Woo-Hoo!!!! First Code Enforcement Permit Signed Off!!!

Woo, I say, Woo-Hoo!!!

Check out the glorious pic below.

That's our finaled code enforcement permit!!!
It was due to run out on 4/11/12 and I have been sweating that date for a while now.
This is the whole, if its not done in a year we're going to refile the lein on your house and charge you another giant bucket of cash to remove it thing....
Good Lord what a relief to get that out of the way!!!

Now we have one more code enforcement permit covering the deck and the kitchen in the main house to finish.
It's a good thing that the deck is an all outside job and today's weather was cold, 46 deg F and rainy! Perfect working outside weather right?

To celebrate I'm going to cook a fancy meal for everyone.
Ahhhh, steak dinner and a nice bottle of red wine tonight!
BBQ up some marinated asparagus, a big portabella mushroom grilled to perfection, and a nice salad, something for everyone.

Wait, ya know does something seem wrong about this?
I bust my hump getting the work done and creating the reason for the celebration then I do all the cooking also.....hmmmm... ;)

One more for the road....
Woooooo-Hooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final Permit Approved!!! Hurray!!!!..Oh, Wait...I'm totally boned...

Got the FINAL code enforcement permit approved recently....

Like how it is stamped in red across the top... 'Enforcement Action'

If you open the pic you can actually read all the fee's! There's the fee for this, and the fee for that and a fee for the other...not fines..definitely not fines...just fees.....

This is the permit to legalize the deck and the kitchen remodel in the main unit.

Here's the 'I'm totally boned' part...

They were going to give me only 3 months to do it!?!?!??! That means, that yes, during the worst weather possible I would have to be working OUTSIDE getting the deck fixed...I literally had to beg to get it extended for six months...

For Those Keeping Track

I have six months left on the demo permit for the two illegal bottom units...I also have a permit to legalize the two as a single 3-2...that permit is good for 3yrs....buuuuut..I basically have to get all the work done within the six months I have left on the demo permit....or risk further code enforcement action.

So, that's two separate permits that both are going to expire in 6 months...that if I don't get signed off the city could re-open the code enforcement case against us and re-levy all those fees (not fines) against us!!! Hurray!!!!

Annd we can't afford to have pros in to help so that means me and whatever unskilled labor we can get.....hurray!!!!!

Its a gonna be a busy six months around here...hope my back and health holds out....

Another Deadline Met!!

The end of Sept was also the deadline for us to get our plans re-submitted to the city with all the changes their plan check engineer wanted.

As usual it was a crazy last minute rush with me having to rush over to the engineers office so he could sign and stamp the plans. Then when I got to the building dept. the women who usually handles this stuff was off and the person filling in had a different take on what I needed....I only had 2 copies of the plans but she said I needed 4 because planning had a hold on the plans...This was serious, new news to me. Last I heard we had passed the major design review and planning had signed off on all of it....

I had to rush home and print out two more sets of the plans...luckily the sets for planning did not need to be stamped and signed by the engineer.

Without Further Ado...The Plans!!!

Here is the framing plan for the main deck.

I have to add two 2by12's to the spots noted to beef up the rim joists...that is going to suck as I will have to shorten the existing joists then install the new rim and re-attach the joists.

Here is the post-footing plan.

The existing footings are 12" square...which means I will have to dig up and redo the three footings that need to be 18"...that's not super great...but now I won't have to dig up all the footings and redo them.

Construction Details.

Framing Plan for the Balcony.

I'm going to have to do some work on the landing and the stringer connection....which will be fun as its super high in the air...

Some Renders of the different views of the existing stuff.

I had to put the note in about the floor to floor distance as the cities engineer didn't believe it was 12'. He thought it was more..
And Finally the plan for our super fab kitchen.

I'm seriously hoping that the cities plan check engineer takes another 3-4 months to look this over. My biggest fear is that he'll get back to me quickly and they'll issue the permit at the beginning of winter and I'll lose several months of outdoor construction time because its raining...only have a year to finish everything after the permit is issued....

And Now The Hard Work Begins Part 2

Okay when last we left we talked about the work that had to happen in the basement.

Now lets talk about the work that has to happen on the 2nd floor.

Converting Two Studio Apartments Into A Single One Bedroom

Here is the approved plan for the conversion.

