blow it up! reorganize the catholic church

with the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the third millennium, the problem is abundantly clear. the catholic church has a serious management problem. the old model that may have worked in the first part of the first millennium just doesn't work anymore. one man simply can't manage a worldwide organization with more than one billion members--and neither can one man and a relatively small group of "good ole boys".

the catholic church needs to take a page from the secular world and from other christian churches. in the secular world, large organizations typically have a board of directors whose function is to oversee the management staff's operation of the organization. effective boards of directors have diverse members (women, men, young, old, minorities, etc.) who monitor and hold management staff responsible for meeting the organization's mission statement. 

likewise, other christian churches have boards or councils. ideally, these consist of non employees who represent the typical cross section of church members--male, female, young, old, in between, and different incomes, races and ethnicities.

an organization as large as the catholic church needs boards of directors at every level--parish, diocese, country.  e.g. The National Review Board, 
Statement from the National Review Board Calls for Lay Leadership Amid Sexual Abuse Crisis

the days of the "good ole boy(s)" should come to an end quickly. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catholicism_by_country.png

By Ernio48 (Using paint in a Wikipedia blank map.) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons

I feel your pain, ma'am--more virginia corruption

Bentonville homeowner questions practices of county officials, warns Front Royal | Royal Examiner

Bentonville woman starts petition for investigation into Warren County officials for malfeasance and nonfeasance | Royal Examiner 

our story from the county next door: 
minds of mush: how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation 

virginia
shenandoah county
building inspections department
county attorney
board of supervisors
strasburg
stony pointe
alan toothman construction, inc.

don't waste your vote on a republican or a democrat

had enough? 

who do you trust?
- an ultraconservative republican or an ultraliberal democrat?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? who does what is necessary (e.g. compromise) to get the job done?
- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs that breed extremist obstructionists? 

here's how government operates: 

or rather, doesn't operate.

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for obstructionist candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their obstructionist candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

impervious slope: what we had to do because the builder didn't follow the building code and approved plans and the shenandoah county building inspection dept. was out to lunch

1. per building code: slope ground away from foundation walls--minimum six inches fall in ten feet.
2. impervious (polyethelene) layer.
3. stone

location: Strasburg, VA

county: shenandoah

builder: Alan Toothman Construction, Inc., Woodstock, VA.

how shenandoah co. va. mishandled a clear building code violation

the building code violation:

June 30, 2018

Mr. Griffey,

under section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations) and paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8 of the code of virginia (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter1/section19.2-8/), I am submitting my formal complaint of violation of  the virginia building code. Specifically section 401.3 of the virginia residential building codestates "Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)." The grading at our house, located at 148 daniel ct., strasburg, does not slope away from the foundation walls as required. This has resulted in several inches of standing water in our crawl space. 

Our certificate of use and occupancy is attached. Please note that our house meets the time requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8.

Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation.

Sincerely,

Ray Koenig

notes: 

1. Mark Griffey is the building official for Shenandoah County VA .   https://shenandoahcountyva.us/building-inspection/
2. "Should you reject my formal complaint..."  this was inserted because griffey and county attorney jordan bowman with the private law firm of Litton and Sipe, Harrisonburg Va. rejected without a written response my neighbor's valid building code violation complaint.
3. the meeting that I requested never happened.

********************************************************

shenandoah county's response:

1st paragraph:

notes:

1. "...leakage..." wrong word. the correct word is flooding.
2. "...possible violation..." wrong word. the correct word is clear violation.
3. see note #2  following "complaint".

2nd paragraph:

notes:

1. "...discussed..." wrong word. Mr. Griffey "reached out" (his words) to alan toothman construction, inc., the builder who failed to comply with the building code and the approved grading and drainage plan. One "reaches out" to someone in need, e.g., a hungry or homeless person, a person in danger, a person needing help, a citizen with a valid building code violation complaint, etc.--not a builder who breaks the law by failing to comply with the building code.
2. the builder's plan to "fix" the building code violation wouldn't have "fixed" it at all. in fact, it would have made the problem worse. I provided a detailed written explanation of why toothman's "fix" makes the problem worse. the county failed to respond.
3. yes, griffey and bowman, I refuse to allow you and toothman to make our problem worse.
4. griffey and bowman don't want to hear facts. that's why they didn't grant my request for a meeting.

