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Homeowner abortions like this tend to be death traps. They don't want to add windows or doors to the living space, so if a fire starts in the main house the people are trapped and die. I know of one family that lost two teenager daughters that way.
Just get the blinking permit. Do it right. Why would you butcher your largest investment?
Well .... I could counter most of the objections. Like, there are are egress windows in both bays. and there'd be no structural changes, unless you count putting up one wall as such a change, which i don't know, it very well may be. don't need a/c -- due to positioning the place stays cool year 'round. etc etc.
but, i did ask for objections and i'm glad to have gotten so many of them, because it gives me a lot to think about. i heard about someone down the street who added a legal accessory apartment to the property, so i might go ask them what the experience was like and if they'd do it again.
among other things, the toilet/sewage issue is the one that's giving me real pause. if i go legal, then no way will i be able to install seasonal lines, i don't think. i'll have to go down the full 4' feet or whatever it is, which will require someone to come in with a bobcat or some such, along w/ the further destruction of existing brickwork and so forth. all of a sudden, we've gone from happy-go-luck spending to some serious coin. and that's regardless of whether i do a regular toilet or not, if'n i want to have running water. sheesh.
well, like i said, i could always install a shower in the basement of the main house, to go along with the 1/2 bathroom that's already there, and make the one minute walk back and forth when necessary. but i might not like that so much. yeah, more i think about it, the more stupider it sounds.
look, i'm almost 62. i've got a year or less before work lets me go. this all boils down to me trying to figure out a way to generate a little income or at least stay even with the expense of owning a home (even though i have paid it off and don't owe the bank a thing).
maybe i'll go back to pondering. thanks, all, for your thoughts and insights.
I have a small three-bay garage. Only one bay is or can be used for its intended purpose (although i just use it for storage). my idea is to take the other two bays and combine them into a little 250 sq ft living area. i live in a beach community; maybe i could stay in the conversion during the summer months and rent out the main house to tourists and make some money.
i do not want to go through the hassle of permits etc etc etc. nothing on the outside will be changed. on the inside, one bay is already sheet rocked and 75% finished. the other would have to be come pretty completedly. i'd cut in an opening between the two bays to connect them.
i don't want to make this a disaster when/if i go to sell the place and/or my daughter inherits it. to that end, i thought i'd make everything home-like portable and easy to remove. a small under-counter fridge. a two-burner induction cooktop. compost toilet. galvanized tub sink. makeshift shower. get rid of everything and it'd look like an artist's or writer's studio.
it'd be a seasonal dwelling. already, i have water hooked up to an attached outside shower, i could just tap into that for inside water and blow it all out when winter arrives. that leaves me to dig a shallow ditch to lay a pipe in to connect to the existing sewage pipe. again, it would not be used in the winter.
i'm sure there are big flaws in this plan. i'm hoping somebody here can point embout to me before i get too far along in the so-called project.
thanks!
Then spend the money and have it permitted. You'll be headache free. I remodeled a rental a few years back. Pulled permits the whole deal. If I ever sell it the permits and completely to code work will get me more money and no headaches. Why? Because the buyer has no leg to stand on and "need" 20k off the price for unpermitted work. I can simply tell him to stuff it. Getting the permits isn't hard or really that expensive. And you can do your own hiring if contractors and be your own contractor. All the insoe tor cares is that the work is to code. And you are protected knowing the work isn't half azz.
You're talking about doing a remodel where you live. You could run into safety or even living conditions. If the drain isn't done right you could be having plumbing issues. If the electrician does a bad install you could be looking at a possible fire hazard.
I recently was called by a friend to surveyed/consult a job where the work was not being inspected. I owed him a favor so I stopped by. Like you he wanted to save some money. Understandable. I have not seen such horrendous electrical work in years. I know I pissed the electrician off when I told him that the installation is substandard at best and its been a long time since I saw such dismal product. He wasn't very happy with me
The Prakrit with unpermitted work isn't IMO that the dirk us unpermitted. The problem is that most homeowners have no idea what they are looking at and can get royally screwed by unscrupulous dishonest less than ethical contractors. A inspection keeps them honest at least as far as the work is concerned
Last edited by Electrician4you; 05-07-2016 at 08:29 AM..
excuse me if i'm wrong, but doesn't *compost* mean compost? the woodchips -- sawdust, actually, or peat moss, i think -- aren't there to make sure the stuff doesn't sink but to aid and abet in the composting process. see this amazon listing for just such a toilet: Nature's Head Self Contained Composting Toilet with Close Quarters Spider Handle Design - Incinerating Toilet - Amazon.com . you might be thinking of a so-called portable toilet, which is an entirely different kettle of stink. as for the urine, that goes into a separate container; dilute it with water and you can pour it on flowers, no muss, no fuss. at least that's what "everyone" says. i guess you don't really know until you try it.
I'm sure it's not legal to have one of these in your yard/ garage. Seriously, this is a bad idea in so many ways.
Unincorporated areas still have building codes. He'll likely have issues when he tries to sell and it comes out that it wasn't permitted.
Unincorporated areas would default to state code in Alaska. Maybe county code, if there is one, in America. If not, it would probably default to state code. In Alaska, there would be no permits required. I live in an organized borough, and even there, there are no permits required to build a house or any additions.
How could breaking the law *not* be a good idea???
It's not a law it's building codes. In a sense it's a law but not the way you put it. He/she will not get arrested for doing what they want to their own home. If they don't get it inspected there is no issue whatsoever except for when they go to sell. A home inspector at the time of sale will note the garage remodel as not code compliant and will effect the selling price.
In our FL county, converted garages and lanai made into living rooms/bedrooms without permits have two problems. When the house is sold the conversions need to be brought up to code, not the code when it was done, but current code. For houses still on septic, the septic needs to be enlarged since the original houses were built with a septic size appropriate to bedroom numbers. Most find its cheaper to convert back to a garage.
Well .... I could counter most of the objections. Like, there are are egress windows in both bays..
Are the Egress windows inside the bedroom? If not, it will not matter. Code (in my state at least) requires egress from a bedroom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by linter
don't need a/c -- due to positioning the place stays cool year 'round. etc etc.
YOU may not need A/C, but when you prepare to sell the property in the future you can't advertise it as living space, as it is not conditioned space. It would be garage space, which isn't calculated the same as conditioned space. This is looking more from a buying/selling perspective than comfortability.
Quote:
Originally Posted by linter
well, like i said, i could always install a shower in the basement of the main house, to go along with the 1/2 bathroom that's already there, and make the one minute walk back and forth when necessary. but i might not like that so much. yeah, more i think about it, the more stupider it sounds.
Agreed. Have to think of resale. No toilet/shower/etc means no sale.
Unincorporated areas would default to state code in Alaska. Maybe county code, if there is one, in America. If not, it would probably default to state code. In Alaska, there would be no permits required. I live in an organized borough, and even there, there are no permits required to build a house or any additions.
I was talking to someone in "rural PA" not Alaska. Counties have building codes and zoning codes of all kinds.
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Have to think of resale. No toilet/shower/etc means no sale.