You can see that maybe its a weird lay out but it fulfills our requirements for the least amount of work required. And I believe I can do this without having to have the tenant that currently occupies the C unit move out.

Here are some shots of the interior of Unit B.

The super sweet bathroom

The water heater is in a closet in the bathroom. Its an electric model.

Here's a shot of the kitchen. That's the bathroom door on the right.

Kitchen from the doorway looking in.

This unit does have a working gas range, old fridge and a dishwasher!

 The main living area of the unit.

 Here is the closet that I am going to shorten to make the hallway.

The main living area as viewed from the front door.

What Has To Be Done

Windows:

Nothing!!! Hurray!!!!

Bathrooms:

Nothing!!! Hurray!!!!

Electrical:

I need to tie both subpanels back together at the meter base and make sure the main cut off at the meter base can handle the load.

Gots to add the wired smoke and CO detectors.

Need to add more outlets to comply with current codes-AFCI protected.

Need to add switched over head lights and exterior lights for the doors.

Framing:

I'm going to have to shorten the back to back closets and create a hallway.

Kitchen:

Remove it completely and turn it into a regular room.

Plumbing:

I have to cap all the plumbing for the kitchen in the walls.

I have to cap the gas line to the kitchen as its meter will be servicing the new unit in the basement. 

I'm going to keep the two electric water heaters for now. I figure this way the tenant and a guest and both shower at the same time!

HVAC:

There is an electric wall mount heater that works... I might change it out for a newer one or go with the super hideous electric baseboard heat... I don't think it makes sense to add a furnace to this little unit....does it? Or maybe a mini-split system? It does get pretty darn hot up in these little back units...that might be getting a little fancy though?

How does that sound to everyone?

Course I haven't even thought about if I need to do things like freshen the bath? It appears to be in good working order it just looks a little dated.

And Now The Hard Work Begins...Advice Requested.

Okay sooo, got the permits to start the work....cept I just seriously threw my back out and I'm not doing any kind of anything for a while....Actually I've got a full plate of 'computer stuff' to do right now so I'll be busy but still, I wanna get this work started!!!

Except I'm not entirely sure how exactly to go about doing the work.

Here's what we have to do for the bottom floor.

I've got to turn this illegal set-up

Sorry about the lack of detail on this existing drawing, doesn't show the existing electrical or kitchens.

Into this legal set-up.

But what does that mean exactly?
Windows:
I don't have to change out any of the windows, thank god.


Bathrooms:

The bathrooms are staying put as-is. Except that I will have to convince the inspector that they were installed correctly. This is probably going to entail cutting into the walls in various places so he can have a look around...I also have to redo the fan-light switch wiring because the fan and light has to be able to be switched separately. I am also adding an on the wall vanity light to both baths.

Electrical:
I'm going to have to add AFCI protected outlets to all the rooms as they only have one per now. Should I cut in new boxes and fish wire or just remove drywall?

Switched over head lights need to be added in most of the rooms and  hallways.

I need to add powered smoke and CO detectors to the ceilings as shown.

I'm moving the location of the units electrical panel to a different wall and probably adding several circuits to it.

Framing:
I'll need to add and remove some non-load bearing walls. Biggest thing I'm going to do is remove the wall in the kitchen to open it up to the family room to have a single 'great room'.

The PO also installed bamboo floor in the one bedroom apartment that I will have to pull up as its buckled, ugly and installed incorrectly.

Plumbing:
God, where to start.
The baths and kitchens are all plumbed already and I'm not anticipating having to do anything with the DWV stuff (lord I hope so as its all in concrete...).
But the water supply piping? Somehow, the hot water to these two basement kitchens and bathrooms is piped to the one, single lone water heater in the 3rd floor attic!!! I believe all the plumbing is in the ceiling of the basement. I wonder if I'm going to have to remove most of the drywall on the ceiling just to figure out the water supply piping?

I will have to run new gas lines to the new mechanical room for the new furnace and tankless water heater that will be servicing the unit.

I will install a tankless water heater in the mechanical room also.


HVAC:

Right now there is a single furnace that is ducted to heat this basement unit and the main floor of the house above. I'm going to have to untangle the ducts and separate the ducts for the two different units with two different furnaces. I've also got to fix the heating for the bottom unit which means adding registers and returns in many places..work I've never really done before.

