Inspections are like the big toll bridge and the inspectors are the trolls. If you fail your inspections you cannot pass go or collect (spend) $200. The next month is huge for us, because I actually have two weekends off to work. So in theory we could do insulation the first weekend, an insulation inspection during the week, and then drywalling the next weekend. Then the spackler could come in, followed by the floor guy, and some quick painting which would allow us to install the cabinets after Christmas just before the new year. That would be a level of completion that we thought was impossible just a couple of weeks away.

But this whole schedule rested on the decisions of inspectors who could ridicule the slightest problem.

Plumbing came first on Thursday afternoon- FAILED, but we could go forward with our work and the inspector was available late the next day to check the two easy things that needed to be fixed. One part needed to be replaced and a test needed to be run to make sure there weren’t any leaks. I couldn’t really complain about any of that. Unfortunately, the plumber wasn’t able to fix it the next day, which meant we had to wait another weekend to get our new toilet installed after I had busted my butt to get in the tile for him. But all in all I’ll take the inspection as a success.

Electrical came second on Friday- Passed, but there was much discussion about how the under the cabinet lights would work. It didn’t seem that hard to me, especially since they are low voltage lights, but the inspector and electrician really seemed to work something out for a pretty common feature that nobody seemed to do right. Now we can set up our new service.

Framing came late Friday afternoon and was for the whole kit and kaboodle. This was also the one the Martin Boys would have to take all responsibility for. Or would we. The most frightening moment came when the inspector scrutinized the beam over the opening between the kitchen and backroom. The beam rested on about 8 inches of masonary wall on either side of the opening, but the electrician had gone and beat out every single block from about 5 feet down to get some conduit through the wall. If that beam wasn’t setting on a solid part of the wall, we may have had to start all over again and build a post further out into the opening and narrowing the passage between the wall and the peninsula of cabinets to something less than three feet, not good. But the inspector got up and saw with a flashlight that the beam set on the wall a miniscule couple of inches and let it go. Matt saw this and I think had thoughts of killing the electrician. I counseled against such action. We ended up FAILING, because the inspector thought the plumbing wall was not supported enough (it was chewed up by all the plumbing pipes after all). He also thought the new cast iron tub was not supported enough by the floor (ridiculous, but fixable)

However, the framing inspector said we could go ahead with insulating and he would check the two things he commented on when he came back the following week so we were back on track. Working kitchen hear we come.

All in all the inspectors were very nice, diligent, and not in the least bit arrogant, which was in contrast to the Village reviewers and some of the front desk employees. I’m sure Oak Park is so strict to make sure they have the highest quality of housing stock.

After an expensive and hurried trip to Kinko’s, I went down to the Village Hall with Matt. He claims that once those people find out you are an architect, they love to start giving you a hard time, where as home owners can basically get away with anything.  We took a number and sat down to wait. 

Once our number was called, we brought up our plans and started to figure things out.  So to start off, you just submit an application for plan review, and all the information on this is basically your own.  The electrical, plumbing, and building permits come after your plan is aproved.  I was relieved since we didn’t have those filled out yet.

We are applying for a kitchen/bath remodel and addition of a deck.  We took them through our plans to make sure that all the details they needed were there (Matt had to make a few notes about rail height on the deck), but I was very impressed and proud of my brother-in-law with the detail in the drawings and how much he had thought of.  Matt had stamped and signed all 3 copies of our plans which each included a plat survey and gave them a copy of his architect’s license.  Then the moment he had been waiting for, they wanted the license of his company as well, even though he is a home owner doing a private project outside of his company on his own home.  We were told if he hadn’t stamped them, they wouldn’t need any information at all, and as a home owner you can draw the plans yourself.  I could have brought them a picture I came up with myself on a piece of printer paper and they would take it.  But because he’s an architect…

Matt very calmly explained that he is a home owner drawing plans for his home that he didn’t feel he should be penalized for being more professional (more professional than any drawings I would do, I can tell you that!).  While they went to check on this, we contemplated another expensive trip to Kinko’s to print them out again, and we would just leave the stamp off this time. Ridiculous.  Fortunately when they came back, it was all okay, and the plans were accepted!

100 bucks later, and that was it.  It will be 4-6 long weeks until we hear, and longer to get a permit if we have to make revisions.  By then we will have our electrical and plumbing information together and hopefully can just move forward.  In the meantime we will leisurely paint and strip every wood surface I can get off the walls.

I am tired.  I don’t think I am ready to submit.  It is all just rushed and I haven’t started the forms.  OP doesn’t not have necessarily a good website for submittal requirements.  One requirement that I saw required a site plan the site survey probably won’t be enough.  There are gaps in the drawings but it is hard to say how hard they will review the stuff.  I am hearing some bad things from other architects, but I think we just need to get it into the system and take our hits.

Demo plan

new floor plan

Electrical Plans

West facing exteriorSouth facing exterior

north side exterior