The Decision To Build Our Own House
I am writing this on a quiet Sunday morning at my dining table. Everyone is still in bed and I can hear the birdsongs through the window. Around me is the evidence of yesterday’s construction projects. Last nights’ dirty dishes are in the sink. There are moving boxes in the corner still waiting to be unpacked eight months later. This is life for us while we finish building the house that we started nearly two years ago.
The Pandemic
Let me take you back to the beginning. It was the COVID-19 pandemic and, like many people, it forced us to take a look at where our life was heading. Unlike most people, however, the way we were living our life was nearly impossible in the days of lockdowns and travel bans.
You see, we were nomads. A few years prior, we joined the swaths of Canadians (mostly retirees) who proudly call themselves snowbirds. We rented out our house and moved into an RV; dividing our time between campgrounds in Canada and the USA. The adventure of a lifetime. A family of four, road-schooling and making memories. Until the world stopped.
In March 2020, we were in Texas when we heard our government officials call for Canadians to “come home”. The problem was we had no home in Canada to return to. Campgrounds were not yet open for the season and there was the very real possibility they wouldn’t open at all. Our house was occupied by tenants and there was no way we were going to upend anyone’s life if we didn’t absolutely have to. As we raced for the border, our fears of the future would set the trajectory for what would come next. (Luckily for us, people generously opened up their homes (and driveways) so that we could return to Canada.)
The Aftermath
We made it out of the early days of the pandemic unscathed physically (thank goodness). However, the injuries to our mental health and some of our relationships would stick with us for years to come.
Nearly a year later, when we would normally be re-crossing the border to chase the sunny skies, we decided to stay in Canada for the winter. We didn’t know what the next “flu season” would hold and restrictions were making leaving “home” less appealing. Just for one winter, we said, then we will get back to our adventures.
We found an Airbnb near the beach (remember it is winter lol) that could rent to us for the winter. We were excited to live in a real brick and mortar house again. Learning to enjoy winter activities instead of avoid them, we took walks on the beach in December, cut down a Christmas tree at the tree farm, and went tobogganing. Only a few months in, we were ready to make the decision to find a new forever home and let our roots take hold again.
This task was easier said than done. House prices had soared. Everywhere we looked, we were priced out of the market. Our only option: sell the house we had been renting out and use that money to start over somewhere else. We easily found a buyer for our rental house. We sold it to someone who would keep the tenants, keeping the disruption to a minimum. So with that, we had some money in our pockets and set off to find land to build a home.
Making Our Move
We were full of ambition; full of dreams. We bought a half acre fully treed property with a water view – sight unseen. This luckily turned out to be the best decision we could have made. We are surrounded by trees and many in the community share the slow living mindset I am learning to adopt. Read more about the wake up call that pushed me toward slow here.
We made the move across the province the following winter and began clearing the land for our new home. My mission was to have minimal impact on the land. Keep all the trees that didn’t directly impact our house footprint and build up rather than dig a basement. Now that the house is built, I can see the forest starting to take the land back as the natural flora begins to fill the spaces back in around the house.
The Build – part 1
My husband took a leave from work in order to build our house. However, we were incredibly naïve about just how long this build would take.
Our first challenge: clearing the land. I wanted to be selective about which trees were cleared and only thin out the spots that needed it. This took a lot of time but it allowed us to get to know our plot of land, what kind of animals were around, and to make some positive impact to counter the negative. I may or may not have tried to convince my husband there was no need to use any heavy equipment and attempted moving a boulder the size of a car hood with levers and a winch. That wasn’t successful and I had to cave to bringing in an excavator.
The land was just cleared enough for our house and the next challenge arrived: supply chain delays. A concrete shortage delayed our foundation pour. And then, the rain delayed it again.
By the end of the summer, the concrete pad was poured and we could start framing. The two of us raised our walls on the main floor and my parents joined us to set the floor joists for the second floor. My dad tried to ease my anxiety by convincing me that is as far as we needed to go before winter but my excitement pushed us forward.
We raised our second floor walls and then our roof – just the two of us. We rushed to get the shell of the house up and “dried in” before the first winter hit. Not entirely successful, we continued to install windows after the temperature dipped, our fingers and toes only allowing us to work a couple of hours per day before forcing us to return to warmth.
The Build – part 2
The following Spring, my husband returned to work. The rest of the build had to take place on weekends – with me popping in on my own here and there during the week to complete tasks that could be done solo. We ran all the electrical ourselves- hiring an electrician from our neighborhood to come by for things that were over our head.
My parents came back for the insulating phase and were absolutely the biggest help (thanks Mom and Dad!). If it wasn’t for the help of my parents that summer, I have my doubts we would be living in the house now. We opted to hire professionals for the drywall since it was the messiest job and took the most finesse. That was the plan anyway. When the quote on labour came back double our estimate we had no choice but to do it ourselves. We were forced with a decision move into it before it was fully drywalled or spend our second winter renting.
Our Breaking Point
When we began the project, our goal was to move into a completed home. We did not want to put our kids through the frustration of having to live in a construction zone. If I were to go back in time and change anything that would be what I would change. I would not have moved in until it was complete. Once we moved in and life began to take hold of the space it became very tiring. There is no real rest. Even when we aren’t working, if we try to relax and watch TV, we are still looking at all the projects yet to be completed.
This is when things begin to fall apart. We are exhausted but the bank is hurrying us to complete. The pressure is getting to us and we are ready to quit. The tensions are rising between us. The bank won’t convert our loan to a mortgage until everything is complete – even paint and trim. That means for every day it takes us to get to completion it is costing us more money in interest.
The questions have begun to race through our heads. Did we just spend over 2 years working on a dream project only to lose it before we crossed the finish line?
I hope I can return to this post in a couple of months and update you all with some happy news. But for right now, the stress has me unsure of what the future will hold.
Have you ever lived in your house while under construction or renovation? Did it seem like it was never going to end? Was it worth it in the end?
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