Mastering the Building Cycle

by Anne W. Bernard

Four to five months, depending on the weather—that's how long the average construction season lasts in Tahoe. For local cement pourers, topographic surveyors and building contractors, the months from May to October are by far the busiest of the year. For landowners seeking to build new homes in Tahoe, the long days of summer can pass frustratingly fast.

As many homeowners know, building an abode is not a linear process. From the moment the land is purchased until the final coat of paint dries on the kitchen wall, there are decisions to be made, hiccups to overcome and revisions to agree upon. Designs must be approved by engineers; architects require surveys; contractors need permits from the building department. Add into the mix the complications that come with high-altitude weather and a regulation-heavy area, and building a house can feel like a second job. Unless, that is, you keep in mind two little words: Start Early.

According to Mike Nethersole, owner of M.D. Construction and Consulting in Truckee, a typical design period can last anywhere from three to eight months. During this time, a topographic survey must be done, architects, designers and engineers must consult and agree on plans with the owner, and all of the necessary permits must be obtained. The permit process itself often takes up to six weeks—longer if you go to the building department during those aforementioned busy months—so in addition to starting early, it's important to have reasonable expectations. In other words, if you call an architect in August, don't expect to be building any time before the following April.

"The biggest problem I see," says Truckee-based architect Peter Gerdin, "is people coming to talk to us in November or December without even having a topographic survey done." Many landowners don't realize that not a single line should be drawn before a survey is produced, and surveys cannot be done accurately when there is snow on the ground. The best reason to start early, according to Nethersole, is that you never really know when the snow will thaw. So the plan should not be to start in April or May, but to be ready to start by March. With designs finalized and permits in place by midwinter, you can hire a contractor and be one of the eight to ten houses a company like M.D. Construction and Consulting works on each summer. With such a short building season, if you are still struggling to finalize your plans even a few weeks after the ground thaws, you are placing yourself at a huge disadvantage.

If you think that an obvious solution is to hire out-of-area contractors, think again. While their schedules might be more accommodating, architects, engineers and builders from Sacramento and other surrounding regions rarely have the local knowledge needed to get it right on the first try. Gary Davis of Gary Davis Group Design and Engineering in Tahoe City says that the biggest mistake he witnesses is owners hiring contractors from outside the area that don't know the local rules. "In addition to all the regulations we have up here, an architect from L.A. probably doesn't have a clue about how to design in snow country. Engineers from outside the area are more likely to be over-conservative or to over-engineer projects because of their lack of familiarity with the area."

Nethersole, who lived in San Diego before moving here ten years ago, says that while most designers will think about the factors that make construction here different—snowfall, cold weather, erosion—they probably won't think about it in the same way that a local builder would. They may not consider that different roofing materials have different snow-shedding properties, or that the pitch of the roof above high foot-traffic areas can be a potential hazard, since snow falling off a building can be as dangerous as an avalanche.

There are also several hidden costs to building a house in Tahoe that few owners or warm-climate designers recognize. Tim Taylor at Auerbach Engineering in Tahoe City says that he has seen out-of-area contractors get halfway through a project in Tahoe and suddenly realize that their budget is stretched. While a track house in Sacramento is fairly easy to frame, houses in Tahoe tend to be more complicated and typically require materials in larger quantities and sizes.

According to Davis, "Foundations are bigger, beams are bigger and, in general, more material goes into the house because we are in snow country." In an area that affords such breathtaking views, many homeowners seek to capitalize on their location with more and bigger windows, requiring even more supporting materials and more precise engineering. Additionally, to account for earthquakes, while a building in Sacramento should be built to withstand its own interior hold itself plus 25 or 30 percent of the maximum snow load, depending on the exact building location.

Houses here need more insulation and tighter construction to withstand the cold, and when construction crews are working through the winter, landowners should expect to pay more money to make up for safety issues and the time it takes to shovel snow off the jobsite each morning. Other considerations that can slip the minds of out-of-area contractors are the fact that waterlines should not exist in exterior walls, and pipes must be buried 36 inches below ground to avoid freezing.

Taylor notes that Tahoe has an especially stringent regulatory climate as well. Besides snow load issues, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) has rules about scenic lots, the county has building codes and height requirements and all of the utility departments have their own demands. Often times, these regulations overlap, and it takes time and money for contractors to consult and work all of this out before sending finalized plans to the building department for approval.

Says Davis, "One of the most complicated scenarios is a house built on a lakeside lot off of Highway 28. Here, there are scenic criteria set forth by the TRPA—color, the amount of glass used, roofline and backshore boundaries—that can require jumping through hoops to manage. Then you have Caltrans, which has its own requirements for homes built so close to a state highway. And on top of that, the county and state have their own building code issues to factor in." In contrast, a subdivision in Sacramento already has everything worked out.

In the end, there is no big secret to building here. Local experience counts, and as Nethersole emphasizes, "it's all about weather, timing and being cognizant of the fact that you're building in snow country."