Some Renderings (Clicking on the image makes it enormous)

Looking Northwest (Bruegel not included)

Looking southwest. Double doors go to deck.

Looking south down the driveway (Rocky Mountains not included.)

A little longer view looking south. It'll be interesting to see how these depictions compare to the reality.

Almost There

This morning's meeting with the planning and zoning commission went swimmingly. I guess I should use a different descriptor as being close to the water was whatcaused the speed bump in the construction process. There, that's better.

We have a permit for the garage; and we will pick up the permit for the house tomorrow morning. So I learned my lesson from last time. The i's are not yet dotted, but the t's are crossed.

Thanks go to Charlie, our builder, and Denise, his wife who must have spent most or all of the weekend digesting rules and regulations of FEMA as it relates to flood zones. And I thought root canal was bad. They really came through when it was required.

The Roller Coaster Ride Goes Around a Second (or is it third?) Time

When Friday ended we were in the black pit of despair. It looked like our project was going to be scrapped because, suddenly, we were on a flood plain.

Charlie told us we should stop packing and everything was placed on hold, except the stuff that we had already shelled out some cash for--electric, phone, movers. So the weekend was a real downer and it was not only because the Cubs lost to the White Sox.

On Sunday we went to a small brunch with friends in honor of a recent retiree and asked another friend about our dilemma.

He said that every other body of water up here that is not regulated is at greater risk of flooding than the river.

He graciously wrote the following for us:

I have been working on the Wisconsin River for over 30 years and was the coordinator for the FERC license renewals on all Wis River dams for DNR. It is my opinion that the Munninghoff Marsh area is not very flood prone since it is not a natural system, hydrologically speaking.The flows, elevations, and flood provisions are controlled by FERC licensed dams above and below the marsh. The Rhinelander Dam ( which determines the Munninghoff Marsh water elevation) must maintain an elevation within 0.3 foot above or below the target level by manipulating the dam to release flood waters as necessary. The flood flow capacity of both dams is ordered by FERC to handle the "Probable Maximum Flood", which for our area is aprox. 21" of rain one day and another 21" the next day. This rainfall event has literally not happened since the glacier and will not likely ever happen, but the owners of Rhinelander and Rainbow Dams have been required by FERC to provide gates and other mechanisms to insure that the PMF will can be handled by the dams without failure. Annual inspections demonstrate compliance. The Wis DNR, in contrast, only requires protection to the 1000 year flood level and inspects ,on average, every 17 years. Other natural lakes, rivers, or Wisconsin authority dams have far less control potential than FERC dams. Any flood event that causes failure of the Rhinelander or Rainbow Dams will obliterate the entire upper Wisconsin River basin and is not, therefore, a reasonable design standard for construction in the area. Bob Martini.

We received an early morning call from Charlie who said that he took the surveyor's numbers from Friday and talked with Planning and Zoning one more time, and . . . they said, that if the numbers can be certified, we'll get the permits.

I hesitate to write those words because something else will probably happen between now and 9am tomorrow when we meet. But at least now there's hope.

Mourning the Shed

Before the glitch (at least we hope that's all it is) about the flood plain, we were well into the process of getting ready for the garage to be built beginning Monday.

In fact, the old shed, that looked like it was on its last legs was in the direct path of the garage approach.

But first all the stuff in the shed had to be hauled out disposed of, or otherwise moved. Then the 'skin' of the shed, some rough sawn pine with the bark still on it needed to go. After all that was done the old thing just had to be teetering on its pegs.

After a couple of tries, it appeared to be stronger than first diagnosed. After a few more tries I decided to get serious. After a few more tries I was getting agitated, thinking that it was held together with 12 foot lag bolts.

But finally, . . .

The Old Shed Finally Meets Its Match from Northpith on Vimeo.

Katrina and FEMA rear their @#$^&*% Heads

Yesterday's post, prematurely entitled, "I's Dotted; T's Crossed" is today officially inoperative.

Allow me to explain (vent).

It was suggested that we get a zoning department official to make a trip out to the building site and offer opinions on potential problems and get a preliminary go ahead. The trip cost $75 which is then deducted fr0m the fee for the permits.

