the state of things...

Two weeks had passed since my last post before my contractor showed up at my house for work again, even though every week I talked to him and he'd say that he'd be there bright and early Friday morning...

Then he finally did show up. I met him over there before work. He and a helper had gotten to the house an hour earlier and had begun reinforcing the house's foundation with the addition of more support piers, and jacking up the house where it needed attention. We did a walk through and talked about the sequence of how the next few projects should go, and I went on to work.

About 6 hours later he shows up and hands me a business card and said that we'd been shut down. By the city building inspector. Due to expired permits and the inability of my contractor to produce his contractor's license.

...

So I made the first of many calls to City Hall that day. And went the next day, on my lunch break, to visit the Building Inspector who shut us down. We talked for a good hour. And he agreed to meet with me the following Monday to discuss the permit side of things, or rather, how much it was going to cost me to get the project going again.

Long story short, the state of Georgia passed a new law last year in June or July and any structural changes made to a house had to be done by a contractor with certain stated credentials. Which I understand and wholeheartedly agree with, but this law made it harder for the 'little man' contractor to be licensed with the state of Georgia to do such work. My contractor is one such 'little man'. So no, in the terms issued forth by the state, my contractor isn't licensed. Or not the way they want him to be. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but follow me...

He can continue to do any and all demo work and any finishing work in my house, which obviously doesn't include the wiring, plumbing, or air conditioning, because those will be done by other sub contractors who will obtain separate permits for each of those functions.

The wall I need moved, which may or may not be a load-bearing wall (this was part of the hour-long discussion in the inspector's office... my house is considered a shotgun house, which means the exterior walls were built first, so they hold the weight of the house, and in the interior walls were added later...) will have to be done by a licensed contractor, as well as the back wall in the kitchen which pretty much needs to be rebuilt. And my foundation issues will have to be checked out by a licensed contractor, too.

These laws are all in place to protect me, I know. But it's just another stop in the process of my renovation.

...

My contractor was supposed to start back with the demo work today, but I don't think he showed up. In order to get to the back wall of the kitchen that needs to be rebuilt (by an as yet to be found licensed contractor), the crumbling back porch and pit-of-doom bathroom have to be removed first. And he's supposed to be working on that.

I also found out this week that my contractor was laid off from his 9-5 job. Which makes me concerned for him, but eager to help him (hey! I have a house that needs work!), and makes me wonder where in the heck he was today.

Did I mention the neighbors, and apparently anyone within a 5 block radius, are throwing trash in my rented construction dumpster, that sits idle and neglected?

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Sure, it's no biggie, and I want the structural changes that have to be made to the house to be done by a legit licensed contractor, and yes, I'll have to pay this person a LOT more to do the same things my current on again, off again contractor...

But all this waiting and false starts and abrupt stops, and out of pocket COSTS! are really getting to me.

Down at City Hall, they have spared me the cost of another demolition permit ($15), but it is yet to be determined if I'll have to get another construction permit, which cost around $300 last time. Oh, and just so you know, those expire in six months, as I learned.

...

In a few months, I'll have owned the house for two years.