Basement Update · 14 April, 10:58 AM
Last Tuesday, I pulled my construction permit for my basement finish job. Denver allows homeowners to pull their own permits, but only if you pass the required tests and only if you’re planning to live in the property for a year. A woman at the permitting office told me that Denver’s tightening the standards, as there have been a number of instances of investors trying to save money on flipped properties by pulling their own permits for houses they don’t live in. Supposedly, the tests are going to get longer and more difficult.
We ended up hiring Diane Gordon to do the design work; a few hours wrestling with Punch! Pro convinced me that I didn’t want to take on the role of architect. This was an expensive decision, but probably worth it. We started construction this weekend and it was pretty cool how the dimensions worked out on walls, for example. Diane did a great job working out dimensions, which can be tricky; our basement is wrapped with an insulating blanket, which makes accurate measurement difficult, and then you have to account for things like the thickness of walls, ductwork, etc. When we went to build, though, I was pleasantly surprised to see the walls laying out exactly as specified on the plan – a nice start to the project.
— Gordon Weakliem
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