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.