House Inspections

The county expects us to build our home in accordance with certain specifications. These are known as the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code. The specify things like: the proper way to form a foundation, the proper way to build a roof, the proper way to run wires or pipes in the wall, etc.

There are, roughly, six different inspection points. Some of these inspection points involves multiple inspections. They are:

1. The bottom of the footing trenches, after all reinforment steel is set, and the bottom of all peir, post, or column footings before any concrete is placed. Also, any graded areas for concrete prior to floor placement.
2. Pilings and foundation wall systems after anchor bolts or approved anchoring straps are installed and supporting piers have been capped with solid masonry or filled with concrete.
3. Exterior wall and roof sheathing fastening, prior to covering with concealing materials.
4. Structural framing prior to covering with concealing materials. Rough plumbing is to be completed and pressure tested in the inspector's presence. All concealed mechanical installations must be inspected prior to covering. A rough electrical inspection must have been conducted and approved.
5. Insulation of exterior walls, and elsewhere, prior to covering.
6. Upon completion of the building or structure, and before issuance of the Certificate of Use and Occupancy, a final inspection shall be made to ensure that any violations have been corrected and all work conforms to the VUSBC.

You've Failed!

Funny, I thought I had left those dreaded nuns behind in grammar school. Please don't hit me again with that ruler, Sister. I promise I'll do better next time. Woah. Flashback.

Yeah, it's no joke, we've bombed a few inspections:

• We failed Inspection Two.

  See, our foundation contract didn't put any anchor bolts into the pilings in the center of our house. A big no-no. No big deal, you call the contractor, he comes back out, installs the anchor bolts, the county comes back out and you pass the inspection. No muss, no fuss.

• Then, we failed part of inspection five.

  We failed the electrical wiring inspection. That was a HUGE deal. See, we wired it oursevles. There was no contractor to fall back upon. Unlike the foundation, the fixes were not quick and easy. We literally had to rewire one half of the first floor in order to get back into compliance. We also had to do some funky things with the service wire (the wire that runs between the meter box (on the outside of the house) and the circuit panel). We were in way over our heads. Luckily, a friend of the family happened to be an electrician and could pull our bacon out of the fire.

• Currently, we're failing a different part of Inspection Five.

  We failed the structural framing inspection. That seems like a big deal. Only time will tell.