#FAIL
Oh how I wish that hashtag was in reference to some cheeky Internet meme. Instead, it’s about the result of our deck’s footing inspection. Sigh. Picture us singing “you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have, the facts of DIY life.”
So here’s the deal. We scheduled the inspector to come look at the six holes we had dug for our footings. By my understanding, he’d simply be looking at each one to make sure they were in the correct spots and dug to the right width & depth. Pretty straightforward by my assumption.
But if you recall, we chose to go above and beyond by having some of the ledger boards attached so that the inspector could check those for us too. I figured it was best for him to see that before I went through the trouble of finishing the whole darn thing (in our county, the second inspection happens after the entire deck is completed) – that way he could catch any errors sooner rather than later.
And boy did he catch errors.
As soon as he rounded the corner to our job site, he did three things that made my heart drop:
- He shook his head.
- He said “we’ve got some problems here.”
- And then he silent started writing in his notebook.
It was around this point that Sherry, whom I had tasked with taking some covert pictures of the inspection from within the house, snapped this picture out the guest room window. Don’t I look like a happy camper?
Despite being the bearer of bad news, the inspector was fairly helpful in explaining what the issues were (once he came out of the silence that had me sweating bullets). First, I had overlooked two tiny (yet apparently critical) letters on one of the diagrams in the county’s deck building guide. That “P.T.” highlighted below means that the house’s rim board where I attached my ledger board on the siding side of the alley needs to made from pressure treated wood. Ours was not.
So although we had added the required water-proof flashing behind our ledger board, the inspector said that if I wanted to put a ledger board on that side I’d need to also either replace the rim board with a piece of pressure treated wood (but messing with the structure of the house does not sound like my idea of a good time) or lower my deck by about two feet so that I was bolting into the masonry foundation instead.
But that ledger was only half of the reason for our failing grade. He told me on the other side of the house that I wasn’t permitted to screw into the brick side of our house because it wasn’t sound enough to bear the weight. I had read about this online before beginning, so I told him I thought I had solved that by purchasing screws long enough to go through the rim board of the house as well (for added stability). But apparently everything you read online isn’t true (go figure), so he explained that it still wasn’t acceptable in our county.
He even drew this little diagram on my ledger board to explain why it was wrong. Don’t you love having the error of your ways illustrated? The problem is that the air gap that is left between brick and the house (which I knew about, but didn’t realize was problematic) prevents the load from ever being fully transferred from the brick (which is just built to bear the vertical weight of itself). Again, my only solution here was to lower my ledger by about two feet so that I was going into the masonry foundation instead.
The other option he gave me was to forget the ledger boards and just built a free-standing deck – i.e. one that’s just supported by posts in the ground. Since Sherry and I didn’t want a deck that was two feet lower than our doorway (we wanted to just walk out there and eat, without having to carry things up or down stairs or worry about people tripping out of the house), it quickly became clear that free-standing was our best option. Translation: we had to revisit our plan, dig more holes, and attempt to pass our second inspection after our little course correction…
At that moment I was pretty close to devastated because it almost felt like starting back at square one. But I held it together long to get a few more questions answered by the inspector, thank him for his time, and wish him on his way. But I did take a second to pout at Sherry when I saw her snapping this picture through the window.
Of course, the inspector then handed me my official rejection receipt. He really knows how to twist the knife, doesn’t he?
When I walked into the house Sherry said she heard everything. I told her I need a few moments to be upset. If I were a drinker, I’m sure there would’ve been a beer or three involved. But instead, me and my sober self enjoyed a few moments of self loathing. I was mad at myself for wasting my dad’s time. For delaying our building progress. For ignoring my instincts to build a free-standing deck in the first place. For having to tell my dad we had more holes to dig. For (despite having done hours of research and planning) not having done it carefully enough.
If you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty good at beating myself up. Though I was also a bit ticked off at the permit office that okayed my plans in the first place (I was right there if they had any questions for me to clarify before we spent days executing a plan they approved!). In their defense, they didn’t have the info about what type of housing I was attaching to, but I wish they had at least asked. As you may remember, I was all dressed up in my permit-getting outfit and ready to be grilled that day (more on that here)…
… but they didn’t ask me a single thing, and sent me on my way with a nice big “approved” permit to hang in the window.
Soon enough Sherry swept in with a positive spin on the situation. Number one: She wasn’t upset – she had actually expected that we’d fail at least one inspection (we’ve heard that more people fail then pass in our county, it’s apparently very strict and it’s sort of a miracle if you get through both inspections without having to redo something unless you’re a repeat pro builder who works with the county a lot). She pointed out we were much luckier to catch this early (if we hadn’t started on the ledger board until after our hole inspection, we would have built The. Entire. Deck only to find out that it wouldn’t pass at our last inspection and the whole thing had to come down). Point taken. This was starting to feel less like the end of the world. I might have even been writing punny titles for this post in my head to cheer myself up, like “The Petersiks: We Put The “F” In Footing Inspection.”
Sherry was also glad the inspector had been helpful with his suggestions so we knew what to do from here on out. And she was glad to have a learning experience that we could blog about. Seriously, she hugged me and said “this’ll be a funny story someday – and it’s just another example of how DIY isn’t always easy, but in the end it’s always worth it.” So before long I was out of my funk and was on the phone with the county’s building inspection making an appointment to get this:
That’s our new plan. The inspector suggested that I meet with the reviewer who okayed my first plan and just have him draw me a new one for a free-standing deck. Part of me wondered why this wasn’t offered in the first place (certainly would’ve saved everyone some time!), but mostly I was just glad to have the very people drawing my plans who would later approve them. He was also considerate enough to keep our new post holes to a minimum (7) and to try to work with as many of the existing materials that we had already purchased (we’ll still need to pick up some new stuff, but it could have been much worse). The best news is that he believes we can still use our ledger boards – but as rim boards instead (with flashing over them as well, which we’d planned to add from the get-go). Even though they’re not approved to bear the full weight of the deck – those seven new footing holes will do that – he’s confident they can still be used as the stabilizing rim boards that I’d be required to add around the perimeter of the deck anyways.
So the only real change from our original illustrated plan below is that there will be seven posts added to convert this to a freestanding deck with girders (which are boards that will run in the same direction as our ledger boards, but they’re attached to the posts, so no weight is put on the house).
Overall it was a good, quick meeting that – if nothing else – helped open a line of communication between me and the building department (I have since called this same guy with two follow up questions). Perhaps I won him over with my more casual-slash-approachable-revised-plan-getting outfit:
So that’s where we are folks. We’ve got some more holes to dig (btw, my dad took the news very well) and a few more materials to pick up – but we’re gonna wait on getting those until our footing inspection is successful. Fingers crossed! Hopefully by this time next week I’ll be running around singing “The hills are alive with the sound of an approved footing inspection!”
We’ll definitely keep you posted on this roller-coaster of real-life DIY tribulations. But now it’s time for your failed inspection stories. Or really any general life failures are fine by me. Let’s commiserate. Especially if your story has a happy ending to go along with it. I just keep reminding myself that Sherry’s right about DIY not always being easy, but it has definitely been worth it when we look back at all of the major things we’ve accomplished in the past five years (like a bathroom gut job, two kitchen overhauls, built-in laundry cubbies, a built-in double desk, a 12′ long console table, and our big patio project). So I’m keeping my eye on the prize: a new deck that we’ll spend lots of family time on someday. And even with all of these snafus, it’ll still be a lot cheaper than hiring someone else to build it. At least I hope so. Off to knock on some wood…
Katy says
Glad to see you guys post the ups and downs, its good to know we are not alone. My suggestion would be to go look at cute baby animals to cheer yourself up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn8m7LvXNbQ That one always cheers me up!
~Katy
YoungHouseLove says
Haha that’s hilarious because we joke that googling “chihuahua” on YouTube always cheers us up.
xo,
s
ris says
A few years ago my dad and his best friend built a beautiful fence by hand (dug the post holes themselves and everything) in the middle of a Texas summer. It was BRUTAL but they got it done! And then found out that they had to heavily revise it because of homeowner association rules. I swear my dad nearly cried. Now they have a great fence, though, and really funny story to go along with it. Well, funny in hindsight.
Lauren@FilingJointly says
Ahhhh I totally would have needed more than a few moments to be upset. You guys are so good at handling issues as they pop up and not freaking out.
