Track Truss
Building Permits: What Every Owner Builder Needs to Know Immediately
Almost every county, township, or municipality has a local department that is dedicated to reviewing residential house plans and issuing permits to build. If you are hiring a licensed general contractor to build your home, the GC should be intimately familiar with the local building codes and procedures for permits.
But, if you are going to manage the construction project yourself, by being an owner builder, you need to learn all you can from your local permit office before signing a purchase contract for a piece of land - and before starting any owner builder construction loan application process.
Owner builders, because they are their own general contractors, are fully responsible for the building permits. You need to know your county's requirements before moving forward. It may end up causing you to change your mind on the land and home design you picked.
Even if you are hiring a builder, remember that the house will still be yours. Stay involved with the planning and permitting process.
The building departments around the country all go by slightly different names, such as The Office of Code Compliance, The County Plans Examiner Office, The Office of Building Permits, etc. The name isn't really important, but the function is.
The purpose of these local building departments is to protect residents from building homes that are structurally unsound. And, in doing so, they protect future homeowners from buying a house that was built improperly. Thus, they are protecting the value of all of the homes in the county.
Consider a county in which homes have been poorly built. Think of how that will affect the value of the rest of the homes in the area.
No one wants to buy in an area where the quality of the homes cannot be trusted. So, when you are jumping through hoops as an owner builder to get your building permits, try not to get too frustrated. The county office is actually trying to protect you, your safety, and the value of your home.
Every county (or town, etc.) is different, though. Some counties only require a couple of sets of stock blueprints. Other counties, require the full nine yards, from engineered prints to soil tests to site plans to engineered sub-flooring and trusses.
For extremely strict counties or states, owner builders may become overwhelmed with this process if they do not have professional help. You may consider hiring an architect or engineer who can easily take you through the process.
Also, visit the building department as soon as you have determined that you want to buy land in that area. Owner builders, especially, should go in person, instead of just calling by phone. By going in person, owner builders can pick up important documents that the county may provide. And, you will have better access to the people who can answer your questions.
10 Questions Owner Builders Should Ask the Local Building Department:
1. Are you allowed to apply for permits before the land is officially deeded in your name? If not, and you are doing an owner builder construction loan that incorporates the purchase of the land, talk to your loan officer about what you will need to do to close on the loan.
2. Ask about all the permit fees involved and find out when you have to pay them. Some counties allow you to pay after the permits are approved and ready for pickup. Other counties force you to pay upfront. Depending on the answer to this question, it may affect your costs out of pocket with your construction loan.
3. Ask about any other fees involved with building. For instance, are there impact fees and highway taxes and school fees, etc? In some areas, such as most counties in California, these extra impact fees can cost thousands of dollars.
4. Ask about the timeline involved. How long does it take to issue permits? Owner builders often underestimate the amount of time required to get fully approved permits.
5. Ask about the most common mistakes and delays that people make, including contractors and other owner builders.
6. Ask if they are familiar with the architect or blueprint source that is providing your plans.
7. Ask if you can get an initial plan review and foundation permits issued prior to the full set of building permits. If the county takes a long time to issue permits, sometimes owner builders can speed up the process by getting the foundation permits issued to allow construction of the foundation and sub-flooring while the county reviews the rest of the plans. This could save you precious months, depending on your county.
8. What is the way to track permitting progress? Do they tell you how many plans are in front of you? Is there an online tracker?
9. Ask about the building codes that are used by the county. Are there additional code requirements on top of the standard building code, such as snow load requirements or high wind requirements? Many counties follow building codes that are stricter than the standard code. For owner builders, this may mean that the plan you bought online will need additional, local engineering.
10. What about the code inspections during construction? Get a list of all of the stages that will require an inspection by the code compliance inspector. Being familiar with this list will help any owner builder plan their work management strategy and construction timeline.
All of these questions are important. But, pay special attention to the first question if you are buying land and doing an owner builder construction loan. Your failure to know when you can apply for permits could stop your loan process in its tracks. The smart owner builder will stay ahead of the game by immediately contacting the local building department as soon as a lot is chosen.
By knowing the rules early, the majority of mistakes and delays can be avoided. This will make your entire owner-builder experience more enjoyable.
About the Author
Chris Esposito finances owner builder construction loans nationwide through his Owner Builder 101 program. To learn more about building your new home without paying the general contractor costs, visit www.OwnerBuilder101.com, or call (877) 876-3688.
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Guitar and Bass Repair: Improving Tone, Action and Sustain Without Spending a Nickel Part Two
Part One of this article discussed how truss rods work and how to determine the neck relief of basses and guitars. Part Two of this article will go on to describe how to adjust truss rods to optimize neck relief and improve the playability and sound of basses and guitars. This article assumes that you have an understanding of how truss rods work and how to read an instrument's relief (refer to Part One of this article for a review of this material). It is recommended that you read Part Two of the article in its entirety before beginning adjustments on an instrument.
Please follow this link to view the figures for the article.
Guidelines for Rod Adjustment
Any time you are adjusting a truss rod be careful, go slow, and don't over tighten-never use excessive force when adjusting a truss rod! If you are the least bit hesitant or unsure about what you are doing, seek help from a professional luthier or repair technician. Repairing or replacing a broken truss rod is expensive and time-consuming, and in some cases it may be cheaper to buy a new instrument. Strictly following the guidelines below will help prevent damage to truss rods and improve their functionality.
Note: If you have a bolt-on neck design instrument whose adjustment nut is concealed by the body, loosen the bolts and strings as little as possible to tilt the neck heel upwards and access the adjustment nut.
Note: Some necks do not respond instantly to truss rod adjustments. The wood may take a little time to respond to the altered tension. If you made significant rod adjustments and do not see a change in relief, set the instrument aside for up to 24 hours then re-check.
Optimizing Neck Relief
The optimal neck profile for most guitars and basses is not dead flat. Strings vibrate in an elliptical shape, thus most guitars and basses benefit from a neck that has a very slight amount of relief, which will match the elliptical shape of the strings' vibrations. Read the relief of your instrument by fretting an outside string at the first and twelfth frets simultaneously. Generally, an optimized neck will have about a business cards' thickness worth of space between the string and the sixth/seventh frets. There are exceptions to this rule however; some instruments require more relief than described and some work perfectly with no relief at all (flat neck).
If your instrument's neck has more than a business card's thickness worth of relief, you may need to tighten the truss rod. If the instrument develops fret buzz from this adjustment, loosen the rod back to its starting position; it may already be optimized. If your instrument's neck has less than a business card's thickness worth of relief, but does not have fret buzz, it may already be optimized. If your instrument has less relief than the business card's thickness and the frets do buzz, you may need to loosen the truss rod to optimize the relief. An optimized neck will have better tone, sustain and action and will be less prone to warping over time.
While the business card method is a good standard for setting relief and improving the playability of most instruments, it does not take into account the unique characteristics of the individual instrument. The next Xylem article will cover how to fine-tune a truss rod and eliminate some fret buzzes using the truss rod. It will also present specific examples of how to correct upbowed, backbowed, flat and twisted necks by adjusting the truss rod.
Copyright © Anthony Olinger, Xylem Handmade Basses and Guitars 2008.
About the Author
Anthony is a professional luthier specializing in handmade electric basses and guitars. He owns and operates Xylem Handmade Basses and Guitars. You can visit Xylem on the web at http://www.xylembassguitar.com and contact Anthony via email at: anthony@xylembassguitar.com.