Disappointed in Dunedin

I am so disappointed with the events of today, that I could cry.  And if I were not so tired, I might do just that.

Last evening, I felt completely different.  We had watched the workmen complete our patio, and we started to make plans to pour the shed slab ourselves.  We were prompted to complete the shed slab because the concrete was on sale, and after watching the workmen pour the patio, we were confident that we knew how to finish it.

When we went for a walk last night, we ran into some of our old friends, Sam and Maude.  Stephanie, I am including their picture just for you!

Sam and Maude (far left) join some of their other feathered friends
in our neighbor's front yard.

This morning dawned cool and clear, a perfect day for digging the back yard up and forming the area for the slab.  We started early.  The frame took some time to complete, but we felt that we had the right level and pitch for the slab when we finished the frame by 9:00 a.m.  We had spent part of last night gathering all of the lumber and supplies that we would need to make today go smoothly.

The first part of the frame outlines
where the slab would rest.

Once that was in place, we started to dig out each section.  Each section was down the four inches that it needed to be, and Rick got a good start at digging out the eight inch deep by 12 inches wide footing. While he was doing that, I was working hard to distribute the piles of dirt as we filled in low spots in the back yard.

Each section within the frame is lowered by 4 inches, and
Rick starts digging out the foundation.

A trench shows where a large root had to be
cut out of the foundation area of the slab.

When we were about 90% finished, Steve (the contractor) came to take out the forms on the patio.  He asked what we were doing, and we told him that we were putting in the shed slab ourselves.  Then he dropped the bomb: the Inspector would be back in our yard to do a "final inspection" of the slab!  Rick had specifically asked about inspections when he talked to the contractor's wife, so we were not happy at all to learn that we were not done with inspectors yet, even though she told us that the preliminary inspection would be the only one we would have to pass.

So what is the problem?  Well, in this town, not only does a person have to have to pay for a permit to pour a slab and pay for another one to build a shed, but one also has to have the shed plans approved by an architect.  Add another $300 - $500 for that stamp of approval, even if Rick is the one who drew up all the plans.  We know that the plans work because we have been enjoying the shed that we built at our northern home using those plans several years ago.  We can pour the slab and build the shed for less than $1000 if we do it ourselves.  If we have to jump through the permit hoops, add about $2000 more to the cost of the shed.  We cannot afford that, even thought we would build our shed to specs and it would have been more sturdy and better-looking than 80% of the Home Depot pre-fab sheds in this town.

Steve then told us that although a shed had to be held back from the property line only two feet, a concrete slab under the shed must be at least five feet away from the property line.  Therefore, all of our hard work was for nothing.  The slab would not have been in the right place, and we would have had to rip it all out if an inspector ever saw it.

We both are SO SICK of the inspectors in this town and their never-ending rules about just about everything.  I am surprised that we do not have to get a permit to park our car in the driveway.

So while Steve finished cleaning up and getting the patio ready for inspection, Rick cancelled the concrete delivery for tomorrow, and we ripped out and filled in as much as the hole in our yard that we were able to do with what energy we had left.

The frame is out, and we have started to fill the dirt back into the
hole we dug to pour the slab.

Rick said, "That is it.  We have tried twice to pour a slab for this shed, and twice we have failed.  I am done with this.  We will not have a shed.  I don't know how much more effort I am willing to expend to do anything else at this house."

I agree with him.  I am disappointed, angry, sad, and exhausted.  I, too, am done with doing anything else for this house. I am out of energy to fight for anything anymore.