BUSTED!

The porch was coming along beautifully... then the building inspector stopped by. NO, I did not get a buidling permit first. Yeah, Yeah... I know.... but I figured, we'll we're just fixing up something already there.. oh well..

So, we went down to the city, got our permit...




But, this is not perfect happy ending.... Seems I need a footing. For those of you as stupid about this stuff as I am.. a footing is a cement support, below the frost line (in va, 12") that you're support posts sit on. Usually a house goes on a footing. A deck just sits on a slab of concrete.. like mine was..

But a roof, makes it no longer just a deck. So, now... we're cutting up concrete, and digging and pouring... it's a mess. See:




BUT.. happy endings on the way.. a few more $$'s than I planned. A little longer than I anticipated. And a lot more anxiety.. while I still have to make it through two inspections... but this thing is going to be beautiful. In fact, it's built so well, I told the permits city employee, that I may just rent it out as an apartment to help pay for it. At which point he started rattling off all the codes and restirctions that apply to a duplex... these guys really have been stripped of any ability to lighten up.

Here's some progress pics.

It's coming along.

Here phase II of the porch.

Today they framed out the roof, so I think by early next week we'll be having dinner out on the patio.