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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRe: inspection problems CUY of ORONO Municipal Offices '41 Street Address: Mailing Address: �CgHO 2150 Kelley Parkway P.O. Box 66 Orono, MN 55356 Crystal Bay, MN 55323-0066 John Trout Hellmuth and Johnson 10400 Viking Drive Suite 500 Eden Prairie Mn. 55344 Re; 900 North Shore Drive, Orono Mn. Porch Construction Dear Mr. Trout, This letter is to document the City Of Orono's position on work that was done at the abc•.a referenced property without building permits or required inspections. The city will require the current property owner to bring the work into compliance with the Uniform Building Code. The city outlined concerns with the structure in a letter to the Pratts on June 6,2002. To determine what needs to be done to the structure the framing elements and foundation need to be exposed (the foundation is not shown on the original house plan and the city has no record of inspection). The ceiling, walls and floor will need to be opened up for inspection. Once the scope of work has been determined a building permit will be required. Inspections of the work i&ill be required and when all pertinent code requirements have been met the city will close the file on the porch. If you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance in this matter please feel free to contact me at my office. Sincerely Lyle Oman Building Official Telephone(952)249-4600 • Fax(952)249-4616 www.ci.orono.mn.us V SO Department of Administration March 6, 2003 Ms. Patt Pratt 900 North Shore Drive West Orono,MN 55364 RE: BCSD File 02.0158 Meeting recap Dear Ms. Pratt: This is a letter recapping the events that took place at your home on December 17, 2002. You, Lyle Ohman, Orono Building Official, and I were present at that meeting. The main purpose of that meeting from a Building Codes and Standards Division standpoint was to verify proper code administration procedures from the local building department. The initial concern was construction done without inspections at the home under the previous owner. The city followed proper procedures when it was discovered by the city that work was done without proper permits. A permit was eventually issued for the deck portion of the construction only after a stop work order was issued by the City of Orono. The city addressed the concerns of the deck somewhat after the fact,being construction had begun before a permit was issued. The city has confirmed that a less than adequate inspection was performed by a previous inspector and has extended an apology. In conclusion, it is the owners' and or the permit applicant's responsibility to secure all permits and make the project accessible for all inspections as well as notify the jurisdictional authority when work is ready for inspection. If you have any further questions feel free to call me at 651-205-4562. Sincerely, BUILDING CODES AND STANDARDS DIVISION CZ'ac � . reg Karow Building Code Representative I:Groups/Investigations/Greg/Patt Pratt Itr.doc Building Codes and Standards Division,408 Metro Square Building,121 7th Place East,St.Paul,MN 55101-2181 Voice:651.296.4639,Fax:651.297.1973;TTY: 1.800.627.3529 and ask for 296.9929 - �.. CITYof ORONO s ti Municipal Offices Street Address: Mailing Address: V'q$Egg04/' 2750 Kelley Parkway P.O. Box 66 Orono, MN 55356 Crystal Bay, MN 55323-0066 June 5, 2002 David &Patricia Pratt 900 North Shore Drive West Orono, MN 55364 Re: Deck and Porch Construction Dear Mr. & Mrs. Pratt: This letter is to confirm findings of an inspection conducted on your property on 06-03-02 by Marc Davis, Orono field inspector and myself, Lyle Oman, Orono building official. In reviewing city records, no building permit was issued on the porch. Marc Davis stopped work on the Deck when it was found to be under construction on 04-03-00. The footings and deck structure were complete with the exception of guardrails. On 05-22-0®a building permit was issued for the deck. The City had no further involvement until a final inspection was requested on 02-28-02. Due to snow cover the inspector was unable to do a complete inspection. A handrail was called out as a requirement and on 03-07-02 the inspector returned to approve the handrail. On 06-03-02 the deck and porch were re-inspected due to concerns brought to your attention by a contractor. The following is a list of concerns and corrections on the porch and deck. Porch -No Footing Inspection Conducted - soil conditions? - footing depth? - footing size? - footing attachment to existing footings? 