Michael's response to my question

After reading that several times it seems pretty obvious he'll only accept certified plans. So, I guess that's what I'll do. I did send him a reply, though.

Ouch.

I wouldn't be surprised though if he's meaning he's required by law/legislation to gather this information without an engineers seal. And it sort of makes sense in that the engineer has a professional responsibility (with equivalent punishments for ****ing those up) while the 'average' person would/could probably screw a lot of this stuff up.

It just really sucks for people like you because there doesn't seem to be a way for you to prove that you're not a moron. Even after they've seen the other stuff you've built.

On one level I understand this. However, my interpretation of his responses is "I'll just keep telling you what is missing until you get it right, and it'll cost you $350 every time" I mean, the first response didn't mention anything about rebar, post connectors, etc. I would have missed that for sure.

It wouldn't have been that difficult for him to make some attempt to help me out. He could have taken 30 minutes out of his day to sit down with me and discuss this.

But this doesn't sit on an island. If this was the only issue I had encountered I think I could have dealt with it a lot better. But this is AFTER all the other bull**** I've had to deal with. It's just another example of someone down there yanking my chain just because they can.

Definitely. I totally understand where you're coming from. And the level of incompetence/indifference that you've encountered is mind boggling.

.

My goal today was to stain some lattice to finish up the deck. Much much more tedious than I thought it was going to be. I got 1 full piece and 1 side of a second piece (out of 8 I need to do) done in 5 hours. I would keep going but my back is acting up.

It took me the better part of a day to stain 2 1/2 more pieces. Sometimes I think it's just as hard on your body to do something where you aren't really moving/lifting as it is if you are. Just standing over the lattice all day for 2 days is about as much as I can do.

I have enough done to finish the next part of the deck. I probably could have started today but I've done enough.

I did this in shorts and splattered stain all over my legs. Only it won't come off. I look like I have some sort of skin disease.

In other news, that incident with the city for some reason has put me back in a funk. It's weird how something like that is a trigger. I mean, **** like that is just part of life but for some reason it has really knocked me down. I dunno.

paint thinner will get that stain off your legs; put a little on a rag and wipe it off. just make sure you wash with soap and water afterwards.

Bigger it is a temporary hurdle.
The reason it has knocked the stuffing out of you - is that you have done a great job and what they are saying is that it is not good enough for them. Which is how you are taking it and why you feel angry and deflated. You have done a great job - and they are just following procedures and only considering it from the perspective of the 'rules of the game' not whether or not you have actually done a good job.

So - just take a deep breath - think about the options you have in front of you. What do you want to happen? How to best achieve it?
Is it to do it as cheaply as possible? _ then look for the most cost efficient way of getting it done.
Is it to do it as quickly as possible? - then look for the sure fire way to get it approved that is not hugely expensive.


Find something else to distract yourself that does not require their approval that you can work on whilst you get the ball rolling on the approval process.

Chin up bro - you are doing great things - that I could never do!

Thanks digger. This isn't really a house problem or a city problem. I just haven't been in a good place and my natural defense mechanisms aren't working properly. Seemingly minor stuff has been kicking my ass. I'll get past it I think.

I got this really long email from the guy I gave an earful too. I'm somewhat sympathetic really. However, I think this could have been handled a different way. His first response was basically "you did it wrong. I'm not gonna tell you what is right but every time you get it wrong it's gonna cost you."

If he had maybe allowed me to sit down with him and let him explain where he was coming from I think I probably would have come to the conclusion that I need an engineer.

I talked to an engineering firm today and I think they can do this. I need to send them some info. We'll see.

12" frost line? wat? It's < 6" in TX, and it would take a biblically epic winter to get even close to that extreme.

fark

Farking ouch - get a second quote.

The shock is starting to wear off a bit so I decided to go with that engineering firm. I could probably shave a little money off of that but not much. I feel comfortable with this firm so I'm going with them.

In other news, the sheetrock guy is finally ready to start - Saturday.

I put up my lattice wall today. It went pretty smoothly. Getting everything level was hard though. That's really a 2 man job but I got it. I'm really happy with how it turned out.





Sheetrock guys are here. What a mess. Everything is covered - oven, refrigerator, sink. Kinda hard to do anything. But, that was expected.

OK, I got a contract from the engineer. Only it had this stuff in it. I have no idea if they want more money for this or what. I sent them an email to clarify.

All this for a frickin' 6 x 12 front porch. geez.

Yes, it is unclear whether they expect you to do that or that they are telling you that they need to get this on your behalf in order for them to do their job.

All you can do is ask and seek clarification from them.

That just looks like CYA boilerplate to me.

So, it doesn't really need to be done?

They are just saying that so if the city rejects it for one of those reasons they are covered?

I think it's more like if your deck sinks into the aquifer one day they get to say, "Hey, we strongly recommended a geoengineering study. Not our fault. We only did the footings and framing plan." As far as the city is concerned, a PE's license trumps their authority on pretty much anything outside of zoning ordinances.

My plan was to finish staining the lattice but it was drizzly all day and I'm sorta sick so not much got done by me. Did a little finishing up on a small table I built but not much else.

Jose worked all day. He finished up the sheetrock patching and textured everything. Tomorrow he will paint.

I really like this guy. He sort of does everything but unlike Lance he's really detailed and meticulous. I'll probably use him for other work. The only problem is he has more work than he can get to. But he's very reasonable. Actually, I think he sort of cheats himself. I'll probably toss a little more money in than he asked for.

He told me he had two customers that didn't pay him this year. One for a very large job ($23,000). That's a big hit for a one man show. He's such a nice guy that he he won't play hardball with the people that owe him. He's just taking the hit. He's got three kids so something like that really hit him hard.

Anyways, here's what he did. It's really hard to tell what is what, though.

I want my living room/kitchen back. That is all.

Jose finished the painting (yesterday). A++ job. I paid him more than the bid. the work was flawless. I took a couple of pics but nothing really captures the job well so I'll just post one.

Actually, it's really hard to get a good feel for anything with the interior pics. You just can't get a good idea of how it looks from the camera. Anyways.