Our architect, one of the top guys at building, and a very helpful lady in planning were able to figure out a plan in the morning to minimize the time lost.
Our architect printed out the correct plans and we took those to the city planning office. We removed the "not approved" plans and inserted the "approved" plans. Then there was notes to transfer and new notes to write on those sheets. Finally, got the approval stamps we needed on the new sheets. The best thing was that the city did not charge us for any of this! :)
Plus, they moved pretty fast to correct the problem.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Drama with the city!
We've decided to go ahead with the remodeling of the kitchen/living room/dining room interior - changing the layout (possibly) and adding cabinetry and updating appliances (goodbye Wedgewood stove! *sniff*). So we had asked our architect to help us with ideas and, if needed, to draw up the plans for city approval.
Architect came over and presented her ideas. Then informed us that we wouldn't have to go through the entire city process as long as we don't touch the exterior. yay! All we would need to do is submit a change order for whatever changes we were doing in the interior. We can save our money by not hiring her. haha! Instead, we would work with our GC's kitchen and cabinet guy to design the cabinetry after picking out one of her layouts.
After our meeting with her, she went outside to take a look at the work progress. That's when she discovered that our GC was laying out the foundation based on the wrong plans!
When he went to get the permit, our GC was issued the "not approved" set of plans.
!!!!
We hurried over to the city planning office, arriving an hour before closing. We signed in and were told we may not be able to see someone by the time the office closed. We explained the situation to the lady such that she was able to alert the right people. We still had to wait until closing but due to the nature of our problem, they were willing to sit with us after hours to correct the problem.
There was absolutely no way that planning was going to allow us to build past the setbacks. So, the decision was to contact the building department to get the correct plans stamped. Our architect sent an email to head of building explaining the situation.
Architect came over and presented her ideas. Then informed us that we wouldn't have to go through the entire city process as long as we don't touch the exterior. yay! All we would need to do is submit a change order for whatever changes we were doing in the interior. We can save our money by not hiring her. haha! Instead, we would work with our GC's kitchen and cabinet guy to design the cabinetry after picking out one of her layouts.
After our meeting with her, she went outside to take a look at the work progress. That's when she discovered that our GC was laying out the foundation based on the wrong plans!
When he went to get the permit, our GC was issued the "not approved" set of plans.
!!!!
We hurried over to the city planning office, arriving an hour before closing. We signed in and were told we may not be able to see someone by the time the office closed. We explained the situation to the lady such that she was able to alert the right people. We still had to wait until closing but due to the nature of our problem, they were willing to sit with us after hours to correct the problem.
There was absolutely no way that planning was going to allow us to build past the setbacks. So, the decision was to contact the building department to get the correct plans stamped. Our architect sent an email to head of building explaining the situation.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
April summary
Apr 13: city approval!
Apr 18: meeting with GC to discuss next steps
Apr 19: meet at city Planning office to get permit (not yet)
Apr 20: tree protection and GC parks dump truck in driveway
Apr 21: passed first inspection of tree protection and GC pulls permit
Bobcats dig a pit in the backyard
Apr 26: Holes and trenches dug for foundation
Apr 28: Wood framing of foundation begins
Apr 18: meeting with GC to discuss next steps
Apr 19: meet at city Planning office to get permit (not yet)
Apr 20: tree protection and GC parks dump truck in driveway
Apr 21: passed first inspection of tree protection and GC pulls permit
Bobcats dig a pit in the backyard
Apr 26: Holes and trenches dug for foundation
Apr 28: Wood framing of foundation begins
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Renting A Home
Now that the backyard had been dug more quickly than the original estimate, we need to move out earlier than anticipated. We still have three more weeks before they need to tear down a few walls of the existing home.
The home rental market is pretty crazy. With all the new jobs and hiring in the area, there is competition to find a home to rent. Most of the places want a one-year lease at least, and preferably a longer term tenant. We're looking for a 6 month and then month-to-month, ideally.
We turned to craigslist and started sending out emails. Some of the people didn't even bother replying because there's so much interest in any decent property. They first home was small (like our current home) but the neighbors were much to be desired. The next two homes we looked at were pretty disappointing - very old (one of them was 100+ years) with odd layouts.
The fourth house we saw, we already knew we would most likely apply for. This is because we went to an open house in the complex a few years ago and had then agreed that it would've been a great place to live. Now we had an opportunity to actually live there! We were super excited because the location is near downtown.
Everything was as we had hoped. We were so eager to move in! Two even more awesome things:
We turned in the application that evening.
48 hours later, we got the lease contract!!!! :) :)
The home rental market is pretty crazy. With all the new jobs and hiring in the area, there is competition to find a home to rent. Most of the places want a one-year lease at least, and preferably a longer term tenant. We're looking for a 6 month and then month-to-month, ideally.
We turned to craigslist and started sending out emails. Some of the people didn't even bother replying because there's so much interest in any decent property. They first home was small (like our current home) but the neighbors were much to be desired. The next two homes we looked at were pretty disappointing - very old (one of them was 100+ years) with odd layouts.
The fourth house we saw, we already knew we would most likely apply for. This is because we went to an open house in the complex a few years ago and had then agreed that it would've been a great place to live. Now we had an opportunity to actually live there! We were super excited because the location is near downtown.
Everything was as we had hoped. We were so eager to move in! Two even more awesome things:
- We were the first people to look at the property; therefore, the first to apply
- The rent is now offered at $400 lower than when we had seen the original craigslist posting!
We turned in the application that evening.
48 hours later, we got the lease contract!!!! :) :)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Work begins!
Wednesday, April 20
On Tuesday evening, our GC (general contractor) faxed the tree protection form to the city. On Wednesday, he got a message that the fax was printed on recycled paper so the lady couldn't write on the form. Therefore, she requested him to re-fax the form. Sometimes being too environmental can backfire. :D I wonder if they used soy-based inks too...
