All Forum Posts by: Raymond L Tennal Jr

Evening folks,

I am looking into a property that needs some renovation prior to being ready to move in. I'm estimating cost is around 50k. I believe an FHA 201K loan would be best. Do any of use know of any providers in northwest Washington state? If so, could you provide contact info?

To determine the STC i need to know the floor system.  What is it constructed from   I assume its something like (2) layers GWB on metal channel on joists or trusses at 16" on center w/ 3/4" floor sheathing and 1" gypcrete and insulation.  The system I described above could get you a STC rating of 59.  The system should not consider the flooring in most cases... there are exceptions.  I would begin with getting information on the floor system to see if they consider the finish. 

I'm working on a deal for a 4-plex. However VA home loan is requesting experience with rentals. This is my first rental property. That being said, I am a structural engineer. Have any of you came across this, and if so, how did you work around this?

@Bruce Woodruff well said... I can get into the weeds.

@Laurel Kate, often brick walls are veneers with stud walls.  The biggest question is "What is the wall supporting?".  if the wall above is brick it could have a dead load between 40 and 160 psf. In comparison to wood frame exterior walls have a dead load of 10psf.  The next question is what is the structure above.  Is it a floor or more and what is the framing direction above and do they bear on this wall?  The point here is what is the weight the current wall support.  This all will effect the beam that would be needed at the new wall opening.  

Next item to consider is the lateral system.  When you take out full height walls you reduce the structure's resistance to wind and earthquake forces.  Being from DC, I expect your design would be wind controlling.  In general you need approximately 10-30% of the exterior wall to be full height.  To be a legal shear/brace wall the minimum length is 2ft-8in for a 8ft wall (that is the wall segments between door and window openings). Your renovations need to consider the lateral needs.  These requirements are often overlook in concept development.  If you can give some consideration for these needs you can save cost in construction.

Generally speaking, I predict this doable but there is insufficient information here to determine if this is cost prohibitive.  If you could identify the following:

What is the structure above?

Is there a floor and roof above?

How long is the rear wall where you want to create the opening (out to out building dimension)?

What is the size of opening?

What is the total length of full height wall segments in this (above mentioned wall) that are over 2'-4"? 

If you could provide this info we can advise.  

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $125,000
Cash invested: $40,000

Converting to Air BNB

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I saw what it would take to repair and the potential it had. Best decision ever.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Well, it started as a joke. Then the owner contacted me month later. I call it a deal of a life time.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventual

How did you add value to the deal?

sweat & time. Time was the payoff.

What was the outcome?

That is still to come. but I was able to pull some equity out and invested into crypto. Now, if I am smart, i will pull some to this out in the winter of 2021-22 and buy a multi-family property.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

It takes money to make money

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

No... bought off market.

@Marie Buckingham 

I can’t speak for your jurisdiction, but I can for Island County, WA. Maybe this will help you.

Over the years working as an architectural designer and now as a structural engineer I have dealt with numerous projects that have been built without permits. I have three examples. In 2008 I had a client that built a deck with out a permit. They built this deck about 5 years before. In doing so, they placed a footing within 2ft of the septic tank. The issue here was the bottom the footing was near the top of the tank and induced additional wall pressure on the tank. If not addressed, it could lead to fracture in the tank and leaking effluent (worse case scenario). We had to install a new footing so that its bearing influence was located below the bottom of the tank.

About two years ago I worked with another client that purchased a farm. One of the pole buildings did not have a permit on file. The building inspector wanted a structural engineer to justify the construction. Now, this was originally built in the mid 1980s. But, without a permit, we had to justify it under the current code (which was the 2015IBC). The construction didn't meet the current code requirements. They had to do about 15k worth of retrofits to make it pass.

The third example is a garage conversion to living space. The original was completed in 2001 but to sell the home and to count the space as living they needed a permit on it. The problem between 2001 and the 2012 code was the changes made to Washington State Energy Code. In this part of Washington state, slab on grade living spaces have to be insulated. This was not the case in 2001. We were able to get it in compliance by adding insulation at the exterior perimeter foundation.

My best piece of advice is open a dialog with the building department. Be courteous and polite (trying to get some brownie points). Explain the issue and let them know you inherited this from the previous owner and you would like to get it in compliance. You may need to hire a building designer or architect to help you prepare the necessary documents for permitting. Likely, you will need to do some additional work to bring it in compliance. At a minimum, you might have to do some minor demolition for inspection purposes. I had a building inspector required that the header to trimmer/king studs be exposed and a portion of the base plate for inspection purposes.

One final thought. I have worked with clients that were, well, asses to the building department, and in doing so, were hosed through fines and delays. On the other hand, I have worked with others that were considerate to the officials and got off with just a slap on the wrist.

If you need any further assistance, please reach out.

@Pranav Bhatia My first question is what are the original stair built from and how long have they lasted.  Lets suppose that they are built from wood, hopefully pressure treated.  Lets further supposed that the replacement cost is $1,000 with like and kind.  Now lets compare this to @Genny Li system with an install cost of, say $4,000.  The next questions then is, are you willing to pay 4 time as much to get something that will last 50-75 years instead of 10-20 years with a cheaper system.  

In Washington State and often in BC these stairs are built with PT4x12 stringers and concrete treads.  I have seen a service life out of these that is roughly 20 years.  Some of the failure mechanisms are rusted connection hardware, crack treads, spalling from freeze-thaw cycle, and decay from moisture.  

Those Stairs that Genny Li has in the photograph likely would last at least 50 years.  Even longer if a maintenance plan is in-place to inspect them yearly and remove rust and refinish.  I did an inspection of a stair system constructed with metal and concrete that was only 25 years old.  The salt environment of the cost led to rust and now these need to be replaced.  

I would consult a few local contractor.  Get some estimates and have conversation with them to see what they recommend.  They can be a great resource.

Lastly, I would look around the neighborhood and see what others are doing.  Between what the contractors say, what you see around the neighborhood and research I am sure you can find a cost effective method to replace the stairs.  I would not consider repairs if there is significate decay of the existing materials.  You would just come back later to fix the little failure, thereby, nickel and dime you.  Lets hold on to those Loonieys and Tooneys.

I know the market is crazy busy.... it is a shame that these people are not willing to help.  You should be able to find a local structural engineer to help out.

Where is the project at?  

I'm a structural engineer an love to help out people figure these issues out. Below is a general idea on how to identify bearing walls.  If you need further assistance, please reach out to me directly I might be able to help you out, depending where you are at. 

The first thing I ask is "when was this home built" Home built prior to say 1975 used stick built roof and often had interior bearing walls as these roof system have shorter span than trusses. Younger home are often built with trusses and typical span from exterior wall to exterior wall, but not always the case. Span for trusses can be as much as 30 ft, but most don't span more than 24ft. Now if there is a floor above, interior walls could be bearing walls. Floor joist and support spans between 12 to 18 feet. You can span greater, but it is high unlikely. So the question here is, what is the frame above the wall... if it runs parallel the wall is likely non-bearing, if perpendicular it is likely that it is bearing. However, it also depends on what is going on above if it is a two story. Another way to determine if it is a bearing wall is to see if there is a beam line in the crawlspace. Slab on grade construction is not as easy to identify.

That could work.  Alternatively, get someone to manage it as and Air BnB.   I'm thinking of doing this with my Place in Washington State.