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I'm looking to have my basement remodeled or at least cleaned up. It's currently "finished" horrifically. I take in water, it smells of mold/mildew, and is just a mess. I have not entirely committed to a contractor since I cannot get solid estimates until the walls are down. I found a demo company that will demo properly/safely in case of mold. They asked about a permit from my contractor, who I don't have, so I went down to the building and wire office in my town.
What I learned while there blew my mind. The town technically wants a permit for everything. To even change or move a toilet they want a permit, which I think is crazy. I'm curious how far people go with permits. Do you get permits for everything? Every little thing? The man I spoke with was more concerned about a basement bedroom then he was plumbing IRT to permits.
Meh, I'm hoping this demo co will pick up the demo permits themselves. Once I get the demo done, and perhaps bring in an engineer to check the foundation/structure, I need to decide how to proceed.
The basement is currently a walk out, but it looks like there used to be a garage under the house. I would like to put the garage back, which is currently a living room, fix up the already existing bathroom, kitchen/laundry, bedroom, and den. I need to deal with water issues (hopefully there isn't extensive foundation damage), update some of the plumping, hvac, and wiring. I have 50k for this job, but would like to only spend $30-35k. Is that a pipe dream?
Basement Bedrooms are a problem in many jurisdictions. It probably needs to have a second exit directly from the bedroom. That could be why the permits office was concerned (and should be)
Cities are liable just like homeowners are. They want you to get permits for stuff that can affect public safety, including the public sewer system.
It keeps idiots from doing stuff to endanger themselves and others.
Do yourself a favor and hire a bonded, reputable contractor who has done many projects like this in your town and knows the drill. Then s/he can handle all the permits and you won't have to worry about it.
In my town you need permits for just about everything, but you don't get separate permits for each part of a project -- for something big like remodeling a basement you'd get one permit for the whole job before starting demo, and five inspections (rough/final electric, rough/final plumbing, and structural).
Basement Bedrooms are a problem in many jurisdictions. It probably needs to have a second exit directly from the bedroom. That could be why the permits office was concerned (and should be)
Interesting. The bathroom has two entrances/exits. Maybe that's why. I thought I would close off one of them, but obviously will revisit that when permit time comes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life
Cities are liable just like homeowners are. They want you to get permits for stuff that can affect public safety, including the public sewer system.
It keeps idiots from doing stuff to endanger themselves and others.
I get that, but for example, I put down new sticky tile down their some years go. I wanted to get under the toilet so I move it. I bought a new wax bowl ring of course and just did the job myself. Pulling a permit never dawned on me.
Quote:
Do yourself a favor and hire a bonded, reputable contractor who has done many projects like this in your town and knows the drill. Then s/he can handle all the permits and you won't have to worry about it.
I'm definitely going to get a licensed contractor. I'm just not committing right now. I've had 3 companies out right now and I'm finding, like with almost every project in this house, there is a lot of bull shyte going on. I don't trust them and I'm not letting anyone go at the basement sight unseen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nybbler
In my town you need permits for just about everything, but you don't get separate permits for each part of a project -- for something big like remodeling a basement you'd get one permit for the whole job before starting demo, and five inspections (rough/final electric, rough/final plumbing, and structural).
The general contractor would get everything needed upfront normally, but since I'm doing the demo separately it complicates things a bit. It's interesting because the guy at the town had reasoning for permits that weren't public safety, or even my safety necessarily, but for financial protection. We couldn't utilize compensation resources our state offers if we didn't have permits, which surprised me. Maybe it was just his selling tactic. I don't know.
Builder owner or let the contractor don't all. It just adds to the total cost. You simply draw up a plan and tell them what you're doing. There are tons of cheap apps to do this with. You can get a permit to cover all the plumbing electrical and HVAC. You'll need to bring the basement to code since its a complete remodel. The reason to pull permits is that the work is inspected. So this way you know that you're not just relying on the contractor to tell you its right.
Builder owner or let the contractor don't all. It just adds to the total cost. You simply draw up a plan and tell them what you're doing. There are tons of cheap apps to do this with. You can get a permit to cover all the plumbing electrical and HVAC. You'll need to bring the basement to code since its a complete remodel. The reason to pull permits is that the work is inspected. So this way you know that you're not just relying on the contractor to tell you its right.
My permits were about $1500
I don't understand that first part. What will add to the cost if you don't mind explaining again? How big was the job that it cost $1500? Thanks!
I don't understand that first part. What will add to the cost if you don't mind explaining again? How big was the job that it cost $1500? Thanks!
Sorry man auto correct kicked in
You simply need to do this. Take a big sheet of paper. 24x36. Then draw your basement floor plan. Then simply make yourself a legend of every symbol you use. Basically the city just wants to know what you plan on doing. You pay for the permits, submit the plans and the list of contractors and they will have to get their own city business license ( make sure they get the license or the city will make you pay for the license before they final the job) ( Make sure you make progress payments to the contractor so its initial payment then after rough inspection after finish then finally at end of job. Make sure you have a hold back till everyone turns in their info to you. and then go do the work. You call for inspection at set intervals
Rough inspection for electrical HVAC and plumbing ( before walls go up) have all the trades there so any problems they can be on the hot seat. Take notes if there is something wrong.
