Young House Love

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Failing The Inspection To Build A Deck

If at first you don’t succeed… dig more holes. At least, that’s what was on my agenda after failing our first deck footing inspection (this post explains that debacle). This project definitely isn’t moving along at the speed of lightning, but we’re creeping slowly towards the goal of a finished deck to enjoy family meals on by the end of the summer – maybe even by this time next month if we’re lucky. But remember this speed bump?

Fail Fail Receipt

Since our original plan got the big ix-nay because we were trying to attach ledger boards to unapproved surfaces (although it was initially approved by the county), our new plan required us to make it a free-standing deck… which required us to dig more holes. Seven new holes, to be exact, for a grand total of twelve footings (five of my previous holes were still good, while only one was pretty much useless).

Approved 1 New Plan

Having already learned that digging holes was tough but not unbearable, I wasn’t too intimidated. Since digging six holes had left my dad and I drenched in sweat and pretty much limp-muscled, I did feel pretty bad making him suffer through seven – but I guess it’s better than having to do all twelve at once (even though it would’ve saved me $60 from renting the auger again from Home Depot). In other words: could have been way worse.

Approved 2 Auger In Car

This time we borrowed both the 8″ and the 12″ auger bit, since our holes are supposed to be 12″ wide (and accidentally getting the 8″ bit last time required extra work of manually digging the holes wider). We hoped the 12″ bit wouldn’t be that much more difficult to maneuver and that it would make the work quicker. In fact, the task was shaping up to be pretty straight forward. Until this happened:

Approved 3 Concrete Block

Upon digging my first “starter hole” by hand, my shovel hit something solid. I originally thought it was a root or a brick, but as I uncovered more dirt it turned out to be a giant, 6″ thick concrete slab (our guess is that it might have been the landing for a staircase that once existed here). It was too thick to bust up with the sledgehammer and nearly too heavy to even move, but after shimmying some boards underneath it my dad and I managed to shift it enough to the side so that we could dig our hole in the proper place.

Approved 4 Block Moved

The only downside was that the whole concrete-slab-moving process was exhausting. And we hadn’t even made a single hole yet. But we sucked it up, I donned my déjà vu hat, and we powered up the auger.

Approved 5 Starting Auger

Approved 6 Auger Going In

Approved 7 Auger In Deep

The 12″ auger bit definitely was heavier and a bit more challenging to maneuver, but not so much that we didn’t keep using it. Both us loved the fact that we automatically had our 12″ wide holes without any extra digging (or double-checking measurements). It certainly made for quicker work getting our 21″ deep holes (which are the requirement in our area).

Approved 8 Measuring

Although I still used the hole digger to manually remove some of the loose dirt left by the auger. Oh yeah, and apparently I make faces like this to entertain the wife while she documents things. Always the charmer.

Approved 9 Crazy Face

I lost track of time but it might have taken us 90 minutes to get all seven new holes dug (including moving the surprise concrete slab). So all in all, not bad at all. And we weren’t nearly as fatigued as last time. Sherry thinks it’s because it wasn’t as hot out. I think it’s because we’re just more muscle-y from the first round of digging.

Approved 9 5 Holes Done

With holes dug, we crossed our fingers, bit our lips, and probably peed our pants a little bit as we called to schedule the inspector to come back the next day. I hate not succeeding at stuff, so the thought of failing again made me lose a little bit of sleep. But I’ll spare you the suspense – this is what happened:

Approved 11 Inspection Approved

Woo to the hoo. The visit could not have gone better. It was a different inspector and he took a quick glance at my new plans, another glance at my holes, and said “looks good.” No measuring, no comment on my ledger boards, no nothing. Sherry was barely able to even sneak one picture the whole thing was so fast.

Approved 10 Inspector

After he approved my holes, I did bother him with a few more questions. Most importantly, I confirmed with him that I could leave my ledger boards up to use as rim boards instead (they wouldn’t bear the weight of the deck- the posts would do that – but they’d be a nice place to attach things around the house for the perimeter stability that’s required on a freestanding deck). This was fantastic news because it meant not only was our work not in vain, but also that we wouldn’t have to waste time undoing it all (and re-siding the house where those ledger boards had been). I just have to be sure to counterflash them (i.e. put flashing over the top of the ledger) which is something I was planning to do anyways.

So with all of the excitement over having passed inspection, I did the natural thing and texted my mom.

Approved 12 Text2

So now I’ve gotta place my order for additional materials (more posts and girder boards) and then I can start actually building this darn thing. And let’s hope I get Inspector #2 when it’s time for my final inspection! In sharing-the-love news, we really appreciated you guys commiserating with us last week by spilling all of your failure stories. I promise, it helped more than you can imagine. So let’s try a more positive spin this week: what problems have you guys worked through lately (house-wise or otherwise)? Is there anything that seemed like a negative that did an 180 and turned out to work in your favor?

