Welcome to new member Jonathan Szczepanski (who is buiding a new workshop)

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Does it say why? I detest inspectors and the power they have to stop a process like yours. Sorry yuou are going through that and hope you get it resolved fast.

[Jim Becker]

Permits usually have a life span and it's important to remember "when" that is. In my area, they are good for no more than one year. The folks across the street got nailed on that when they chose to deal with their fire damage themselves and hit the one-year mark "faster than they thought"...

Sorry to hear of this issue, Johnathan, but it's pretty much the nature of the beast. I hope you can hook up with the inspector, etc., and get your permit renewed quickly. That orange sign is...umm...too "outstanding", if you know what I mean!

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

Does it say why?

Kelly -

In my county, the permit is good for two years, and you must have at least one inspection every six months.

The Stop Work order doesn't say why my permit has expired, but I beleive it is because I haven't had an inspection in six months. The next inspection I have to get is the framing inspection. I thought that an expired permit would just prevent me from getting an inspection. I didn't think they would put up a Stop Work order. I only thought that they would do that if I was breaking the law.

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

I do have some good news to report. I can start working on the shop again. Two Fridays ago, May 5th, I went back to the P.G. County Permits Office and got a new permit. Unforutnately it cost almost twice as much as the original permit, $151 instead of $80. When I asked the woman handling the issuance about the different she said "New codes. Each time there are new codes, the fees go up." But the money did not stop there. I also had to pay a $50 "investigation fee" for my expired permit.


After I got my new permit, I immediately called to schedule a "Lift of Stop Work Order" inspection. An inspector came out on the the 11th and said "So why am I here?" Great. He checked my permit and removed the stop work order. The inspector then stated "You can continue to work on the workshop."


Last Saturday, May 13th, Alice and I started to put on the Typar housewrap around the first floor. I ran out of time to put the wrap on the second floor, but I can finish that off next time. I am just gald that I can work on the shop again.

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

These past three days had a small event, and a large one. On Saturday, the small event occurred. Alice and I managed to cover the East gable end with housewrap. Not a big deal, but another small step to the finish line.


The hardest thing about working on a task like the house wrap, is constantly needing to move the ladder. I will need to have the ladder up high, then low, then on the left, then in the middle. Even though housewrap is light by itself, lugging, lowering and raising the ladder all the time tires me out faster then I would like.


The second event that happen, just occured today. I went to court. As some may have read, I had some problems with my original foundation contractor, Fred Graziano. He never completed the foundation and never returned my second payment. Long story short, I had to take him to court. Today, was the trial.


I showed up at the courthouse, not knowing whether or not Mr. Graziano was going to show up. You see, for small claims court (this might apply to any type of court) the defedent, Mr. Graziano, is supposed to send in an "intent to defend" notice to the court. Once this occurs, the court then notifies the plantiff, me, of the intention. I never recevied a letter from the court stating the Mr. Graziano sent in the intention to defend.


Not wanting to take any chances, I still went to the courthouse. When the judge called my case, I was up at the front by myself, without a defendent. The short version of the story is that the clerk swore me in, the judge asked me to tell my story. The judge listened to my story and asked to see my contract with Mr. Graziano. She then ruled in my favor in the amount of $3900, the amount I was suing for.


Sweet! Of course this was not the last step. Now I need to actually collect on that ruling. Who knew that in this project I would get an education in law as well as construction.

[Michael Gabbay]

Jonathan -

The shop looks great!

Inspections can be a PITA and a joke. I had to remind my inspector to check the plumbing on my bathroom remodel. He said "oh yeah we only check to see that the hot is on the left" and then he turned on the sink faucet. In the end it's worth the hassle so you can sell the house without those issues.

Good luck collecting from the court award. Did the judge mention what was next to get this guy to pay up? Make sure your fire insurance is up to date for the shop. You never know what he might try.

Now light be a good time to invest in some scaffolding. It will make the wall and ceiling work go a lot faster.

Mike

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

Did the judge mention what was next to get this guy to pay up?

After the award was rendered, they hand you a book on collecting. Essentially, there are a couple of ways to collect on the judgement.

