Been a minute, I know...I was away all last week, and, a fair bit has transpired since I last posted.
The house is ready for a "rough in" inspection. This check on all the infrastructure precedes insulation and then drywall. It was to have taken place a week ago Friday. I was at the airport awaiting boarding my flight that morning when my contractor pinged me and asked if I could talk. Turns out the inspector won't do the rough in inspection because, yes, there's another stamp on the plans that's in the way.
So this falls into the category of the roadmap not being available or transparent. When we got the plans, you may remember there were a bunch of stamps on it.
This time the nemesis is the stamp placed by the Fire code enforcement folks which says Fire Sprinklers are required. They're not. Fortunately, back in 2017 when the first big fire storms hit the State, we had a piece of legislation passed in support of rapid building and rebuild of housing that exempts ADUs of less than 1200 sq ft from the sprinkler requirement if the existing structure on the property is not required to have them. That is the case in this instance, but it seems to be that the County is saying "prove to us you don't require them and are exempt" vs them checking in the first place and not putting this requirement on the permit.
When we received this, I noted that and knew that I would need to clear it up before getting final sign off. Silly me. It turns out it needs to be cleared up NOW because naturally an inspector who sees that on the plans won't do the rough in inspection if sprinklers haven't been installed. An amusing side note of nostalgia on all this...the legislator who put this into motion is Bob Wieckowski, with whom I worked while on staff at Congressman Don Edwards' office, who is a Fremont home town guy who ultimately got elected to City Council and is now State Senator. Thanks Bob!
Getting this news as I'm getting on a
plane meant that it couldn't be dealt with for a week - so everything's
been pushed back until I returned and I'm going to the County tomorrow
to clear it up. 😒 So much for my get out ahead of it strategy! The working assumption now is if I can get that taken care of tomorrow, we'd have the rough in inspection by the end of the week and get insulation set up for next week. 🤞🤞🤞
In the meantime, trimmings have been proceeding at the house. The big double doors are all installed! Made some last minute switch ups in the plan on that but, it all worked out great.
The installation of the doors allows for the siding to be installed on those panels, it all looks so much more intact now! The one set of doors that is white didn't come in the same trim color but I got the paint formula for the trim and it'll be painted to match outside and the inside will be painted to match the interior walls...pretty sweet.
It's cool to see and experience the space with all the light that the doors provide! It's becoming!
Doors from kitchen out to covered patio
While I was away this week I was able to make progress on a bunch of things...things that I've been noodling on and carrying mentally for a long time...so happy to have these off my "to do" list! First of all, the local appliance store, Asien's, that has been in business here for decades, shuttered abruptly and unexpectedly two weeks ago. I had quotes from them for my fridge, cooktop and dishwasher and fortunately, did not have an order placed with them - lots of other people are way more stuck than me with this development.
I immediately got to sourcing alternatives and boy did I get lucky! I was able to get my dishwasher, fridge and washer/dryer tower from a wholesale outlet saving over $2500! And I got my cooktop from a place in NY that saved me about $600 so feeling pretty good about where all that landed. Not only that, but they'll hold the appliances until I'm ready for them...wohoo!
I also found a hot tub! Super excited about landing this deal...my hot tub lifestyle makes that element a necessary one for my well being. The one I've had since 2008 has done its time, I've moved it twice and I don't think it can withstand another move. Getting another one, however, is a sticker price shocker to say the least. I managed to get connected to a shop near me that takes hot tubs when people swap them out/upgrade and they replace all of the electronics, put in a new pump and ozonator and give you a fresh lid and new chrome jet covers...basically rebuild the thing, and sell them for half their retail price. I found the perfect unit, in a price range I could say yes to AND they are giving me money for mine and taking it away to boot! SCORE!
On a good trajectory - keeping the process flowing...working next on the carport design, and finalizing the etched glass front door purchase....we are on a ROLL!
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