Psst- A huge thanks goes out to everyone who checked in on us after the crazy storm on Friday night! We were without power until Sunday afternoon (and we witnessed some pretty crazy tornado-like winds outside our window on Friday night), but thankfully our house was spared any damage and we’re so glad that our power has been restored. High fives to Dominion Power (and all the other power companies from out of state who drove up to lend a hand).

Comments

  3. Meredith says

    Yay!

    Also, I think you mean “speed of lightning” rather than “speed of lighting” in the first paragraph. :) Although your lighting updates do happen quickly, so maybe it can be a new catchphrase?

    Reply

  4. Stephen says

    Way to go! Looking forward to all thousands of us getting an invite over to grill out once it’s all done.

    Kidding, sort of.

    Reply

  8. Witty Wife says

    I don’t have any failure or challenge stories, but I wanted to agree about Friday night!

    That storm was OFF THE HOOK. I live in DC, and we had SO many trees down and I was a little nervous about the unsecured construction stuff in a lot to the NW of our apartment. I thought the stuff was going to blow through the window!

    Can’t believe those winds were near 80mph!

    Reply

  9. Robin @ our semi organic life says

    Glad to hear you got power back! We thankfully didn’t loose it even though we don’t live that far from you (I think). My favorite part of this post? Where John says they got all muscle-y from the previous digging. love it!

    Reply

  10. Monika says

    The storm was SO crazy. It came out of nowhere. We had no idea it was even in the forecast. On another note, how nerve wracking was it to drill so close to the wall of the house? That would have me really sweating!! Nice holes though (it sounds wrong for some reason hee hee).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It was a little nerve-wracking. Gotta admit it! Thankfully we went really slowly and it was relatively easy to control with two people holding it!

      -John

  11. Jennifer Roberts says

    Wow, I had no idea getting a deck approved could be so complicated (and I worked in the architecture field). I guess it’s a good thing that they’re so particular, and the freestanding deck will hopefully last better anyway. We are looking at doing a deck on our new house, and I will definitely know what research to do beforehand now.

    Reply

  14. Maureen says

    So glad this went so well (well, minus the concrete slab. When we dig around our front yard, we find BLACKTOP. Yes, blacktop. Previous owners paved everything. They had a paved patio at one time as well as 2 or 3 paved walkways.

    Really looking forward to more deck progress, and I’m glad you fared relatively well in the storm.

    Reply

  15. Penny says

    Yay on passing inspection! Your dad is awesome to help out. We had a minor disaster last year when an upstairs bathroom leak ruined one of the downstairs living room walls and part of the ceiling. My husband replaced the drywall and repainted and then was like “Since we’re patching up this whole corner of the room I might as well build in a cabinet.” well not in those exact words, but anyway. So dealing with the leak was awful, but now we have a gorgeous custom built-in and it’s my favorite thing in the room. I hope the rest of your deck project goes smoothly and that y’all can take a break to enjoy yourselves on the 4th!

    Reply

  17. Stephanie says

    Haha. I love that you texted your mom. Since I’ve moved out of my parents house I’ve been texting my mom a lot. Like when I buy something new or hang something up, or even make a really good meal! :) She got a play by play of me spray painting some lamps last week. lol

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Not sure what we’ll do, but probably something fun and local. It’s also close to our anniversary (the 7th) so we’d love to do something to celebrate five years!

      xo,
      s

  21. Nicole @ Post Grad says

    Yay! Congrats! You all didn’t get hit with that storm did you? We were at the tail end of it up here in Baltimore, but my family was hit pretty hard down in Fredericksburg. Probably helped bring the temps down for the weekend for you guys though! Hottest summer in VA that I can remember – can’t imagine trying to build a deck out there. Stay cool!!

    Reply

    • Nicole @ Post Grad says

      Glad you guys are OK! Bet you’re loving having that AC back! We managed to keep ours, but most people we know up here are still without! We’d gone to Lowe’s Saturday morning to pick up a grill and it was swarming with people trying to get generators – which had apparently sold out by 8am.

  24. Claire says

    Yay for passing your inspection!

    But not such high fives to Dominion – I’m still without power. Northern Virginia really got slammed, and the issue with my power affects a small number of customers, so I think it’s going to be awhile…

    Reply

  25. Tammy says

    Congrats! I have a question, though – it looks like it’s pretty much dirt in your “alley” that will be under the deck, but are you going to put down any sort of weed block as a preventative measure? We don’t have any under our deck (yet), but the previous owners of our house just put gravel down and it’s still a weed magnet. When it cools off we’re going to have to rake out all that gravel and try to remedy that situation. Fortunately we can almost stand under our deck, but it doesn’t look like you’ll have that option.

