The Mean Inspector

Ok, we are in the process of fixing up our house. And what I mean by "fixing up" is really that we are "rebuilding" our houses. The first house was built in 1928 and the second was built in the 1950s.

So the story goes that we have not been getting the permits that we needed in order to do work on our homes. I was vaguely aware of this, but since I saw no way that this was effecting me, I went merrily on my way, remodeling (rebuilding) almost everything on the entire lot.

Now our front house has an old electrical panel that is, if I remember correctly, 15 amps. This means that if we have a heater on in the bedroom and try to microwave dinner.... ZAP! The electrical goes out and we have to go reflip the switch. I stopped resetting my bedside clock months ago, but luckily we have another clock that runs on batteries.

So we decided to upgrade with a new electrical panel. Our electrician got the permit, did the work and then we called the inspector. So the inspector (Richard) shows up on a day that Jake is at home and throws a fit about our lack of permits, says Jake has been moonlighting for year, hands him a "stop all work" order and leaves.

Jake and the electrician both said this guy was horrible, said mean things, and didn't tell them what they were supposed to do next. After hearing about this mean guy, I decided to try talking to him the next week at the inspectors office. NO ONE is allowed to yell at Jake! I didn't want Jake to have to deal with Richard so I went down there thinking that I would be very sweet, and charm him into explaining what we needed to do.

When Richard found out my property address he said we've been bootlegging for a year, we need to get a contractor to come in since we aren't living on the property (yes, we are), and that we built a second house on our property (we bought a duplex, that means two houses, dummy). He then said he didn't have time for me and he turned around and walked away. At that point some other nice man saw how horrible I'd been treated and explained the next steps that I should be taking. I was also told I would never get my electical permit until I'd gotten permits for EVERYTHING else we'd done. Gasp!

After a couple weeks, I went back prepared for battle.... And insisted I speak to someone else besides Richard. I spoke with supervisor Pat who came out the next day, inspected the electrical, requested some changes, and said to have him come back later for a final inspection. Pat was SO nice, SO laid back. I felt like hugging him afterward for relieving my stress. Today he's coming back to do another inspection and if we get approval we'll have a new electrical panel and will be able to use a blow dryer without blowing a fuse.

I'll keep you posted. Here are some pictures of the old and new panels.