Only work done on was to get the trees protected. He doubly protected them - wrapped orange plastic fencing around the trees and then set up a chain link fence around each tree. And of course, the tree protection signs from the city.
GC also left his big dump truck on our driveway.
Another guy came by to measure the width of our gates...
Thursday, April 21
Big dig!
Two Bobcats worked all day on digging a hole in our backyard. That's what the guy was measuring - whether the Bobcats could fit through. They removed our gate to get them to fit. Hiring the Bobcats saved the GC 2-3 weeks worth of manual labor and 18 trips to the dump (to dump all the dirt).
Later in the afternoon, they fitted one of the Bobcats with a drill to break up concrete. Part of our patio was taken down this way.
It was deeply satisfying to see the pit they dug in our backyard. :)
Btw, we passed the tree protection inspection in the morning. So by afternoon, the GC had picked up the contract! yay!
On Tuesday evening, our GC (general contractor) faxed the tree protection form to the city. On Wednesday, he got a message that the fax was printed on recycled paper so the lady couldn't write on the form. Therefore, she requested him to re-fax the form. Sometimes being too environmental can backfire. :D I wonder if they used soy-based inks too...
Only work done on was to get the trees protected. He doubly protected them - wrapped orange plastic fencing around the trees and then set up a chain link fence around each tree. And of course, the tree protection signs from the city.
GC also left his big dump truck on our driveway.
Another guy came by to measure the width of our gates...
Thursday, April 21
Big dig!
Two Bobcats worked all day on digging a hole in our backyard. That's what the guy was measuring - whether the Bobcats could fit through. They removed our gate to get them to fit. Hiring the Bobcats saved the GC 2-3 weeks worth of manual labor and 18 trips to the dump (to dump all the dirt).
Later in the afternoon, they fitted one of the Bobcats with a drill to break up concrete. Part of our patio was taken down this way.
It was deeply satisfying to see the pit they dug in our backyard. :)
Btw, we passed the tree protection inspection in the morning. So by afternoon, the GC had picked up the contract! yay!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Permit pickup? Not yet!
We arrived at the city planning office 15 minutes before our scheduled time in hopes of cutting down our wait time by signing in early. However, our contractor got to the city planning office 45 minutes before our scheduled time and had already signed in. Overall, we waited about 30+ minutes before sitting down with a city worker...the same one that accepted our project for city review!
The building permit is ready but we have to do a few things before we can pick up.
1) Contractor had to submit his information, including license number.
2) Provide an additional copy of our plans for the county tax assessors office. (Thankfully our contractor had brought his plans so we just submitted those while he got a newly stamped copy of the approved plans.)
3) Complete a special inspection form (done on the spot).
4) Protect the street trees and fax over a Tree Protection form to the city. Once they receive the form, somebody will do a drive-by inspection the day after.
Note: tree protection could've been done before this first meeting with the city to save an extra day of waiting - work can't start until the city verifies our trees are protected.
5) Pay fees (brought our checkbook and did it on the spot).
6) Take a form for School Impact Fees to the local school district office, pay the fees, and bring back a copy back to the city.
After these are all done, then our contractor can go pick up the building permit to start work.
So now, we're only waiting on #4 (contractor's job) and #6 (submitting form to the city).
The building permit is ready but we have to do a few things before we can pick up.
1) Contractor had to submit his information, including license number.
2) Provide an additional copy of our plans for the county tax assessors office. (Thankfully our contractor had brought his plans so we just submitted those while he got a newly stamped copy of the approved plans.)
3) Complete a special inspection form (done on the spot).
4) Protect the street trees and fax over a Tree Protection form to the city. Once they receive the form, somebody will do a drive-by inspection the day after.
Note: tree protection could've been done before this first meeting with the city to save an extra day of waiting - work can't start until the city verifies our trees are protected.
5) Pay fees (brought our checkbook and did it on the spot).
6) Take a form for School Impact Fees to the local school district office, pay the fees, and bring back a copy back to the city.
After these are all done, then our contractor can go pick up the building permit to start work.
So now, we're only waiting on #4 (contractor's job) and #6 (submitting form to the city).
Monday, April 18, 2011
Contractor meeting: First steps
Over the weekend, we called our contractor to inform him of our approval. Had a meeting today to discuss the next steps.
Tomorrow - go to the planning office to pull the permits. He needs to put his name on the permit so that he can take over construction responsibilities as well as schedule field inspections with the city. We need to pay the permit fees.
His crew has been idle for 2 weeks now just waiting for us to get our approval. So thankful he did not pick up another job during this time. That would've meant a delay in our project!
** From another mom that's also undergoing remodeling and about 1.5 month ahead of us: the city's waste collector has put up a fuss about the garbage bin her contractor put up in front of the house for construction waste. Supposedly the waste collector is the exclusive provide of that service to the city so the resident would face fines for not using their services. **
Day after - Contractor will haul and unload his tools into the backyard.
Day after that - Crew shows up for work! :)
Tomorrow - go to the planning office to pull the permits. He needs to put his name on the permit so that he can take over construction responsibilities as well as schedule field inspections with the city. We need to pay the permit fees.
His crew has been idle for 2 weeks now just waiting for us to get our approval. So thankful he did not pick up another job during this time. That would've meant a delay in our project!
** From another mom that's also undergoing remodeling and about 1.5 month ahead of us: the city's waste collector has put up a fuss about the garbage bin her contractor put up in front of the house for construction waste. Supposedly the waste collector is the exclusive provide of that service to the city so the resident would face fines for not using their services. **
Day after - Contractor will haul and unload his tools into the backyard.
Day after that - Crew shows up for work! :)
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