City of Oakland said no to 20x30 plans =(

[Konstantinus]

We got a nice plot of land in the city last spring on which we can build 2 houses. We ordered the Country Plans 1.5 story plan in the summer and have been having a great time modifying them, playing with the lot layout, floorplan, etc. We planned to order the 14x24 little house plan and build both on our lot, but our bubble was burst yesterday when we took them to the head building inspector and he said no way to let-in ledgers! He said in an earthquake they will fall right over sideways, and Oakland is definitely earthquake zone.

Is it much harder to platform frame the second floor on the 20x30? Will it cost alot more or take more time? We liked these plans because they seemed less daunting than a whole 2 story house and we are both novices and looking to do alot of the work ourselves. Is it alot harder to platform frame a 1.5 story than it is to build the 1 story 20x30?

Any input will be much appreciated!
costa and sarah

[devildog]

Welcome to the forum. What about jack studs?
Darrell

After rereading I now understand what hes saying, and my suggestion would be the same. You would think they would allow some type of blocking.
I hate when the answers just no and they offer no alternative. Maybe someone on here will have an idea.

[Don_P]

Actually they are not supposed to design and are instructed to just say no by the county attorney to protect the taxpayers assetts. Catch 22 there. I'd call an engineer, I imagine you'll need to develop a relationship with one before its over, might as well let them in on the ground floor.

[MikeT]

On my project, I had a friend of mine who is a structural engineer spec'd out the beams for the loft.  Instead of letting in ledgers for the beams (which he didn't like because of creating a hinge point), he called out for the beams to sit on built up 2x4s that were nailed to the 16"o/c exterior wall studs.

[John Raabe]

The whole point of the let-in ledger is to reinforce the hinge point that would otherwise be there in a platform framed 2nd story wall. And a 2x6 wall notched for the ledger still leaves a full 4" for bearing. This is before the joist is nailed to the stud and the whole thing sheathed with plywood for bracing.

However, in many areas of CA you will need to have an engineer check the bracing and they may want to create some shear walls with extra hold-downs depending on the earthquake zone.

[Konstantinus]

Thanks for the fast reply John! I didn't mean to slight the plans in any way, we love them, we are just slowly learning about all the impediments that stand in our way, chiefly the zoning department who want us to turn our backyard into a parking lot and make us add dormers but that is another story. Makes me wish we had a goat for an inspector. I'm gonna go back and ask the building dept about scabbing jack studs to support the second floor, of course that still doesn't solve the shearing problem, but maybe they will have some suggestions. The building department assured us that as long as the construction is standard (read: platform) we won't need an engineer or architect to stamp our plans, however they will likely make many additions which we will welcome (provided they aren't too costly).

[John Raabe]

If the building of the loft level as a platform frame will solve the problem - go ahead. It will not cost any more and is actually easier. However, it is NOT as strong for either downward (roof) loads or earthquake bracing.

I'm willing to bet the city has hundreds of balloon framed structures that have been standing for 80 to 100 years. The were also framed with 2x4 studs, I expect!