House building drama of the week. Sam got braces yesterday and afterward we road down to see if the foundation block had arrived. It was in the process of being unloaded when we got there and we noticed the waterline frost free spigot was gone and everything was wet. Our builder was already in the scene and we only lost 1200 gallons (sounds like a lot but that translates to $8 to $10 of that water bill). A truck with dually tires had snagged the faucet and dragged it out of place. Fortunately our builder got there and cut off the water before a huge amount of water was lost.
There was no evidence of who caused the problem but it wasn’t the block delivery truck. We think a curious passer by drove themselves up the 1100 ft long driveway.
Today a cellular camera went up to catch anyone up to no good. It’s frustrating but things like this happen all the time to builders. Theft, damage, and vandalism are unfortunately very common. Last year our builder had paint dumped on a hardwood floor and the electrical wire in a crawl space cut and removed for scrap in a couple of his houses.
Camera Update/Review (from 8-1-2023)
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We bought the Bushnell CelluCORE 20 Dual-SIM Cellular Trail Camera which has been pretty good for monitoring the building site. It has an app that connects to my phone and alerts me when there is movement. The trail camera uses Verizon but AT&T has an option. Don’t worry about having an account with either phone company just pick the one that has the best service in the area. Our plan is $15 per month for unlimited photos and we can pause or resume at any time.
The major downside to the Bushnell CelluCORE trail camera is that once we have construction complete we will have a WIFI network and this camera won’t work through the WIFI. We can still use it for the card and check photos to see the wild life in the area. I really wish camera had a WIFI option installed with it.
We installed the camera on a tree looking directly at our house. When workers or “visitors” appear they trigger the camera as they pass without seeing the camera. Once near the house they can see the camera and know they are being filmed. We haven’t had any issues since the water line problem. I highly recommend putting a camera of some kind on your build site even if it isn’t the Bushnell CelluCORE 20 Dual-SIM Cellular Trail Camera.
On the positive side tomorrow the block will start being laid for the foundation!