aware of it. I sprayed another couple of batches of home made weed killer. Remember I was making this stuff with vinegar, salt and a bit of dish detergent. I am really loosing faith in its ability to kill weeds in the long term and I am beginning to think the salt might be drawing in the wild life as I have been seeing deer graze closer and closer to the areas where I spray. Hmmm vinegar and salt, wild life salad dressing anyone. During this visit I did some of the usual chores. Topped up the batteries, collected the temperature data logs, solar control logs, and a trail cam SD card. The batteries had died in that cam so new ones were installed. Always keep spare batteries on hand. The next visit was a first time ever solo visit by my partner for a couple of nights. Must say very brave and very successful. During the visit the Solar control panel generated an error again with the internal fan. I was starting to get a feeling about that fan. The first solo visit ended well with no other problems. A couple of weeks go by and my partner and I go up for a one day drop in. When we arrived I figured I would run the hot water to alleviate the lack of hot water issue we had before. To that end I turned both showers on and let them run. There was plenty of hot water. I then got an internal fan failure followed by an over temp error on the solar control panel. Then the AC went out. I turned the boiler off and it didn’t take long for the Over Temp to clear and I was able to restore the AC. The solar control panel actually told me what inverter had overheated and by how much. This is how I found out I had a left and a right inverter in the one inverter case. Live and learn. Each side had its own fan. Looked like the left one was now down for the count. I confirmed this by turning the system off and then back on again. Normal start up routine has the left fan run and stop, then the right fan run and stop, then both run and stop. I was perched on top of a step ladder with an eagle eye on the fans when it did the test. Yup, the left fan didn’t even twitch. She’s dead Jim. I would later send a report to my solar guy and he passed it on to the manufacturer. It was covered under warranty and a replacement fan would be sent. We had brought with us 3 LED floor lamps, purchased from that flat pack store, to replace my home made cast iron pipe floor lamps. The home made ones worked OK if you didn’t touch them or didn’t mind glaring bright light in your face. The new ones were more elegant and less obtrusive. The home made jobbies got delegated to the garage loft. It was during this trip that the railings were fixed. My partner held the ladder while I added reinforcement screws to the outside of the lower deck railing on the loft deck. Shortly after that visit one of my adult children and a friend stayed for a night. No hot water as the boiler had to be turned off till the fan was replaced, but they muddled through. It took the better part of a month before the fan showed up. During this time I had figured out and confirmed that I could do the fan replacement myself. Not a big deal at all. The fan was held in by four bolts and connected with an easy to get at connector. The hardest part would be removing the two dozen or so screws holding the main cover. Also, I had to turn off some breakers and try not to touch anything you don’t have to. The next visit was another three day event. One of the first things I did on arrival was to change the fan. During the swap I had to have the power off so I used one of those LED lights that strap to your head. If you are responsible for your own power you need to get one. You get light where you are looking and two free hands to work with. Very handy. The replacement presented no problems at all. Well, the back of my hand brushed against something and I became aware of some residual power on one of the circuit boards. Just a little tingle. Anyhow, on start up the left fan ran and stopped, then the right fan, then both. I was a happy camper. Breakers were reset and power restored. The solar control unit even indicated the “Internal Fan OK”. I topped up the batteries and feeling rather good went to make sure the generator was ready for the cold season ahead. Propane was good, oil level was good. I hit the start button and it gave me about a quarter crank and stopped. The control panel reset itself as though it had lost power. I went through this routine several more times with no improvement. And this was the same generator that decided it wanted to run all by itself for no reason just a few weeks ago. The battery was measuring 14.1 volts not bad for a 12 volt battery, but there was no power. I cleaned the battery clamps, no diff. As a last ditch effort I dragged an old battery booster box out of OCC. The box showed only 30% charge but I tried it anyway. Clamped it on the gen battery and hit the start button. The generator cranked a bit and then fired up. The starter battery had gone defective. Gad. OK next, I went into Our Country Cottage to turn on the boiler. I was looking for it to start heating the in floor radiant heating, as I had the domestic hot water turned down at the tank. It seemed like it was heating the domestic hot water anyway. Hmmm, I removed the cover to make sure the tank was turned down and it was. Out of frustration I tapped the relay with the handle of the screw driver and I heard a click and it turned off. Hmmmm. I built the first fire of the season that afternoon and another just after supper. The next day started with me building another fire and after breakfast I did the tractor conversion from grass mower, to snow thrower, with a rear blade. With the conversion behind me I changed the sediment filter on The OCC water system. Later that afternoon I got some nice pix of a doe and a stag on the south clearing. The stag was a bit of a challenge as he was looking right at me as I tried to position the camera, etc. The first few were out of focus because I couldn’t look through the viewfinder. I didn’t want to spook him. The last morning of the visit rewarded me with a doe and two fawns on the south clearing lit by the rising sun, magic hour. The sky was clear, so clear in fact that the panels started charging only a half hour after sunrise. I had also not built a fire since the morning of the previous day. Plenty of residual heat in the masonry fireplace which was helped by the clear sky and ever intensifying sun. I think I will leave it there as the weather changes drastically before my next visit and my main vehicle goes into the shop for some major work. Tune in next time for episode #28 and another OCC update. Will a new battery fix the problems with the generator, is the internal fan problem finally fixed, will the snow thrower get used and did the toilets freeze again. I tell you the weather took a real nasty turn. Also, what will I replace the ITB, In The Beginning, segment with? In the normal episode ending I refer you to the website for pictures and new ones coming soon… OK, hands up all those believing the “new pix coming soon” bit. Yeah, I thought so. I have been trying to find a better way to display a gallery of pix and have even spent money on a promising plug in, but to no avail. There always seems to be a gotcha somewhere. So until I find a better way or give up and carry on with the old way I am just going to leave that part out. Sooo ************************************* For pictures, and more info, you can visit our website at www.ourcountrycottageanarrative.com If you have any comments, questions or if you would like to be added to the “Friends of OCCaN” Our Country Cottage a Narrative, mailing list, you can email me at John@ourcountrycottageanarrative.com. Members on the mailing list will get website and podcast updates as soon as I do :). If you are on the “Friends of OCCaN” mailing list and had enough, just send me an email at John@ourcountrycottageanarrative.com and you will be released. The Our Country Cottage a Narrative podcast is on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play so you can subscribe there and get the podcast downloaded automatically when they get released. Till next time….