I am VERY good at freaking out.
As for fails, how about this.
http://www.filing-jointly.com/2012/06/ryan-says-romantic-blogiversary-dinner.html
A fail from the 1950’s. A guide on how to be a good wife.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, so funny.
xo,
s
Angel says
Sorry to hear about the #fail! But I have to agree, better now than if you had built the whole deck. Plus, it makes the rest of us feel better that you’re not perfect ALL the time haha.
This isn’t related to decks, but my boyfriend applied for a job last November. They didn’t call him back until APRIL. Then he did a scary phone interview, waited TWO weeks to hear back, only to get an email saying he didn’t get the job. We were pretty devastated. Then three days later, they call and say they want him to interview for a different, better job at the company. Fast forward 3 more phone interview and two more weeks, he got the job and absolutely loves it. Worth every ounce of sweat and frustration, and your deck will be too!
YoungHouseLove says
Awesome that it worked out that way!
xo,
s
Netty says
Don’t feel bad. Your “fail” came on what seems to be a crazy complicated DIY project. I however, “failed” on the simplest of projects. I planted my flowers with hummus. You know, the garlic dip? Yeah, not humus SOIL. #firsttimegardner
YoungHouseLove says
Bwahahahahaha, comment of the day right here. That is the best thing we’ve ever heard. Love it. Can’t stop smiling.
xo,
s
Irma Baker says
Oh wow I never comment but I feel for you guys as we have been there too:) but like everyone else wrote at least the whole deck wasn’t built. You learn and move on and we are so glad you share it with all of us DIY’ers:)
Heather {ModernMealsforTwo} says
Oh man! My heart sank when I started reading this post. What a bummer! I really appreciate that you guys share the ups and downs of DIY. And Sherry is right, you’ll be able to laugh about this some day… probably not the day you have to dig 7 more holes… but some day ;)
Amy S says
THANK YOU for posting about the fail! And about how upsetting and frustrating it was. :) It’s both enlightening and a relief to see how competent people deal with set-backs.
Barb says
In the end it will all be worth it and it will S.H.I.N.E! Smile John….with a little more work, it will be P.E.R.F.E.C.T.I.O.N!
Persevere…and DIG!!! We feel your pain and be careful in the heat.
B.
Jen@The Decor Scene says
awwwwwww that stinks, but better now, then at the end of the project. Keep your spirits high John!!! Think about all of the great meals and great memories you will have on this deck in the future with family and friends. :)
JB says
As an older (and long-married) reader, I was impressed that in 5 years you’ve learned what takes many couples much longer than that to master: when one person is upset, the best thing the other person can do is be sympathetic, supportive, and upbeat. I’m sure Sherri was disappointed, too, but with her keeping a positive attitude, John didn’t fall into a funk for long. You two are great role models for young couples. You’re a delight!
Karen F says
SO true!
Kristine says
Aww! Fail, indeed! As they say, things happen for a reason! So nice to read how Sherry cheered you up.
My husband and I have had a few major fails when we bought our current townhome, including a leak through the plumbing in the main bathroom, caused by tree roots, and it leaked into the garage. We got it fixed, all costs covered by the insurance, and we got a nice bathroom upgrade for free!
Second fail was that, in the second bathroom, the hose to the toilet tank broke off and my husband was taking a nap downstairs, so the water flooded through all 3 floors (top floor, main floor, and garage on ground level). About $30k worth of repairs covered by our insurance and some upgrades (we got new hardwood floors), and our house looks better than ever! Also, we stayed in a hotel for 2 months (also paid by our insurance) which got us stir crazy, but got us a ton of hotel points that we could use for free future hotel nights.
3rd fail was right after we moved back into our house after the renovations, and I got laid off from my job while I was 8 weeks pregnant. It was a job I was miserable at anyway, and now I am at a job that I am a lot happier in and closer to my house!
All in all, it was a painful process, but it made our marriage stronger, our house a lot nicer, me at a better job, and a silly 11 month old that we love like crazy!
