Construction Update

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I am beyond excited these past few weeks because we are making progress on our first Cabin we’ll be renting out as a farm-stay, farmcation rental. So here’s the construction update.

A few years ago a lovely little spot on a grassy knoll, overlooking the pond with a panoramic view of the rest of the Farm was picked and logs from the late 1800’s were reconstructed into the skeleton of a cabin. They poured concrete fittings, put in windows and a roof and then erected a second set of logs maybe 25 feet from it. Concrete fittings were poured for that one, but no roof or windows were added.  That one will soon be moved. Because, well … plans change. Work was done here and there on the roofed cabin when they’d visit, it is after all Mr. Mike’s (my father-in-law) somewhat expensive hobby as Mrs. Terry would say.

Then my in-laws told us they were moving back here and they wanted us to come with them. They had for years had a little idea of wanting to have cabins for people to stay in. They loved the idea of sharing the agrarian lifestyle with others and giving people from all over the globe a taste of East Tennessee Farm life. I admired their dream and was of course constantly butting in and giving my unsolicited opinions on how to spread the word and get more people to know about it and visit. So, when they mentioned wanting us to come they had a plan in mind for me to help them with marketing for the cabins and farm.

After much deliberation and prayer between my husband and I,  we decided it was in fact going to be the best decision for our growing family. Then I dug my hands in.

I got to work right away trying to set up business systems, get proper licensing, paperwork, certifications in place. Progress suddenly came to a SCREECHING halt! Yikes.

I had opened a can of worms. There were so many regulations and restrictions on how the building had to be situated, how the county road was situated. Words like ingress and egress became everyday language in my vocabulary. The phrase 50 ft right-of-way passage is frankly something I could go my whole life and never hear again.

Seriously. Don’t say it near me. At least not if you’re standing too closely.

After nearly two grueling years going back and forth with the land surveyor and the county planning and zoning (all amazing people, just doing their jobs), we got it all situated.

Or so we thought.

We forgot one important step. The septic system inspection from the health department. We had to have it to get our building permit, get approval and ultimately get our certificate of occupancy. No problem. We thought we’ll just call the inspector down for a quick soil test and head back into town for both permits at one.

It. Is. Never. As. Easy. As. You. Think. It. Is.

Our soil didnt “perc”, or pass the initial soil test. It needed further intensive testing. We called out specialty soil engineers to advise and do the testing. Their advice was always test for septic before you do anything else. Haha. You don’t say? Gee thanks (seriously though, they’re good people too and gave us so much useful information about the land out here).

At the end of last month and after several thousand dollars and a good amount of work on our part to essentially dig giant holes for further testing, WE PASSED! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Last week our septic system got installed and I’m not even kidding I may have cried a little. Not like I did when my kids were born or anything, but maybe like when my team won the Super Bowl. Who Dat!

Since then they’ve been busy, busy trying to get as much done as we possibly can in hopes that maybe we’ll open this cabin to guests sometime in the near future.

Oh construction woes.

If you’ve ever done anything with remodeling or construction I know you get it. Just grab a bottle of Advil before you even start your journey and get your knees ready for lots of praying.

So our construction update is this: we have plumbing, a loft built, a powder room upstairs that will have a toilet very soon, we have most of the insulation done on the cabin, the chinking is underway – the lathe is in the process of going up and being covered with cement, windows installed, front door, porch, and the master bedroom is practically finished minus light fixtures and flooring.

Yippee! Let me just say it again. Yippee!

I will update again as we get closer and closer.

For now, we’re celebrating.