We Failed Our House Inspection Today
January 8th, 2009 - We held our final inspection today and the house failed with several minor issues and one major issue. Our next inspection is scheduled for Tuesday the 13th.
The inspector had minor complaints of:
- Stair railings were 3/4 inch too low (because the stair guys installed the railings at the correct height before the carpet was installed -- and the carpet raised the effective floor by 3/4 inch. Bleaaah!
- The step off on the back porch was 8.3 inches and code is 7.5 inches -- we have to add a patio stone to step onto from the porch opening.
- The 2nd and 3rd bedroom closet lights are 1.5 inches too close to the shelving -- so the fixtures will be moved to meet 'code.'
- The basement foundation notches that hold our steel beams need to be filled with cement (we knew that but didn't get it done before the inspection).
The one major item was that the new April 2008 NEC (electrical) code require Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI) devices to be installed for each room circuit in the house. Even though the same inspector passed the rough electrical work back in October -- he now is saying the contractor has to replace the affected circuit breakers at the panel with $30 / each AFCI devices. Thanks a bunch , #$**** !
The crazy thing is the electrical contractor knew about the April code changes but thought we were exempt because we'd filed our permit application earlier than when the village adopted the NEC recommendation. He was wrong by 2-weeks; so here we are with some major rework / expense.
We take furniture deliveries next week -- but should have our house inspection completed by then. We are still hoping to have a Temporary Occupancy Permit issued by the village by 1/15/2009. It will be a TOP because our lot grading needs some touch ups that cannot be completed till the weather warms up.
We've extended our apartment lease to the end of January to allow us flexibility to deal with all this last minute nonesense the village is throwing our way before letting us move in.