So that's two new correctly sized furnaces and a tankless water heater all installed in the mechanical room. All of them are of the condensing type and all of them will be vented horizontally with PVC pipe through the North wall of the house. I'll also have to figure out what to do with the condensate.

Kitchens:
I'm going to have to 'un-build' these two kitchens

and then re-install the cabinets in the new single bigger kitchen.

Whats the best way to un-build a kitchen? Can I save the granite countertops to re-use them?
I'm going to have to add a ton of outlets to the new kitchen for the counter top, the frig, the dishwasher, range, MW, hood...at what point does it just make more sense to completely remove the drywall and start from a clean plate?

I Need A Plan:
I think I need to decide just how much drywall needs to be demo'd. All the drywall? Just the ceilings? The ceilings and the kitchen?? Would love some advice on that. Seems like all the ceilings are going to have to come down..between running new heating ducts in the ceiling, gas piping, the water piping, the smoke and CO detectors...

Here's my vague sketch of a plan.
Unbuild the kitchens myself. So they don't get F'd up.
Pay somone to come in and remove all the drywall that needs it and clean up after themselves.
Then I come in and do the expensive stuff to hire out. The wiring, plumbing.
Then pay someone else to drywall the place.
I hang the kitchen cabinets.
Then I paint and finish the floors. There is brand new carpet on the south side of the apartment. I would live to save it and keep it as is...does that make any sense? Can it be reasonably protected from the destruction-construction process?

How does that sound? Not sure about how much of a budget I'm going to have to hire any of this out after I pay for the materials...
Help!

And this is just the bottom unit work, still have the two units to deal with on the second floor!

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We Got Our Permits!!!

Well, we got half of them anyways! Hurray!!!

The super nice folks at the Alameda Building Dept (obvious ass kissing) called me recently to tell me that my permits were ready and that I could come pick them up!

Hurray!! Now we can get started on converting the illegal work in the basement into a single 3-2 apartment and converting the two studio apartments into a single one bedroom two bath apartment. All legal and above board!

We also got the plan check comments for the code enforcement work, back from the city!

These are the permits to legalize the back deck, stairway, and 2nd story landing, and to legalize the kitchen remodel all work illegally done by the PO.

I've read through the comments and there do not seem to be any real 'we're going to get screwed' comments. Most of them are about the deck and are questions the engineer will have to answer.

One question I don't know how to answer is this.

The engineer says that there needs to be a outlet for this length of counter top at the breakfast bar.

I mean, I can draw an outlet on the plans no problem but how to actually get an outlet into that counter area. All the options seem bad to me.

Besides the joy of cutting through the granite for the box I'm pretty sure that, that back splash is solid wood behind the granite...I don't know about cutting out the granite and then cutting into the wood framing for clearance for the outlet box? I'd probably have to open up the wall on the other side of the backsplash to check and see what the situation is. If I'm wrong about it being solid wood then putting an outlet in the backsplash will probably make the most sense.

I guess I could do a flush with the counter top outlet? But having a horizontal outlet there seems like a really, really bad idea.

Could I put an outlet on top of the breakfast bar in some kind of enclosure? Man, would that look ugly...

How can I get an outlet to service this counter?

Any suggestions?

Permits Update

This post should be subtitled,

We're Okay, no wait we're super screwed!!!! no wait, we're okay again....

Still Waiting To Hear About The Code Enforcement Permits...

When last we met, we were still waiting to hear back from the cities plan checker on the permits I submitted for the pre-existing code enforcement issues.

We hustled our butts to make their permitting deadline and now we're waiting....still waiting....

We were freaked because it was explained to us that code enforcement cases have a very strict one year deadline...we submitted the permits back on April 11th... and we still haven't heard anything back yet...well it turns out the one year clock doesn't start until after the city issues the permit...so I guess theres no rush???

Remodeling Permits Fall Into Code Enforcement Black Hole....

We also recently submitted permits to combine the two studio apartments into one apartment and to move one of the units into the basement.

When you file a regular permit they give you a due date about 4 weeks out....well it had been over two weeks past the deadline and I still hadn't heard anything from the city..Annnd I'd been calling like every three days...

FINALLY, someone said, 'Oh, this is a code enforcement case. those stay on the bottom of the pile!'...Nothing I could do could convince this person that, that was not the case...Even though the permit number starts with a CB which means Combo Building permit and code enforcement permits start with an X!!