1 Telephone(952)249-4600 • Fax(952)2494616 www.ci.orono.mn.us O O CITY of ORONO Municipal Offices Street Address: Mailing Address: ' 'E*gg0g' 2750 Kelley Parkway P.O. Box 66 Orono, MN 55356 Crystal Bay, MN 55323-0066 -Block Foundation -Block size? -Material? -Anchor Bolts? - Sill Sealer? -Insulation? - Crawl Space -Access Provided? -Moisture Barrier Provided? - Clearance to Joist Provided? -Floor System -Joist Size and Spacing? -Floor Sheathing Material? - Connection to Foundation and Existing Building? -Wall Framing - Stud Size and Spacing? -Insulation? -Headers? - Siding? -Flashing? -Underside of cantilever must be covered with material that is resistant to decay -Roof Framing -Rafter Size and Spacing? -Rafter to Wall Connection? -Ridge Beam Size and Bearing? - Sheathing Material? -Underlayment? - Shingle Installation? - Valley Flashing? - Wall Flashing? -Poor Roof Design Allows Buildup of snow and ice 2 Telephone(952)2494600 - Fax(952)249-4616 www.ci.oronoinn.us O� CITY of ORONO Municipal Offices Street Address: Mailing Address: ` EggOg' 2150 Kelley Parkway P.O. Box 66 Orono, MN 55356 Crystal Bay, MN 55323.0066 -Deck Footings -Depth? - Soil Conditions? -Footings size? -Footings Material? -Deck Posts are not Plumb -Poor Connections to Joist -Joist -Joist are hung on a cantilever, support on Posts or provide structural Engineers report -Beam Connection to other beams inadequate -Joist hangers not nailed completely -Decking -Inadequately fastened to Joist - Guardrail -Minimum 36 inch high A Building permit is required for the Porch addition and the above listed items will be required to be inspected and corrected if found to be not in compliance with applicable codes. The Deck footings need to be exposed for inspection and corrected if not in compliance with applicable codes. The Deck framing issues above will be required to brought up to code. Please contact me to discuss when these items can be resolved. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at my office. Sincerely, Ly Oman Building Official cc: Marc Davis 3 Telephone(952)2494600 • Fax(952)249-4616 www ei.orono.mmus !). M FRgj. : YOWGQUIST FAX N0. 9524959403 Jul. 17 2002 10:57AM P1 EAX DATE: July]7,2002 PACES INCLUDING COVER SHEET 3 TO: Orono City Offices ATTENTION: Mr. Lyle Oman 2750 Kelley parkway Orono, Mn 55356 FAX: (952) 2494616 FROM: Tom Yowngq»ist 5295 Legend Hills Lane Spring .Hill F134609 FAX: (352) 799-6602 NOTE: Regarding 900 Northshore Drive West _ s FRnAV Ydli dVnni IT RT FAX Nn. 95749594PS Ji f l. 17 PRAP 1 A:57AM PP July 17,2002 Attention: Lyle Oman Building Official City of Orono Municipal offices 2750 Kelley Parkway Orono,Mn 55356 Re: Porch compliance codes Dear Mr. Oman Attached please find a copy of a letter sent to the current residents of the 900 Northshore Drive west property. This correspondence was sent as a response, upon racclpz oY a tacalinue 1nvilwallub draw— —9*1. ——rBornco oodonl an tko 3 season enclosure and the existing deck. We are contacting you in regards to'what measures need to be taken, to provide Qrono city records with satisfactory information to resolve these code compliance concerns. At your earliest convenience, please contact us via fax with, iunformation ug suggestion*on the least complev.stops than need to he toLmn by your office and ourselves to clear code approval We are confident that the 3-seasoned enclosure Is sound and are anxious to work with the Orono city staff to satisfy information needs regarding the 3 season enclosure applicable code issues. Our current Pax number is: (352)799-6602. We are looking forward to your response. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Tom Youngquist cc: Sheila Youngquist FROM•'* Y91,NGQU I ST FAX NO. : 9524959403 Jul. 17 2002 10:58AM P3 June 22,2001 Dave and Pat Pratt 900 Northshore Drive west Orono,MN 55364 naar nave and Pat: We are writing you in regards to the information received via fax on June,13 2002 regarding a city iuspection preformed 06-03.029 subsequent to the sale of the Nurthshore drive property. Tom and myself have reviewed the concerns and are confident that all parties have established a favorable repor,wdich can instrument resolve for these issues. Due to the anticipation of future financial constroints we arranged all inspections for the J�jOrijwnurC PluPCi&y tv bw Fns.rw•.ssod be"Vo oso puressdoo of a now bnnw fnr Mir family_ These inspection where preformed and the deck inspection finalized to the cities satisfaction on 03-07-02,upon completion of a handrail. You will find the orange finalized inspection card for the deck in the kitchen drawer. If you have missed placed it,please let us know and we will be more than happy to look for our copy. It has also been brought to our attention that the city is unable to find a permit order for the roof: The contractors name was given to you ,kno we mrorro OIs ryo-tans Aflr1n$TIM MU11 1lUARIC.11►DWC;L.saVY. 'VO. MI;hVw'uulLI,7 01...1 a—Lw.•s7 written final payment page from the contractor in the kitchen drawer. tis first name is Rale. Our present concern is with the permit and city compliance code issues regarding the 3- seasoned porch. It was our understanding that the permit acquired,covered the fuII eon.Qtruction of both the deck and the 3-seasoned porch. This was due to the fact that the footingxa for the porch where present and pre inspected by the city,betore our purchase of the .Northoore drive home. 11m cll.y al,ould have the foo6ag and depth impettinn nn fill» we win COMMAM LUC CILY w w&a1.11012 11.s,V&"P% • lsroee.Iv.-e:..peoar..w:..O o.ioolnora rnnipliauar. _• Infurulaliuu a cgarding the conotruatiola of the A-.+.-acnn pnrch. Due to our present ftnS11621 emrstraints we are hoping,the city can accommodate a more thorough inspection with the least amount of exterior lnvaslventsis to the atructurc that°m poeeibla We are ennfiAArr[that the structure read well beyond the code requirements for a 3-seasoned porch and are looking torward w s amulut;va of thea&conoorne- sincerely, Shella Leigh Youngquist COUNSELOR realty ine. September 25,2002 John T.'Trout,Esq. Foley & Mansfield fax#612-338-8690 Calvin R. Kuhlman The Law Firm of Calvin R. Kuhlman Fax#952-512-8973 RE: David & Patricia Pratt v Youngquist From: Ken Leigh Number of pages 5 Subject: Footings and concrete floor for future porch I spoke to Stephen Johnston, the original ow r, of 900__North Shore rive. P p Stephen Johnston is President of Landform Engineering Co. . I asked Mr.Johnston if he had any documentation pertaining to the footings for the 3 season porch. He has faxed me the following information. If you have additional questions about the 3 season porch footings you may contact Stephen Johnston at 612-252-9070. Sincerely, Ken Leigh Counselor realty,inc. Ken and Jodi Leigh From: "Steve Johnston"<sjohnston@landformrmp.com> To: <kenandjodi@mindsprin9.00m> sent Tuesday,September 24,200210:25 AM Attach: 9 north Shore-a.tif-,North Shore Drive900 north shore-2.0 ct: Subje LANDFORM �INNXA1�Ol1•• /IFOtNtX hope these help /0�44 Steve Johnston President 650 BUTLER NORTH BUILDING 510 FIRST AVENUE NORTH MINNEAPOLIS,MN 55403 OFFICE: 612.252.9070 FAX:612.252.9077 hlttp_//Www.landformmW 9/24/02 oai aa;soa: w�v aq:oa :.�.A .�_ __� --- • ------ ---- ------- -- 91 Loft�6i 1 42 ow TO 5 ..5 � h�'r, .�. �Ctat,� e� .7cii13fi Qt1 b `�riithi share%igive �. NT` �sa�►1s•.6c'o��.�. ��'i,��.• . rYS�io:� M�3=r�n: �;�� . . �'Airr4Yr, i'r+ :t0, i4ik ,tlf 'a i'p~ lla!ir ' ,r� ly `Add tcra 'in r'. �►ii8 csana'raxe "floor. bP'.hi ldgaz,4q•0 Par future k: 1. } . "NOT W f�R N robto .' ! cl n(p+ el, POS+� b vs iti,xpis p e x,99..o ;�: IMA Imo' /yl +�` � � � •.�J. ,� 4 I Yr �In � .'1 /,,� .i � .�� Ez �' 3 ,� . ;,�. t���.� '< > �t c, !�; Age. MN BLDG CODES STDS 6512971973 12/12 -!02 14:17 NOA1 `62/05 �� /V ` November 29,2002 Doug Nord BuildingCodes and Standards Division 408 Metro Square Building �. 121 7hPlace East `" w St. Paul, MN 55101-2181 , Dear Mr. Nord Thank you talking witb me on the phone earlier this month regarding a issue that my husband and I hi,, a with the Orono housing inspections department, I would ask that you please review and investigate our complaint and see what if any recourse we have with this department. As a review I will give you a short version of what I know to have had occurred witb regard to inspections on, the home that I urchoed ;his ear. 1c ,.Zdb . . Y, j osk, �a11 may` uestiohs that „You may have., Also' of'Oro$o and � `''• ` going°to..the City vxewii�g :their Ales will . I •in any-gaps that may occut: In, May of this year any Husband and I purchased 14-year-old home in the city of Orono. A few days after the closing while having some remodeling done in, the kitchen a puddle of water on the floor by the window was discovered. The head of the construction company examined the"roof(which the dellers and:the Realtor had told us had been replaced only 3-4 years earlier) and . 