We did that. The official gave his blessing as long as we stayed within the same footprint. We could go outside the footprint of the existing building if it was 40 away from the water's edge.

Based upon that, the planning ensued.

We applied for a load at People's Bank in Minocqua and received our 'stellar' financial ratings. A week ago, our loan officer, before leaving for a one-week vacation left a cryptic message on our answering machine, which said, in effect, that when doing their due diligence, FEMA claimed that our house was located on a flood plain.

He did not sound too concerned and proffered that the worst thing that he thought could happen is that we would have to purchase flood insurance. As the walkout from the ground floor is now approximately 20 feet from the Wisconsin River, this, too, caused no concern on our part. He suggested that I call our insurance company to check out the purchase of this insurance.

I did so. And in conversation with them, they said that we were not in a flood plain and, in any case, our house was listed as 'low risk' for flooding.

Concurrently with the permitting process for the detachment and reattachment, our builder requested and we provided copies of a building permit from 1986 that showed the details of the septic installation.

It also showed the details from the building addition. On the permit, copies of which were obtained from the county planning and zoning department, it states, "This property is NOT (emphasis added) on a flood plain."

Yesterday after the contract was signed, our builder went to obtain the necessary permits. He was refused because the same department that made the site visit, the same department that said we weren't on a flood plain, now says that we are on a #$$%&*@ flood plain.

So after some substantial research our builder discovered that the magic number is 1560, that is 1560 feet above sea level. He scramble up a surveyor who came up with 1566.8. However, that was measured from the front of the current house and not the walkout of the ground floor.

So fortunately some of the deconstruction involves the use of a sledge hammer, a fairly substantial one I must say, and seems to be a productive way of venting frustration.

That and writing this @#(%#$ blog.

I's dotted; T's crossed

Well we're a lot poorer, but hope to have a decent house in which to live within four or six or eight months. We signed a contract with Charlie yesterday, went out and celebrated at noon and continued packing and tearing down the shed (video to follow soon) like crazy.

The plans are pretty much as we posted last week, but the kitchen is a huge bugaboo for us. Every plan we've seen doesn't quite trip our triggers, so Charlie is going back yet again to see what he can come up with.

That sun room bump out seems like too good of a space to use for kitchen cabinets. So we're going to actually try to use it as a sun room.

Any ideas are welcome.

Latest Doings

After another visit with Charlie, we believe we are almost almost virtually almost in agreement on a design.

Some changes--it looks like geothermal is out; the technology is still new and it takes energy to run it. Additionally it's tough to find a reputable installer up here in the hinter lands.

The good news is we think we're headed for a solar collector. So many rebates and/or tax credits are available, these things are hard to pass up. Geothermal, however, still won't work for us.

We went to the Midwest Renewable Energy Association fair on Saturday. I haven't seen so many hippies since our last family reunion in Lanesboro, MN.

One of the ideas I am most jazzed about is a product called Earth Clay. Click here to see their product. We met with the plasterer/artisan, Tim at the fair and we're much impressed. Check out his work at t2techniques.com and click on 'the clay room' for his portfolio.

We're planning, or I should say, we were planning, on garage construction on the 29th--I say 'were' because we may have a snag or two with the site. We wanted the garage up first so the construction guys would have a dry place to work. As of this writing we have enough places for storage. We'll keep you posted on that, with pictures where appropriate.

This weekend, the Pith spent 'deconstructing' the shed. We moved all the wood to the back yard and now just a skeleton remains. I'll try to remember to get a shot of that tomorrow.

Inside Views

The bedroom has a screened in porch for summertime sleeping and relaxing.

The kitchen will be a busy place.

And the view of the marsh is maintained.

We're creeping closer!

We're sneaking up on completion of the initial task of design with great strides taking place this past week.

Here is the ground floor layout with a bathroom added; the mudroom more detailed and, wait for it--a root cellar. This was an idea from a friend and a great one at that (the friend and the idea!)

The view from the river shows the bump out has grown in size.

And the layout of the main floor reflects some changes as well, mostly small ones.