I had to get the code enforcement officer to talk to them and set them straight.

After he did that I got the comments back in the mail like 4 days later!!!! Hurray!!!

We're Screwed

The plan check engineer just had some minor comments mostly about clarifying things that were all just minor edits.

The fire code plan checker on the other hand...Insisted that the existing windows in our pre-1942 house would HAVE to be upgraded to modern egress standards!

That would mean removing all the original double hung windows and replacing them with fully opening out swing casement windows that adhere to the cities design guide...That would of added thousands of dollars to the remodel cost and lots of man hours...maybe effectively blowing us out of the water....

We're Okay

But the cities engineer said the exact opposite! 'Theres Hope!!', I thought.

Going straight to the top I sent the cities building official an email outlining the situation and he sided with the engineer!! Waa-Hoooo!!!!

As I've said before his word is law and that means that nobody else down there should screw with me about keeping the original windows.

One thing that is going to be a kinda PITA is that I have to 1hr fire rate the joist bays where I am venting the two furnaces and tankless water heater.

I've already finished the changes and should be ready to turn in this revised set of plans Monday morning!! Maybe they'll even issue the plans shortly afterword? That is, if they don't find something else super wrong...which is always a possibility...

Knifecatching 1417 Central Ave

Warning-this review is based on incomplete permit information. Please go here to read the new revised review.

Today's very special house is 1417 Central Ave. A 4+bed 3bath 3000 sq ft home (public facts show this as a 2-2 2900 sq ft house) on a lot of indeterminate size but I'd guess around 3500 sq ft for $799k. Last sold in 03 for $720k. Check out the zillow page here.

I'm going to put in a stronger than usual disclaimer for this very special house....

Read This: The following review is just my opinion and only my opinion I am not a professional house appraiser or inspector and I am not a structural engineer. You should probably regard this as just the incoherent babbling of an unbalanced mind....

If you love your family and value their safety Run, Run away from this house!!! Do not be enticed by its location and size!

Man, where to start.....this house has so much wrong with it that I was literally flabbergasted when viewing it. Ugh... as an exercise count how many unpermitted modifications were made to this house.

Looks okay from the outside right? We were initially very excited to view this house as its spec's seemed right up our alley and the price is in our comfort range. The house is located 2 blocks from Franklin park and school and it has the amazing central ave street trees that we lust after. When we got up closer to the place something didn't seem right.

Damn some jackass clad the entire house in vinyl...vinyl siding, soffets and no original trim left on the outside of the house. There however is a newish electrical service of 200 amps....done without permits.....

Here's a view of the brady-bunch front door...This house is a colonial revival and this stacked stone entryway is so not correct...and the brick porch is wrong also...

I couldn't get a picture of the front room but picture a McMansion great room with a stacked stone brady bunch corner fireplace. Here's a shot of the 'great room' with all this amazing open space-notice there are no interior walls in this entire area-that's going to be important later...look at that fancy kitchen.

Off the great room is this full bath with a super great circa mid 90's feel...redone without permits...

A close up view of the kitchen. Its big and big, the countertops look newer than the rest of the place. Check out that staging..this entire new-fancy kitchen was also done without permits...

Opposite the kitchen is this nice sized dining nook. Which had an interesting slant to the floor.

At the end of the great room is this nice little library room that counts as one of the bedrooms. It has sliding glass doors out to the deck..this room was also built without permits...and when I say built, I mean that this is a 2-story addition to the house done completely without permits!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Next the the library room is this little laundry area with a door out to the backyard and deck.

Here's a shot of the deck that you can access from the library or the side yard. Speaking of yards...this is it. No yard just a deck...by the way this deck was also done without permits....;

Walk down the stairs of the deck and you see this 2 carish garage. It appears to be in good shape...its also covered in vinyl siding...problem is, that they've landscaped the side yard as to make in impossible to get a car back here!

The house is advertised as having a basement... This area is maybe 6'-2" high. Its got a concrete foundation with lots of evidence of water seepage. I guess this could be storage space...when you walk through that opening to where the water heater is it gets weird... I should say that a permit was pulled to do some earthquake retro-fitting!

Walk through the doorway and look right. There is this weird tiered retaining wall thing they've done instead of just doing the foundation correctly.

