Passes and Fails

When we arrived Monday morning for the inspections, I worked on getting the plumbing stack filled with water. Of course, after I got it filled I couldn't get it to hold water. Some fiddling with my method and process for pressurzing the cleanout balloons finally rectified the "leaking".

While we waited for the inspector to arrive, Katie and I worked on running the low voltage Ethernet cabling to various locations in the house. We ran out of cable before we could complete the runs for the back door camera and the corner outlet in the main room.

When the inspector finally arrived after 3pm, he quickly discovered that although we had 3 copies of our blue prints, none of them were the official "county stamped" set. (!!) Normally an inspector would walk away at that point and tell us to have the set next time we call, BUT he graciously got as much done as he could.

• The plumbing inspection took barely 5 minutes. Pass. What a let down. I was SO prepared to explain everything.
• The shear wall inspection took maybe 10 minutes. 
• He niggled the fireplace roof framing *again* and asked for a simple correction to the roof joist.
• He tagged our staircase to the downstairs as not providing enough headroom (80"). We'll need to shave the beam (with engineering approval) or have Norm redo the staircase.
• In looking through the fireplace manual, he advised us not to install a fireplace mantle until *after* final inspection due to clearances.
• He noted the need to fully comply with egress window and staircase code -- but not required until final inspection.
• He wants a smoke detector in the hallway outside the master bedroom. The one on the other wall near the bunk room is apparently not sufficient... (even though L&I passed it.) :-|

So, the final results for Monday were:

• Shear Wall - Completed
• Rough Pluming - Completed
• Rough Mechanical - Requires Reinspection (@ Final because the fan vents won't be run until after drywall)
• Chimney Roughin - Requires Reinspection

We didn't depart until after 5pm, and when we arrived home I immediately went out to the garage and located the stamped set of plans. (Doh!) Then attempted to reschedule the Floor Framing and Rough Framing inspections for Tuesday.

I got confirmation about 8am on Tuesday morning that he would be up there early afternoon to do the floor and framing inspections. I worked the morning at my office, then left with the stamped plans about 10am.

Even though he had previously done substantial framing inspections when the framing crew was on sight, he didn't recall any of that and completely revisited everything. Rather than bore the reader with all the details, the basics of the inspection results are that there were some changes in how the framing, block, and strapping were done when compared to the plan. I thought his inspection would focus on where holes had been drilled in joists and studs. He wants an engineer's stamp on the changes to sign things off.

Final results for Tuesday were:

• Rough Framing - Requires Reinspection
• Floor Framing - Requires Reinspection

We're back on the phone with Norm to figure out how to best engage with the project engineer to document and get his stamp on the as-built changes. (Heavy sigh.)

I'm completely stressed out.

We've paid a 50% deposit to the insulation contractor, but we can't insulate until we get everything passed off. The first snow at the pass is forecasted for Thursday. I've got a construction loan that should close by end of the month. But if I don't get this place insulated and heated before the snow falls in earnest, I can't make any progress this winter.

I'm headed up this weekend with a rented 40' ladder that I'll use to finishing runing the waste stack vents above the roof line. Also, need to make some tweaks to the water shutoff and finish running the Ethernet cable. If you enjoy climbing ladders, you're warmly invited.