3rd paragraph:

notes:

1. see #2 above.
2. this is how shenandoah county va. treats one of its citizens victimized by a clear building code violation.
3. poor government inspection and enforcement is why there are many bad builders in the USA.
4. poor government inspection and enforcement is why quality of home construction in the USA has declined in the past 50 years while quality in all other sectors has increased more than 200%.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Construction-non-farm-labor_1964-2003.jpg

By U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

it doesn't pass the "smell test".

virginia
shenandoah county
strasburg
stony pointe
toothman

the death of the catholic church's moral authority

The Catholic Church is guilty of a grave moral failure for allowing massive sexual abuse of children | Fox News

• 70 years
• 300 priests--just in PA
• more than 1,000 victims--just in PA
• multiple bishops covering it up--just in PA
• 7 popes

project the PA abomination worldwide and you have a massive worldwide abomination. 


Pope Francis covered up McCarrick abuse, former US nuncio testifies (OFFICIAL TEXT) | News | LifeSite

so much for the moral authority of the pope and the catholic church.

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rome_San_Pietro.jpg

author: "user:Flicka" does not exist

shenandoah county virginia's handling of an alan toothman construction, inc. building code violation doesn't pass the smell test

Jun 30, 2018

Mr. Griffey,

under section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations) and paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8 of the code of virginia (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter1/section19.2-8/), I am submitting my formal complaint of violation of the virginia building code. Specifically section 401.3 of the virginia residential building codestates "Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)." The grading at our house, located at 148 daniel ct., strasburg, does not slope away from the foundation walls as required. This has resulted in several inches of standing water in our crawl space.

Our certificate of use & occupancy is attached. Please note that our house meets the time requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8.

Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation. *

Sincerely,
Ray Koenig 


* never happened

***************************************************

Jul 30, 2018

Comments on Lellock plan (builder alan toothman's engineer)

1. Contrary to what’s stated in “proposed improvement”, there are no physical barriers that prevent grading between 144 and 148 from conforming to the approved 2003 grading plan and R401.3.

2. The Lellock plan does not conform to the letter or the intent of R401.3 of the Virginia Residential Building Code (see note 4 in “project notes”). The purpose of R401.3 is to direct runoff a minimum of 10 ft. away from foundation walls. The Lellock plan does not do this.

3. The Lellock plan does not conform to the approved 2003 grading plan. The 2003 approved grading plan, with ground sloped away from foundation walls for a minimum of 10 ft., conforms to R401.3.

4. The Lellock plan directs runoff to a french drain that is located next to the landscaped area that is approximately half the distance from the foundation wall as R401.3 requires. As conceived, runoff in the french drain will saturate soil around and under it and foundation walls. This violates both the letter and the intent of R401.3.

5. Grading per R401.3 keeps runoff away from foundation walls by diverting it to a surface swale 10 ft. minimum from foundation walls. Runoff in a properly graded swale will intercept surface runoff and will not saturate soils near foundation walls as the Lellock plan will.

6. The Lellock plan does not adequately address runoff from 144’s roof and landscaped area in front of 144. The surface swale shown in the approved 2003 grading plan will intercept runoff from 144’s roof and landscaping bed at the surface, 10 ft. away from 148’s foundation walls. A properly graded swale will keep the runoff 10 ft. away from foundation walls. This will conform to the letter and the intent of R401.3.

7. The contributing drainage area in the Lellock plan doesn’t include 148’s roof.

8. Considering the many instances in this development where buried flexible plastic pipes--with more fall than the 6” buried flexible plastic pipe in the Lellock plan will have--have dips and low spots, it’s inconceivable that the 6” buried flexible plastic pipe in the Lellock plan will have a uniform 1% (1/8” per ft.) grade. With a surface swale, it’s easy to see if it’s properly graded.

9. What’s to prevent critters with nesting material from entering the outlet end of the 6” pipe and creating obstructions? With 90o connections, how will these obstructions be cleared without great difficulty? Obviously, this is not a problem with a surface swale.

10. Will the trench be exposed? We didn't buy a house with a gravel trench running down the side. In fact, if we had seen a gravel trench running down the side yard, then we would have been alerted to the drainage problems here, and we probably wouldn’t have bought the house. Who, given the choice between a gravel trench or grass, would choose a gravel trench?

11. The Lellock plan does not address the front and back of the house. Grading in neither the front nor the rear of the house conforms to the approved 2003 grading and drainage plan and R401.3. Further, judging from the amount of standing water in the front and rear of the crawl space, much of the runoff is coming in through the foundation walls in the front and the rear of the house.