Here's a shot of the center load bearing wall. This looks to me like the original framing on its original brick foundation!?!?! Notice the complete lack of posts and beefed up foundation piers to handle the severely increased point loads from the open floor plan above. Seeing the original sole plates everywhere is a serious red flag to me. All the real foundation contractors replace the always rotted sole plate with treated 3by lumber. Whats with the cement block retaining wall? How do we know its not compromising the integrity of the brick foundation.

Here's a peek through to the other side of the basement that has not been dug out. It looks like a concrete foundation but still with the original sole plate?!?! Okay now I have to drop a major bomb on y'all....all this foundation work, done without permits!!! This just blows me away...but once you know that, the half assed job they did on the foundation makes some sense. They had to do it on the sly. No jacking the house up on steel beams and excavating and forming up and pouring real foundation walls.

Up the stairs to the second floor you have this landing.

Off the landing you have this little room set up as a nursery. Which made me laugh cause those non-original vinyl windows are acting as doors to..

A little balcony-just what you want your toddler to have access to. The balcony did appear to be nice place to hang out and enjoy a cuppa in the morning. I can't say if this is original to the house but it was redone without permits.

Next we have this good sized bedroom. This was probably the original master bedroom. Those windows face Central Ave which is a pretty busy street and it was surprisingly loud in the room-even with the dual-paned vinyl windows shut tight. Don't think I could sleep in there.

Nother bedroom on the top floor.

Here's the kids bath...also done without permits.

Here is the new master bedroom in the illegal addition. Its good sized.

Super disco master bath..with groovy gold-toned hardware...was there a time when gold-toned metal actually connoted luxury? It just seems dated to me. This bath was added without a permit.

Big master closet off the bath. That's it for the pictures.

Okay kiddies lets review all the changes made to the house without permits...
1. Replaced the windows and siding with vinyl.
2. Rebuilt foundation.
3. Made MAJOR structural changes to the main level by removing load bearing walls.
4. Added a 2 story addition to the back of the house.
5. Built a deck off the back of the house.
6. Remodeled the kitchen.
7. Remodeled the 2 baths.
8. Added a master bath.
9. Completely redone the elec, waste and plumbing lines.

The remodeling kitchen and baths isn't such a big deal..But the big structural changes made to the house, including adding a 2 story addition and redoing the foundation without permits are a really, really, REALLY big deal. They removed a significant amount of the load bearing walls on the second floor reducing the shear strength significantly. Actually I didn't see any shear panels in the short dimension of the house...that coupled with the lack of interior walls on the middle floor is a scary proposition in an earthquake.

The cities engineer didn't sign off on any of these modifications...did any engineer? I'd guess no by the lack of posts and piers in the basement to take the added point loads of the open floor plan above. Are those beams and posts, now hidden behind drywall, even close to being correct for their spans-loads? Who knows...there is absolutely no guarantee that this place won't fold like a house of cards in the next good sized shaker.

I talked with the listing agent at length about the house. He confirmed my fears that all of this work was done without permits and or oversight. That the house was completely gutted, a second story addition was added and the house was completely remuddled in the interior and the foundation was redone all without permits. I asked the listing agent, 'How in good conscious can you sell a house in such a state.' He replied that it was all in the disclosures and basically washed his hands of any responsibility. He said that he personally would never buy a house in such a state...He said that the current owners were ignorant and had a bad buyers agent which is why they didn't get the previous seller to correct these issues. What he's looking for is a 'greater fool'. An ignorant buyer with a incompetent or corrupt agent to offload the house onto.

In the permit record there is a complaint from 93 saying heavy equipment is on site and major work being done without a permit. The city appears to of done nothing about it...if they had maybe the house wouldn't be in the sad-scary state its in.

Legalizing this work is a seriously expensive minefield.

If the city wants to play hardball (and they have done this in the past) with this house they can require that the addition be torn off and rebuilt to code, actually they can require that ALL the unpermitted work be torn out and redone to code. That means you'd have to pay the fines, then pay the new permit fees, then pay to have it all removed and then pay to have it all installed correctly. You'd have to hire a structural engineer to do a full analysis of the house. That means opening up finished surfaces so he can see whats there, I don't know how he would determine if the foundation is safe without digging up large sections to inspect....

To reiterate-

Run, Run Away from this house!!!
Don't be the 'Greater Fool.'