We just moved to a smaller house and could use some room. On one side of the house is a space that neither neighbor looks at. It’s my land and there isn’t a fence there right now. It measures at 10-6 wide at one end and 15′ at the other by 25′.
I thought I could put a garden shed there with doors on both ends. The front doors my wife and kids (2) could put their bikes in. Junk (some of mine) could go in form the back yard.
Of course ther are a few small problems. I talked to the neighbor and he called the building dept about restrictions. He is an old neighbor guy who thinks he runs the place because he has lived here forever. He also works for the city or something like that. Neat little life kind of guy counting his days to retirement and probably won’t know how to spend it. Anyway, he is moving. The house is almost sold. I don’t want to make him mad or anything. I really could use the space.
I called the building debt before he did. They mentioned that it was supposed to be 3′ off the property line. From what I’ve seen almost all garden sheds are right on the line. If I hold it off the house 3′ and the property line 3′ it will be 4-6 wide at one end.
So, do at this point I am thinking of putting up a fence after it sells and telling the new neighbors i’m doing a little project. Nothing specific. 6′ fence with maybe a trellis on top. I’ll put the good side of the fence on their side.
The utilities are on that side of the house so I plan on having a 3′ walkway to access them on the side of it. Electric, gas, and cable/telephone. I plan to upgrade the 100 amp panel to 200. Do I upgrade the panel before the garden shed?
My wife doesn’t like the idea. I was thinking of having a shed delivered. A guy will make and deliver a metal one for 2,200. But since my wife is in rebelion I think peace meal behind the fence is in order.
I really want this room. How much do i butter up the new owners? I’m thinking of putting on a metal roof so the pitch is low. That way it won’t show over the fence as much.
Replies
I think it is insane to deliberately disobey the local regulations.
Further, IMO, those regs are not strict enough. Most places require from eight to fifteen feet setback.
Wanna know the reason?
FIRE!
There needs to be buffering from one fire source to another, to prevent spreading all over the neighborhood, and there needs to be space where firefighters ( Who are putting their lives on the line to save you, your family, and your property ) can get between buildings and around the back of yours. Fill that space with sheds and the debris that always accumulates stacked next to one and you are putting your lives and property at risk and show at minimum, great disregard for the lives of the men and women who would try to help you in an emergency.
Don't be giving out that "Everybody else is doing it". You are more mature than to use an argument a twelve year old practices.
Aren't you?
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It's not wise to violate a set back code, even if you leave access next to your house. There are many property owners, including me, who don't take kindly to infringements of that kind. I'd call you on it in a heartbeat and I wouldn't be smiling.
Honestly...you're infringing on the purpose of this forum with such a question. Asking a group of craftsmen if you should violate your neighbors rights so you can stick up a sheet metal shed, just because you're too clueless or lazy to build a decent wooden structure to suit the situation.
I wouldn't go so far as to say he is clueless or lazy, but I do get somewhat offended to be asked essentially, "Can you give me some help figuring out how to break the law"
That is definitely not the purpose of this forum. maybe he just didn't consider all the background for things being the way they are, having looked around the neighborhood and seen others. Maybe they were even placed that way before the regs came into being and so are grandfathered.I understand it more clearly having been a volunteer fireman, a reserve cop, and a planning board member, so I have seen some disastrous results from things like this.Now that he has the benefit of some education on the subject, if he were to go ahead and place the shed there, I think I could come up with some adjectives to beat yours tho;)
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Now that he has the benefit of some education on the subject, if he were to go ahead and place the shed there, I think I could come up with some adjectives to beat yours tho
You should see what I edited out....lol. It were not purty. ;-)
Still, DIYers should respect the opportunity provided to them by a group of experienced tradesmen who are willing to spend some of their free time, answering real questions.
Still, DIYers should respect the opportunity provided to them by a group of experienced tradesmen who are willing to spend some of their free time, answering real questions.
Umm... don't forget who sponsors this site. Publishing house catering to non-professionals. We're all guests. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Thank-you. This way HVC doesn't have to see what *I* edited out.
Umm... don't forget who sponsors this site. Publishing house catering to non-professionals. We're all guests.
Yes and the sponsors depend on knowledgeable people to make their forum useful to non-professionals.
The level of discourse on any message board is established primarily by those who ask questions. If no one challenges others to ask pertinent questions the forum loses some of it's attraction and usefulness for all who read it and post on it.
Edited 6/13/2007 5:52 pm ET by Hudson Valley Carpenter
and those ~challenges~ can also create hate & discontent.
"The level of discourse on any message board is established primarily by those who ask questions. "You and I are finding each other having opposite opinions more and more often lately.Do you control who your clients are or do they?
Do you even entertain notions of taking on a client who determines how you will do the job?
Do you establish what sort of conduct is allowed to guests in your house or do they?
Do you determine how your employees will act or do they?So too the membership at large has more to say about the level of discourse than a new guest asking a question. I think your response to Poppa is over the top more and more the further you go with this attitude.
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You and I are finding each other having opposite opinions more and more often lately.
I'm not finding your opinions to opposite of mine, just coming from a different point of view.
Regarding my attitude, I really don't know what you mean. What attitude do you imagine I have?
The only negative impression I get from you is your apparent need to hold center stage and be the authority figure here. Oh, and your attempts to pick fights with others...like in the post I'm responding to now. Reminds me of territorial alpha male behavior as described by Jane Goodall.
bump
snorK* When it stormed before my bread was baked, I fixed a few boards over the fire, and sat under them to watch my loaf, and passed some pleasant hours in that way.-Thoreau's Walden
Make that a snorkel - it's getting deep
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Gee, you sound jealous. Wanna bite?
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ROARING!!!!!!!!would that be all you can eat?
;)
Gee, you sound jealous. Wanna bite?
I'm happily grazing in my own garden, thanks. :-)
I'm as Alpha as a cow grazing too! LOL
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I'm as Alpha as a cow grazing too! LOL
I'll leave that for udders to decide. :)
Holy Cow! Hudson receives the much coveted MrT/brownbagg One-Liner Award.
Saaalute!View Image View Image When it stormed before my bread was baked, I fixed a few boards over the fire, and sat under them to watch my loaf, and passed some pleasant hours in that way.-Thoreau's Walden
That was a pretty good one! 'course I left myself so wide open, all he had to do was skim the cream right off the top
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Holy Cow! Hudson receives the much coveted MrT/brownbagg One-Liner Award.
Saaalute! View Image View Image
Oh my! This is so unexpected...I just want to thank the members of the academy, MrT and Mr Brownbagg and all my many fans who have shared their loving opinions of my posts in this thread with me. I'm truly not worthy of such love. ;-)
First of all, thanks for the responses. You brought up some valid reasons why not to do this project. I'm not going to get my shorts in a bunch over this. I will just keep pushing.
I did talk to someone down at the building debt and he said the setback from property lines for a garden shed was 3'. It was difficult to talk to him. He had a speech impediment or he was real old or both. I will go down there and talk to them in person. I'll see what I can and can't do. It is better to be on the right side of the law.
When I posted about this project I wasn't asking about a technique for physical building but how to work with neighbors and the building debt. I know I'm going out on a limb here but sometimes you have to, to get things done. I could just do what everyone else is doing around here to their houses. Pretty much nothing. This neighborhood was built up in the 50s so the houses are pretty modest by todays standards. It is closer to downtown though, has charm, and we bought it for that reason. The houses are small so I would like to build into this house more features. My wife wants to remodel the kitchen, take out a wall, and put some doors out onto a front patio. It would open the house up to the neighbors and update the kitchen dinning area. I guess what I'm saying is we are going to improve the neighborhood not detract from it. I will contact a designer for that project and get all the necessary permits. When I get ready to do it I will ask questions here and take pictures. It should be fun and challenging. The really hard part will be to get my wife to agree to the price. She want it but won't like the price.
I'm putting my shop in the two car garage. So storage in there is out. It's already to small already. I'm trying to get the family to ride bikes whenever we can to get exercise and drive less. This town has a lot of bicycles. The garden shed will be used to house about five bicycles. They need to be secure and accessible. That's my main reason for this shed.
I painted what I think was a pretty good picture of what I wanted to do and what I was up against. I could have just asked a few small questions and left the juicy parts out.
So when I'm up front with you and give you all the facts I get jumped all over. I asked here because I need advice on this.
Defending the house in fire situation is a valid concern. I don't want to make it more difficult. I really dislike those "what if" questions though. If you took them to their logical conclusion we would all live in concrete dormitories with a separate building for communal eating. And we would be eating some vegetarian dog biscuit.
Can I ask questions like this in the future? I really would like to know. If I can ask this type of question in the future how could it be better asked? Like I said I did open a can of worms. I'll clean 'em up. Really. So how about those ideas?
Keep on asking
Please.Why not get your storage by adding on to the back of the garage and getting a valid building permit to do it? That will add more to the charm than a metal shed just stuck in alongside...I know - matter of opinion.But if you do this first and it is questionable, then later go for a permit to remodel or add to the rest of the place, that permit could be held up because of this until it is rectified, depending on how they go about enforcement there.BTW,I knew it was in an older part of town because all the newer subdivisions require 8-15 feet of setback now. My cousins grew up in an old city where you could walk between houses and touch both at the same time. And I recall once disturbing a hornets nest from up on a roof and I ran down the whole block for maybe 5-6 houses with than swarm behind me leaping maybe four feet between roofs!;)
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And I recall once disturbing a hornets nest from up on a roof and I ran down the whole block for maybe 5-6 houses with than swarm behind me leaping maybe four feet between roofs!
Now that is an visual!
Needs to be made a scene in a movie.
be nothing great as real lifeI built the chimney after my hoeing in the fall, before a fire became necessary for warmth, doing my cooking in the meanwhile out of doors on the ground, early in the morning: which mode I still think is in some respects more convenient and agreeable than the usual one. -Thoreau's Walden
Then let me flesh out the scene in your viewfinder:After I finally outran the buzzing noises, I slowed down and looked behind to be sure.Then I had to find a place where a tree was growing close enough to a house to climb back down.By then a couple of the neighbors were coming out of their houses to see what the thundering noise was on their rooftops so as I walked back up the sidewalk to my job I had to explain....Fortunately most folks were at work so there were only a couple explanations to make.
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Can I ask questions like this in the future? I really would like to know.
A better question might be, "How do I decide what kind of question is appropriate to this forum and when should I ask it"?
My answer might be, "Ask questions which are best answered by skilled tradesmen."
Before you ask, try to find your own answers by working on the problem with your own hands and mental talents.
It's a lot easier to answer a question from someone who has made a real effort before asking, invested a little sweat in it. That person has gotten as close to the answer as he's able and is then ready to get involved in a dialog on the subject.
His questions are intelligent because of his effort. Both his questions and the answers will be understandable and useful to others who are trying to accomplish a similar job.
OPs' question
The utilities are on that side of the house so I plan on having a 3' walkway to access them on the side of it. Electric, gas, and cable/telephone. I plan to upgrade the 100 amp panel to 200. Do I upgrade the panel before the garden shed?HVCs' response
Before you ask, try to find your own answers by working on the problem with your own hands and mental talents. So you're saying he should have upgraded the panel and built the shed before he asked for the best method.ROAR!SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
So you're saying he should have upgraded the panel and built the shed before he asked for the best method.
ROAR!
So you enjoy manipulating remarks out of context. Congratulations. You must quite the political debater.
"Can I ask questions like this in the future? I really would like to know. "re-register using a name that can be either male or femaleget a picture of a good looking female in a bikini and put in in your profile ask anything you want, you'll get an answer.
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
Popawheelie,You can ask any quuestion you like here at Breaktime.I think Hudson Valley Carpenter is an immigrant from JLCOnline. They have lots of restrictions on who can ask what over there.SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
If your utilities are on that side, you may have a 5' Public Utility Easement (PUE) in that area. Generally, any structure like a fence or a shed that encroaches on a PUE can be moved by the utility at your expense. Look at your subdivision plat. They're usually shown as a dotted line paralell to the property lines, 2.5' on each side.
So, if you put anything there, put it on skids or blocks so it's moveable. If you put a fence in, be sure and use one-call so you don't cut into a gas or electric line.
When you called the bldg department you were sure to explain to them & they understood that it was a temp bldg vs a permanent structure?
Anyplace I have ever worked, it is a myth that there is a difference in temp or perm structures as far as the ordinances are written. A structure or facility is still a structure or facility and has to meet the requirements for such regardless of how long it is intended to be there. The people who perpetuate that myth is the sellers of those temporary structures. A lot of jurisdictions choose to give it a wink and a nod, but others go ahead and enforce the ordinances as written and people find themselves with fines and costs for removal.
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Well, you know, you got a good point there. I should look that up here locally and see what it is.
I think what has the OP twisted up is that lack of local enforcement that he sees in his area.
"what has the OP twisted up is that lack of local enforcement that he sees in his area"Probably partly true, but also true that he WANTS it so bad he can taste it.But that is the problem AHJs get into when they don't enforce the regs routinely. One gets away with it, then all the others follow suit, then next thing you know, the neighborhood is a fire trap and a dump, property values go down, the lower class citizens buy in and the cycle escalates until it gets worse and worse.On the thing about kissing up to the neighbor - some regs like this only get enforced if somebody complains. I bet that is part of the formula popawheelie is anticipating!
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Not a myth here. The zoning requirements are clear. Unfortunately our zoning dept sometimes decides to change interpretation. Like what's considered a "foundation".
Lost a fight for a friend just last year over whether a shipping container was temporary or permanent. He's now got the oddest trailer you've ever seen. Think large shed on a flimsy trailer frame, overhanging on 3 sides. Road-worthy it ain't. But it's temporary. LMAO
No fire issue, as the complaining neighbor's house is 75 yds away. Just didn't want my friend to have anything in the setback (that he could see). What's there now is really ugly, particularly on the neighbor's side.
Win some, lose some. The previous time was over whether a ratty mobile home was a "dwelling unit" or a shed. We won, but had to remove what was left of the kitchen. Zoning, by definition, is about use. Unfortunately, petty bureaucrats have extended that into the physical realm. My experience goes back through 3 heads of the dept here. Mostly no problems, but I did lose over what "accessory" meant (to the current head, who differed from her predecessors).PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
here, anything on wheels has to be registered with tags and inspected and of course, you have to show proof of insurance to get the tags, so that is an expensive way to get around the structure rules.Are you sure you are using the word Zoning right? Usually that is just a demarcation of whether a property is rural, residential, commercial, industrial, junkyards and salvage, or maritime, not specifically where and what structures can be placed on it. That is under land use or building code ordinances.
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Yup. Zoning is exactly what we're talking about here.
It's the zoning dept that works setbacks and such. Which, when you consider it, is the same thing as whether you're thinking industrial, residential, or commercial. All about use. Land use, of course included.
Building codes are a different matter, and dept. That's the physical side. As his trailer is exempt from them, no building permit required.
Carl checked with DMV over tags and such. But that has nothing to do with the zoning dept. He's got a permanent license plate (common here on trailers). Won't need any inspection if he doesn't haul it on a public road. Good thing, as there's no way he'd ever get the contraption to an inspection station.
We're allowed 2 unlicensed "vehicles"/parcel here anyhow. Not that it's an often-enforced zoning restriction. Again, about how you use the land. A bunch of unlicensed vehicles starts looking like a dealer lot, requiring different zoning (commercial).
If you really want to have fun, go into what's allowed for farms. Farm, being a state of mind not a physical substance- for zoning purposes. Gotta read the rules first. I have. And frequently find bureaucrats not following them, until I complain.
Me a PITA? Oh, yeah. But only if they poke me.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
I would get a firm understanding what the codes are; setbacks from other structures, setbacks from building lines, shed size and construction material requirements.
If what you want doesn't fit into what you can get, I would try to get a variance from the town, to build what you want. Then you know you are legal, you don't have to worry about buttering up neighbors and you don't have to worry about someone complaining. Codes are a PIA but sometimes they really do make sense. For instance, I would be concerned about throwing, hot, gas powered tools into a shed up against my house. Even a "metal" shed, it would not take too long for a good fire to burn (or melt) its way through an aluminum shed.
Here, I think it is the junkyard ordinance that covers the vehicle thing. If you have a vehicle unlicensed, and not garaged, you have to be "zoned" and licensed as either a dealer or a junkyard, one or the other, and for the junkyard, you have to have a tall fence and gate. They are "trying" to clean up the community.;)
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I was thinking further on this.There are about three old places here that are falling in on themselves and are really a hazard, not just looking bad. Worry that someday a kid will get into one and get hurt falling through a floor or having the house fall down around them...The only ordinance applying gives the fire chief and/or the Town Manager the authority to condemn them and tear down and pass the cost on to the land-owner, but there seems to be a lack of will to push the issue. Probably relates to cost as the town would end up paying for the removal and the owners would opt out of paying for however many years until the property gets seized....
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A new junkyard (automotive scrap facility) would probably be impossible here. Zoning is very tight and that use doesn't qualify as a "home occupation". Pretty sure that's the origin of limiting unlicensed vehicles to 2/parcel. Commercial/industrial zoned land is sold by the sq ft here. 15 yrs ago $3.50-6.00/ft without frontage. Junkyards are profitable, but not enough. Not to mention polluted runoff.
OTOH, we're still is quite rural and traditions are respected. Which is one of the reasons zoning and building inspectors generally look the other way unless somebody complains. Or they think something's dangerous, as you note.
A new zoning inspector, out checking setbacks where I excavated those large rocks had a hissy-fit when he saw the slopes I'd created. Grabbed his camera and started shooting. This was pretty silly.
1) It's ridiculous to check rural setbacks unless you require a surveyor to mark the property lines, otherwise all the inspector can do is ask the owner. 2) Slopes have nothing to do with zoning, they're under the jurisdiction of the engineering dept, who ignore all things residential here. One phone call to his supervisor straightened everything out. That's one inspector who won't last long without an attitude adjustment. The assessor who visits me every year learned he had to be civil also.
When I finally wised up and realized that my outbuildings should be "farm" buildings (no inspections other than setback) I couldn't believe anybody would bother to drive out when my submitted plat showed minimum 750' to a property line. Never saw anybody, though I was told to expect a visit. Was looking forward to taking the poor sap on quite a hike...
Now, the neighbor of my shed-trailer friend sure wouldn't want to look out on my accumulation. But I was smart enough to buy a place where I won't offend anybody. My friend bought a sorry piece of land (with a nice house) that, while roomy enough didn't have reasonable access much beyond the setbacks. That's when we started brain-storming. I think he could have won on the containers, but he didn't want to hire a gun.
Always a balancing act between property rights and community interest. PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Setbacks here are inspected on "prima facea" indications, meaning that you point to where your property line is and without contrary evidence from the neighbor, that is what is used to measure from. Small or otherwise restricted lots do require notification of abutters.We do have restrictions on steep slopes in shorelands zones, due to potential for erosion. no earth can be disturbed on a slope greater than 20%
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Erosion's an issue everywhere. Here, we have to sign our lives away promising to control it. This is Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Our "critical slopes" are 25% and greater, county-wide. The vast majority of my land is well over. Major motivation to understand the rules. Current proposal is to ban all road-building on critical slopes. Gonna be extremely expensive for legal defense if they pass that. A new definition of "taking" in the offing. And I sure don't want to be the test case.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
VaTom,
I'm not meaning to sidestep this thread, but I was wondering about the power of "Restrictions" in a home development in Texas.
A small incorporated "city" has purchased a lot in a housing area that is not in their city limits. The development's covenants are still valid and say "No Commerical Businesses" and homes of 80% masonary.
This incorporated city manager says these restrictions have no bearing "on them" because the owner is a governmental enity. They have a "Commerical Water Well" that is also pumping down the water level and sells that water to property owners miles away. Other than a tall wooden fence in front of the 3/4 acre lot, the lot has been dozed dirt bare and a chainlink fence surrounds the well.
Do you, or do you know where to look, to see if there is a way to stop this mess and enforce the development's guidelines?
Thanks, Bill
Deed restrictions have no authority over a government owner? News to me. But it's not yet clear that they're in violation.
The only way you get deed restrictions enforced is through legal action if other coercion doesn't work. Pretty sure you've got a case of water stealing, which is something that was addressed here recently. Similar situation, but the loser was an historic area known as Green Springs.
Had to go through the courts but I wouldn't assume that what happened in Va would have any bearing on Texas. As much as it pains me to suggest it, consult with the best land/water attorney you can find. And by all means, check out his/her credentials.
Western water is an old fight, going to be even more vociferous in the future. Through neglect, my family lost several acre feet of water rights in Arizona. Far as I know, it's gone for good as the uncontested theft occurred several decades ago.
You didn't say how long this has been going on, but that may have a bearing. Get on with your attorney search. Good luck.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
That sounds like a job for a good local lawyer! There are times and means when a municipality or state can do away with legal restrictions that apply to others if they use due process. A lot has to do with "will".
When I was chair of our planning board, I stopped the state once and the town once from ignoring the regulations after being told by them that they were allowed to do whatever. It can be a tricky sticky wicket so fighting them requires a strong commitment
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using the word Zoning right? Usually that is just a demarcation of whether a property is rural, residential, commercial, industrial, junkyards and salvage, or maritime, not specifically where and what structures can be placed on it. That is under land use or building code ordinances.
Here, locally, that's exactly how it's used. Zoning not only defines the areas, but the uses within those areas, and the setbacks, easements, and suchlike as well.
Now, the muni's Planning & Development Department may get to promogulate the regulations, after the elected Zoning Commission sets the "broad brush" areas.
But, I'll allow as how that may just be an artifact of places applying zoning where none existed before, too.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
> here, anything on wheels has to be registered with tags and
> inspected and of course, you have to show proof of insurance
> to get the tags, ...Odd. Here, that's only the case if you take it or park in on the road. A car, truck, or trailer parked on private property (or, for that matter, driven on private property) needs no tags, inspection, or insurance. Legally, it does have to be registered, but there's no problem not doing it if you never intend to register it (they nail you if you come in late to register it).I've had a '40 Ford in my driveway with no tags for 7 years now.George Patterson
It is not the state DOT that says so. It is a local junk ordinance that defines any vehicle in the open and not having current registration as junk, subject to removal and cleanup by the town. So your choice is to garage it, park it out in the woods where nobody can see it, or go try to get a junkyard permit, or just renew your tags on it.There were three junkyards here, but the regs got so hard to work around that two of them no longer renew and are cleaned up. The last one is still there because it is so big that it would cost a mint to clean up and haul. There is a story goes along with that subject.Used to be that all the old cars still running that were not worth getting inspected would be saved for winter when the big pond froze and then they would have an informal demo derby. What is now my land was just a trail in the woods near there. When i bought, I had to have twenty some derelicts hauled off that were the carcasses left from the demo derby nights
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I plan to upgrade the 100 amp panel to 200. Do I upgrade the panel before the garden shed?
Upgrade first.
1/4 pound of butter should do it.
SamT
Praise the Corporation, for the Corporations' highest concern is the well being of the public.
Edited 6/13/2007 3:22 pm by SamT
If you build on to the house, it can be 7'-6" wide. It will look better too!
Edited 6/13/2007 4:17 pm ET by Sasquatch
Good idea. The utilies are on the side of the house though. Can a gas meter be inside a shed? I think I've seen a small diamiter tupe coming off a meter/regulater once to off-gas the regulator. I'll ask at the building dept.
i know this question was/is messy. Kind of hard to wrap up in a nice bow but tha's why I asked.
I picked up the lumber for the fence today. That's going in regardless. The pt lumber was wet so I stickered it and put the sacks of redi-mix on top of it to dry. If it gets bad I'll take it back.
Now to find a post hole digger ; ^)
Not that this applies to you; however, sometimes obstacles are not written in stone. In other words, for a few bucks, you can move a gas meter, or a phone line, or whatever. It's sometimes just a question of whether you are willing or able to spend the bucks. In any commercial project, this is just part of the financial calculations. The moving of anything is not an impossibility. It can always be done, if one can bear the cost.
My 13 year old daughter and I rode our bicycles down to the building dept today. I explained to her how some people don't like the city hall people because they want to bend the rules. She said to just work within the rules. Simple. now why didn't I think of that.
I grew up in a family that hated the inspector. We were always in trouble. It got to the point where my family hired a lawyer and we buried the hatchet. They sent out a guy who would work with my brother. My brother can be a big pain.
Rick helped us out at the building dept. He said 5' was the minimum clearance to the fence and suggested that we build a porch style shed roof off the house. He didn't say anything about enclosing it. I guess that means yes. There was a couple of handouts he suggested taking.
The gas meter wasn't a big deal to them. I think I can request a remote reader for the electric meter and the gas meter. That way the person reading the meter doesn't have to go through the gate.
So I put up a fence and build it. No biggy.
I grew up in a family that hated the inspector. We were always in trouble. It got to the point where my family hired a lawyer and we buried the hatchet.
For what it's worth, I've never gotten along with building inspectors who worked too hard at their jobs either.
The shed roof idea sounds like the perfect solution. The carpentry is easy enough and the cost, including a concrete slab, would be less than what you were planning to pay for the metal unit.
everytime i ask about my neighbors at city hall they laugh at me and act like im a pesk, but if they complain they charge down by me with 50 big rule books and fine tooth combs and rulers, I was always nice and quiet and meek and they ran all over me, Then i became the azzhole i always knew i wuz and they want no part of me, As soon as they drive up i start yelling about my rights and wheres there warrant , I want my lawyer DANG IT. You watch that old neighbor of yours some guys would like nothing better then to run your life.
First of all, you need to get a copy of the local ordinances, and see for yourself what they REALLY say.
Set-back requirements are generally applied only to things that need permits; it's unlikely they would apply to one of those plastic snap-together Rubbermade cabinets. Likewise, other issues that matter are whether there is power to the shed, the size of the shed, etc.
Last year, I made a shed for my tiny yard. I took pains to make sure I was complying with local rules. Since the shed was well under 200 sq. ft, I did not need a permit, or meet any other requirements. That is a local matter, and will vary greatly between locales.
My shed is small, with a 4'x8' footprint. To make the most use of this space, I chose to make a pair of double doors on the long side; the entire contents are accessible from outside the shed. (No sense wasting space on aisles!)
A shed style roof was chosen, as there are plans for a second shed (for the other half of the duplex) to be set behind it. The shed was set on pier blocks, rather than a slab; if I want to move it, I can ... and the cats love the space under it.
http://electrical-contractor.net/forum/RS/Shed_front550.jpg
Edited 6/14/2007 4:02 pm ET by renosteinke
Getting a copy of local ordinances is something everybody should do, IMO, but to my thinking it was so obvious that I never mentioned it. Good point! On another point, I'm glad you mentioned that things change from one locality to another or I would have to lock horns with you over, "Set-back requirements are generally applied only to things that need permits" I can build a structure 120 square feet or less separate or attached, but it still absolutely needs to meet all the other regs. not on steep slopes, not 75' from shore, not 50' from road, nor 15' from side lot line, not in utility easement........
There have been a LOT of people who think that because a thing is small or temporary who build it in a setback and find themselves with a fine and moving costs, not only here, but in Colorado too.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Must suck living in a citified environment.
be three cheers for living in the country When it stormed before my bread was baked, I fixed a few boards over the fire, and sat under them to watch my loaf, and passed some pleasant hours in that way.-Thoreau's Walden
My daughter and I rode our bicycles to her orchestra paractice and then to the post office downtown. We couldn't do that in the country. That's where we just moved from. We HAD to get in the car to do anything outside of our house and family.
I don't like living isolated from people and things. If you want to fine and dandy.