Much to my dismay, but not to my surprise, the foundation isn't level. These pics don't do it justice, but there is either a nice bump toward the front, or the corner dips quite a bit. I had to take the chainsaw to cut three of the studs to make the rim joist sit anywhere close to level. Never mind that the whole reason I hired someone to do this rather than do it myself was because I wanted to make sure the foundation was square and level. What a waste of time and money! I was so pissed off when I discovered how bad a job they did (for some reason I thought they would at least get the pour correct) that I called and told them I wanted some money back. They agreed to give me the $250 that I paid above the contact price back (because they underbid and then dug the footers too deep and wide and thus had to order a lot more concrete than they expected). Deborah agreed to that after I played the lawyer card. I was supposed to get the refund on Friday, but of course Deborah didn't return my phone call. I finally spoke to her on Monday, and she started giving me a sob story about how they paid so much, and how it wasn't so bad (without having even seen it). I played the lawyer card again, and she said she would get me the money in order to protect the good name of their business (??!!). Stay tuned to see whether I actually get the money. (can't wait until I'm through with the Foundation Fiasco posts)
When I decided to leave the DC law firm life behind and move back to North Carolina, I embarked on an adventure to see whether I could build a life that I had been romanticizing about for years. Prioritizing family, friends, and place over professional ambition and salary was certainly scary, as it is contrary to much of what society tells us we should value. But I had been dreaming of coming home, buying land, and building a house long before I ever went to law school, and the right opportunity finally came along.
This will be the story of my experiment with creating the life I have long imagined for myself. Initially, the story will focus primarily on the land and the actual process of creating a place to live. I hope to chronicle the lessons I learn about building – the technical stuff I want to remember for later, the funny and/or aggravating experiences of a novice homebuilder who knows just enough to get himself into a big mess, and maybe even a few tiny gems of wisdom I pick up along the way.
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