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I'm not worried about our home, I was just curious.
The home has been here since 1999, and there are no signs of settling or any other structural deficiency. We know the builder, and when he built the home it was intended to be their forever home. The only reason they moved is they found a really special property on the Upper Pack River.
The posts/beams in our place are definitely structural and not just decorative. I think the log part of the home (the second story is conventional stock frame) was bought from a log home company in CdA, so they may have engineered the structure.
building codes are great guidelines but photos are an archive no inspector will take and store for the structural record--most inspectors have never been in business or were very poor at it and have no empathy for an owner builder--as far as selling an unpermitted structure the private transaction excludes all state involvement--amendment ten art one " no state shall limit the force of contracts" this is like carry permits --"the right to bear arms shall not be infringed" no discussion about permits is present there. read the laws and find your remedies
I overbuild anyway-with such a short build season the last delay I need is some fluffy official cant find his way
If a person really doesn't want to go through the inspection process when building, all that needs to happen is the addition of an axle with a couple of tires on it attached under the floor. As long as a structure has wheels on it, it's considered mobile, and needs to inspection, even if it's resting on a permanent foundation.
I may be incorrect, as it's been quite a while, but there was a quirk in the law that allowed this for decades.
Another local quirk was used a lot in the 1930s here. Back then, someone would buy a lot, dig a basement foundation, and put a roof over the basement. They would build the home on a pay-as-you go, living in the basement and working on the upper levels as they could afford the materials and the time.
As long as it was a house in progress, it didn't need inspections. Some families never got around to building above the basement, and ended up living in what was called a 'basement house' locally.
They are pretty much all gone now, but I saw one just the other day, so a few are still around. They were more common here when I was a kid, but over the years, as properties were sold to others, most ended up becoming full houses, or were filled in to allow a new home's construction on the lot.
I have a relative who owned a home that was initially a basement house. The construction above ground was immensely solid and over-built, and extremely well done, but it had a very odd room plan. It was obvious the entire house never had a set of blueprints, but was built by someone who really knew carpentry, framing, and detailing.
The same relative bought a home nearby that may have been a basement house, but was interesting in another way; at some point in time, the house caught fire in the second story, but was saved. The original roof and upper floor were demolished off the house, and new roof joists were built on top of the first floor and a new roof went on them, converting it to a one-floor home.
The roof pitch was very odd as a result, but was covered in Spanish-style tiles. After the fire, the first owners weren't gonna have another roof fire! They built as fireproof as they could.
Last edited by banjomike; 05-19-2017 at 12:16 PM..
I find that the people trying to get around permits are the exact reason you need permits. They generally want to build an inferior building.
Sure glad you said "generally". - Because there are folks who will EXCEED Building codes by a long shot. How would I know? - We built two 12 by 24 ft. DECKS, that the Building inspector, & a licensed/insured/bonded Contractor, plus
everyone else said: "You could park a TRUCK on that, it's so solidly built".
Yet, we resent the gov't. control in EVERYthing, like Building-codes too.
I'm sure your being rhetorical. I seriously doubt your deck could have a truck parked on it. I just did one and these are the specifications that were used.
W12x45 steel beams 78" oc with W8x24 lateral support beams. 5x5 tube steel column bearing on 48x48x10 footings. Cross brace col. with 3x3 angle iron each way. Decking is 6x8 pthf with 8" in the vert. direction. One builder tried to tell him that 2x12 joists 12" oc with 2x6 decking would work (not even close).
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Building codes by a long shot. How would I know? - 
said: "You could park a TRUCK on that, it's so solidly built". 
