Greetings,
Ditto to everything that was suggested in this post. In Alpine,
Texas, because of a flurry of building in our small town, local
building ordinances that were not implemented when we first moved
here 15 years ago, spring up every city council meeting. Tom and I
have been very upfront with the building code marshall and he has
asked many questions, watched over our projects and is now a friend
and believer in papercrete himself. He collects paper for us and has
even started collecting things to make his own tow mixer. He knows
us, our work ethic and is highly supportive of our projects. As
Slurryguy said, it is worth starting small and going from there. Tom
and I are currently working on our eigth project. Most of the
projects were completed with private financing. We sold our
barrelvault guesthouse recently to a man from Florida. Because the
bankers at our local bank, the local appraiser and the building
marshall all know us and asked many questions, we were not surprised
when the gentleman who bought our guesthouse was able to finance it
locally. He is currently getting additional financing to add onto the
guesthouse. While the rates for alternative buildings are higher
than conventional loans, we have to remember that five years ago,
financing of any kind was next to impossible. Slowly, with integrity,
change can and is being made.
--- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "ElfNori" <elf@...> wrote:
>
> Awesome post.
>
> ElfN
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: slurryguy
> To: papercreters@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 7:11 AM
> Subject: [papercreters] Introducing papercrete to authorities -
was- ultra thick walls,
>
>
> With the hurricanes that pass through Aruba on a regular basis,
it's
> not surprising that structures need to be very strong.
>
> We have had much past discussion about codes, inspectors,
building
> department authorities, etc. I'll try to give my opinions on
> strategy.
>
> 1. Don't hide.
> In my opinion the worst thing you can do is try to build a
structure
> in secret and hope that the authorities don't find out. It
> invariably leads to problems. They will eventually find out about
> your stucture unless you want to live in an unmarked hole in the
> ground and never have visitors, mail, or utilities. Keep in mind
> that "authorities" can include your local building department,
> inspectors, and homeowner's association.
>
> 2. Approach the local building authorities EARLY.
> The sooner the better. In my case, I'm requesting approval for my
> construction materials and method BEFORE I BUY THE LAND. It's
hard
> to get any earlier than that. This should make my process easy in
> that if I encounter too much resistance, it's trivially easy to
move
> on to another site after investing very little time and without
> having invested much if any money.
>
> 3. Build a small structure first.
> Start small. Build using the same materials and techniques you
plan
> to use for your larger structures. I haven't seen a construction
> site yet that couldn't use a small storage shed, toolshed, and/or
> workshop. If you find that your ideas don't work on the small
> structure it's a lot cheaper and easier to correct. Building
> departments are also much more likely to approve ideas they see
> as "strange" on a small uninhabited structure than a larger one
> someone will be living in. This will also give you the chance to
> SHOW the authorities what your ideas can do and look like. Don't
> discount the knowledge and experience you'll gain as well.
>
> 4. Plan Plan Plan.
> The PERFECT SCENARIO is to have a full set of plans BEFORE ANY
> CONSTRUCTION BEGINS. Get those plans approved, then follow them
> without any changes. This will create the fewest surprises, the
> fewest problems, and the least amount of budget overun. Sadly
I've
> never seen a project that goes perfectly. (Does that mean I mess
up
> every project I work on?) Even the best of plans need to be
changed
> sometimes, but the closer your plans are to perfection the
better.
> It is worth extra time in advance to get your plans ironed out in
> detail.
>
> 5. Seek input from the authorities.
> Not everyone that works in a building department is your enemy.
Many
> wonderful people work very hard to provide a valuable service to
> their community. Try to get them interested in what you are
doing.
> When you introduce yourself to them, have a papercrete block in
your
> hands. Let them touch it. Lift it. Let them smash it with a
> hammer. Put a match to it. Invite them to drive their car over
it.
> Get them curious. These people can get bored looking at the same
old
> mundane generic buildings all the time. Something new can be fun.
> Ideally you'll create friends that WANT TO HELP YOU. Little
things
> matter. When an inspector comes to your site, do you roll your
eyes
> and cringe? How about shaking their hand, offering them a hot or
> cold beverage (depending upon the season) and showing them
exactly
> what is going on? Ask their opinions on problems you might be
> having. Make them part of your team.
>
> 6. Do battle as a last resort.
> If eventually you've tried everything, and still aren't getting
the
> desired results, you may need to fight city hall. GET OUT YOUR
> CHECKBOOK! This will be expensive. If you don't have a lawyer,
get
> one. Oh sure, you can fight the battle without a lawyer, but
you'll
> probably LOSE! Be prepared to have every detail of your plans
> challenged. Be prepared to show documentation about your
> documentation and documents about the documenter! Be prepared to
> spend money on testing and experts. Expect an extremely long
drawn
> out battle. These things can take years to resolve. Once it is
> finally resolved, don't be surprised if your neighbors hate you.
> (I'm not joking. I know two families that fought city hall and
won.
> They are despised in their neighborhoods.)
>
> 7. Enjoy the journey.
> Appreciate the beauty of your own hard work, even when it is not
> finished. How many times have you looked a hole in the ground or
a
> ditch and said, "Whoever dug that hole did a good job" ?? There
is a
> beauty in doing ANY job well. If sewer workers can take pride in
a
> good honest day's work, you should too. If you are not able to
> appreciate these things, you'll likely be miserable during the
entire
> project. That's no way to build anything worthwhile. To this day,
> it's hard for me to lay my level across something I've built and
see
> the bubble glide to the center and not grin from ear to ear. It
may
> be a simple rough window sill. That rough sill will probably get
> completely covered by casings and plaster, but when that bubble
> centers, it's a thing of beauty! I know I made it happen too!
>
> I'm sure others have other insights to add, but there's a start.
>
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "a.j. welmers" <awsaua@>
> wrote:
> >
> ><snip>
> >
> > I was wondering if it is usefull to start a chapter or thread
on how
> > to present PC based plans to the authorities, based on
experiences
> and
> > ideas from the PC community, as every plan is useless when it
does
> > not get approval.
> >
> ><snip>
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.488 / Virus Database: 269.13.30/1025 - Release Date:
9/23/2007 1:53 PM
>
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