    Knowing you guys, though, you’ve probably already thought of this. :-) I can’t wait to see the finished deck.

    Reply

  26. Wendy says

    Congratulations!! And glad you made it through the storm relatively unscathed. :-)

    We were lucky to have power all weekend, but approximately 2 million homes in the DC area weren’t so lucky. So we opened up our fridge/freezer and our inflatable pool to any friends that needed some cooling down. When life deals you lemons…

    Reply

  27. Laura says

    Congrats on passing your inspection! It is good to hear that you and your home were spared during the storms. We had to drive through them yesterday. The cross-wind caused us to unwillingly change lanes. Scariest thing ever. As for unexpected DIYing…my hubby and I decided to do a simple remodel of our kids’ bathroom. Upon removing the mirror (shattering and blood was involved…nothing too serious), we found a porous composite of some sort and plenty of 2″ holes that we are unable to figure out their purpose. Lots of spackling and sanding and respackling and sanding and one more time just for fun…..we can now paint. The fun, exciting life of a DIYer. Thanks for all of your tips on the blog, it really helps us out more than you will ever know!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So scary! Glad you were ok from driving through the storm! And removing that mirror sounds crazy but so rewarding now that it’s done and you can paint! Yay!

      xo,
      s

  28. Joan @ the baloney bug says

    Yayyyy!! So glad you passed the inspection! I bet there were high fives involved…

    I was checking your twitter all weekend- I can’t believe you guys lost power two years in a row. Glad to hear you’ve got it back :)

    Reply

  29. LisaP says

    Congrats om the approval and that you had no major damage from the storm!

    We drove to my sister-in-laws house near Reston, VA from Philadelphia and we were oblivious to the storm damage. She couldn’t call us and tell us not to come because she had no house phone or cell phone service(and no power or water) We helped as much as we could and then drove home (inching along 95N the whole way with three year old twins in tow!) A LONG day but thankfully her power is back up and running now too.

    Reply

  30. Erin Rose says

    Hello Sherry and John! This is totally off subject, but I thought of you guys in my quest first! I am looking for a good sealable glass sippy cup for my little girl. I’ve seen tons out there and am indecisive. I want a hard lip so it’s not like a bottle. Hopefully you can help. Thanks so much for listening!

    Reply

  34. Heather Gearhart says

    Yay! Congrats to you guys on the inspection and I am glad you got power back on!

    Our potential disaster turned great was on Saturday. We had my husbands parents come down to help us build gates for our back deck to keep the dogs from escaping. We had power thru the storms on Friday and then at 7:30 Saturday morning the power shuts off and Glens dad is on his way with table saws and the whole shebang to build our gates. He got in around lunch and we still had no power, so they built the gates with hand tools only, hand saws and so on. And the best part is that they look great! We ended up getting power back on once everyone had left that evening, but it all worked out!

    Reply

  35. Lisa says

    Congrats on passing! Digging those holes looks like a lot of hard work, and especially having to move that concrete pad!

    Here’s my problem I’m trying to work through. We are house-hunting and I have fallen so irrationally in love with a 1977 home that is huge and needs massive updating (I don’t want to give away the surprise of what we found lurking in the basement. You’ll just have to click here to see it if you need a laugh: http://afarewelltocant.blogspot.com/2012/06/vintage-1970s-dream-home-ive-fallen-in.html).

    The house is even a little above the max limit I set for us. I am trying to figure out how to either swing buying it, or get over it and like another house. Arg, house hunting! I remember watching you guys go through that process! What do I do??!? Or maybe…WWJ&SD?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man that’s tough! I think we’d just crunch numbers to see what we could afford, and then put in that offer (saying it was our max/final so the seller knew we weren’t playing around). If it went through we’d think it was meant to be, and if it didn’t, we’d take it as a sign that it wasn’t! Hope that helps!

      xo,
      s

    • Lisa says

      Thank you so much for your sweet and helpful reply! We are readying our home for listing so we can be taken more seriously with any offer. We’ll see if the property holds out until we are ready to put in an offer, and see if they’ll accept the offer we are financially able to make — ir not I guess you’re right, it wasn’t meant to be. Thanks again for answering!

  36. Justine says

    Glad to hear your latest deck work got the thumbs up.

    On a totally different note – did you guys know you were mentioned in an article on home improvement/renovation blogs in The Sunday Times newspaper over here in the UK this weekend? I’ve not seen the article myself (I’m going to try and got hold of it); but a friend mentioned it to me.You truly are global superstars!!

