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Framing a wall: idiot edition
Dawgz Rule:
Agree with Howard 100%.....especially for insulation and drywall.
TopJimmyCooks:
As a GC I pull permits on everything - except my own house, sometimes. As long as you don't add square footage or change life safety/egress, there's no way it can be an issue really. It sounds like you're improving things - and you have tacit acceptance by the building department- so I'd go bareback on this one if I were you.
Howard_Casto:
I'm a big fan of safety, so if you need to get things inspected for safety's sake I'm all for it, but imho permits are a scam created partially to make a new industry and partially to pass the blame of an accident away from the utility company.
Example: Let's say the house next door was one of the first houses to get electricity... I mean the thing was hooked up to a Edison generator at one point. You on the other hand, have a relatively new house. The wiring hasn't been touched on either house since it was installed and both are on the grid. The old house would have the exact same approval and accident insurance coverage as your house. Why? Because the Edison house was hooked up to the ac grid long before inspections were required, and it's never been unhooked. So long as the electric company doesn't get involved it will always be covered, even with it's 100 year old wiring. On the other hand, your house that was built in the 80's and you just recently had to disconnect the power when you swapped out the siding on the house. Now even though you haven't touched the wiring at all, the electric company will require you to get the wiring inspected before they'll hook it up again, it's quite possible they will FAIL you as well, because the code in the 80's isn't the same as the code today. So by doing absolutely nothing, you could fail inspection. The house with the 100 year old wiring... it's still chugging along.
This isn't a crazy over the top example either.... I know a person who was in a situation like this.
My point is, if you think the point of inspections is to ensure you have a safe home think again, the point usually is to give a GC trying to supplement his income some extra cash and to make sure the electric company doesn't get sued.
Dawgz Rule:
Well said. I was going to add that permits can come in handy if one has no clue as to what they are actually doing.
My wife and I were building a koi pond a few years back. The pond itself would be the size of a normal in ground pool. Went to the building department....no permit required. No fence required either. I explained in greater detail all of the work (pumps, electrical, etc.). Again, no permit required because it is considered a "water feature". Asked the guy what if I now call it a swimming pool? Need a permit, inspections, fence, etc. Too funny.
Howard_Casto:
Yup.... we've got a trailer on our property here. It isn't "tied down" for insurance reasons. What that means is, a thin gauge steel wire hasn't been attached to the frame and pounded into the ground, that would serve absolutely no real purpose in a natural disaster compared to the permenant cinder block piers I have it on. The difference? Because I don't have it "tied down" it is a temporary structure and is considered a mobile home, even though it's a 12 x 79 trailer. Once I tie it down, it's a permanent structure and falls under normal home owners insurance.
Ridiculous.
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