YoungHouseLove says
I love how all of those things worked out!
xo,
s
Susan says
I’ve got to admit, John, as I scrolled down to that first picture, I laughed. But don’t be down! I’ve seen way too many Holmes on Homes, including the episode about the 2nd story deck that fell down while people were standing on it… be proud of yourself for thinking smart and getting more done than was required for the first inspection. Sherry is so right, it would have been horrible to finish it all and have to take it all down. That really would have been starting from square one. We learn best from our mistakes… and you’ve also helped all of us readers learn a thing or two!
mp says
John, this is your first learning opportunity with the county (I refuse to call it a failure), the inspector sounds like he was a decent guy willing to help an honest citizen, and I know your dad will be glad to help you out. He taught you to do it right the first time, and Sherry is right — what if you’d gotten the deck completely done, only to have to pull it down? We, your YHL followers, have faith in you!
Kristina says
As an architect who mostly does I Occupancy (hospitals), I’ve enjoyed seeing you tackle this project. Your diagrams are wonderful and of course I can’t help but enjoy inspection stories. I’ve got more of those than you could imagine!
Whitney says
This isn’t a house fail because we haven’t gotten into real DIY and reno yet, but it’s a life fail!
I went to meet the dog we want to adopt and have totally been pining after for two weeks now, to the point of starting sentences like “When we get Wade from the shelter, we can…” or “I wonder if Wade likes…” But I went yesterday to meet him, and after meeting and loving him to pieces, we were told that he is HORRIBLE with kids (which we want in the future) and would need to be rehomed if we have them during his lifespan.
So sad! There’s another dog out there for us, but I hate that we got attached and then kind of heartbroken.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw that’s really sad! I bet Wade will end up with the perfect owner and you’ll find the perfect pet for your family! We desperately tried to rescue a little dachshund/chihuahua mix named Lucy and it fell through because someone else got on the list first and we were do sad, but Burger was meant to be ours in the end!
xo,
s
heather says
It’s okay Whitney! We had a dog we so so so so wanted, and then the breeder decided not to retire her after all before one more litter. I was totally heartbroken. Then there was another dog we adored who was 5…and after contacting the people it turns out they just forgot to take her off the site and she was already re-homed.
You know what though? We ended up with the absolutely most perfect for our family ever little trouble maker and best friend to our other dog. The day the two of them met they ran to greet each other and the younger one started licking her face. We could barely get them to STOP playing long enough to get her in the car! They are absolute BEST friends and I couldn’t imagine any other dog in our life.
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!
xo,
s
mp says
Plus it probably won’t hurt to trot out Clara & Burger next time.
Liana H. says
I’m sorry the inspection was so disappointing. Definitely better to hear the news at this stage, though!
Also wanted to say thanks for including both the ups AND downs of DIY projects. My husband and I just bought our first house a year ago, and while we’ve done some small things (i.e. paint, etc.), we’re still pretty overwhelmed by the other projects we’d like to tackle eventually. As much as I love your after photos, the “oops” posts are actually the most encouraging (to me, anyway!). If I wanted to see before and after photos all the time, I’d pick up a magazine with perfectly-staged rooms. I regularly read your blog because you guys share so much about the DIY process. It gives newbies like me encouragement that we’ll get there eventually, even if there are a few setbacks along the way. Good luck with the next stage of building your deck!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Liana!
xo,
s
Kelly {the Centsible Life} says
I’m simply taking notes because we’re planning to add a deck possibly this fall. The one we have now was definitely done ‘under the radar’ and was listed as one of the things we should fix when we bought our house. We don’t use it at all because it’s totally not safe.
Sara W says
I kept waiting for my dad to help me switch out my dining room chandelier, and decided I was going to do it myself. Three hours later about 15 times removing and stringing the wires through something else, I finally got the new chandelier hung. Every time I had to take everything apart and put it all back together, I shared a few select words with my pets. We all make mistakes, but the beauty of mistakes is that you won’t make them again, even if it is 15 times in the works…hopefully my next light fixture update will go more smoothly.
maria says
Wow, I am just imagining what the inspector would have said about the death trap deck you just took down with one hand!
I totally love Sherry’s positive attitude. We all need a Sherry in our lives!
Barbara says
We had a contractor build our deck. There were four inspections involved and we failed the last one because that inspector didn’t like the way it attached to the house. The previous deck had been attached the same way and lasted 35 years (and that part was still going strong). Our contractor was required to put two more footings under the deck after it was essentially finished. At least it was four feet off the ground but still not a comfy place to work.
