We’re in the process of finishing our basement in a 1924 Craftsman, which included replumbing whole house, roughing in the basement bath, new windows, new electrical and rebuilding the basement stairs.
We got permits for all of the plumbing, but my stepbrother’s a licensed electrician and helped with the wiring (mapped out the circuites, made connections at the panel), so didn’t get a permit for that (felt comfortable that it’s done correctly) and didn’t get a permit for the windows and stairs–regretting a bit now that I didn’t make it all official, and curious whether it’s possible and worthwhile to get permits and have things inspected after the fact–thoughts?
Also, on the stairs, though I researched code requirements, the news stairs had to essentially be the same as the existing ones since changing dimensions would require significant structural changes (distance from top of stairs to back door, size of landing, door width, basement celing height etc), so the news stairs are definitely not code–treads are about an inch too narrow, stair width is too narrow from landing to basement, headroom is only about 6’1″ at the bottom stair–how big of a deal is this, and even if I’d gotten a permit, what would the solution be given you’d be looking at bumping out the back and either jacking up the house for the headroom or bumping into a bedroom that’s already tiny?
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fill out your profile. then someone that lives neer you)same state) could give you an accurate answer
It's pretty hard to get a permit after the fact. You have to show the construction before it was covered, ie: the wires in the wall, and the framing. Now that it is covered, what is there to inspect? Tyoically, if you had gotten a permit, the stairs probably could have been "Grandfathered" in. At this point, I'd just let it be.
Is your plumbing inspected by a different entity than the one which does your building and electrical inspections? Most small towns have the building inspector (or mechanical) inspect plumbing. Or visa-versa.
I live in Seattle, and would guess the inspectors for plumbing, electrical and structure would be different, but not sure.
Agree on the stairs given there really aren't any workarounds, but wanted to avoid a situation where if we were to sell at some point, we get dinged for not having it all permitted and was hoping there could be a way to get it all legal after the fact.
There are places in CA where a sale can be held up wqhen you have ilegal improvements like this. I have no idea how they retroactively correct the problem - probably an inspection, engineering reports and a whopping big fine.Most places not so bad but again- it is all local.
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Seattle, I know all about Seattle permits. Plumbing is Seattle/King County Department of Health. Electrical and building is by Seattle DPD. To get a building permit you would have had to submit a set of plans to the city. It is too late for all of this now.
If you have a plumbing permit, get it finaled, and out of the way.
And don't worry any more about your building and electrical permit.
As far as getting dinged, you have to disclose the fact, but it should remain a private matter. I know of no mechanism that DPD could get involved during your sell.
Thanks McMark--we're all final on the plumbing permit, which I wanted since I know squat about plumbing and it's significant. My thinking at the time about the other stuff was that I had it covered knowledge-wise between myself and stepbrother, but just had some friends finish a remodel and the inspector made the contractors totally redo the stairs--hear stuff like that and get scared that the man will come down on me if we sell! :)
"how big of a deal is this"
Only your building inspector knows for sure.
Every AHJ in the country has different policies and rules regarding things like this, most of which it is better knowing before the fact unless you are of the philosophy that it is better to ask forgivenss than permission.
Stairs in that sort of situation are usually regarded as grandfathered, but some clauses stipulate that when X is done then Y must also apply.
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Since you got the plumbing permit, I'll assume you didn't get rough in inspection, yet. At this point, I would apply for electric and fire permits. There is no need to risk that inspectors would overlook these parts. You can try and just pay the fine and extra fee if you get caught, but it would take time and possibly be stopped from doing any other kind of work. One thing, however, do not mention the basement as a bedroom. They may look for emergency exit as well for bedroom use.
Don't say anything about the stairs. Inspector may look at it but seeing the limited space they may not necessarily press this issue. It may go in your favor if you put one more light in the middle of the stairs and make certain the railing is up to the code.
ps, for electric: grounding rods may be necessary. panel will have to be bonded. water meter and water heater will have to be grounded. Make sure the main breaker panel and the grounds are up to the code.
For single family house, inspectors are fairly flexible and willing to point out deficiencies and come back for re-inspection. They don't, however, like work done without permits. Good luck.
The biggest problem I see is that if you pull one permit ya gaoot pull them all.
Those guys work in the same office ya know.
If they didnt say anything when they inspeted the plumbing, you're probably better off just letting it go.
Unless......the walls are still open, then, give them a call.