Delays

Before I could even catch you up on all the delays we've had, I just heard of another one.

We were supposed to be getting our engineering plans from Nunez Engineering on Tuesday. It looks like that's delayed because of some software compatibility issue.

Here's how this works/How we got here:
After thinking for months about whether to get a permit or not, we decided that, yes, permitting is important, especially in our situation. You see, our backyard is on a slope that rises about 1.4 feet for every ten feet of run. That's pretty steep and the main reason we need retaining walls. Given the slope and the amount of flat area we would like, we figured that our walls would range from 18 inches in height to 48-56 inches. Anything over 3 feet means you're retaining a lot of dirt, which is especially heavy when it rains. We wanted to do this right.... So we go to the city.

Last April, then, I went to city hall, wrote my name and address in the booklet and waited to be called. Ten minutes later, I was talking to a city engineer who said "We won't permit that unless you have an engineer look at it."

You see, city engineers (A) don't want to be responsible, so they make you pay another engineer (B). After that engineer evaluates the site, the city gives you a permit. That way, B can say to A "You permitted it," while A can say to be "You designed it." It's neat. Anyway, this is what happens when you "do it right."

So, we called Nunez Engineering, right here in Whittier. They came around may 10th, they made a topo map and then... nothing.

We're still waiting.

Supposedly we're getting the design next week. The current delay is that the software for the Allan Block* material isn't working on their system. Now the topos and stuff are being sent to Allan Block so that they can put the final touches on the design: number of blocks we need, yards of dirt to haul away etc.

I should say though that even though the engineers are doing the drawings, all the design is our own. That's right: Home grown.


*Allan Block is, we hope, a stackable block that doesn't look like other stackable blocks. It's a little more complicated to put together, but we think the look will be worth it. Here's a picture from the AB website: