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About 6 years ago i hired a handyman to tear down and build a replacement deck on my house in Monmouth County. This is all new to me as i have never hired anyone to make any home improvement like this before. We are planning on selling our home in a year or so and I am wondering if i am going to have a problem being we never got a building permit for replacing the deck.
Don't call attention to it, and no one will ever know. The township doesn't keep exact records of everyone's property and whether they got a permit or not. Something major like adding a deck where none existed before or an addition would probably get noticed. Personally I remodeled two bathrooms, replaced a kitchen floor, replaced almost every window, installed gas lines and did lots of electrical work on properties I've owned and never got a single permit or inspection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigjake54
That's what the homeowner says, when he gets caught by a building inspector.
Highly unlikely. Even if the deck was 10 x 20 and the new deck for 20x20, it still had a deck before. The chances of an inspector being anal enough to verify the dimensions every little thing to make sure it matches the permits of a property are so remote it not worth worrying about. I guess if you ran over the inspectors dog or slept with his wife, he might be willing to make your life hell and check, but short of that, it's a non-issue. You didn't sleep with his wife did you?
Last edited by TechGromit; 01-15-2014 at 10:47 PM..
Don't call attention to it, and no one will ever know. The township doesn't keep exact records of everyone's property and whether they got a permit or not. Something major like adding a deck where none existed before or an addition would probably get noticed. Personally I remodeled two bathrooms, replaced a kitchen floor, replaced almost every window, installed gas lines and did lots of electrical work on properties I've owned and never got a single permit or inspection.
Just out of curiosity; if there's a fire (and I certainly DO NOT wish such a thing) and the source turns out to be a gas line or an electric wire run that was never permitted, will your insurance company pay for the rebuild?
Just out of curiosity; if there's a fire (and I certainly DO NOT wish such a thing) and the source turns out to be a gas line or an electric wire run that was never permitted, will your insurance company pay for the rebuild?
The insurance company would have to prove the that the work in question was in fact not part of the original house. After all they do not do a complete inspection on your property when you apply for insurance do they. They are not going to know a kitchen only had lights on the fan originally and that high hats were added later.
Now if you build an addition, without permits or inspection and the Fire occurred in that part of the house, then it's a lot easier to determine that the addition wasn't part of the original house, but even then it's not a slam dunk. The insurance company would have to be made aware of this fact and if the fire inspector / township inspection didn't pick up on the face the addition was never permitted / inspected, the insurance company wouldn't know. Pretty much goes back to the first point, they don't inspect the property close enough to notice alterations to the property.
Trust me the Deck has been painted and you can not guess its age.
Can't believe i didn't think about this 6 years ago!!!
Looking under the deck can give a clue as to the age of the deck. Width of baluster spacing, graspable railings, open stair risers are just a few ways to ballpark the age.
Permits are used to raise cash for townships. Theoretically they prevent shoddy work but the towns have taken it several steps further to the absurd. Improvement raise your taxes and you have to pay extra for the privelege of paying more tax.
Woodbridge twnsp for instance required a permit to replace a fence with and exact duplicate fence.
Reason why towns in some states give up their charters to be 'unorganized territories' and dispense with crooked pols, unnecessary taxes and otherwise unwanted government interference.
Don't call attention to it, and no one will ever know. The township doesn't keep exact records of everyone's property and whether they got a permit or not. Something major like adding a deck where none existed before or an addition would probably get noticed. Personally I remodeled two bathrooms, replaced a kitchen floor, replaced almost every window, installed gas lines and did lots of electrical work on properties I've owned and never got a single permit or inspection.
Highly unlikely. Even if the deck was 10 x 20 and the new deck for 20x20, it still had a deck before. The chances of an inspector being anal enough to verify the dimensions every little thing to make sure it matches the permits of a property are so remote it not worth worrying about. I guess if you ran over the inspectors dog or slept with his wife, he might be willing to make your life hell and check, but short of that, it's a non-issue. You didn't sleep with his wife did you?
Ha!!! No sleeping with his wifecerous... And I am a dog lover so i didn'r run over the pooch either...
Thanks for the reply...
Permits are used to raise cash for townships. Theoretically they prevent shoddy work but the towns have taken it several steps further to the absurd. Improvement raise your taxes and you have to pay extra for the privelege of paying more tax.
Woodbridge twnsp for instance required a permit to replace a fence with and exact duplicate fence.
Reason why towns in some states give up their charters to be 'unorganized territories' and dispense with crooked pols, unnecessary taxes and otherwise unwanted government interference.
Funny you mention now one needs a permit to replace a fence. Thats on my list too to replace and i honestly didn't think i needed a permit as it is not connected to the house..
Has anyone else ever filed for a permit to replace a fence...??
Woodbridge twnsp for instance required a permit to replace a fence with and exact duplicate fence.
Sure, but I bet they don't require a permit to repair a fence. So if you repair a fence by replacing a section at a time, over a few hours....
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