Things are picking up

Izzy was out first thing with a crew making the changes specified by the structural engineer. Doug said that Izzy took it personally and really beat himself up over missing the blocking and king studs. I think that says a lot about the guy-- keep in mind that Izzy is a lead framer and supervisor of sorts, but Lonnie is the owner of the framing company. Personally I think that lonnie or the structural engineer should have caught it earlier-- they have all been onsite frequently. It sounds like this structural engineer may have just done some designs differently than they are used to; for example normally a window header has two trimmers and one king stud and in this case they specified one trimmer and two king studs (we now have two trimmers and two kind studs). Anyway, it sounds like they're getting it all right and we should be on track.

Harold will fill in the trenches tomorrow and dig the footings for the front stairs and the detached garage porch. The electricians got the conduit put in (one for 110v power and one for cat 5 lines) to the front gate.

The stucco crew has finally started and they do have a big crew so it should move fairly quickly.

I turned in the permit application for the additional space in the basement. One thing I learned in doing so is that Boulder county requires that each room have windows equal in size to 4% of the floor space. I asked about a home theater with no windows and they said they are not allowed in Boulder County.

The good, the bad and the ugly [inspections]

Finally- rough inspections. Some subs went sailing by, like the electricians. I my few other experiences with building the electrical inspections were the ones that kept failing, so it was impressive to have this go without a hitch, Mechanical also went well. There were a few plumbing issues to fix. Overall it went pretty well.

There were a number of framing issues from the county inspector. In all fairness the framing is incredibly complex, so this makes sense, but I was surprised. The bigger issues came from the structural engineer. There isn’t any rule that the structural engineer needs to inspect the house. In theory the county inspector reviews the plans and makes sure the framing and structure is correct, however, the structural engineer brought up a *bunch* of items that have to be corrected. Some of these like adding blocking between the rim joist and the first joist look like a real pain to do now. And adding king studs at all the windows and doors, especially since there is now wire running everywhere. Keep in mind that this house is probably twice as structurally strong as a normal production built house. We’re just going to the 10th degree.

The plumbing inspection is kind of interesting. They pressure tested it with air (both the drains and the supply lines) , or if there is a leak that they can’t find they put water in (which they did with one drain line). They seem to have got everything fixed. They still need to add the hot water recirculating pump. Had I thought about it I would have run the recirculating pump line back and forth under the floor in the master bath so the floor would be heated (I still could, but the electricians are already wired for electric heat in the floor).

One of the biggest surprises (actually it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but neither Doug nor Kyle thought it would be an issue) concerns the extra workroom and bathroom we decided to finish in the basement. The inspector was quick to note that it wasn’t on the plans and would need a new permit. I prepared a permit application today, but it will take at least two weeks, so this could delay the ability to drywall that area since it has to have rough inspections first and he wouldn’t inspect it with no permit.

Fire Sprinklers have to be inspected before the rough inspections and those were signed off on yesterday.

Doug will be out of town later this week so I may schedule the reinspection on some of these items. Insulation was supposed to start this week, but I’d be surprised if that happens, especially with Doug gone.

Excel was out to hookup power (even though the easement form hasn’t been signed yet by the neighbor). They should be hooking up gas soon. Harold should be out tomorrow to fill in the trenches and window well. He will also over excavate at the front steps and detached garage for the porch/steps. We will add power& Cat 5 for a gate, and a sprinkler line & sprinkler cable for irrigating the front berm in the trench.

The lessons I learned today are:

1.) Why not have the structural engineer inspect the framing as soon as it is nearly complete, before any of the other trades start. Surely 98% of the problems would be evident at this time and the framers wouldn’t have to deal with wire, plumbing etc. Plus it’s more accessible at this time before soffits, etc.
2.) Negotiate not two site visits by the engineer (I’m up to 5 now). But at least 5 site visits including consulting and review time. This is an un budgeted for expense. I also wouldn’t mind seeing something in the contract that they don’t bill for time correcting their oversights or mistakes, but that’s a tough call.
3.) Don’t add any finished area without getting a permit.
4.) Be sure all items are on the structural plans. Not having the front stairs and the garage remodel on the structural plans has been a real delay and hassle.