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We’re Moving!

January 19, 2018 by clove 2 Comments

We have neither our Building Permit nor secured financing, but we are moving February 1!

Because we are raising our existing house and renovating most of the interior, we have to vacate during construction. Plan A was to move to the end of our block and rent our neighbours’ newly created garden suite for a 10-12 month experiment in tiny house living. We were actually very excited about this idea, as well as the fact that we would be a short walk away from our house during construction. But given that our neighbours are also rebuilding their entire house, they’ve encountered enough of their own roadblocks and schedule extensions that our timing no longer aligns.

Plan B, which is really a bit of a miracle given the 0.7% rental vacancy rate in Victoria right now, is to move back into the house we rented when we first returned to Victoria almost 4 years ago. It’s currently empty because it’s part of a whole-block redevelopment proposal inching its way through the public process. It’s a great little house that will fit all our things and it’s literally around the corner from my mom. We also got a discounted rate on rent in exchange for the risk inherent in only being guaranteed tenancy through May 31. I am pretty certain we’ll be able to stay beyond May, but it is possible that we’ll have to move again before moving back into our completed home. Better to not think too much about the prospect of moving 3 times in one year, though. Willful denial can be a very useful strategy to keep us progressing from one step to the next!

Our Building Permit application is ready to be submitted, save for structural drawings that are now being drafted (our structural engineer was sadly delayed due to a personal emergency). I’ve been down to the city a couple of times to check that we’ve included what they want to see, with the intent that once the application is submitted, it will quickly pass through the various departmental reviews. And since we’ve already been through rezoning, I am confident that the Building Permit is a formality. It will happen, it’s the when that could throw things off. The city aims to respond within 4 weeks to a building permit application, but if there is any back and forth over the details, this could stretch out. There is some prep work we can do on the existing house and site in the meantime, though, so I remain optimistic on that front.

The financing is the last big piece of the puzzle that still has me nervous, as it’s really the last point at which someone outside the project can say No and delay it until we find someone else who says Yes. It’s only coming together now because, in order to get financing, the credit union needed an appraisal of the existing house and proposed project. To do the appraisal, they needed a construction budget. For Russ to give us a reasonably accurate construction budget, we needed close to complete drawings. We have all of those things now, and the appraiser has what she needs. All we can do for the moment is pack up our house and have faith that the stars will align!

Survey Says…(Talking with Our Neighbours Part 3)

May 27, 2016 by clove Leave a Comment

We’re approaching 11 months since we moved into our new (old blue) house, and about 9 months since we had our first early conversations about our small lot subdivision proposal. We’ve since talked with over 50 neighbours and left letters with a bunch more. We reached out to everyone on our block, plus many neighbours on adjoining blocks. Some neighbours we’ve met with numerous times; some only once; others we haven’t heard from at all.

This level of outreach may not be required for every project, but it felt right in our case for a few reasons:

The level of engagement in our community is very high. People care and want to be included.
We heard some strong opposition to our small lot proposal early on and needed to better understand how many people shared these views.
Because we intend to stay here for the foreseeable future, the effort to meet our neighbours has been worthwhile. We’ve heard so many interesting stories!

Here is our summary of what we’ve heard so far (you can view the current design here).

Of the immediate neighbours from whom we need written support (those with whom we share a property line), 73% who have responded are supportive and 27% are opposed. Several others have not responded or are remaining neutral. The key here is that to proceed with the current proposal, we would need at least 75% of neighbours to provide written support via petition. If someone doesn’t respond, his/her vote does not count.

Of ALL the neighbours we have heard from, 84% are in support or neutral, and 16% have stated opposition.

Here is what we heard people say they like about our current design (generally including comments we heard from more than one person):

They like the scale of the small lot house
They like that we are adding modest density
They like that we are keeping the existing house
They like the ultra-low energy design and environmental goals
They think density is needed to support Oak Bay Avenue businesses
They like the dedicated green space in back yard (moving parking to the front)

Here is what we heard people say they do not like about our current design:

They think the space is too tight for a second house
They are opposed to small lot subdivision
They don’t like the design and think it should more closely mimic character houses on the block
They think the proposed project will make parking issues worse
One doesn’t like parking in the front

Other comments, suggestions and ideas that were offered:

Consider the attached option, as it will leave more space between adjoining side properties.
Many are concerned about impacts to our neighbours most immediately affected due to their strong relationships and their current health issues. Consider waiting.
Confirm that there will be enough distance to the Garry Oak to the south to not damage it.
Partially bury workshop in the rear yard and/or change roof line to reduce height and minimize intrusion on properties to the west.
Remove back yard shed for new house to leave more rear yard green space.
Make the roof line of the new house more conventional.
Be more clear about material choices (i.e. show that we are using cedar or other natural siding material).
Include solar thermal for hot water pre-heating.

Next steps: If we go ahead with the small lot plan, we will incorporate as much of the constructive feedback as possible. We are also considering the attached duplex option. To confirm that this option is viable for us, we have a bunch of questions we need to answer around financing, costs, design requirements, and city expectations. This is what we are working on now.

Schedule: With either option, we have to apply for rezoning, which will take 6-12 months to get approved after we submit. Our current goal is to submit our application this summer with the hope of beginning construction next spring/summer.

Post-Move-In Update

July 26, 2015 by clove Leave a Comment

So we’re in! We spent the two weekends between closing and moving day cleaning every possible surface we could clean (walls, cupboards, appliances, floors, built-ins), yanking out the dank carpet in the basement, and then painting the smoking room/my new office, as it was by far the most offensive room (Zinsser BIN primer + top coats). Here’s what the built in shelving and the venetian blinds looked like as I cleaned them:

The quote to paint the entire house by a professional was entirely reasonable given the amount of work, but we couldn’t justify the cost when we knew it would all be redone again in a year or two. A friend offered to help with painting, so we hired her to finish painting the smoking room.

Matt also fixed the following:

Cracked pipe in the water main. I had called a plumber once we concluded that it was likely our main. They were scheduled to come on a Friday afternoon, but got tied up on other jobs and couldn’t make it out. Matt took a look on Sunday, easily dug up the soggy dirt, located the crack, googled a few pipe fixing videos, and voila: $30 and one slip joint later, good as new. Hooray for overbooked plumbers and handy husbands.
Plugged toilet. My dad and Matt took turns running the snake through both ends (external plumbing piping made this part easy!) with no luck. Matt removed the toilet and finally forced out a large chunk of glass that appeared to be the bottom of an oval shaped bottle that had wedged itself in the middle of the p-trap.
Broken light switch in the kitchen. Replacing the switch did the trick, simple enough.

The house has a much less offensive but still present old smoker house smell in some areas. The basement still smells like wet dog. We still have some cleaning we didn’t get to before moving; a dripping bath faucet, and a rotted out window to resolve.

I was so exhausted after moving that I had no motivation to clean or unpack. I just felt angry about the mess. Moving sucks. I’m now at the tail end of two weeks vacation and am making progress on both the boxes and my recovery. Hallelujah.

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