11 said that it had been improperly installed ' ossibl . to leak. p Y ca using a roof I had a private house inspector come to the house to view the,rQof as,a second,opin ion,and,he � ,agreed.ssying he was'suap' : sedi , p`,assed, ihspection. rSinc 't�ld�tlia�"ev ' '� ' • ��`� � `•�' MN BLDG CODES STDS 6512971973 12/12 '02 14:18 NO.190 03/05 been inspected by the city and approved I felt there was nothing could do to recover damages except get the name of the cone' who did the goof and view the warranty policy. It has since ee V found out that the sellers cannot Y be a � remember who did the roof and , since they paid cash for the work they also have no receipt. There pelf* was no permit taken out and no inspection done on, the roof, which � now needs to be replaced before more damage to the structure of the house occurs. The private inspector and the contractor also inspected other areas of the house and at the end of the inspection mentioned that they found something odd in regard to the footings on the deck that had only been completed the previous year (bust by the s`ellers). The found what they described as "concrete capping" on each Y footings which they said would not be Stange except cb. of the went down about 1 inch. They also found man, irregularities that r they said again they were sure did not meet code� they only standards at all. They also pointed out that the deck was attached to the also new sunporch in a way that was sure to be out of compliance and that the roofing to the sunporch was very much out of compliance with any code that they knew of, and was swine to be causing water damage to our home. Again they expressed surprise that it could have passed inspection with the city. A couple of days later my contractor called me to tell me that while looking through some papers he found a notice from the city of Orono signed by Marc Davis issued on. 3/31/00 for Deck with i out permit. The sellers were to stop work immediately and get i permit. On 2/28/02 (two years later) a deck inspection tooklace III where the sellers were told to provide a gripable handrail on. the` steps leading down to the yard, signed by Marc Davis. On 3/7/02 the final deck inspection took place and again Marc Davis signed off on it saying "looks good". MN BLDG CODES STDS 6512971973 12/12 102 14:18 NO.190 04/05 My contractor told us that there was no way that an, adequate inspection could have taken place two years after the deck was e built. The footings could not have been checked for depth type. ' i p ° '0 He also noted the footings dad not reach, deck height n '� almost all cases and that the deck was severely compromised. I ��G?A% -f* told him, I needed to have the city come out again to reinspect the 'c Y'0 *91 deck and the sunporch before I could tape any action against the SOY- '� sellers. r The City inspectors came out 6/3/02 and by the time they left they wrote up two pages of violations including the handrail that had been cited as the only correction the first time the deck was aspected. I asked them since it was the ozl, thing that theyy had diad td!re: 01 ' inspect in February how could they have failed to grid it out of compliance at that time. The inspector did not answer but just turned away and changed the subject. On June 5, 2002 a letter was written, by Lyle Oman to me and my husband outlining all the concerns and corrections required by the city regarding the deck and sunporch. It was touch more in depth as to what was required to meet compliance than the June 3 notice. It was also discovered that the sunporch had never had a permit taken out on it and had never been inspected by the city even though it was built at the same time as the deck. The sellers say that the inspector who came out to issue the stop work notice was aware that the sunporch was new construction but did not address it saying they only needed a permit for the deck. 36cause the city did not correctly addreis the inspection of the deck and sunporch x will now be responsible for all repairs instead ' ! tithe sellers. Estimates for take down and rebuilding of these structures are at $60,000. These are expenses that I would not have incurred had the city inspectors correctly inspected the structures the first time and had the sellers made the necessary repairs. My husband and I are taking the former owners to MN BLDG CODES STDS 6512971973 12/12 '02 14:18 NO.190 05/05 •r . arbitration but they are claiming bankruptcy and will more than, likely not be responsible for repayment. I am asking that your department review this case because I feel that the City of Orono has severely neglected it duties to the taxpayers with regard to inspections, and has caused me to incur thousands of dollars of expense that never should have been mine in the first place. This is not a pleasant way to start as a now taxpayer in a community. I thank you for your time and again encourage you to contact me if you have any further questions regarding this matter. erely, Pat batt 900 North Shore Drive West Orono, MN 55364 952-472-0361 4'