Oh, and “Hi, Moms!” You sure raised two great kids.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow that’s so lucky he could add footings after the fact!
xo,
s
Martina says
I think those rules are ridiculous! I don’t think we even need permits to build decks here. I know we don’t need one to build sheds, unlike in some states/counties. We’re building a house right now and had our first inspection yesterday (on our footings). We passed. Yay! But according to the site supervisor and the footing guys, the inspectors seem to be on some kind of power trip and LOVE to fail people. They basically follow the inspector around with a shovel because he always makes them move a little dirt around. “That rock needs to move.” “You need 1″ more dirt here.”
DawnSC says
I love that I’m not the only one who gives my partner a head up that I need a few minutes to be upset. :) Good luck with the new approach and way to stay positive!
Our fail with permits isn’t DIY related, but our ceiling was collapsing (literally. A long and not fun story) and our contractor’s first plans didn’t pass inspection. In order for it to pass, the county required that we add something that would stop the house from lifting off the foundation during a tornado. Now, that would be a great idea, assuming there is even a tiny chance that there might be a tornado nearby. But we live in So Cal. There are NO tornadoes in our area. And it had nothing to do with EQ safety (I asked repeatedly). That required more than a few moments to be upset! The happy story? At least our ceiling is no longer in danger of falling on us. :)
YoungHouseLove says
So glad it had a happy ending!
xo,
s
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
Sad face. I’m sorry! I hate that you basically have to start over, but then again (and forgive me for saying this) but it is reassuring to see that even my DIY heroes have to back up and take another route now and then!
PS. Your console table project inspired us to make one of our own and we love it! Thanks for all your awesome ideas :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw so glad! Enjoy your console!
xo,
s
Jenny says
It’s not just when you’re DIYing that inspections are failed. We hired a contractor to build a deck for our new (to us) house 2 years ago and he got the county permit just fine. We asked about a city permit and he said it wasn’t necessary. Sure enough, the city code inspector stopped work on the first day and construction was delayed for a week while the contractor went through the (more complicated) city permit process. I’m happy to say the deck came out fine though and we have been enjoying it ever since.
YoungHouseLove says
So glad! Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories!
xo,
s
Linda P says
The highlight of today’s post for me is that Sherry is a rock! She quickly pointed out the positives of the situation and gave John a hug! THAT’S what it’s all about.
Barbara says
They didn’t make it clear enough for you from the start.
We built a whole house, and that involved MANY fails and do-overs.
Kendra says
We’ve done two deck/porch projects, and we had long discussions with our contractor both times about free standing vs. attached to the house. There are about 100 reasons why free standing is better – you will be much happier (and your house will be happier) in the long run with the deck built free standing. And you are getting off easy – we dug 24 footing holes with our screen porch project!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, that’s a lot of holes!!!
xo,
s
heather says
S&J – it wasn’t our fail, but do you even really want me to describe what our “septic” looked like when we moved in? Andy says I should never do a retropost on it, I disagree. If I can post about cat sh*t all over our basement, I think I can discuss the piping from our house…to…okay, I’m not ready yet.
Yay for husbands taking a week off of work to rebuild (or rather, build) a correct septic system.
I fail at stuff all the time. But it’s only failure if you don’t learn from it. Or I try and tell myself that.
ruthy says
wow…what a headache. sorry it didn’t work out guys. On the other hand, now you seem like a real human, and not a contractor in disguise :)
Linda says
So sorry, better now than later! Did you ever consider hiring an architect so that the design would be correct from the start (and he or she would probably be more knowledgable about county requirements)? They usually handle the permit process and can help with inspections too.
YoungHouseLove says
It would have doubled our project cost to hire an architect, so we thought the plan we drew up for free would work (it inially passed when we got our permit!). It’s a surprise to have to revise things a bit, but they redrew the plans at the permit office for free for us, so I think we’re still very happy that we’re DIYing it and learning along the way!
xo,
s
Shannon Summers says
I have question that has more to do with your schedule of blogging than the deck itself (which I can’t wait to see completed). Let me first note I’m not trying to make you feel bad about your hiccup in the plans, but does this make a hiccup in your blogging schedule as well? Do you have a general outline of how your week/month was going to play out in terms of what you were posting about? Or are y’all more of a go with flow and if you can post about it you will? I’m sending some positive energy for you guys to pass your next inspection with flying colors!
