About Me

October 21, 2014

A Few Things I'm Not Crazy About! AKA A Vent about Thing 1 and Thing 2!!

Hi everyone!

There are so many things that I'm so excited about for our new house. But like any venture, there is a couple of things that I'm really not crazy about. I'll share those today, as I anxiously wait for lunchtime, when we get to finally meet the custom cabinet maker on site. An exciting day!

There are only 2 things I am not crazy about and when you think about all the elements that going in to creating a house from scratch, that's not a bad average at all. We know someone who built a house last year and it got frustrating at times (I can share this as she doesn't blog nor is a reader of blogs) to listen to her complain about every aspect of the house, from the design stage to move in day. It's not clear why she built to begin with, other perhaps to keep up with her friends. There didn't seem to be anything she liked about the whole process. And now she is always complaining about her house and the builder. So many people would be grateful to have her experience but she doesn't see life that way anyway, so trying to share wisdom would fall on deaf ears! The good thing about her experience for us is it's made us appreciate ours even more. We've loved every moment, even the ones that haven't been perfect, but I think that's because we waited so long to do this and also have a different view on life from her. She's miserable. We're thrilled. Not much to say there. 

So back to the 2 things I'm not crazy about. We have dubbed them Thing 1 and Thing 2. Let me first say that of course, these are not "deal breakers" or "end of the world" situations. We haven't lost sleep over them or fussed so much our builder hates us. They are just things I wish we could change but can't so we find ways to live with them.

Here's Thing 1: 


See that lovely orange line with a big "G"?
Yup, that's where the gas meter will go.

And now for Thing 2:


See that lovely meter looking thing 
beside our front veranda?
Why yes, it is a meter. 
For the electricity!


Sticker indicating we passed inspection.
And the gas will go in, with the meter, next week.


Our builder made sure our electric line has lots of
extra for any shift in the house, minimizing our
risk of a future hazard, like a fire. Love that he
is so conscious of the things that we worry about!

So there you have it. Thing 1 and Thing 2!! What we don't like is they are both at the front of the house because of the location of the incoming lines and where our utility room will be in the basement. To run them to the back of the house was fairly expensive, would have required a lot of additional trenching and would run us of the risk of future expenses if anything every went wrong. This route for both lines makes sense in so many ways. And we're very grateful to have power and gas so readily available to use. It's just not very pretty! We'll have to get creative with our landscaping to mask the meters nicely. For now, they'll stick out but in the spring, we'll plant some nice bushes or climbing vines. Or put a cedar fence in front of each. A little picket fence. Or a nice flag! Or a statue! Any ideas?

And that's the new house update for today!

4 comments:

Lorrie said...

Oh, I can relate. Our electric meter is right on the front of the house, just under and to the side of the window beside the front door. Tim built a box to put over it, but it's still pretty visible and unattractive.

Your idea of plantings and a small fence will go a long ways to camouflage your meters.

Chy said...

I hope so Lorrie. Thanks for sharing that your home also has this eyesore. I'm sure, in the end, we'll rarely notice it. Hoping to find some nice plants or shrubs to detract from it all!

Penny said...

Hi Chy, I sympathise with you about Thing 1 and Thing 2. Once you are living in the house,and your garden is planted up, you probably won't even notice them any more. I remember becoming very concerned about the position of light switches and so on when we put our kitchen in, and now I never even think about it!

Chy said...

That's funny Penny! I was looking at how many electrical plugs that have to, by code, be in the kitchen and thinking "what am I going to do with all those and what a waste of beautiful space!" Sure I won't notice them later. I did notice how low down the light switches are too. Seems too low but again, it's code. Our current home they are up high. Hmmmm.