A while back someone posted on a thread that they were working in Mississipi and wondered about inspections. I said there weren’t any–well, I found out that there are. The first crew from our church that is working in Moss Point had to have a plumbing inspection (the HO’s B-I-L did the work and it failed the inspection, so now they’re hiring a local licensed plumber) and an electrical inspection. I don’t remember having to have them last year–maybe things have changed now that a year has passed since the storms.
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OK, good to know. How intensive/nit-picky were the inspections, do you know?
Don't know how picky the inspector was, but from what I heard about the plumbing job, it doesn't surprise me it didn't pass--the guy broke a pipe the first day our crew was there and it turned out the only shutoff was out at the street and it was covered by a huge pile of demolition debris and it was several hours of moving and digging through it to find the valve before they could shut it off. Electrical inspection was either Friday or coming up tomorrow--I'll see if I can find out anything more in detail. Hope it passes or the next crew won't have electricity in the house.
Oh so true.
I have a plumbing inspector ( one of my code & drafting instructors when I was an appentice) if he's in a mood he can & will find something to write a corection about, could be the best he's ever seen, but if he wants to find somethin he will.When asked why is there four engines on a 747------ "cause we couldn't fit six" a Boeing engineer
the secert to all inspection is : make it look pretty
The secret to inspections is do it to code, know what the inspectors look for, and make it pretty.
Okay, met last night with the group who returned from MS and they said the following:
They are following the MS codes, which are fairly strict. Apparently they had been very lenient and even no inspections in the past and then several houses burned down due to bad electrical work, so....
The inspectors know they are often dealing with non-professionals and they will work with you and talk to you about how to do things and not just reject work and walk away. They are being helpful and not picky. (The guy who ended up doing the plumbing on our job was not licensed, but somehow got a permit and did the work and it passed inspection.) (I was told he charged $16/hour--wonder if he'd come up her and work!)
Anyway, there is apparently nothing to worry about--the inspectors are trying to be "team players" and get things rebuilt down there with a minimum of fuss. But they won't pass shoddy work just to get something built. Just had a deja vu that this post got someone angry with me for something I said about inspectors, so I'll just say that nothing bad was intended (just in case my feeling was right!).
You all doing hurricane relief work?
Hey Danno!
IIRC Moss Point is in Jackson County, and they've had inspections for some time. However, where I built my parents' home (and where I now own my own property) in George County, MS, there is no building dept. and thus no inspections.
Point being, it differs from county to county, and even between various municipalities within each county.
Yes, we're doing hurricane relief work. Four groups are going down, one per week for a month--some are staying longer than a week. One week is all I can afford off of work, plus I can only stand sleeping in a dorm with 20 or 30 people for so long!
We asked a church down there to give our group one house to fix so we can sort of "own" the project and see it through from start to finish. I, among others, had that idea after last time down there. We were divided up and sent out in groups of 3-4 to do parts of jobs--like I ripped all the drywall out of a house and then the next day went and put up drywall in another house, etc. Felt more rewarding, more like we'd thrown one starfish back into the ocean, when we worked on one house from start to finish, than it did to throw several starfish a tenth of the way to the ocean (doing parts of a job for several people).
[The starfish analogy comes from a story where a man sees a little boy going along the beach after a storm and throwing starfish back into the ocean. Seeing the beach littered with hundreds of starfish and knowing the futility of trying to save them, he tells the little boy that he cannot possibly make a difference because there are so many startfish. The boy throws a starfish back and says, "It made a difference to that one."]
want a good place to eat, go about three miles north of I10 towards the power plant, place on left " Seamans cove"
Edited 11/2/2006 7:05 am by brownbagg
Thank you. I've printed out your message and will take it with me so we can go there. We are always looking for good places to eat when we're down there. The Shed was good last time and apparently it's on our way between the work site and the church sponsored "bed and breakfast". All meals are provided and they are okay, but they are on a limited budget and make do with lots of surplus or contributed food, so not always gourmet (though I really don't go down there for the gourmet food--still it's nice to splurge a couple times and sample good local couisine!
Last time we had to stay in tents--they called it "Tent City" and there was a nice little bar a block away, so we spent almost every night there, drinking Turbo Dogs and so on. Lights out was 10:00 and nothing to do in Tent City. There were picnic tables to sit at, but it got into the 30's some nights, so not real comfortable to sit out there chatting, plus no alchol was allowed in Tent City.
I really liked the draft Southern Pecan beer at the Shed made by the same company (Abita? or something like that). The Turbo Dog and Purple Haze is available here in Michigan, but haven't found Southern Pecan, even though they're all made by same co. I like New Restoration Ale (by same) because a dollar of every purchase goes down there to help restore the area. I alone have probably rebuilt half of New Orleans through my purchases! (Not really--can't find that anymore either, I think I bought two six packs last year.)
Good for you!!! I wanted to go down there, but I am able to find volunteer work to do here in my own area that utilizes my building skills. The wife and I sent money down there though. I know what you mean though about wanting your volunteer work to feel rewarding.
Some time ago I did hurricane reliefe work here in NC and was even able to recruit some BTers.