Welcome to Antler Valley Farm

The First Inspection

We had decided to start on the building process.  We were going to take it one step at a time.  We planned to start with the building permits, then the power, the well and the septic.  After that we planned to tackle the plumbing and concrete slab.  Then the framing and roofing.  Whew, that’s a lot…

However, once we decided we were ready to take the plunge and start building… I had a minor heart attack or maybe it was a panic attack.  Jim, being his usual calm and collected self just hugged me until I could breathe again.  Saint Jim again.  We were excited and we were nervous all at the same time.  Ok, I was excited and nervous.  Jim was just excited.  He doesn’t really worry much…about anything…except maybe me and my craziness?  We had been praying and planning for this moment for almost a year and a half, but once that moment came it was a little more scary than I thought it would be.  We were planning to build a lot of the house ourselves (like we didn’t have enough going on already??!).  We had talked to several contractors, some who were willing to work with us and some who weren’t.  We finally found one who liked what we were trying to do and wanted to work with us.  He was willing to do as little or as much as we wanted.  He was so great and knowledgeable.  He was willing to take care of the major things like the foundation, the plumbing and the framing.  Basically he was going to be responsible for helping us get the house to the dry- in stage.

First, we had to go the planning department and discuss our house plans and pay the fee to start the inspection process.  Well, that seemed like a fun day until we wrote the check for $800.  Whew, that hurt!  Other than that it was a great day.  The people who worked there were super nice and helpful.  They explained the process, what was expected, how it was expected and why it was expected.  I really need step by step directions so all this was music to my ears!  Surprisingly, our first inspection was actually the temporary power pole!  Who knew??

Jim’s buddy, Joe, had helped us several times already and offered to build the temporary power pole and box and get it ready for inspection.  Who are we to turn down help from someone so knowledgeable?  That would be incredibly rude!  Of course, we said “Yes”!  Then we thanked him so much he might have regretted offering to help us.  We called the inspector and told him we were ready for our first inspection.  We were born ready!!

Since we were acting as our own contractor, we had to meet the inspectors out there for most of the inspections.  The inspector called Jim at 8 am the next morning and said he was heading out there and would be there in 20 minutes.  Jim jumped in the truck and high tailed it out there, but he missed the inspector.  What?? The inspector had already came and gone.  He had passed the temporary power pole though and left a little green sticker on it.  Jim and I were both a little let down actually.  All the hype for our first official inspection and we missed it!!  However, we did pass, so we couldn’t be too disappointed now could we?!?

The little green sticker on the power box was so exciting!

We passed our first inspection with flying colors!  Maybe we could do this!!  Or maybe being this excited about a little green sticker just shows my craziness?  Either way we are doing this thing!

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