12. I disagree that the Lellock plan has the same drainage pattern as the approved 2003 grading and drainage plan. Obviously, concentrated drainage from a 6” pipe is not the same as drainage spread out in a 20 ft. wide swale. Depending where the outlet end of the 6” pipe is located (the Lellock plan is not specific), drainage intended for the stormwater management pond in the 2003 approved grading and drainage plan may not end up reaching the stormwater management pond with the Lellock plan.

13. The house on 144 and the house on 148 are not parallel. The space between the houses widens from front to rear.

These partial comments address the overall unsuitability of the Lellock plan (comment #4 of “project notes” in the Lellock plan). The Lellock plan does not conform to the approved 2003 grading plans or R401.3 of the Virginia Residential Building Code.

Lot 148 should be regraded to conform to the 2003 approved grading plan and R401.3.

If the Lellock plan is withdrawn, as it should be, and Lot 148 is regraded to conform with the approved 2003 grading plan and R401.3, as it should be, then further comments that I have on the Lellock plan (e.g. soils data, soil borings’ locations, etc.) don’t need to be addressed.


note: the county didn't respond to these comments.

****************************************************

Aug 2, 2018

Dr. Helsley,

My name is Ray Koenig. Last November my wife, Jenny, and I purchased a new home located at 148 Daniel Ct., Strasburg. In April of this year we discovered standing water in our crawl space. On June 30 I emailed my formal complaint of a building code violation to Mark Griffey, Shenandoah County building code official, citing section R401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations). Mr. Griffey told me that he was going to cite the builder, Alan Toothman Construction, Inc with a building code violation. He didn't, opting instead to "reach out" (his words) to the builder. The builder's engineer submitted a plan that does not comply with section R401.3 or the 2003 approved grading and drainage plan for the development (Stony Pointe). I submitted my written objections to Toothman's engineer's plan to Mr. Griffey on July 30. I am a retired (before retirement, licensed) civil engineer and land surveyor, born, raised, and educated in Virginia, and spent most of my 40+ year career working for private engineering consulting firms in Virginia.

We will appreciate any advice or assistance that you can provide in helping us to resolve this matter. I will be pleased to provide any information that you request on this matter and/or to meet with you at a time and place of your convenience. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ray & Jenny Koenig


*********************************************

Aug 4, 2018

Mr. Koenig,

I am receipt of your e-mail on August 2. I have contacted County Administration and you should receive a letter from the County Attorney next week concerning your problem with drainage.

Conrad A. Helsley, Chairman
District 6 Supervisor
note: "so goes the head, so goes the snake."
citizens of shenandoah county, decapitate the snake in the next local election.
*********************************************

*********************************************

from Exterior Sources of Foundation Leaks & Basement Water Entry 

At grade, the main object is to get water away from the foundation as quickly as possible. Finish grade should slope away from the building for at least 10 to 15 feet, and should not contain low spots that will make water ponds.

Swales: if one or more sides of the building face an upwards sloping hill, slope the finish grade away from the building for at least 10-15 feet, and then shape the finish grade at that point into a swale that itself continues to carry water around to the downhill side of the building.

A swale, illustrated by Carson Dunlop Associates' sketch at left, is a nice word for a "gentle ditch" - it does not have to be deep.

Foundation ditches: Do not do what we have found at some flooding basements: an in-slope grade problem that was trapping surface and roof runoff against the house was "fixed" by digging a ditch right against the foundation wall in an attempt to carry water away. The ditch digger simply had built a water trap to guarantee that water would be sent against the foundation wall.

*****************************************

• the building code gets it--section 401.3. https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations 
• the 2003 approved grading plan gets it. 
  

• the builder, alan toothman construction, doesn't get it.
• the builder's engineer doesn't get it.
• the shenandoah county building official doesn't get it.
• the shenandoah county attorney doesn't get it.
• the district 6 representative and chairman of the shenandoah county board of supervisors doesn't get it.
• the shenandoah county administrator doesn't get it.
• the assistant shenandoah county administrator doesn't get it.

what's so hard to get?--it's not rocket science.


other questions:

