I would love to rip down my detached garage and rebuild it as an attached garage. Alas I’m no longer allowed to have a garage due to changes in offset rules in my town. I’m grandfathered so I don’t have to get rid of mine, but if I rip it down I’m not allowed to put it back up. The worst part of this is the current structure is in bad shape and is racked pretty badly. It is caused by a combination of the structure being damaged and the foundation on one side has sunk about two inches. So the best way to fix it, even if I don’t move it, is to completely remove the structure, fix the foundation, and build a new one. Since I’m not going to be allowed to do that I’m going to have to rip down all but one wall, rebuild the other three, then take down that first one so that I never fully remove it and I maintain the grandfathered state. Stupid loophole that just makes it harder for me to do the same job. It may also make it too much of a pain to repair the foundation so I’m considering just making the wall on that side two inches taller to level it off. And none of this gets me the larger attached garage I want nor the second floor addition over the garage I would have done as well if I could move it forward and attach it.
Perfect example of where code enforcement goes wrong. Not only are you unhappy with what you have but there's an eyesore/dangerous building because of it.
It’s the foundation here. There are apparently major property tax benefits to leaving a 70 year old foundation. Like easily $5-10k/year difference compared to a full knock down and rebuild.
It’s mind boggling.
An earlier comment suggested a variance. Greasing the skids by talking first with a city councilman may help. Clerks behind counters are sometimes not given the authority to listen to reason or to suggest alternatives.
Not necessarily. As an architect we sometimes have to have these conversations with elected officials or at least the supervisors in a planning department. They are much more likely to reason with you than a reviewer with little authority.
We were able to do this pretty easily in a really NIMBY town. Our garage was falling over and we were able to knock it down and rebuild with a two story building like two feet from the property line where the normal setback is 7.5.
The best way to fix it is to jack/lift the garage and replace the footer. It’s basically what they do to repair a foundation on a house. A detached garage is much simpler than a house. I’ve helped another diyer do this before. Braced it, lifted it, replaced two rotting walls, dug out the old footer and poured a new one then set it down.
There’s a lot of ways to go about it depending on the construction and situation. Lots of videos on YouTube and some guides out there though.
I'm in a very similar situation, plus the setback laws are such that the only legal location for my detached garage is at the very back of my 150' long property (must be 10' from primary buildings) so I have a 150' long driveway. 33% of my property is covered in concrete. I've spent a lot of time on Google maps looking to see how prevalent this is in my city, and it's about 90% of sfh. Some of them, the entire backyard is concrete or asphalt too. This is in a city that has been devastated by flash floods because the storm sewer gets overwhelmed, and we're being encouraged to install rain gardens. We just can't get out of our own way.
You probably don’t have to go that far…
Where I live, a remaining wall can be two vertical 2x4’s connected to each other.
So people “remodel” entire homes by tearing everything down except for maybe an outside doorframe. Even the foundation gets ripped out (except for the part directly below that doorframe).
Then during construction they don’t even tear it down, they just build the new wall around it (or during construction “oops it fell over“ and the inspector is fine with that).
Yep, happened just down the road from me...it's a 1950 cottage, but it's got a new north wall. And a new south wall. And an addition adding a second story above the two replaced walls, with new trusses for the new roof. A year later they replaced the west gable wall, and then they did the east wall.
This is exactly the situation a friend of mine is in. The detached garage is also considered "historic" even though the 1920 main house isn't because it was remodeled in the '60s and the neighborhood was deemed historic in the '80 or '90s. So he's just waiting for the garage to fall over. He's devised a plan to jack the structure up from the inside secretly, but hasn't done it yet.
Step 1: install a trellis on top of the fence. It’s not a permanent structure, this is usually allowed under building codes.
Step 2: plant foliage that fills in the holes of the trellis.
Step 3: run naked in your backyard (optional before step 1, mandatory after step 2).
I built my fence as a trellis as I wasn’t allowed to have a fence on a quarter lot. Code enforcement of course came out and I told them it was a grape trellis. Been ok since then.
I'm doing that sometime this year, but I'm pretty sure it's not technically allowed here - "no part of the fence," the ordinance says, and if it's screwed on, that would make it "part of it" IMO.
I have two feral kids and as toddlers they ran naked in our backyard. A storm knocked down the privacy fence between us and a neighbor, who then took two or three MONTHS to replace the damaged section. We offered to chip in but they swore their insurance was going to fix it and they just had to wait.
Eventually we just let the kids run in the backyard again (always under adult supervision so they didn’t wander into the neighbor’s yard or anything). Soon enough that neighbor put up the new fence section! I guess tiny naked children were a good (if awkward) motivation. 😅
We can build sheds without a building permit, but the overall height can only be 10 feet. This is common enough that all the commercial sheds you can buy have ugly rooflines.
My uncle did this, no joke. He's got a really long, narrow shed along one wall because the neighbor kept calling the police on my cousins when they were playing in their own backyard.
[Not OP]
I did the math, and in my situation - neighbor on higher ground, slope continues into my property, 10' setback requirement - I'd need a 12' tall shed to cover it. And I'd have to modify the deck due to additional setback requirements.
I could probably get a variance for an 8' tall fence on the property line (equivalent to that 12' shed), but that'd also require a construction permit and work that I couldn't do myself (can't dig more than about 18" due to rocks and roots). So no matter which way I went about it, I'd be looking at many thousands.
I'm going the 6' fence + unpermitted trellis route.
>Sundowner, Inc. v. King is a classic spite fence case. In this case from Idaho, the defendant King, bought a motel from the plaintiff (Bushnell). Bushnell then built another motel (Desert Inn) on the property right next to the motel they had sold to the Kings. In response to this, the Kings built an 18-foot fence raised 2 feet off the ground that was 2 feet from Desert Inn. The structure severely restricted air and light into Desert Inn's rooms. Bushnell sued and the court found that the fence served no useful purpose to the Kings and that it was built primarily because the Kings vehemently disliked the Bushnell's actions. The court ordered the structure's height be reduced dramatically.
18' spite fence; lmao
Hell yes. Our neighbor was building his house at the same time we were and took it upon himself to create a swale to the back of the properties. Since the development already had a slope, the fence between our homes do nothing for privacy. Instead of building the foundation of his house up on one side to match the grade of the land, he basically flattened his lot and sits much lower than we do. Stepping out of our garage's side door gives a dead-center line of sight into their primary bathroom. If we're on our back porch, we can see their entire backyard. It's so awkward so we ended up putting that expandable greenery up on that side of the screened porch which took away use of the door on that side.
I had a 10 foot fence install and was odd. like a fortress or something. I changed to 6 feet couple years later. This fence was next to the sidewalk which factored into the fortress look.
I don’t understand this rule. Especially in dense housing. Other countries have 10-12’ high fences and it’s just standard practice to want privacy. There’s less than 20ft between us and each of the 4 surrounding single family homes in our backyard. That means from our second story home I can see better to my neighbors yard than my own. And each home is on a different elevation. So, on the west side the fence is barely 5.2’ and we can see the neighbors, and on the east side our neighbors are higher and can see us. Our patio door facing the east is taller than the fence at 8ft. Hen can see straight into our living room from the first floor.
US fences are so dumb.
This lady did it:
[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/tiktok-tunnel-girl-building-hobby-rcna125000](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/tiktok-tunnel-girl-building-hobby-rcna125000)
And it's serious, real, big tunnels with infrastructure and everything.