You may have a drywall inspection and a finish inspection. It really is a lot more intimidating sounding than it really is. I can walk you through it. I'm just hitting the highlights.
The contractor drawing the plans submittals and pulling the permits adds to the cost of the job. The 1500 I spent on permits covered my electrical, plumbing HVAC and the windows. I also had a additional stucco repair due to wood rot from water intrusion. Had to rip out a bunch of stucco under some stairs. And redo a landing
The total job of my rental remodel was 62,000. The job was a complete remodel. Basically gutted the place and started over. Tore a kitchen and two bathrooms to studs. Basically rebuilt the whole inside of the house. I've done quite a few remodels for myself and others ( usually friends or close friends of friends) I don't go the cheap route. The prices I got are good solid great workmanship from licensed contractors who stand behind their work.
Average breakdown
Demo 3000 complete gut the house
Plumbing 4300
Tile and mortar bed shower and lath and mortar walls 10k
Tile material 3800
Electrical parts wire outlets switches fans lights,etc 2500 ( had to use these damn LED lights at 100 a pop light and can) also has to use these AFCI breakers and outlets at 35-50 range
Drywall repair 5500 ( 30% of the drywall was ripped out. The whole house was psyched sanded and re textured.
Paint 3700
Carpet 2k
Doors 1500
Cabinets 10k
Stove 600
Fridge 500
Dishwasher 400
Windows 5500
Stucco repair and waterproofing 1800
New compound saw and table saw 1000
Closet shelving 1500
Various lumber for fences, closet doors base board new vertical blinds door knobs and the million little things like door stops, screws trash can etc.
These are just round figures.
Took me 3 months to get it done with the last month as a touch up little to things pick up. And I have ve a regular job so some was weekends and after work.
How much of this job did you do yourself? I cannot tell. If you did it yourself and it was still 62k then I'm in trouble.
Quote:
You simply need to do this. Take a big sheet of paper. 24x36. Then draw your basement floor plan. Then simply make yourself a legend of every symbol you use. Basically the city just wants to know what you plan on doing. You pay for the permits, submit the plans and the list of contractors and they will have to get their own city business license ( make sure they get the license or the city will make you pay for the license before they final the job) ( Make sure you make progress payments to the contractor so its initial payment then after rough inspection after finish then finally at end of job. Make sure you have a hold back till everyone turns in their info to you. and then go do the work. You call for inspection at set intervals
My issue is that I don't want to hire any contractor or fork over one dime to anyone until I get the demo done. That's the problem I'm having right now. My basement takes in water. I have no idea what's going on behind those walls and I do not want to commit to any one contractor or company until I can get estimates and advice from a host of sources.
I guess I will have to submit a plan for a demolished basement and perhaps a working garage. No walls will go up except for the garage door. That will keep it simple. Once the demo is done I will go back to the city and close out the job? How does that work? And then when I make my decisions for waterproofing and finishing the basement I can hire a contractor and he can pull the needed permits then?
Quote:
Rough inspection for electrical HVAC and plumbing ( before walls go up) have all the trades there so any problems they can be on the hot seat. Take notes if there is something wrong.
You may have a drywall inspection and a finish inspection. It really is a lot more intimidating sounding than it really is. I can walk you through it. I'm just hitting the highlights.
Huh, making sure all the trades are there for inspection sounds like rounding cats. It sounds very intimidating.
Quote:
The contractor drawing the plans submittals and pulling the permits adds to the cost of the job. The 1500 I spent on permits covered my electrical, plumbing HVAC and the windows. I also had a additional stucco repair due to wood rot from water intrusion. Had to rip out a bunch of stucco under some stairs. And redo a landing
The total job of my rental remodel was 62,000. The job was a complete remodel. Basically gutted the place and started over. Tore a kitchen and two bathrooms to studs. Basically rebuilt the whole inside of the house. I've done quite a few remodels for myself and others ( usually friends or close friends of friends) I don't go the cheap route. The prices I got are good solid great workmanship from licensed contractors who stand behind their work.
A kitchen and two bathrooms (with those cabinets to boot) were probably responsible for half the monies do you think? My plan was not to install new cabinets in the kitchen. I was just going to leave it bare and maybe find something used on Craigslist. I have the one bathroom. It's a half bath now and probably not up to code as it is. I thought of making it a 3/4 or full bath.
Quote:
Average breakdown
Demo 3000 complete gut the house
Plumbing 4300
Tile and mortar bed shower and lath and mortar walls 10k
Tile material 3800
Electrical parts wire outlets switches fans lights,etc 2500 ( had to use these damn LED lights at 100 a pop light and can) also has to use these AFCI breakers and outlets at 35-50 range
Drywall repair 5500 ( 30% of the drywall was ripped out. The whole house was psyched sanded and re textured.
Paint 3700
Carpet 2k
Doors 1500
Cabinets 10k
Stove 600
Fridge 500
Dishwasher 400
Windows 5500
Stucco repair and waterproofing 1800
New compound saw and table saw 1000
Closet shelving 1500
Various lumber for fences, closet doors base board new vertical blinds door knobs and the million little things like door stops, screws trash can etc.
These are just round figures.
Took me 3 months to get it done with the last month as a touch up little to things pick up. And I have ve a regular job so some was weekends and after work.
What would happen if you had the demo done and then found out it was going to cost most of your left over budget to remedy your water issues?
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