• does toothman, griffey, bowman, helsley, lellock, smith, price, or vass have several inches of standing water in their basements or crawl spaces because the builder of their house didn't follow the approved grading plan or the state building code?
• does toothman, griffey, bowman, helsley, lellock, smith, price, or vass have a 75 ft. long exposed gravel trench in their yards? that wasn't there when they bought their house? that was being shoved down their throats by their county government?
• how would griffey, bowman, helsley, lellock, smith, price, vass, or any other citizen of shenandoah county, virginia, or any other local government feel if they received the same treatment from their local government that we got?

but, the real question is: why does shenandoah county "reach out" to law-breaking builder alan toothman construction inc. who violated the building code, i.e., broke the law, instead of supporting its own law-abiding citizens?

it doesn't "pass the smell test".

virginia
shenandoah county
helsley
strasburg
stony pointe
toothman

why doesn't congress/mueller investigate facebook/zuckerberg?

OK. 
we get it. 
trump, trump jr., russians, collusion, election, hillary, etc. 
Cartoon Free America

why doesn't congress/mueller investigate something/someone that should be investigated--like facebook/zuckerberg?
Facebook to Banks: Give Us Your Data, We’ll Give You Our Users - WSJ

image by Anthony Quintano

Mark Zuckerberg F8 2018 Keynote | Anthony Quintano | Flickr

An Open Letter to Those Who Still Give a Damn

An Open Letter to Those Who Still Give a Damn 

"Those of us who give a damn all have new dangers assailing our hearts these days, and it is in this time of relentless urgency and sustained trauma and prolonged fatigue and profound fracture that you and I find ourselves. ... As a result you probably find yourself pissed off, disconnected, isolated, worn out, and exhausted because how few people are as moved by the need around them as you are."

Whether you’re an activist or a minister or a parent or a caregiver, or just a citizen of the planet who is moved by other people’s suffering—you likely feel the immeasurable heaviness of these days. Sure, speed and activity can mask it for a while, but if you stop long enough, the reality of the fatigue catches up to you—you can measure the toll it’s all taken on you. I want you to measure it. I want you reckon with how tired you are. I want you to hear yourself exhale with the heavy sigh of someone who feels the weight of it all.

There is a cost to compassion, a personal price tag to cultivating empathy in days when cruelty is trending. There is in your body and head and in your midst, a collateral damage to you giving a damn when others do not, and it manifests itself in many ways: in irritability, impatience, physical illness, eating emotionally, addictive behavior, the inability to be present to the people who love you, an obsession with social media, a fixation on how jacked up everything is.

Notice these things in you today, and give them your attention.
Extend some of that compassion you’re so willing to extend to the world—to yourself.

Take some time to step away from the fray and the fight. It will still be there when you return, and you’ll be better able to face it."

thanks, republican party, for trump & mcconnell. thanks, democratic party, for pelosi, schumer, warren & waters

had enough? 

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 
- someone who who works well with others?
- who does what is necessary (e.g. compromise) to get the job done?

- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs that breed extremist obstructionists? 

here's how government operates: 

or rather, doesn't operate.

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for obstructionist candidates who don't have values similar to yours and who don't represent the best interests of our country to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their obstructionist candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

deja vu all over again--when will we get wise to the fact that our two-party system of government is broken, and do something about it?

"All in all, it's hard to make a case that Americans -- in this year of great disgruntlement with their government -- engaged in heroic efforts to use the election as a tool to change things in Washington. Americans a) turned out to vote in unusually low numbers, and b) when they did vote, sent most members of Congress and senators who were seeking re-election back to Washington, just where they had been.

There are no signs so far that things have changed after the election. Our immediate post-election survey showed approval for Congress back down to near its all-time lows, satisfaction with the way things are going at a similarly low ebb, and dysfunctional government is still near the top of the public's list of the most important problems facing the U.S. Similarly, other surveys conducted after the election show that the public holds out low levels of hope that things are going to get better going forward. A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that 40% of Americans think there will be no difference in how elected leaders work together to get things done in Washington as a result of the election, and another 32% say they are less confident that this will occur. Of course, as the proverb has said, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." We will see shortly enough whether the behavior of the elected representatives who make up the House and the Senate, either in this lame-duck session or in the new session that begins in January, will do anything to ameliorate the jaundiced and negative way in which they are viewed by the American public." 

Americans, Frustration With Congress and the Elections 

had enough? 

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours? 
- someone who understands what their job is (e.g. pass laws)?
- who works well with others?
- who does what is necessary (e.g. compromise) to get the job done?

- or an idealogue, an obstructionist, who doesn't compromise, doesn't work well with others, doesn't do their job, and doesn't move the country forward?

- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs that breed idealogue obstructionists? 

here's how government operates: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple and easy--stop voting for lousy candidates who don't have values similar to yours, who don't do the job that they're supposed to be doing, and who don't represent the interests of our country, i.e. to move our country forward. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their lousy candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

good news

Mexico’s President-Elect Will Create Border Force to Stop Central American Migrants 

the rest of the story

I discovered standing water in our crawl space first; but, it was our (widow) "roofmate" who contacted county building code enforcement first. she was coming up on the end of her 1 yr. guarantee and hired a private home inspector. he found water in her crawl space and she contacted BCE. they came and inspected her crawl space first, then ours. the county BCE official told us both that there were code violations and the builder would have to fix them. then two days later he told us that the county attorney (a private attorney living and working in the next county contracted by shenandoah county to represent shenandoah county) had decided that "they" were not going to issue a notice of violation to the builder.

I was ready "to throw in the towel". Jenny & I have been married for 51.5 years. after the disastrous 3rd house that we owned in SC, I said that we would never own another house again. for the next 5 years we rented. we moved 6 times in 5 years. finally, last november, when our landlord refused to fix a hole in the driveway caused by lightning, I gave up. I can't live in an unsafe house. at 71 we got a 30-yr. VA loan and we bought our 4th house.

Jenny and I are in our "4th quarter". we just want to live out our last quarter in peace. when BCE told us that they were dropping the code violation, I gave up. "you can't fight city hall." then, 24 hours later, I got back into the fray--not because of water in the crawl space, but because we were getting jerked around--time to play hardball (I don't like being jerked around). had "they" decided not to issue the building code violation, then I was prepared to go to the newspaper--just like I did in SC.

I don't know how long that we'll be here--if we're lucky and our health holds out, etc., maybe 10 years--maybe not. sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we're in the 4th quarter and that our "treasure" isn't in a house.

stony pointe
strasburg
toothman

"let them eat..." grass

North Korean officials slam the US by saying it has made "gangster-like demands" - YouTube 

North Koreans Will ‘Eat Grass’ So Kim Jong Un Can Buy War Weapons, Putin Says 

image by CleveredFool.com

Kim Jong Il Funny Demotivational Poster: Kim's Wisdom | Flickr

the sad state of home construction in the US

many who bought new houses in the past 50 years know what this chart shows:

File_Construction-non-farm-labor_1964-2003.jpg

that the quality of construction of new houses over the past 50 years is poor when compared to the quality of homes built 50 years ago. basic systems, e.g. structure, roof, floors, windows, weather protection, HVAC, appliances, etc., are less reliable in many new houses today than those built 50 years ago.

why? the reasons are probably many--

• builder incompetence and greed 
• decline in skilled labor 
• government's failure to protect consumers 
• consumer reticence 
• a costly legal system that protects builders more than it protects consumers

whatever the reasons, the chart is clear--while productivity and quality of non-agricultural products have more than doubled over the past 50 years with advances in technology, productivity and quality in construction have declined, despite advances in technology. many who bought new houses in the past 50 years are left with fixing builder messes at their own expense--the ones that can be fixed--while the productivity and quality of new homes continue to decline.

what's the solution? I honestly can't tell you. It looks to me like the trends that are so obvious in the chart will continue--bad news for new home buyers--that's you and me. 

toothman

shenandoah county virginia building code violation

Mark A. Griffey
Building Official

shenandoah county, virginia
Building Inspection & Code Enforcement - Building Inspection

Mr. Griffey,

under section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations) and paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8 of the code of virginia (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter1/section19.2-8/), I am submitting my formal complaint of violation of  the virginia building code. Specifically, section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code states "Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)." The grading at our house, located at 148 daniel ct., strasburg, does not slope away from the foundation walls as required. This has resulted in several inches of standing water in our crawl space. 

Our certificate of use & occupancy is attached. Please note that our house meets the time requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8.

Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation.

Sincerely,

Ray Koenig

approved grading plan (2003)

the ground slopes 15% towards Koenig’s house. 

Section 401.3 of the Virginia Residential Building Code 

calls for the ground to slope away from foundation walls 

at 5% for 10 feet (the 2”x4” on the ground is 10 feet long). 

Failure to meet this building code requirement has resulted 

in several inches of standing water in Koenig’s crawl space. 

virginia

shenandoah county

strasburg

stony pointe

toothman