Sagebrush & Solar

Or whatever Jay-Z said. Yes, Mom, it’s a rap song. I know, I know.

Well, folks. This is not an update we are looking forward to sharing. We were naive in the sense that we assumed we were leaving all of our delays and bad luck behind in 2022; after all, the whole year kind of had that vibe. New year, new us, right?

Wrong.

Keith and my dad went out to the build site on New Year’s Day to conduct measurements on windows and door openings, check if the corners are plum (vertically straight — kind of like how ‘level’ is horizontally straight), etc. Prior to coming home, Keith sent me an ominous text to the effect of things are messed up and we have to start over and we will be like three months behind.

Oh, boy. Try not to panic, right?

After locating numerous defects and issues, they combed the site for more. And found more. And more. And more. Some minor, some major.

Window and door openings were the incorrect size (either too big or too small; some egregious and some by just a hair). Window and door openings were not in the correct locations (IE, a bedroom window off center). The cuts to the openings are poorly done, which can lead to thermal bridging (creating a weakness in the insulation where heat can transfer; the whole point of ICF is to retain R value). The walls are wavy. 14 of the 18 corners are not plum (it’s a fun word to say, okay?). There is debris in the forms, which will create pockets when concrete goes in. The wall lengths don’t match the plans. They aren’t consistent from top to bottom. A different brand of block was used on the garage (not consistent with our invoice and what we paid for).

It’s…a lot. Needless to say, we won’t be pouring next week. Or the next. Or probably the next. In fact, at this point, I might cry tears of disbelief when the concrete pump truck does eventually make its way up our driveway.

So, what’s the plan? Well, we aren’t sure yet. We’re in negotiations. We know WHAT we have to do, but we aren’t yet sure HOW it will unfold.

We have to completely remove the rebar and block down to the first course from the subfloor. This is to fix the plum and waviness issues. We will also use additional materials to correct some of these problems and reinforce our corners. We then have to properly recut window and door openings to the correct sizes and in the correct locations. We will also remove the debris.

We’re pretty upset. This building was finally beginning to feel like a future home, and it’s disheartening to have to dismantle it. It’s way more important to have a structurally sound home, though. And one where our new windows fit correctly.

Depending on how we go about this, we are likely 2-4 weeks behind. My dad leaves in three weeks for another build in California, so we’re really hoping to have it ready to pour — if not poured — by the time he leaves.

Some good news (well, despite it being the wrong block — it’s a 1/4 inch difference from the Nudura block, which can cause issues when it’s time to adhere siding) — the garage is mostly up. It feels a lot bigger than it did pre-walls, and I’m really looking forward to setting up my garage gym.

May this be the biggest hurdle 2023 has to throw at us!