-Shannon Summers
YoungHouseLove says
We just post in real time, so we’ll contunue to share our deck adventures as we go and hope to have things completed by the end of July! But if we don’t, we’ll just keep working away and sharing our progress. The kitchen took a month longer than we expected so we have just learned it’s the most natural fit for us not to schedule things and to just share the good, the bad, and the ugly in real-time as we go!
xo,
s
Koliti says
Don’t you just love learning exeriences? Please keep in mind that when you pass on what you’ve learned, you are helping A LOT of folks out here in blog-reader-land.
What I gather from John’s work so far is that EVERYTHING he (and his dad) did was WELL DONE – it just needed to be 2 feet lower for your building situation. I can understand your disappointment.
Having worked for a “government-type” business before, I can understand how all of that convoluted “government-speak” is – they should assign a translator from the get-go! YAY! Sounds like John’s hooked up with the right person now.
As for my current project of learning how to sew a little over-the-shoulder zipper-closure purse (by no means on the same magnitude as your deck project), I’ve mastered the art of seam-ripper-outer, re-sew, and seam-ripper-repeat. But I’m making progress and can feel my brain cells expanding!
How you handle disappointment is something very valuable that you are able to pass on to Clara – acknowledge your feelings, re-assess, do good work, and carry-on.
Pip says
Frustrating! But there really are so many positives! We wanted to build an outdoor cabana with limestone – we used a contractor and still wound up with a demolition order after laying 4 courses of stone. After harsh words with our contractor, a bit of digging to expose the concrete footings and a lot of delicate communication with our council (county) we got through. Lounging around in our backyard in the finished product has never been so sweet :)
Brandyn says
Totally bummed for you guys, but everyone is right – at least you had done that much before the inspection so you didn’t have the whole deck done.
I failed miserably at cutting crown molding – I’m an engineer but my brain does not like geometry. After destroying 3 pieces of molding (seriously I never got close to getting it right) I gave up. One of my brother’s friends is going to come help me with it this summer.
YoungHouseLove says
Those cuts are hard! We feel for you!
xo,
s
Meredith says
When I was in my third year of law school, I was working 3 jobs and a full-time student and I was STRESSED. I needed to become a member of the American Bar Association in order to sign up to take the bar exam, and attempted to get this done quickly. I went to aba.org, signed right up, and was so pleased to have gotten that off my list. Definitely signed up for the American BIRDING Association and not the Bar. Oops. If you go to the website, there’s a big blue bird on the home page, so it’s kind of hard to miss, but I was in the zone. They were very nice about refunding my money. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh, that made me grin. So funny! Thanks for sharing all the hilarious and encouraging stories.
xo,
s
Amanda says
Wow, if we are ever under nuclear attack I’ll remember to hide under ANY DECK IN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY. Thanks for keeping it real. Good luck with the new plans.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s probably true. Our deck is gonna be solid!
xo,
s
Megan says
Sorry. Dealing with the bureaucracy of the building dept is frustrating on so many levels! As you said, it varies county by county and inspector by inspector. But boy is it a great revenue source!
You handled it well, though. :)
heather says
Oh and Sherry – second fail (sort of) – we just found out that Andy’s quotes won’t run in the NYT piece because he’s a professional and studied architecture/engineering and construction management in school and they wanted true true amateurs. :( Oh well! I bet it’s still going to be a great read! Thanks again.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw man that stinks! He told us you were a great interview! So who knows what it could lead to down the road!
xo,
s
heather says
Haha, I’m glad she said that! He’s going to make out pretty good too as long as our beetles don’t get the cucumbers since I’m sending him some relish (he has an awesome article on how relish is way more awesome than people give it credit for – which made me laugh because I have a draft blog post on the same thing for later this summer).
heather says
HE said that. HE. Man. Male.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha.
xo,
s
Raanan G says
You only have one chance to make a first impression per my mom so..the first inspection involved our footings and foundation when we built our home in the mountains. My husband vacuumed the forms and swept the rocks! The inspector was “caught off guard by an owner-builder going to that much trouble to make his job easier!” The rest of the inspections were actually pleasant and enjoyable!