- He pays me the money outright (highly doubtful though)
- I can garnish his wages or bank account (probably the way I will go)
- Seize his property and auction it off (most expensive and costly)

Before I can do any of these, I have to wait fifteen days. I guess this gives the court time to send out the judgement and to give the defendant time to gather the money.

[Tyler Howell]

Now let me see What was the bad guys name again and did he really upset you .
I hate it when that happens.
Good luck.
I feel your pain.

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

This past weekend I installed some roof sheathing on the North side of the roof. Instead of starting with the row of sheathing at the eave end, I squared and snapped a line where the second row would start and laid down the second row. This allowed me to install a stop on the line for the sheathing to rest against. This way, I could focus on squaring the sheathing to the roof and not have to worry about the sheathing sliding off of the roof.

Now that I have the rest of the sheathing installed, I can come back and install the first row of sheathing. I plan on mating the first row of sheathing to the bottom edge of the second row, nailing it off, and then cutting the rest that overhangs the eave flush.

A few words about installing the sheathing. The biggest challenge I had this past weekend was just getting the sheathing up onto the roof. At first I thought it was going to be easy. I was going to use the same block and tackle that my friend lent me. I hooked it to the ridge beam and ran the other end down the roof to the eave. I ended up not using the block and tackle, because I just could not get the line to pull effectively. I think it was because of the angle.

When I used the block and tackle to install the second floor sheathing, it was a straight vertical lift. Everthing went smoothly. This time, since it was at and angle, the catch that would stop the line from moving kept holding on to the line, preventing me from being able to move the line.

I then tried holding the sheathing on my back. I was able to walk up the ladder fine, but I could not transfer the plywood from my back to the roof. The only time I tried, I had to give up and let the sheathing fall onto the ground.

The method that worked best for me, was essentially the brute force method. I would lean the sheathing against my ladder, so that it was standing vertically. Then I would lift the sheathing enough so that I could get my hands underneath the sheathing. I would then start to climb the ladder - one hand on pushing the sheathing from the bottom, the other hand holding onto the ladder. I would continue to climb, with the sheathing sliding up the ladder, until I got to a place where I could place the bottom edge of the sheathing onto a lip or a catch. For the first row, I placed some spring clamps on top of the fascia board to act as a catch.

After the sheathing was stable on the catch, I would then continue to climb up the ladder and rotate the sheathing on the rafters until it was in the proper place.

At one point, Alice was able to give me hand on some of the higher pieces - she would slide it up the ladder, and I would muscle it the rest of the way. All in all, it was not too difficult, but it sure was tiring.



See all of the photos

[Michael Gabbay]

Looks great! Hopefully the weather will coninue to be cool so you can make some more ground on the roof.

Mike

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

Hopefully the weather will coninue to be cool so you can make some more ground on the roof.

Mike

Mike -

Thanks. I am hoping the weather stays cool as well. I get a fair amount of shade, except at around high noon. I'm really exposed to the sun and the heat then.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Heaving those sheets up a ladder isn't much fun is it Jonathan? You are making good progress....can't wait to see it finished.

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

Heaving those sheets up a ladder isn't much fun is it Jonathan? You are making good progress....can't wait to see it finished.

It wasn't too bad. The last row really got me though.

Hey. I could have been worse. I could be making the whole thing out of stone ;-)

[Frank Pellow]

Jonathan, it's good that you are, at last, working on the roof. Keep up the good work and you will get things finished before your permit expires again.

By the way, you method of getting sheeting to the roof is the method that I have always used (on about 20 buildings).

[Jonathan Szczepanski]

A long time ago...

In a yard just behind my house...

A workshop was being built, and it still is.

Well it has been a while since I have made an update on the site, so here is where everything is:

I have quit my 9-5, and am now freelancing. Part-time web designer and part-time get-my-shop-built-so-I-can-become-a-part-time-furniture-maker-guy.

The shop is coming along:
I have the windows and doors installed;
The electric has been pulled;
An access ladder to the second story has been built;
I have passed Framing and Electical inspection;

I have uploaded plenty of photos for everyone to look at, but here is a taste: