It's all about the Cape

We just returned from a trip to Cape Cod to visit three FirstDays, and their builders of course! We were of a mind that we wanted to see the new Cape that FirstDay is selling (the one with the two foot knee wall), but the problem is that there are none in New York to see, finished or not. The folks at FirstDay suggested visiting the Schluters, who are in the midst of building a 24' x 32'. They showed us around and talked about what they have learned so far. It was very inspiring to be able to connect with these folks who have made it so far in this process and see the fruit of their labors, as well as benefit from what they have already learned.

After we had some lunch and many of our questions answered, Sarah took us over to see Hammetts house in progress - they are building a 24' x 40'. We have found the size FirstDay we are going to build! I was despairing that we might not find a size and style we could agree on, but when we got done on Saturday, I knew exactly what it was we had come to Cape Cod for - to see the house we will build next year.



We camped Saturday night after some fine fresh seafood, and in the morning got up and by midday were packed up and on our way to see Billy Snowden's house further out on the Cape. He has the VIHN (Very Important New House) FirstDay, which is a cape but with 5 foot kneewalls upstairs instead of 2 foot or no kneewall. It makes the upstairs very light and big! Billy was very welcoming and told us all sort of good things about his process and what he learned. We also got to see the wonderful trim work in his house. He really went all out on the trim, and it counts double points.


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The trip was a rousing success all around, and we met some great people with interesting stories on the way. We also got a great feel for the Cape style FirstDay and a very good direction to head in. As a matter of fact, I called FirstDay today and made an appointment to come up and give them our deposit and talk to David about our plans in about 2 weeks.

Last week we had a little scare when the Town Building Inspector called and advised us that the superintendent of Highways called him to tell him that we needed a driveway permit. We were told it was because the contractor was extending our driveway down so his trucks could get down into where the septic field is being constructed. Not wanting to cause any problems, we got in touch with the Highway superintendent and found that he was actually referring to an earlier issue he had told me about. I had met him at one of the septic contractor's offices while dropping off plans for quotes and he told me that the driveway didn't meet his approval yet because it didn't have a negative slope from the road. At the time I said I would have Ed contact him, which he did, but he is laid up after his knee surgery. Well, seeing the contractors on site, he figured that we were building and wanted to make sure that the Building Inspector has everything in line. We had the septic contractor contact him and find out what he wanted and they fixed it up. We should be all good now.

We also heard back from the well driller last week and the area for him to drill in is not leveled correctly. Since the bulldozer was there, we asked the septic contractor to do the leveling of that as well. When talking to the Highway superintendent, I asked him about that and he said we should have checked with him, and that he would look at it and tell us if there was a problem. Being that we haven't heard anything as of today and the septic contractor said he was up there Thursday looking things over, I think we are in the clear for that, though since it is not a permanent entry to the land, we can correct it later on if there is a problem I think. As I was told when I asked for a copy of the driveway permit (as we heard we needed one after we applied for one and got the go ahead for the driveway from the highway superintendent), you don't get a seperate permit from the building permit, you just don't get a C.O. if the driveway doesn't meet the requirements.

In other news, we went up to look at the progress of the septic on Thursday evening, before we left. They have removed the bulldozer from the property and it looks like the base for the septic is down (quicker than I thought). In talking to the contractor today, they tried to do their own preliminary perc on Saturday while we were gone, but it started raining and hailing, so they left off and planned to try again today. Once that is done, they will contact the engineer and arrange for the official tests and they can go on their way laying out the actual leech field.



Wendy called the Well driller today as well to tell them that the site is ready now that the septic contractor is done leveling it out. Things are starting to move very quickly now. I can't even imagine what it will be like once we really get started next year, but I can't wait to get there!