From Blueprints to Final Inspection: A Father’s DIY Project to Inspire Our First Family Engineer.

From Backyard Blueprints to Passing Inspections: A DIY Project to Hopefully Inspire Our First Engineer

Tackling chores and projects around the house as parents does a lot more than just keep the property running. Whether we realize it or not, the things our kids watch us take on have a quiet, lasting influence on their lives—the way they approach challenges, what they study in school, and the paths they end up choosing down the road.

Now, to be completely honest, I had zero professional background in construction or remodeling. Everything I knew came from watching my dad back home and that single year of classroom and hands-on vocational training at my high school on Falalop, Ulithi, Micronesia. But after my wife and I bought our first home, we took one good look at the old 10×20 deck in the backyard and knew it had to go. We wanted to tear it out and replace it with something bigger, sturdier, and built with our own hands.

With some basic computer skills and a lot of determination, I fired up 3D modeling software on my computer and started planning out my blueprint. Once I had a solid design, I put out calls to local contractors to see what it would cost to build.

The quotes came back anywhere from $10,000 to over $30,000—way more than we could afford. But almost every contractor I spoke with told me the exact same thing: “You don’t need a permit for this, the deck is too low to the ground.”

Believing their advice and knowing contractor prices were out of reach, I decided to do it myself. I grabbed my tools, marked the layout, started digging, and even poured a few concrete posts.

Around that time, I posted updates on social media. Thankfully, my followers were absolute lifesavers. A few of them saw my posts and commented with concern, asking if I was sure I didn’t need a building permit. That got me thinking, so I stopped by our local city hall just to make sure.

To my complete surprise, I definitely needed a permit.

The city staff explained that most contractors work out in the county where height is the only real factor. But within our city limits, they look at height, square footage, and whether the deck attaches to the house. Because my design was 384 square feet, it was well over the permit-free limit.

Because I had already poured some footings, the city asked me to dig down around one post so they could verify the depth.

• First inspection: The inspector checked the footing depth, approved it, and gave me the green light to frame.

• Framing inspection: Once the joists, beams, braces, nails, and hurricane ties were in place, the inspector returned, checked every connection, and gave another approval.

• Final inspection: We laid down the deck boards, finished the railings, and wrapped up the final details.

When the city inspector came out for the final check, he looked around at the finished deck and joked, “Are you sure you didn’t hire a contractor after all?”

He gave a few small pointers to adjust on the spot, officially stamped and sealed our paperwork, and signed off on the whole build. Passing every rigorous inspection on a 384-square-foot build was a massive sigh of relief.