Good luck and keep smiling!
emily @ thirtyeight20 says
Oh, bummer. I know that sinking feeling all too well. If I had a dollar for every inspection we’ve failed (and two dollars for every time we’ve failed after taking the inspector’s detailed instructions to the letter, and three for ridiculous reasons that were eventually “overturned”) we’d be able to joyfully fund your deck project for you. It’s been such a headache for us, I’m pretty convinced they sometimes give you the run-around on purpose to make more money. (At least in our county.) That way projects take more time, permits run out, and you have to pay to renew them. Wow, that sounds super bitter, doesn’t it? But honestly we’ve had this happen so many times I just assume we’ll fail now the first time so I’m not disappointed when it happens.
Just this past weekend we tore down the completely finished wall behind our stove (which had been there for months) to add a new support post because the previously approved plan suddenly failed upon inspection. So we are stoveless yet again until we finish the job, get more inspections and close the wall up. Why was this issue not caught 10 inspections ago? Good question!
All this to say….. I FEEL YOUR PAIN! I guess it’s just all part of the renovation process.
Lori says
How frustrating! Sending virtual hugs your way!! You guys are amazing for sharing the ups and downs with your readers and continuing to have such a great attitude about everything and looking at the bright side.
Maggie says
I think Sherry’s point about discovering the problem early is a great one, how much would that have sucked to redo everything??
My parents had a small (10’x10′) deck on the back of their house, they wanted to knock it down and put up a bigger one, but they couldn’t get their town to approve plans. I think they tried about 3 times. So they scrapped the deck idea and had a large patio built (and the town came back the next summer to make sure they hadn’t built a deck). They’ve had the patio 2 summers now and love it, this year they are finally doing a ton of landscaping around it and it looks great. So all’s well that ends well.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny the town came back to check!
xo,
s
Elise says
What a bummer! At least you didn’t build the whole deck though, that really would have been awful.
This week I’m trying to rush through a guest bedroom redesign before guests arrive Friday. Last night I was painting and somehow managed to drop my iPhone into my half-full can of paint. Don’t ask me how I did it, I’m sure I couldn’t have aimed that well if I tried. Time for a new phone.
Kelley says
Bummer, dood! Honestly, my first thought was “maybe you’ll stop getting emails from people who think you guys are ‘too perfect’ because now they’ll see that things go wrong for you, too, sometimes!”
I’m sure it’ll work out great in the end, but I can understand how disappointing that inspection visit must’ve been.
Wesley says
Aww man! That is so disappointing. I definitely would have cried in front of the inspector. I am amazed you guys are challenging yourself with this project, you are going to know so much at the end of it! Even the smallest set back can feel so defeating, but my sense is that you guys have already found a way to get back on the horse. I want a blog called, “Couples Therapy for You and Your House” when you’re both mad at each other (you and the house)!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha that’s a hilarious concept.
xo,
s
Sarah M says
After 3 failed inspections on our back deck (all because we wanted a cool fancy railing that the city didn’t think was safe enough) we finally gave in and bought and attached the cheap and ugly hand rail they wanted and passed (whoot!). And then prompty ripped it off the next day and put our much prettier one back up. Here’s hoping the Washington County, MN building inspectors don’t read your blog comments!
Shannon says
It is beyond lucky that you put up the ledger boards as an “extra” before this first inspection. Imagine if the deck was already built when you found out it was all wrong?!? To me, this experience actually only verifies that everything always goes right for you guys, even when you fail. ;-)
Good luck with the revisions!
KatK says
Can I just say what an awesome “wife moment” this was?!? I have to admit, I probably would have been upset at the inspector and taken it out on my sweet guy. I’m going to have to remember sherry’s example of being upbeat & cool-headed when John needed it. That’s probably what makes the work-together-at-home DIY life work for you guys! Such a great team.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw you’re sweet! We definitely can both lose it like the best of them, but we try not to lose it at the same time. Haha. So John is my rock when I’m freaking out and I try to return the favor.
xo,
s