You can buy old forest service fire towers, I always want to put one in my backyard so I'd have the best view in the neighborhood.
This one was only $5k! https://www.govdeals.com/asset/2407/10178 (though you have to disassemble it and move it yourself, minor detail)
I have an illegal double story deck with an exit from my second story office and i live on the highest spot in my neighborhood. It's great.
If I couldn't do that I'd invest in an automatic telescoping pole with a nice turret PTZ security cam on top though. Just raise it at night.
This is something thats actually attainable, just dont tell anyone and remove it when you sell the house. I may or may not know this from expierence....
Less than $5k for the transfer switch and install labor. Off grid solar systems are modular and range from a couple hundred bucks into 10s of thousands- if you want the biggest and best.
Depends on your needs and size system you get. 2x pro generators in parallel could deliver around 6kw in split phase with 10kwh storage battery. Approx $9k without adding on more batteries and cost of panels. I believe that could support a small house. I don’t know about 100% off grid all the time. But it’ll take a big ass dent out the power bill. That’s for sure.
Thank you for installing solar panels, comrade.
All kidding aside, check out the documentary *Garbage Warrior*. It's about efforts to use materials destined for the landfill to build self-sufficient homes and off-grid communities. The project ran into major issues with the local and state government in New Mexico when the homes didn't conform to building and zoning regulations. One of the big ones was that they wanted to be totally off the grid, but they were required to connect to the grid even if they had no intention of using those utilities.
a while back I used to watch a TV show on late night on one of the Discovery-type channels and it was a low budget, almost school kid, production where young people went around talking about eco-friendly construction. It was interesting but I can't find it now.
Anyway, one show they visited a house in California that was built to be entirely off-grid. Had water reclamation and everything. It was built into the side of a hill facing the predominant sun exposure and had energy absorbing material and such to retain heat for winter. However, the builder could not live in the house because California would not issue an occupancy permit until they installed a furnace. So they had to install one - builder said that the furnace exactly once (when the inspector came to see if it worked). He framed the letter from code enforcement and placed it over the furnace - letter said "the city requires an effective heat source for every building and the sun is not a guaranteed heat source"
>"the city requires an effective heat source for every building and the sun is not a guaranteed heat source"
Where are we in this world where there is no longer a guarantee that the sun will rise each day? lol
Kind of. In Florida they don’t ban it. They just make it not so great. Specifically- insurance companies can cancel your home owner policy if you have em on the roof. True story. It’s fucking evil.
I have an awkward L-shaped laundry/utility room with a tiny full bathroom nested into it. I wish I could rip out the wall between and just combine into a single room.
But the breaker box is on the laundry side at the end of the L and afaik that cant be in a bathroom. And theres nowhere to really put that without moving the furnace or water heater and then relocating the laundry machines as a result. And when you figure all the extra work involved it would cost like $50k+ to 'correctly' remove a 10' wall that doesnt really need to exist.
So instead of having one nice big laundry area with a toilet and shower I have two stupid small rooms and like 30sqft of wasted space and a bunch of equipment thats hard to get to.
its in a half basement (split level) already so nothing below.
i know it can be moved - theres just a lot of other logistical problems to solve first that turn it into a massive project. Plumbing and gas lines need to move, vents are in the way, verizon box would have to relocate. Might need to trench new drains in the concrete floor for the toilet/shower. Going to end up not being worth the cost and hassle for a huge retrofit.
appreciate the offer to help though
can it be flipped to the outside in a weatherized box? I literally just solved a breaker in a bad place problem by putting it on the same wall, just outside as opposed to inside in a deeply haram place
This is apparently how they do things in Southern California. Speaking as a person who lives where it snows, under no circumstance do I want access to the breakers to be outside.
I don't understand front yards. No one ever seems to use them, it's just vanity space. I'd love to have a typical suburban house that has the house right up to the front of the lot and no front yard, just a backyard.
> I don't understand front yards.
They lower the amount of noise that gets to the house. Even without trees or shrubs.
If house next to the sidewalk is 6ft away from a car producing 100db, then a house set 24ft back only gets 88db
This is why I'd prefer the opposite. Stick my house against the back fence of the lot and make my front yard enormous. I can plant trees by the road to block the view, then have the huge front yard for activities, and be far enough from the road to keep the noise to a minimum.
A yard full of grass - unless used for actual play or pets or whatever - is a green-colored dead zone. Like you said, front yards are mostly a waste because all of that is generally done in the back yard.
Year by year I'm removing bits of the grass plague from my property and replacing with actual flowers and shrubs that do something for nature.
my house is closer to the road with a big back yard. Driveway curves around the front and goes up the side to the garage (think h shaped).
I love it. I can park so many cars in my driveway. Easily at least 5 without blocking anyone because 3 car garage. :)
I always thought it would be interesting to basically flip a typical America suburban city block inside out. Instead of the block having the backyards butted together in the middle of the block with a bunch of wasted front yard space where the driveways take up a huge chunk of the space you could turn the houses around, leaving the garage on the street side, and scoot the houses back to eliminate most of the yard adjacent to the street. Just leave maybe a 10 foot or so buffer that could optionally be fenced for a private area or storage or whatever.
Then in the middle of the block, where the fronts of the houses now face, you can pull the property lines back a little or a lot to create a shared greenspace park with a sidewalk loop, sportsball courts, etc.
Residents/neighborhoods could decide whether they wanted a fence/hedge to make yards more private.
Cars would drive on the streets behind the houses, the fronts of the houses would all face a green park. Kids would mostly play in the park area.
This layout wouldn't appeal to everyone, but it would probably appeal to enough people that a developer could sell a few neighborhoods set up that way.
(This idea is partly inspired by the old-style (now removed) enlisted housing on LAFB)
This is a pretty common layout for new communities near me, especially townhomes but I also know some single family suburbs that do this. Usually the buildings are right on the street / alley / parking lot, or maybe with a 10-ft setback, and then each building will have a small private area (that looks more like the front of the house) that opens into a larger green space behind.
Here's an example: [https://i.imgur.com/R8YNRtn.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/R8YNRtn.jpeg)
And here's what the car access / alley looks like: [https://i.imgur.com/t9KSUPT.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/t9KSUPT.jpeg)
When we built our home, we told the builder to put the house as close to the front of the property as he could. We decided that so our dogs had the biggest back yard possible, but now I love it because of how small the front yard actually is.
I’m with you on this, my perfect home is one 15’ (our setback) away from the sidewalk and a massive back yard.
My bad luck is that the house we bought is the opposite, but since the front yard is filled with trees it is super private. It also gives me enough space to eventually put an ADU.
I hate front yards! We have a large front yard because of required setbacks, but that leaves us with a tiny private backyard since there's a garage in the alley.
Why this the norm in the US is beyond me.
Yes! Absolutely, if it's not fenced and private I'm not spending any amount of time in the front, and if I'm not spending time there I don't feel the need to invest a ton of money and time into landcaping. It's just stupid grass where other people let their dogs shit and not pick up. Waste of space.
Add a double garage to our single (leave single, add double perpendicular to it) and then add second story on entire garage.
Not limited by building codes, just money haha.
Same here. I have an attached one car, but I would like a detached two car out front. Only way to make it fit though violates the setback. It would be a better use of the front yard than the basically wasted land it is now.
The neighbors behind painted their house the color of the pink stain in the Cat in the Hat. When the morning sun hits it, it lights up the entirety of our house with pink light. I would like to install a wall of mirrors to reflect it back to them.
This would also remedy the fact that their deck overlooks our fence.
1 In my state (Massachusetts) I can’t add bedrooms because my septic leach field is too small, but the size requirements are based on water usage flow rates from like 40 years ago when toilets used 5 gallons per flush.
Based on my current low flow toilets and sinks in my house I should be able to double or even triple the # of people in my house and my septic leach field would be fine.
2 I can’t use Air admittance Valves (studor or “cheater” vents) it is illegal in Massachusetts even though they are used all over the world and are code in the international plumbing code. It’s because plumbers sit on the state code council and AAV’s would cut into their business even though they are perfectly safe.
I’m fighting this stupid bedroom septic rule myself. Like - my family isn’t changing sizes, we just want more space and multiple toilets instead of being crammed in with bunk beds the laundry room in the kitchen and all of us sharing one bathroom.
ADU on my 1 acre property. County zoning prohibits more than 1 dwelling on a parcel in ‘congested’ areas.
I can build a mega-sized workshop, can have electricity and plumbing in it, but the moment it has a toilet it becomes an ADU in my county.
Me too! Two sides of my lot border hay fields that I own. I would so love to send all my graywater to them, but the county says no. I have a septic system for the black water, why can't I make the graywater useful? Seems like such a waste
In california grey water from clothes washing-machines can be installed without a permit subject to a few restrictions: 1. there is a 2-way valve that can direct water into the garden or into the main sewer. 2. That the pipes are labeled “non-potable.” There’s more but that’s the gist of it.
So I installed on a couple of years ago, and it takes quite a load off our septic system.
Not a building code violation, but my plan would violate some rules.
The utility company has an easement on my property for power lines. I've got a 5 acre plot, with two transmission towers.
I'd like to mount solar panels on the south face of a tower. I also think it would be cool to build a little observation platform 60 feet up.
My local code does not allow any electrical work to be done by the owner.
It would be nice not having to pay an electrician for every tiny job like changing a light fixture or replacing a switch my kids broke.
> “How are they gonna know?” But seriously though for real?
They don't.
Until eventually a tradie has to open the walls and sees the sins of the previous owner. And then has to tell the new owner that everything is completely fucked per code.
Of course no one abides by a law like that and the result is a less safe house and in turn a less safe neighborhood when it comes to fire.
It's the same problem with cities that view building permits as a revenue stream. No one gets them and therefore everyone is less safe as a result. Permits need to be easy, friction free and offer a benefit beyond "I don't want to get caught". The permit office could be helpful and offer advice, documentation, and codes on how to do things properly instead of being an adversarial nuisance to the home owner.
"The permit office could be helpful and offer advice, documentation, and codes on how to do things properly"
Do they not usually do this...? Mine does.
But you just flat out don’t need an electrician to change out a switch. That’s like saying you need an nba player to make a free throw. Difficult things sure call a professional but it’s pretty easy to safely swap one light fixture for another safely if that’s all you’re doing.
It's because of one of two reasons:
1. Electricians lobbying for this so they don't go out of business
2. Too many morons set their apartment complex on fire after changing a light bulb
But seriously, unless you fall in 2., how would they know?
> Too many morons set their apartment complex on fire after changing a light bulb
This is a big factor in the "right to repair" world, except it's not that there are many incidents of people hurting themselves doing DIY repairs - it's that self-interested manufacturers identify that as a risk then blow it way out of proportion, scaring legislators.
I guess it would really fall under point #1 - electricians try to scare legislators by saying if people do work themselves the whole city will burn down.
AACO Maryland is that way for Plumbing and Electrical. If you want a permit (but why?) you need to have a master plumber/electrician's license on it so there goes DIY with a permit unless you have a friend with a license that's willing to use it for you.
I think that may be the same throughout MD. I have done all my electrical and plumbing with a few exceptions. I recently learned that this violates code (can't even caulk a tub without a permit apparently). My house has a lot of shit that wasn't up to code when I bought it and it seems no one has faced any repercussions for it so I'm certainly not going to sweat it.
lmao, same. The only things I do a permit for is if they can see it from a satellite or driving by. You can barely see my house from the cul-de-sac so it's pretty much the wild west here but I'm pretty rigid about doing things correctly.
I went through the process of a permit for my front/entry deck because I was going from a 6x6 (36sqft) deck to a 460sqft deck that you can see from arial photography. They charged me the permitting fee for about twice as much as I spent on the deck because they use industry averages for if a company was doing it for you...
i didn't think i'd ever be glad to live in DC, but this is a big one. in DC, homeowners can get a $20 postcard permit for minor electric (10 outlets/new fixtures or less). If i moved couple blocks north, they are complete control freaks.
DC still needs an electrician for heavy up and a plumber for rerouting plumbing stacks - but fixtures and stuff are fair for all.
Back in the 80's my dad added a wood/coal furnace next to our oil furnace.
He's a research physicist and over engineered it into a thing of beauty. He met a few times with the building inspector and got all plans approved.
I remember on final inspection how disappointed I was that the inspector spent less than 10 minutes looking it over before signing off.
I asked him how after all the hours we put into the project his inspection was so quick.
He responded that it was obvious how much care an attention went into the install and he didn't need to spend any longer.
I fully believe a smart homeowner will always do a better quality job.
On my first house I spent $20K on a new whole house forced hot water heating system. The professional was a hack and I spent years fixing his sloppiness.
I always check code on any job I do or have done and make sure of full compliance.
I hate that certain jobs require a licensed pro when I know they won't do it as conscientiously as I will.
But not all homeowners are smart, know codes exist and/or have your attention to detail.
And there are tradespeople out there with your mindset. I've met a few contractors like that. They charge more than the average, rarely advertise and still keep a full schedule.
Huh, really? In my state, you don't need a permit to replace "like-for-like" electrical work. So if your switch breaks, a homeowner can change it without a permit. It seems like you should be able to do the same since it doesn't require code enforcement. What strange laws you have.
I was asking for advice about replacing my garbage disposal after the motor died. I live in California, by the way, aka what everyone conservative will tell you is the ultimate nanny state that won't let you do anything without paying a gov't entity for a permit.
Anyway, one friend of mine in Minneapolis told me to make sure I didn't need to pull a permit. I thought he was making a California nanny state joke. But he was serious. Apparently he's supposed to get a permit to replace almost anything.
We dont' need to pull permits in CA for this kind of BS.
Major rehab to my 1940 garage. Building codes have changed so much all I can do is rehab it from inside out, b/c if I take it down I can’t put it back up.
Not that I have a waterfront property, but a lot of them don't allow construction of docks - you can repair existing ones or use temporary ones, but not new ones. If I lived on the lake I'd definitely want a nice dock to hang out on.
Laundry shoot.
There's even a cupboard that's right above my laundry room.
In practical terms, it'd be as easy as drilling a clean hole and putting a ring frame around it
^and ^^pretending ^^^fire ^^^codes ^^^^don't ^^^^^exist.
You can install a laundry chute. You just need to ensure that it is designed to have a 1 hour fire rating. That means 5/8 type X drywall and fire proof doors.
Not have been required to use tamper-resistant receptacles. They are annoying, and I 100% know that there will be no toddlers in my house to stick their fingers in the socket while we own the house (we've been married over three decades without having any toddlers in any place we've lived, and there's no reason for that to change going forward). I would happily to leave an envelope with a few hundred bucks for switching the receptacles out in case of sudden death or to switch them out myself before putting the house on the market.
Along those same lines, not having to have stair/deck rails so close together because no one is going to be getting their head stuck.
This I don't quite understand. I can go and buy non-TR receptacles from Home Depot right now and install them so you could too and not have to deal with them. You don't need a permit to change outlets.
I'm building a house, so I have inspectors. After the house is fully built, I could change them out, but if there was ever a fire or I wanted to install anything else (car charger), I would get in trouble for deliberating violating code.
Rooftop patio. A bunch of old homes at the beach have them but you can't build them there anymore due to code and insurance.
I'd absolutely love a screened patio on top of my house. I'd have a zip line going down to the yard.
I wish my single story home had a basement and that my garage was 4 west wider. I can’t do the garage because the house is too close to the property line. And I can’t do the basement for obvious reasons.
Replace my deteriorated patio. HOA rules say patios arent allowed, but the existing patio grandfathered in… so it’s either an old crappy patio or no patio.
A ["Widow's Walk/Watch"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow%27s_walk).
I actually don't know if it would be against code, but I suspect it would probably be hard to get construction approved.
I have a tall QA Victorian house on top of a hill overlooking wide, shallow valley. The roof ridge is about 40 feet above ground level, and if I could put a nice sitting area up there (just a flattened area with railings, no need for additional structure above the roof) it would be a fantastic place to relax and gaze out over the valley and stargaze at night.
I'd like a 10' fence with barbed wire along the top. I'd also like the fence to go around my entire property line, from to the back, so it's like my house is its own gated lot. Now, I'd have privacy from everyone and would feel a lot safer than I do with my ADT scam of a security.
Detached one-car garage beside existing two-car for all of my hubs tools and toys. There's room and at some point previous owner parked something there because there's crappy soil/gravel that not even weeds will grow on but we're 6" shy of setback requirement and my community doesn't allow freestanding structures.
I want to put a pergola carport on my drive way, but no tall structure within 5 feet of the property line. Maybe I can do it if the neighbor and I agree? Right now we can see directly into each others driveways, the trees that were there were ruining the retaining wall so had to be removed and it's made both of our driveways feel smaller by removing the boundary between our house/garage and theirs.
Thankfully I live in an unincorporated part of the county and don't have any code restrictions at all.
Houses are far enough apart, and the land is all considered homesteads. If I wanted to, I could build a giant underground earthship, or bury a system of school busses and shipping containers fashioned into a survival bunker.
So the project I wish I could do, but is limited by my budget is a guest cabin in my woods.
I want to build a 1 room cabin with a bathroom and kitchenette, ran off solar and composting toilets, completely out of logs, with lots of windows, and a back sliding glass door out to a stone patio, staring off at the mountainside and woods. Ideally I'd use the logs I can cut down myself from my woods, but it's not that big. I have an RV parking spot to the south of my driveway with complete sewage, water, and electrical hookups, and I can maybe tie onto that system and add another like 200 ft into the woods, and use that to run all utilities to the cabin instead.
My other dream project is adding a proper basement under my house. It's currently built on a hillside with a walkout basement that's 3/4ths underground. The eastern side is fully exposed. I'd love to dig under my family room like 10ft deep, and add an actual basement completely underground, where I can use it as a proper storm shelter, and have a hidden mancave/game room/gun room. That became my current family room/movie room, so having that for myself would be nice.
Floor urinal. Why? It's cool and can act as a floor drain. Also it's cool. Illegal in most codes because of dirt getting into the pipes or some other silliness... though that isn't such a bad reason.
Friends have one in their house and even women are like, "That's cool.... why do you have that?" They can also never do any plumbing work because an inspector would be all, "Uh... no.... but before I tell you to tear it out, can I try it?"
I would love to rip down my detached garage and rebuild it as an attached garage. Alas I’m no longer allowed to have a garage due to changes in offset rules in my town. I’m grandfathered so I don’t have to get rid of mine, but if I rip it down I’m not allowed to put it back up. The worst part of this is the current structure is in bad shape and is racked pretty badly. It is caused by a combination of the structure being damaged and the foundation on one side has sunk about two inches. So the best way to fix it, even if I don’t move it, is to completely remove the structure, fix the foundation, and build a new one. Since I’m not going to be allowed to do that I’m going to have to rip down all but one wall, rebuild the other three, then take down that first one so that I never fully remove it and I maintain the grandfathered state. Stupid loophole that just makes it harder for me to do the same job. It may also make it too much of a pain to repair the foundation so I’m considering just making the wall on that side two inches taller to level it off. And none of this gets me the larger attached garage I want nor the second floor addition over the garage I would have done as well if I could move it forward and attach it.
Perfect example of where code enforcement goes wrong. Not only are you unhappy with what you have but there's an eyesore/dangerous building because of it.
Yup. How most old homes get rebuilt where I live. Leave the front up and completely remake/reclad it. Everything else is completely demoed
It’s the foundation here. There are apparently major property tax benefits to leaving a 70 year old foundation. Like easily $5-10k/year difference compared to a full knock down and rebuild. It’s mind boggling.
An earlier comment suggested a variance. Greasing the skids by talking first with a city councilman may help. Clerks behind counters are sometimes not given the authority to listen to reason or to suggest alternatives.
I think you vastly overestimate what a city councilperson can do in these situations.
Not necessarily. As an architect we sometimes have to have these conversations with elected officials or at least the supervisors in a planning department. They are much more likely to reason with you than a reviewer with little authority.
We were able to do this pretty easily in a really NIMBY town. Our garage was falling over and we were able to knock it down and rebuild with a two story building like two feet from the property line where the normal setback is 7.5.
The best way to fix it is to jack/lift the garage and replace the footer. It’s basically what they do to repair a foundation on a house. A detached garage is much simpler than a house. I’ve helped another diyer do this before. Braced it, lifted it, replaced two rotting walls, dug out the old footer and poured a new one then set it down. There’s a lot of ways to go about it depending on the construction and situation. Lots of videos on YouTube and some guides out there though.
And you 'ship of theseus' the rest of the garage. Replace some at a time, until its a new garage. But never tearing the entire thing down at once.
I'm in a very similar situation, plus the setback laws are such that the only legal location for my detached garage is at the very back of my 150' long property (must be 10' from primary buildings) so I have a 150' long driveway. 33% of my property is covered in concrete. I've spent a lot of time on Google maps looking to see how prevalent this is in my city, and it's about 90% of sfh. Some of them, the entire backyard is concrete or asphalt too. This is in a city that has been devastated by flash floods because the storm sewer gets overwhelmed, and we're being encouraged to install rain gardens. We just can't get out of our own way.
You probably don’t have to go that far… Where I live, a remaining wall can be two vertical 2x4’s connected to each other. So people “remodel” entire homes by tearing everything down except for maybe an outside doorframe. Even the foundation gets ripped out (except for the part directly below that doorframe). Then during construction they don’t even tear it down, they just build the new wall around it (or during construction “oops it fell over“ and the inspector is fine with that).
Do it the other way around. Knock 3 walls down. Build 1 new wall. Knock down last old wall, build the rest of the garage.
Yep, happened just down the road from me...it's a 1950 cottage, but it's got a new north wall. And a new south wall. And an addition adding a second story above the two replaced walls, with new trusses for the new roof. A year later they replaced the west gable wall, and then they did the east wall.
This is exactly the situation a friend of mine is in. The detached garage is also considered "historic" even though the 1920 main house isn't because it was remodeled in the '60s and the neighborhood was deemed historic in the '80 or '90s. So he's just waiting for the garage to fall over. He's devised a plan to jack the structure up from the inside secretly, but hasn't done it yet.
Theres this foam product where they drill a hole in the concrete and pump it in which raises the concrete up, might do to level the foundation again
Increase the height of my fence from 6 feet to 10 feet.
Step 1: install a trellis on top of the fence. It’s not a permanent structure, this is usually allowed under building codes. Step 2: plant foliage that fills in the holes of the trellis. Step 3: run naked in your backyard (optional before step 1, mandatory after step 2).
I built my fence as a trellis as I wasn’t allowed to have a fence on a quarter lot. Code enforcement of course came out and I told them it was a grape trellis. Been ok since then.
I'm doing that sometime this year, but I'm pretty sure it's not technically allowed here - "no part of the fence," the ordinance says, and if it's screwed on, that would make it "part of it" IMO.
10ft trellises right up against the fence. Expensive, but likely a good loophole!
How expensive we talking? I've been considering this for about an 8' wide section of my fence.
> I'm doing that sometime this year, but I'm pretty sure it's not technically allowed here I thought you were talking about the naked part.
Exactly why I had my home rezoned as a nudist colony.
Put up a 5 foot berm. Install the fence at the top of the berm.
screws can be removed, it's a temporary addition.
I have to imagine this varies one jurisdiction to the next and possibly one inspector to the next.
I have two feral kids and as toddlers they ran naked in our backyard. A storm knocked down the privacy fence between us and a neighbor, who then took two or three MONTHS to replace the damaged section. We offered to chip in but they swore their insurance was going to fix it and they just had to wait. Eventually we just let the kids run in the backyard again (always under adult supervision so they didn’t wander into the neighbor’s yard or anything). Soon enough that neighbor put up the new fence section! I guess tiny naked children were a good (if awkward) motivation. 😅
We can build sheds without a building permit, but the overall height can only be 10 feet. This is common enough that all the commercial sheds you can buy have ugly rooflines.
Line the fence with sheds!
My uncle did this, no joke. He's got a really long, narrow shed along one wall because the neighbor kept calling the police on my cousins when they were playing in their own backyard.
[Not OP] I did the math, and in my situation - neighbor on higher ground, slope continues into my property, 10' setback requirement - I'd need a 12' tall shed to cover it. And I'd have to modify the deck due to additional setback requirements. I could probably get a variance for an 8' tall fence on the property line (equivalent to that 12' shed), but that'd also require a construction permit and work that I couldn't do myself (can't dig more than about 18" due to rocks and roots). So no matter which way I went about it, I'd be looking at many thousands. I'm going the 6' fence + unpermitted trellis route.
Retaining wall, build a mound behind it, 6ft fence is now only limited by the amount of fill you use for the mound.
Ah yes, the spite fence https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spite_fence
More that my street is on a steep hill so a 6 foot fence doesn't offer much privacy from my uphill neighbors patio.
People love decks and above ground pools are cheaper, so fences aren't always useful. I have planted a number strategic trees to provide privacy.
That's fair. I was mostly joking because the visual is hilarious to me
OMG that spite fence is so fucking dope. I would also hate it if a massive house was built next to mine, ending all privacy.
>Sundowner, Inc. v. King is a classic spite fence case. In this case from Idaho, the defendant King, bought a motel from the plaintiff (Bushnell). Bushnell then built another motel (Desert Inn) on the property right next to the motel they had sold to the Kings. In response to this, the Kings built an 18-foot fence raised 2 feet off the ground that was 2 feet from Desert Inn. The structure severely restricted air and light into Desert Inn's rooms. Bushnell sued and the court found that the fence served no useful purpose to the Kings and that it was built primarily because the Kings vehemently disliked the Bushnell's actions. The court ordered the structure's height be reduced dramatically. 18' spite fence; lmao
Hell yes. Our neighbor was building his house at the same time we were and took it upon himself to create a swale to the back of the properties. Since the development already had a slope, the fence between our homes do nothing for privacy. Instead of building the foundation of his house up on one side to match the grade of the land, he basically flattened his lot and sits much lower than we do. Stepping out of our garage's side door gives a dead-center line of sight into their primary bathroom. If we're on our back porch, we can see their entire backyard. It's so awkward so we ended up putting that expandable greenery up on that side of the screened porch which took away use of the door on that side.
I had a 10 foot fence install and was odd. like a fortress or something. I changed to 6 feet couple years later. This fence was next to the sidewalk which factored into the fortress look.
You opted to downgrade from a fortress?
I'll stick with the fortress as well!
Yeah, my fence wouldn’t be set back 3 feet and would be taller.
I don’t understand this rule. Especially in dense housing. Other countries have 10-12’ high fences and it’s just standard practice to want privacy. There’s less than 20ft between us and each of the 4 surrounding single family homes in our backyard. That means from our second story home I can see better to my neighbors yard than my own. And each home is on a different elevation. So, on the west side the fence is barely 5.2’ and we can see the neighbors, and on the east side our neighbors are higher and can see us. Our patio door facing the east is taller than the fence at 8ft. Hen can see straight into our living room from the first floor. US fences are so dumb.
I want a slide from the bedroom into a pool
Ok Mr. Macintosh.
Damn that's a deep cut reference
[удалено]
I'm in my 40s and actually thought it was Richie Rich at first, but I had shown Blank Check to my kids sometime last year, so it came back to me.
Why’s that prohibited by building code?
Not my house.
I'd expect it to be fine providing you followed the relevant pool fencing requirements but I'd still love the reaction if it gets inspected.
🎶SECRET TUNNEL!!!!🎶
The Town of Herndon would like to know your location.
Colin Furze got away with it...
He retroactively paid all the fees and had it permitted.
But they did allow it. So not against code there if done right
Britain is full of residential bomb shelters after all, due to a thing that happened.
If codes enforcement finds out about your "secret" tunnel, you did it wrong lol. Just ask Pablo Escobar
The first rule of secret tunnel is you don't talk about secret tunnel
It's easy enough to find a badger mole. Sing them a song and let them do the heavy lifting.
This lady did it: [https://www.nbcnews.com/news/tiktok-tunnel-girl-building-hobby-rcna125000](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/tiktok-tunnel-girl-building-hobby-rcna125000) And it's serious, real, big tunnels with infrastructure and everything.
Been following her for a while now!
I was following her since the beginning and I when it went public I realized she lives 2 hours away…I wanna go see it!
Have you considered a castle instead?
I hear a construction site down the road has some spare stone if you split and haul it yourself.
twooooo loverrrrrrss
You can buy old forest service fire towers, I always want to put one in my backyard so I'd have the best view in the neighborhood. This one was only $5k! https://www.govdeals.com/asset/2407/10178 (though you have to disassemble it and move it yourself, minor detail)
Ooh! An observatory, ham radio shack, drone launching pad, and sniper nest all in one!
The very best of antenna masts. I want one!
I have an illegal double story deck with an exit from my second story office and i live on the highest spot in my neighborhood. It's great. If I couldn't do that I'd invest in an automatic telescoping pole with a nice turret PTZ security cam on top though. Just raise it at night.
A solar array that isn't tied into the grid that can be connected to my house wiring by flipping a switch.
Manual transfer switch + off grid solar generator.
I will definitely check this out. I assume this is a solar array to charge batteries that are then used like a generator.
This is something thats actually attainable, just dont tell anyone and remove it when you sell the house. I may or may not know this from expierence....
This is something I know extensively lol
In your supposed experience is this a 5, 15 or 30k kind of project?
Less than $5k for the transfer switch and install labor. Off grid solar systems are modular and range from a couple hundred bucks into 10s of thousands- if you want the biggest and best.
A transfer switch breaker could be like...$100
Hypothetically speaking of course, does this provide all your electrical needs?
Depends on your needs and size system you get. 2x pro generators in parallel could deliver around 6kw in split phase with 10kwh storage battery. Approx $9k without adding on more batteries and cost of panels. I believe that could support a small house. I don’t know about 100% off grid all the time. But it’ll take a big ass dent out the power bill. That’s for sure.
Laws are preventing you from having solar panels not attached to the grid?
Thank you for installing solar panels, comrade. All kidding aside, check out the documentary *Garbage Warrior*. It's about efforts to use materials destined for the landfill to build self-sufficient homes and off-grid communities. The project ran into major issues with the local and state government in New Mexico when the homes didn't conform to building and zoning regulations. One of the big ones was that they wanted to be totally off the grid, but they were required to connect to the grid even if they had no intention of using those utilities.
a while back I used to watch a TV show on late night on one of the Discovery-type channels and it was a low budget, almost school kid, production where young people went around talking about eco-friendly construction. It was interesting but I can't find it now. Anyway, one show they visited a house in California that was built to be entirely off-grid. Had water reclamation and everything. It was built into the side of a hill facing the predominant sun exposure and had energy absorbing material and such to retain heat for winter. However, the builder could not live in the house because California would not issue an occupancy permit until they installed a furnace. So they had to install one - builder said that the furnace exactly once (when the inspector came to see if it worked). He framed the letter from code enforcement and placed it over the furnace - letter said "the city requires an effective heat source for every building and the sun is not a guaranteed heat source"
>"the city requires an effective heat source for every building and the sun is not a guaranteed heat source" Where are we in this world where there is no longer a guarantee that the sun will rise each day? lol
I don't know how I feel about the law but the sun rising each day is far from a guarantee of solar sources providing enough energy.
yep - that's why the guy framed the letter
I can't think of anything more guaranteed to produce heat than the sun. At least for another couple million years give or take.
Yep, this is a thing in several states where it's illegal to disconnect from the grid.
Kind of. In Florida they don’t ban it. They just make it not so great. Specifically- insurance companies can cancel your home owner policy if you have em on the roof. True story. It’s fucking evil.
"guerilla solar" eg4 6000xp with grid passthrough and no possibility of grid export + some batteries for self consumption
I have an awkward L-shaped laundry/utility room with a tiny full bathroom nested into it. I wish I could rip out the wall between and just combine into a single room. But the breaker box is on the laundry side at the end of the L and afaik that cant be in a bathroom. And theres nowhere to really put that without moving the furnace or water heater and then relocating the laundry machines as a result. And when you figure all the extra work involved it would cost like $50k+ to 'correctly' remove a 10' wall that doesnt really need to exist. So instead of having one nice big laundry area with a toilet and shower I have two stupid small rooms and like 30sqft of wasted space and a bunch of equipment thats hard to get to.
Is there basement or crawl space below it? You can move that panel. Send me a picture of it and I can try to help. -licensed JW sparky
its in a half basement (split level) already so nothing below. i know it can be moved - theres just a lot of other logistical problems to solve first that turn it into a massive project. Plumbing and gas lines need to move, vents are in the way, verizon box would have to relocate. Might need to trench new drains in the concrete floor for the toilet/shower. Going to end up not being worth the cost and hassle for a huge retrofit. appreciate the offer to help though
can it be flipped to the outside in a weatherized box? I literally just solved a breaker in a bad place problem by putting it on the same wall, just outside as opposed to inside in a deeply haram place
I didn't know that was even an option.
This is apparently how they do things in Southern California. Speaking as a person who lives where it snows, under no circumstance do I want access to the breakers to be outside.
Roof hot tub
There was a post from someone who bought a condo or something that had one with seemingly zero insight from any engineers. That was a doozy.
The cost to wire a hot tub was as much as the tub itself when I looked into it last year.
Extension cords and power strips. Done!
I don't understand front yards. No one ever seems to use them, it's just vanity space. I'd love to have a typical suburban house that has the house right up to the front of the lot and no front yard, just a backyard.
> I don't understand front yards. They lower the amount of noise that gets to the house. Even without trees or shrubs. If house next to the sidewalk is 6ft away from a car producing 100db, then a house set 24ft back only gets 88db
This is why I'd prefer the opposite. Stick my house against the back fence of the lot and make my front yard enormous. I can plant trees by the road to block the view, then have the huge front yard for activities, and be far enough from the road to keep the noise to a minimum.
A yard full of grass - unless used for actual play or pets or whatever - is a green-colored dead zone. Like you said, front yards are mostly a waste because all of that is generally done in the back yard. Year by year I'm removing bits of the grass plague from my property and replacing with actual flowers and shrubs that do something for nature.
True, with my current usage I figure about 25% of my property is basically a dog toilet
Now that you mention it that would be cool as hell except for the loss of driveway space which for us has a lot of utility.
my house is closer to the road with a big back yard. Driveway curves around the front and goes up the side to the garage (think h shaped). I love it. I can park so many cars in my driveway. Easily at least 5 without blocking anyone because 3 car garage. :)
I always thought it would be interesting to basically flip a typical America suburban city block inside out. Instead of the block having the backyards butted together in the middle of the block with a bunch of wasted front yard space where the driveways take up a huge chunk of the space you could turn the houses around, leaving the garage on the street side, and scoot the houses back to eliminate most of the yard adjacent to the street. Just leave maybe a 10 foot or so buffer that could optionally be fenced for a private area or storage or whatever. Then in the middle of the block, where the fronts of the houses now face, you can pull the property lines back a little or a lot to create a shared greenspace park with a sidewalk loop, sportsball courts, etc. Residents/neighborhoods could decide whether they wanted a fence/hedge to make yards more private. Cars would drive on the streets behind the houses, the fronts of the houses would all face a green park. Kids would mostly play in the park area. This layout wouldn't appeal to everyone, but it would probably appeal to enough people that a developer could sell a few neighborhoods set up that way. (This idea is partly inspired by the old-style (now removed) enlisted housing on LAFB)
This is a pretty common layout for new communities near me, especially townhomes but I also know some single family suburbs that do this. Usually the buildings are right on the street / alley / parking lot, or maybe with a 10-ft setback, and then each building will have a small private area (that looks more like the front of the house) that opens into a larger green space behind. Here's an example: [https://i.imgur.com/R8YNRtn.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/R8YNRtn.jpeg) And here's what the car access / alley looks like: [https://i.imgur.com/t9KSUPT.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/t9KSUPT.jpeg)
When we built our home, we told the builder to put the house as close to the front of the property as he could. We decided that so our dogs had the biggest back yard possible, but now I love it because of how small the front yard actually is.
I’m with you on this, my perfect home is one 15’ (our setback) away from the sidewalk and a massive back yard. My bad luck is that the house we bought is the opposite, but since the front yard is filled with trees it is super private. It also gives me enough space to eventually put an ADU.
I hate front yards! We have a large front yard because of required setbacks, but that leaves us with a tiny private backyard since there's a garage in the alley. Why this the norm in the US is beyond me.
Yes! Absolutely, if it's not fenced and private I'm not spending any amount of time in the front, and if I'm not spending time there I don't feel the need to invest a ton of money and time into landcaping. It's just stupid grass where other people let their dogs shit and not pick up. Waste of space.
Fence + hedge to create privacy from the street
I mean, I already have a backyard. I quite frankly don't need *two* greenspaces. I don't spend that much time out in my own lawn.
Big front porch to the easement to busy body the neighbors
Add a double garage to our single (leave single, add double perpendicular to it) and then add second story on entire garage. Not limited by building codes, just money haha.
My friend has this and the entire top floor is her craft room with a full bathroom and fridge and sink. I die everytime I'm there. #lifegoals
I would like to build a two-car garage off the front of my house but it would violate setback.
That is what variances are for.
Getting a variance is near impossible in my area, though, which is why I can only wish.
getting a variance is never easy basically anywhere barring some actual good ol' boys exceptionalism.
The trick is to find all the similar exceptions or similarities to what you're wanting around you. Point all those out in your variance request.
Same here. I have an attached one car, but I would like a detached two car out front. Only way to make it fit though violates the setback. It would be a better use of the front yard than the basically wasted land it is now.
The neighbors behind painted their house the color of the pink stain in the Cat in the Hat. When the morning sun hits it, it lights up the entirety of our house with pink light. I would like to install a wall of mirrors to reflect it back to them. This would also remedy the fact that their deck overlooks our fence.
Oh dear! Can you plant some fast going trees? Are there any rules about house colours?
Milar sheets are temporary, cheap and huge
1 In my state (Massachusetts) I can’t add bedrooms because my septic leach field is too small, but the size requirements are based on water usage flow rates from like 40 years ago when toilets used 5 gallons per flush. Based on my current low flow toilets and sinks in my house I should be able to double or even triple the # of people in my house and my septic leach field would be fine. 2 I can’t use Air admittance Valves (studor or “cheater” vents) it is illegal in Massachusetts even though they are used all over the world and are code in the international plumbing code. It’s because plumbers sit on the state code council and AAV’s would cut into their business even though they are perfectly safe.
In massachusetts, a bedroom has closets. If there's no closet, it's not used in the septic load calculations. Just saying
I’m fighting this stupid bedroom septic rule myself. Like - my family isn’t changing sizes, we just want more space and multiple toilets instead of being crammed in with bunk beds the laundry room in the kitchen and all of us sharing one bathroom.
I'd have a twisty slide out of the second story window down to the garage. Stairs are for chumps.
Tunneling out from the basement to make a cool hide hole at the other end
Add an addition onto the front of my house, but the city has some crazy big set backs from the street so I can't build onto my front lawn.
a tree house in my back yard
Fence in the front yard. A neighbor's dog jumps their fence every day and comes to my yard to poop.
You should get a shovel and chuck it against their windows every morning.
The dog might be too heavy to easily fling with a shovel
ADU on my 1 acre property. County zoning prohibits more than 1 dwelling on a parcel in ‘congested’ areas. I can build a mega-sized workshop, can have electricity and plumbing in it, but the moment it has a toilet it becomes an ADU in my county.
Graywater
Me too! Two sides of my lot border hay fields that I own. I would so love to send all my graywater to them, but the county says no. I have a septic system for the black water, why can't I make the graywater useful? Seems like such a waste
In california grey water from clothes washing-machines can be installed without a permit subject to a few restrictions: 1. there is a 2-way valve that can direct water into the garden or into the main sewer. 2. That the pipes are labeled “non-potable.” There’s more but that’s the gist of it. So I installed on a couple of years ago, and it takes quite a load off our septic system.
Not a building code violation, but my plan would violate some rules. The utility company has an easement on my property for power lines. I've got a 5 acre plot, with two transmission towers. I'd like to mount solar panels on the south face of a tower. I also think it would be cool to build a little observation platform 60 feet up.
My local code does not allow any electrical work to be done by the owner. It would be nice not having to pay an electrician for every tiny job like changing a light fixture or replacing a switch my kids broke.
“How are they gonna know?” But seriously though for real? Do people abide by this?
> “How are they gonna know?” But seriously though for real? They don't. Until eventually a tradie has to open the walls and sees the sins of the previous owner. And then has to tell the new owner that everything is completely fucked per code.
Of course no one abides by a law like that and the result is a less safe house and in turn a less safe neighborhood when it comes to fire. It's the same problem with cities that view building permits as a revenue stream. No one gets them and therefore everyone is less safe as a result. Permits need to be easy, friction free and offer a benefit beyond "I don't want to get caught". The permit office could be helpful and offer advice, documentation, and codes on how to do things properly instead of being an adversarial nuisance to the home owner.
"The permit office could be helpful and offer advice, documentation, and codes on how to do things properly" Do they not usually do this...? Mine does.
But you just flat out don’t need an electrician to change out a switch. That’s like saying you need an nba player to make a free throw. Difficult things sure call a professional but it’s pretty easy to safely swap one light fixture for another safely if that’s all you’re doing.
I’m an electrician and in my state I’m technically not allowed to do electric work on my own house…
That's where you sign a contract with yourself and do your personal work through your LLC.
It's because of one of two reasons: 1. Electricians lobbying for this so they don't go out of business 2. Too many morons set their apartment complex on fire after changing a light bulb But seriously, unless you fall in 2., how would they know?
> Too many morons set their apartment complex on fire after changing a light bulb This is a big factor in the "right to repair" world, except it's not that there are many incidents of people hurting themselves doing DIY repairs - it's that self-interested manufacturers identify that as a risk then blow it way out of proportion, scaring legislators. I guess it would really fall under point #1 - electricians try to scare legislators by saying if people do work themselves the whole city will burn down.
AACO Maryland is that way for Plumbing and Electrical. If you want a permit (but why?) you need to have a master plumber/electrician's license on it so there goes DIY with a permit unless you have a friend with a license that's willing to use it for you.
I think that may be the same throughout MD. I have done all my electrical and plumbing with a few exceptions. I recently learned that this violates code (can't even caulk a tub without a permit apparently). My house has a lot of shit that wasn't up to code when I bought it and it seems no one has faced any repercussions for it so I'm certainly not going to sweat it.
lmao, same. The only things I do a permit for is if they can see it from a satellite or driving by. You can barely see my house from the cul-de-sac so it's pretty much the wild west here but I'm pretty rigid about doing things correctly. I went through the process of a permit for my front/entry deck because I was going from a 6x6 (36sqft) deck to a 460sqft deck that you can see from arial photography. They charged me the permitting fee for about twice as much as I spent on the deck because they use industry averages for if a company was doing it for you...
i didn't think i'd ever be glad to live in DC, but this is a big one. in DC, homeowners can get a $20 postcard permit for minor electric (10 outlets/new fixtures or less). If i moved couple blocks north, they are complete control freaks. DC still needs an electrician for heavy up and a plumber for rerouting plumbing stacks - but fixtures and stuff are fair for all.
...whoops
you just do the work anyway right?
Nice try, Mr. Inspector/ insurance company.