    Reply

  37. Koliti says

    Glad to hear you have the official green-light-go-ahead!!!
    You and your dad have done excellent manly-muscle-y work!
    As you know, a strong foundation is the base upon which you can build many good things (family, friends, free-standing decks).
    How great is it that ALL of your work with the ledger boards will fit in nicely with your over-all plan?!

    Reply

  38. emma says

    Suddenly I’m very happy I decided to go with dekblocks from the get go for our 25x30ft deck. Those holes are as big of a pain as I thought they would be.

    Reply

  39. Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says

    Hayyyooo! Congrats John and Johns dad! He probably knew how hard you guys worked so he gave you an extra crazy big check mark. We don’t have cable so we didn’t hear anything about the weather up there until I was at my parents and a blip on ESPN said some golf tourney was cancelled due to wild weather in D.C. and Maryland. So we called all our family up there and other than having a 2 night sleepover with the in-laws due to power outages they were all good. I didn’t know it came all the way down to you. Crazy man, crazy. Glad you guys were all spared. And good thing you got the holes in before the crazy weather came.

    My best, Lynn
    *Oh we are learning that paint finishes need to MATCH and not just the color apparently. :o(

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, we learned that lesson too! Haha. The finish changes how it reads, so in order to get a true match you need the color and finish to be the same! Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  41. ClareJR says

    Glad you all made it through this crazy derecho storm without too much trouble. We’re up in Arlington, and still without power (wop wop). Thankfully we got to go to work and daycare this morning and bask in the glory of A/C for the first time since Friday.

    Reply

  44. BornInaZoo says

    A couple of years ago, my city lifted building permit fees for exterior renovations for homes within a 9-block radius of city center. I was 1 block outside that radius, but received a waiver when I asked. The only snafu I ran into during my exterior renovations was that one of the inspectors learned I was a construction manager that’s also lead paint & asbestos abatement certified (had to for my job). Ugghhh … what a PITA. He didn’t believe me when I said a homeowner can take up to 250 pounds of asbestos siding to the landfill at a time. It took 10 trips over 4 weeks, but we got it done.

    Reply

  46. Cori says

    Congratulations! Your holes look great…which sounds really odd when you actually write it out. I totally feel your pain, though. When I was a senior in high school, my dad and I decided to do a little father-daughter project and build a pool deck. We had to dig 8 of those suckers *by hand*, because why rent a piece of machinery when we have all the tools to do it ourselves? It definitely took us longer than 90 minutes to complete.
    On another note, I was camping out in Southern New Jersey for that storm on Friday night. Probably one of the most terrifying experiences of my life!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh no! So sorry you got caught camping out in Southern NJ during the storm! Glad you’re ok! And digging those holes by hand sounds like a ton of work!

      xo,
      s

  47. Morgen says

    For the past 6 months we have been trying to buy our dream home, which happens to be a short sale that is missing a kitchen and master bath (as in there is a hole where these 2 things are supposed to be). We learned last week, 7 days before our closing date, that we couldn’t be approved for a loan if the house was missing the kitchen and bathroom. So, taking a gamble we invested $2k into a house we don’t own to put in a functional kitchen and bathroom (and fix the rest of the laundry list of things the appraiser wanted fixed) in 2 days with the help of our realtor and a contractor that donated his time. The gamble worked, we passed the appraisal and are now waiting for a new closing date (praying it’s the end of the week). Congrats on passing your inspection. Sometimes it means more when you really have to work extra hard for it :)

    Reply

  48. Tamara says

    nice work! it always amazes me how different two people doing the same job can approach it so differently. cheers to inspector numero dos!

    p.s. in that picture of john where he is making the funny face he looks like timon from the lion king. hahaha.

    Reply

  49. lisa says

    Our recent project has been the installation of clothesline posts. My husband started to hand dig the holes and discovered that our clay soil is practically concrete due to the drought conditions around here. He filled the holes with water to loosen the soil and finished the holes and leveling and staking the posts on Sunday. We didn’t have time to do the concrete because we’re balancing the needs of our 6 week old baby with house projects. I’m amazed with how much you guys get done with a little one in the house.

    Reply

  50. Barb says

    CELEBRATE, CELEBRATE…DANCE TO THE MUSIC.

    Happy for you, John. How did you manage to accomplish in the heat? Stay hydrated!!! I am in NH, and just finished mowing the lawn and my mantra was….JUST GET ME THROUGH THIS, SWEET JESUS!!!

    My Godly moment for the day. So hot, so humid. I then think of the alternative (S.N.O.W.) and I suck it up and smile.

    Keep on keeping on, John. You will soon be having dinner on the deck.

    Reply

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