mysqli returning single result

I'm trying to convert some code over to mysqli from my sql but getting the error:
Fatal error: Call to a member function fetch_assoc() on a non-object in /home/prod/public_html/dashboard/leftsidebar.php on line 8

Not sure what I'm doing wrong, just trying to pull the count number.  Below is my code.

//Project Count
$sql1 = "select count(p.id) as projecttotal from projects p inner join projectassoc pa on p.id = pa.project_id where pa.user_id = $userid";
$result1 = $db->query($sql1);
$row1 = $result1->fetch_assoc();
echo $row1['projecttotal'];

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