I have built a 10×14 kitchen addition to my house. I live in a county in Maryland. I pulled the permit for the kitchen and the subs pulled the elec, HVAC and plumbing. If you throw in the foundation, framing, insulation inspections, the inspectors have been to the houseat least 15 times. We just did the finals for HVAC and plumbing yesterday. I don’t think the inspectors have spent a total of 15 minutes looking at the addition. So far, the only thing that they have not passed me on is the dishwasher vent and they said just write a letter and they will exempt it. No one has looked at the work in the crawl space. I have taken it on my self to make sure all my work is well above code and safe for my family, but it would be reassuring to have an inspector take more than 45 seconds to pass my work. I could see if I was a well know builder that works with the inspectors all the time, but I am just an advanced DIY’er.
I am thinking that in the future I will pay the engineer that my architecht uses to visit the site a couple of times. Any other suggestions?
Replies
what did you find when you inspected work? inspectors can see an amazing amount in just moments, and know when to object.. If you've been doing it as long as the inspector in my town has you can tell at a glance if things are done right or not.. Besides, chances are the subs have been inspected many times by that same inspector and know what they should do and just do it..
methinks you're just lookin' for trouble..
Gotta agree with Frenchy here. Most inspectors know the contractors they are dealing with and know who to trust and who not to. More then likely you made good decisions on who is doing the work and the inspector knows it. More then likely the inspector is looking for accepted process and procedure rather then hands and knees inspecting. An extreme example of this would be the insulation and drywall going up before the plumbing and electrical is finished in the walls. That would raise some eyebrows.
I do have to say though that in some areas, all permits and inspecting is about is taxing base and not the work. It's a shame, but it does go on.
Don
"More then likely the inspector is looking for accepted process and procedure rather then hands and knees inspecting."
That is what I concentrated on when I was doing the work. Every time I ran onto something that I wasn't 100% sure about, I researched it and found out what the SOP was. I was also very concerned with quality and safety and tried to make good decision based on those qualities. I guess I did ok.
I was thinking that it was a money thing too. I was just wondering that if I as Joe Homeowner didn't get the harry eyeball, who does?View Image
Do ya have to have that picture as a signature in every one of your posts?The most predictable thing about the stock market is the number of experts who take credit for predicting it. [Dave Weinbaum]
Do ya have to have a witty saying in each of YOUR posts?
Just kidding. There are a couple of good motorcycle forums on Delphi that I post in a lot and it is accepted practice there. I usually edit them out here but was being lazy today.
But Gas, Boss's changes every time.
Seriously, if yours changed into different things, like, pictures of different bikes, the wimmen on bikes, hints about doing things to your bike, or such, I'd be looking forward to your next post like some groupie.
After seeing your pic a few times I was starting to realize your resemblance to Mike Myers, duded up for "Goldmember." You Kin of his, maybe, or the family Blacksheep. destined to ride the Hog!? :-)Jules Quaver for President 2004
Bawahahahah!!! I had a MD inspector I got real mad at because he didn't show up. Or so I thought. after 3 days he called me and said the sticker was on the mailbox and to stop calling. Never got outta the car.
Another was an Irishman who's last day of work (retiring)was St. Patties day, He was 3 sheets to the wind showing up to inspect a deck. It had more then 1 problem but he was having more trouble negotiating the driveway much less the deck stairs.
If you want an inspector to find what you did wrong you need to look higher then MD inspectors.
Heck I know of builders drawing hex heads 2 stories up on beams that needed lags because the inspector had piss poor eyesight and passed the inspection. Or the inspector that passed framing with no stair to the basement because "OSHA wouldn't allow him to go down the ladder". It was really his fat butt that wouldn't get him down the ladder, he had a heart attack the next week.
Need I go on?????
If you were arrested for being a quality builder would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Edited 2/21/2003 10:21:36 PM ET by GEOB21
Gascap,
You doing the work explains alot. Most inspectors are one heck of a lot more lienent on homeowners then contractors. Their looking more a the basics of safety and they understand any non-saftey problem is going to be fixed by you. A example of this around here would be minimal joints in a gas line to a water heater would pass from a HVAC contractor, while the homeowner can piece the pipe together and it will pass. Conduit from an electrical contractor has to run vertical and horizontal, the homeowner can use all the angles they want. A big thing with inspectors in this area is making sure the homeowner is getting what they paid for from a contractor.
Don
I think that depends on the inspector. In my area, they tend to scrutinize DIYers pretty close, not to be hard-### but to ensure that the work is done correctly. Most of them are pretty good about guiding an amateur along so the work is essentially correct. (We do have a plumbing inspector who seems a little antagonistic toward everybody if he's having a bad hair day).
With contractors, they generally look over a project with their attentiveness to detail in proportion to the history of the builder they're inspecting. A friend of mine is a framer (who I'd not hire to build a doghouse) who is sloppy and always cutting corners and goes on a tirade everytime he's told to make corrections. With him, it's a viscious circle and he can't get it through his German thick skull that he'd save himself a lot of grief if he'd just do things right the first time (he's perfectly capable) and then not try to start WWIII when the inspector shows up.
Occasionally, a relief inspector or a newby will show up who isn't up to speed with the builders or is just learning the ropes. Those are sometimes a problem but patience usually wins out.
I don't mind challenging an inspector if he's off the mark on something but I try to pick the hill I'm willing to die on so I save my ire for the truly absurd, or totally rediculous.
My only really bad experiences with inspectors was a few years ago when some of the smaller towns were contracting their building inspection services with some engineering firms who were sending out some real pinheads. The people they were hiring were self-important wanna-be Gestapo knotheads that created confrontation on virtually every jobsite.
Jules Quaver for President 2004
I figured they could see a lot in a short time and that they would be looking for common mistakes that might mean they would have to dig deeper. Since i did all the framing, insulation, roofing etc. I thought they would give me a little more of glance since I am not know to them. I think that I did good work and always followed code or better, but i thought they they could have spent more than about 45 seconds looking for violations...not that I wanted any. I figured going into this project that they would catch things that I may have missed.
View Image
> but i thought they they could have spent more than about 45 seconds looking for violations...
It's the same way here, they're in and out in a matter of minutes. I have the official stamped plans spread out on the dining room table and meet them on the front porch with a clip board and a list of questions. The first words they hear are "Hi, I'm an owner-builder, I'm doing all this myself." Then I lead them right to anything I'm unsure about.
-- J.S.
Be assured that the inspectors probably looked at a lot more than you think. The one quality that inspector's have from their experience is the ability to see things that most people overlook. Check with the chief inspector about your plumbing questions if you are still in need of answers. If you are a good DIYer and overbuilt your project they are aware and can see your work. Inspector are there to assure that the work is proceeding according to plans at the time of their visit. They do not do the quality control inspections that is assumed by the everyone. That work is what your architect or engineer will be doing and your assumption to hire them to protect you against contract fraud is very well founded.
Gas Cap, no offense intended, but if you look like that when the inspectors show up, you probably scared the #### outta them and they beat it. Here, if you are known to the inspector some will just gloss over the project assuming you aren't trying to pull one over on them. Others will dissect the job, even tho you have a good rapor with them, occasionally making "suggestions" on how they would like something done. You have to realize that the qualified inspectors spot things just walking around with their eyes open. Still, no one in the crawl is just laziness or a fear of getting dirty. We have one here that will go down in the crawl and inspect everything down there. You as a homowner should be concerned, with a builder that builds em right, you should probably have no worry.
__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I don't look near as mean in person as the picture makes me look. Since I did most of the work (except plumbing, HVAC and electrical) myself, I thought sure at least one of them would have crawled all over me. To get through the project with one little issue seems "too easy".View Image
Hey, at least they looked the job. We got an inspector down here in Va who'll inspect the job from his car.
Panama.... where in VA???? Roanoke here.
alexandria
FYI.....that is NOT VA..... gotta be west of the Blue Ridge to be in the real VA! lol I am an immigrant to VA/mtns....but now a hillbilly.
first pic. This is the old home place.
If you wonder about their short time at your place, check the schedule of places they have to visit that day. Sometimes they are so short-handed and have so many sites they have to visit--doesn't do well to hold up jobs too long--that they simply can't afford the time for more than a cursory glance. I'd think they could quickly assess if a place looks like big trouble or not. Like so many other places, too many sites to visit and too few people to do it.
In Chicago I called for a framing inspection for my attic dormer. The guy on the phone said do you really want to do that since it will delay your job (I'm a DIY). I said that I thought I needed it before installing the siding and drywall. The said to just go ahead and finish. The electrical inspector was sort of competent. In Chicago you have be a license electrician to do any work. The guy I hired installed a new service and ran a ground to a ground rod and one to the water pipe. The inspector rejected the grounding stating that only one ground was allowed and the current code only allowed grounding to the water pipe. He did say that in two months the code was changing and would require a grounding rod. The electrician removed the ground wire to the rod and covered the grounding rod with leaves. It passed. The plumbing inspection took 1 minute. The inspector walked in the door and looked up the stairs and said "Looks good to me" . He signed the permit and told me to call him when I had finished so that he could issue a "final inspection report" (he stated that he had no need to see what color fixtures I had installed in issue a final inspection). It could be worse. I had an inspector in another town on my first house that told me to non-code complying stuff (mainly electrical).