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I am toying with the idea of doing something similar.

What are you expecting to spend on this entire project?

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I'm projecting right around $118K. That includes everything from demolition on through construction.

I built a 20' x 22' garage with apartment in the Heights fully finished top to bottom that was about ~$85k two years ago.

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I built a 20' x 22' garage with apartment in the Heights fully finished top to bottom that was about ~$85k two years ago.

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That puts my costs right on par with yours, considering I'm building 264 SF more than yours and had other site work. I should add that the $118K includes relocation of electric, cable, and phone for the main house underground in order to remove the carrier pole in the middle of the yard. The pole has to be removed because the new construction will be too close to it.

Thanks

RTT,

Are you using mike Shelton?

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RTT,

Are you using mike Shelton?

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Yes.

I like him and his work. Almost used him for our garage/apt...but we decided to just do the garage only and used someone else. We (supposedly) had the garage built so that we could add an apt later and he'd be my first call. I look forward to following the progress of your project.

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I like him and his work. Almost used him for our garage/apt...but we decided to just do the garage only and used someone else. We (supposedly) had the garage built so that we could add an apt later and he'd be my first call. I look forward to following the progress of your project.

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I'm not sure how much experience he has doing add-on second stories. You might talk to Ed Sabo for that. He's an Aggie and he's a little higher in price than Mike, but I know he's done what you need done. He did an add-on second story for a garage in my neighborhood.

Damn...I went back and looked at my old estimate from Mike to do a 24x26 garage plus apartment. There was no demo involved...but the cost then was about $50k, which included a nice balcony. Oh how the times have changed...

Anyway...Do you have any idea what the cost of just adding a second story apartment would be assuming the existing garage was structurally sound?

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Damn...I went back and looked at my old estimate from Mike to do a 24x26 garage plus apartment. There was no demo involved...but the cost then was about $50k, which included a nice balcony. Oh how the times have changed...

Anyway...Do you have any idea what the cost of just adding a second story apartment would be assuming the existing garage was structurally ?

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Sorry, but no. One thing you have going for you is you already have the foundation in. The cost of concrete right now is pretty high, and I've got $11K in the foundation alone.

Ryan,
I had the same issue with my old garage apt. Slab was cracked and settled. But, because it was my grandparents old place, I had the insight that the rebar was left out because they couldn't get any. It was built during WWII so most of the metal was going to the war effort.

The crew finished removing the slab and the last pile of debris yesterday and did some final site cleanup. It's crazy to look at after seeing that building out there every day for almost nine years.

Looks like a cool project. Subscribed.

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And I'm already having fun ...

My plans went in for review today and the Planning Department decided I need to pay a $700 tree fee for consuming a certain amount of open space on my lot, thus completely ignoring the fact that a building already existed and is being replaced.

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That is friggin retarded!

You should pay the fee with Monopoly money.

This is where knowing the codes and being involved in the process comes in really handy. The reviewer is treating the project as if a garage apartment did not previously exist on the property. The code specifically provides a deduction for existing dwellings, so the reviewer simply erred in his review or overlooked the survey, site plan, and wastewater availability paperwork.

Apparently. My builder is going to go over and get it fixed tomorrow, but the department's chief of staff already knows about it.

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Apparently. My builder is going to go over and get it fixed tomorrow, but the department's chief of staff already knows about it.

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This is where connections come in handy

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Apparently. My builder is going to go over and get it fixed tomorrow, but the department's chief of staff already knows about it.

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This is where connections come in handy

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True, but sad that Joe Blow without connections would have to take time out of his day to wait in line and try and explain the reasoning to the City "professional".

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I still get to pay my builder to go deal with it, so it's not like this isn't costing me anything.

Poor guy. He's doubling down on his refusal to acknowledge a building previously existed at this location for 79 years, despite overwhelming evidence of its existence.

This isn't going to end well for him, but it demonstrates why the city permitting process has a bad reputation. It's not acceptable for a plan reviewer to ignore portions of the code and refuse to look at the ENTIRE project instead of just the scope of the new work. It's something we need to fix, and I get to work toward fixing it.

That's infuriating. Hopefully he will be held accountable. And I'm sure this isn't an isolated incident. Hopefully you can help make a difference down there...

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Poor guy. He's doubling down on his refusal to acknowledge a building previously existed at this location for 79 years, despite overwhelming evidence of its existence.

This isn't going to end well for him, but it demonstrates why the city permitting process has a bad reputation. It's not acceptable for a plan reviewer to ignore portions of the code and refuse to look at the ENTIRE project instead of just the scope of the new work. It's something we need to fix, and I get to work toward fixing it.

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Such as this thread.

Keep us posted! On all fronts.

RTT, you ought to just pay the fee before they make you do a Traffic Study, Drainage Study, add a Right Turn Lane into your driveway, and build a retention pond to capture your run off.

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RTT, you ought to just pay the fee before they make you do a Traffic Study, Drainage Study, add a Right Turn Lane into your driveway, and build a retention pond to capture your run off.

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You forgot the wheelchair ramp and proof of TDLR review.

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What is so infuriating to me is that we do a good job 99% of the time. I give people on here pushback all the time when they complain because these issues are usually rare, and then it happens to me when I'm a customer. Division and Department leadership always pays attention when one of us goes through the process because we want to see firsthand what it's like as often as possible.

We have 1500+ plans in the system, and we did 53,000+ inspections last month, so occasionally there will be lapses, but when a plan reviewer is presented with actual evidence that they are wrong and still deny three times that a building ever existed, well that's a completely different problem. The only thing positive I can say is I'm glad he doesn't work for my department.

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I sat in a meeting with a Houston-based GC two days ago on a project in H-town. When we got to the schedule, there was a good 20 minute discussion on permitting in Houston. Numbers are what numbers are, and you have to wait your turn, and we all get that. Coincidentally, he noted there's "1500" people ahead of you when you submit. But the perception from the GC, and several of their subs, is that reviewers kick out plans on the first thing they can find in order to buy more time. He also noted that you'd have multiple reviewers on a given project such that the original submission got bounced by Joe for not having an adequate number of widgets. Once corrected, the second submission got bounced by Frank for not having blue widgets. The third submission was then bounced by Larry for having too many blue widgets.

I got sucked into a project last year where the Fire Marshall was involved. The engineer who invited us to the party, and a Civil guy, explained how the inspector was going to approach inspection of emergency lighting. Even being a Civil guy he understood the inspection method had nothing to do with the requirements of the IBC or NFPA101 and was at best arbitrary. I asked if it was worth a discussion with him and submitting whatever documentation he might need. The Civil engineer laughed, looked me in the eye, and said, "I dare you, and if you do, call me so I can watch." And so we overdid it, spent more than we should have, and in the end satisfied an inspection.

I will also be the first to point out that for every inspection/plan review horror story there is a steaming bucket of crap design package submitted on the back of a soggy napkin with the expectation of a permit in 30 minutes or less. Having done Title II review services for a few DoD groups I feel the pain for both sides, and I certainly wish I had the magic answer. And if I had the magic answer, I wouldn't have to worry about figuring out how to respond to this.

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REVIEW COMMENTS:
Please clerify the (225A)on panel PH if it is MLO or MCB because we have disconnect is rated for (150A fuses) and the conductor is good for 150A, please provied a receptacel at electrical serives area to comply W/210.64 (chapter 10 at 2015 international related codes .

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That's a real comment tied to a real permit for a real project written by a real reviewer, straight copied and pasted. It's horribly written, but at least both parts are incorrect, with the wrong panel name, and overlook the main part of the project.

PM me a project number and I'll make an issue out of it. The old building official is gone now, so the attitude from the top is a lot different now.

Seriously - anyone who has an issue and is willing to provide the project number can talk to me about it.

So how exactly did the conversation go?

Reviewer: You have to provide XXX for a new building
You: No, a previous building existed *provides proof*
Reviewer: No it didn't
You: ......