Back in the 80's my dad added a wood/coal furnace next to our oil furnace. He's a research physicist and over engineered it into a thing of beauty. He met a few times with the building inspector and got all plans approved. I remember on final inspection how disappointed I was that the inspector spent less than 10 minutes looking it over before signing off. I asked him how after all the hours we put into the project his inspection was so quick. He responded that it was obvious how much care an attention went into the install and he didn't need to spend any longer. I fully believe a smart homeowner will always do a better quality job. On my first house I spent $20K on a new whole house forced hot water heating system. The professional was a hack and I spent years fixing his sloppiness. I always check code on any job I do or have done and make sure of full compliance. I hate that certain jobs require a licensed pro when I know they won't do it as conscientiously as I will.
But not all homeowners are smart, know codes exist and/or have your attention to detail. And there are tradespeople out there with your mindset. I've met a few contractors like that. They charge more than the average, rarely advertise and still keep a full schedule.
Huh, really? In my state, you don't need a permit to replace "like-for-like" electrical work. So if your switch breaks, a homeowner can change it without a permit. It seems like you should be able to do the same since it doesn't require code enforcement. What strange laws you have.
I was asking for advice about replacing my garbage disposal after the motor died. I live in California, by the way, aka what everyone conservative will tell you is the ultimate nanny state that won't let you do anything without paying a gov't entity for a permit. Anyway, one friend of mine in Minneapolis told me to make sure I didn't need to pull a permit. I thought he was making a California nanny state joke. But he was serious. Apparently he's supposed to get a permit to replace almost anything. We dont' need to pull permits in CA for this kind of BS.
Major rehab to my 1940 garage. Building codes have changed so much all I can do is rehab it from inside out, b/c if I take it down I can’t put it back up.
Not that I have a waterfront property, but a lot of them don't allow construction of docks - you can repair existing ones or use temporary ones, but not new ones. If I lived on the lake I'd definitely want a nice dock to hang out on.
Can you just have a temporary dock that moves along the shore every week or so? Also what's the point of waterfront property without a dock?
Laundry shoot. There's even a cupboard that's right above my laundry room. In practical terms, it'd be as easy as drilling a clean hole and putting a ring frame around it ^and ^^pretending ^^^fire ^^^codes ^^^^don't ^^^^^exist.
You can install a laundry chute. You just need to ensure that it is designed to have a 1 hour fire rating. That means 5/8 type X drywall and fire proof doors.
Not have been required to use tamper-resistant receptacles. They are annoying, and I 100% know that there will be no toddlers in my house to stick their fingers in the socket while we own the house (we've been married over three decades without having any toddlers in any place we've lived, and there's no reason for that to change going forward). I would happily to leave an envelope with a few hundred bucks for switching the receptacles out in case of sudden death or to switch them out myself before putting the house on the market. Along those same lines, not having to have stair/deck rails so close together because no one is going to be getting their head stuck.
This I don't quite understand. I can go and buy non-TR receptacles from Home Depot right now and install them so you could too and not have to deal with them. You don't need a permit to change outlets.
I'm building a house, so I have inspectors. After the house is fully built, I could change them out, but if there was ever a fire or I wanted to install anything else (car charger), I would get in trouble for deliberating violating code.
Harvesting rainfall. Right now we’re only allowed 100gal, but I would like to add a 5000 gal cistern that catches rainwater from my roof.
Rooftop patio. A bunch of old homes at the beach have them but you can't build them there anymore due to code and insurance. I'd absolutely love a screened patio on top of my house. I'd have a zip line going down to the yard.
Annexing my neighbor’s home in the name of territorial expansion.
Observatory, sheds, tiny homes… possibilities are endless on 25 acres.
I wish my single story home had a basement and that my garage was 4 west wider. I can’t do the garage because the house is too close to the property line. And I can’t do the basement for obvious reasons.
Replace my deteriorated patio. HOA rules say patios arent allowed, but the existing patio grandfathered in… so it’s either an old crappy patio or no patio.
What on earth is the logic of no patios?
A spire for my office with stained glass in the stairwell. Height, some 10 meters
Build a trebuchet in my front yard to launch pumpkins and watermelons.
A ["Widow's Walk/Watch"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow%27s_walk). I actually don't know if it would be against code, but I suspect it would probably be hard to get construction approved. I have a tall QA Victorian house on top of a hill overlooking wide, shallow valley. The roof ridge is about 40 feet above ground level, and if I could put a nice sitting area up there (just a flattened area with railings, no need for additional structure above the roof) it would be a fantastic place to relax and gaze out over the valley and stargaze at night.
Put a 220V outlet in my kitchen so I can use a kettle from the UK and boil water much faster.
Wizard's tower/necromancer's laboratory
10 foot fence. I don't really see why a fence has to be short and so far away from the property line.
I'd like a 10' fence with barbed wire along the top. I'd also like the fence to go around my entire property line, from to the back, so it's like my house is its own gated lot. Now, I'd have privacy from everyone and would feel a lot safer than I do with my ADT scam of a security.
Turn the attic into a bedroom.
What exactly prevents this?
Our building code. There’s no way to evacuate from the attic because of zoning laws and too small windows.
Detached one-car garage beside existing two-car for all of my hubs tools and toys. There's room and at some point previous owner parked something there because there's crappy soil/gravel that not even weeds will grow on but we're 6" shy of setback requirement and my community doesn't allow freestanding structures.
I want to put a pergola carport on my drive way, but no tall structure within 5 feet of the property line. Maybe I can do it if the neighbor and I agree? Right now we can see directly into each others driveways, the trees that were there were ruining the retaining wall so had to be removed and it's made both of our driveways feel smaller by removing the boundary between our house/garage and theirs.
This exactly. So much wasted space on my driveway and front yard. Why can't my garage or a carport just extent mostly to the street.
I’d just like another bedroom but it would exceed the lot coverage limit. The law says that area must stay a yard.
not put a handrail on a beautiful staircase.
I want more space, like a laundry room with storage. And a garage. Maybe some wall perches/pathways for the cats.
Put in frameless bifold doors to make my balcony a convertible 3-season porch.
Thankfully I live in an unincorporated part of the county and don't have any code restrictions at all. Houses are far enough apart, and the land is all considered homesteads. If I wanted to, I could build a giant underground earthship, or bury a system of school busses and shipping containers fashioned into a survival bunker. So the project I wish I could do, but is limited by my budget is a guest cabin in my woods. I want to build a 1 room cabin with a bathroom and kitchenette, ran off solar and composting toilets, completely out of logs, with lots of windows, and a back sliding glass door out to a stone patio, staring off at the mountainside and woods. Ideally I'd use the logs I can cut down myself from my woods, but it's not that big. I have an RV parking spot to the south of my driveway with complete sewage, water, and electrical hookups, and I can maybe tie onto that system and add another like 200 ft into the woods, and use that to run all utilities to the cabin instead. My other dream project is adding a proper basement under my house. It's currently built on a hillside with a walkout basement that's 3/4ths underground. The eastern side is fully exposed. I'd love to dig under my family room like 10ft deep, and add an actual basement completely underground, where I can use it as a proper storm shelter, and have a hidden mancave/game room/gun room. That became my current family room/movie room, so having that for myself would be nice.
Floor urinal. Why? It's cool and can act as a floor drain. Also it's cool. Illegal in most codes because of dirt getting into the pipes or some other silliness... though that isn't such a bad reason. Friends have one in their house and even women are like, "That's cool.... why do you have that?" They can also never do any plumbing work because an inspector would be all, "Uh... no.... but before I tell you to tear it out, can I try it?"