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Ok, so I'm hoping I may be able to get some guidance here. First, some back story: my husband and I live in an apartment owned by his grandmother in Manchester. The building itself looks to have been a single family home at one point, and has been divided into 4 units. We have been doing some minor cosmetic remodeling, as we plan on staying here forever. We have the largest apartment in the building. Now, there are 2 units on the first floor, and 2 on the second. Each unit on the second floor also has access to the attic by separate private staircases. In our apartment the staircase is enclosed and is accessed through a small office. The "attic" area was split down the middle which has left 2 large rooms and a large hallway from the stairs in both units. There is only one "finished" (from about 1960) room on our side. The hallway is also finished. It is in desperate need of repair. Horsehair plaster is breaking off, cracks in ceiling, staircase needs to be repaired, lighting needs to be redone ect.
With that said, as we are planning on one day purchasing the building, we would like to continue our renovations upstairs. We have full permission from the owner as she is family, however she has always been under the impression that the attic (as she calls it- it is the size of another apartment) cannot be used as living space. She has never made any repairs to it, and has always told previous tenants it is for storage only (which can be seen by the years of tenants leaving things). We are stuck trying to find information on codes for converting this. It does not seem to be common. Basically, we would want to renovate the rooms upstairs into bedrooms, essentially making it into a townhouse. There are windows in the more finished room, as well as electricity. The larger unfinished room is a typical attic- no walls or windows, no electricity, no heat. There is a window in the hallway.
If anyone has any information that could help I would greatly appreciate it. We just don't know what direction to take. I've tried reviewing the fire code, but could not really find anything helpful. Thank you for your help!
If the renovated attic is to become a rental proeprty, the windows have to meet egress requirements (mininum height, width, total area and distance from the floor). Even if it's not a rental property, you would want windows that would easily allow you to get out in case of emergency. You should be able to find that info in the fire code.
and the taxes will be affected when you increase the amount of living space.
when you submit your plan to the building inspector, they will quickly tell you what is allowed. All plans have to be approved first and the permit costs vary. Turn around time for a permit can take up to 6 weeks.
Code also requires an alternative exit to the outside other than the stairwell.
If it was me, I would wall off the access from the tenants use and finish the space to be used for myself. I wouldn't get a permit. I would do the work myself. I wouldn't pay more taxes for more living space either cause the Gooberment bastards would never know.
Actually it isn't just you. There was a fire in a multi-family unit in VT a week or so ago where firefighters noted that they had trouble getting to the rooms to get the residents (two of which were elderly) out because of the way they had been walled off internally. This was at 3 AM. The cause of the fire was some shady wiring. Fortunately all 20 or so people got out alive.
If that happened to your apartment building the "gooberment bastards" would find out but I'd rather they find out from the get go than doing it the hard way.
If it was me, I would wall off the access from the tenants use and finish the space to be used for myself. I wouldn't get a permit. I would do the work myself. I wouldn't pay more taxes for more living space either cause the Gooberment bastards would never know.
But hey, that's just me.
how often are home appraisals for tax purposes done on your property? The home inspectors will look at all the floors including the attic and the basement.
If it is discovered that you did renovation work without the proper permits, you can be forced to remove all the work AND pay fines.
how often are home appraisals for tax purposes done on your property? The home inspectors will look at all the floors including the attic and the basement.
If it is discovered that you did renovation work without the proper permits, you can be forced to remove all the work AND pay fines.
In my town, tax assessors not home inspectors appraise houses.
If the assessor ignores the No trespassing signs and can get by the dogs he can measure the footprint of the house at his own risk.
As a private citizen, I would NEVER allow a complete stranger, employed by or for the .gov, into my home. You shouldn't either!
Actually it isn't just you. There was a fire in a multi-family unit in VT a week or so ago where firefighters noted that they had trouble getting to the rooms to get the residents (two of which were elderly) out because of the way they had been walled off internally. This was at 3 AM. The cause of the fire was some shady wiring. Fortunately all 20 or so people got out alive.
If that happened to your apartment building the "gooberment bastards" would find out but I'd rather they find out from the get go than doing it the hard way.
I clearly stated that I would do the work myself so I wouldn't have to worry about "shady wiring". Just because I HATE big government (and most of the sheeple that support it) along with their unconstitutional taxes, permitting, fees, fines, etc, doesn't mean that I would jeopardize the lives of people living in my building by substandard renovations.
sure, you can refuse to give access to a tax assessor. They'll just get a warrant. If you don't allow them to come in and measure your footprint, count windows, etc. they can legally charge the highest tax possible on the unseen property.
If you feel your property taxes are too high and you file for an abatement, a home inspection is absolutely necessary. Refusal to allow an inspection will most likely be cause for dismissal on the abatement.
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