<p>A homeowner is trying to sell his house. He remodeled the kitchen, and he redid the electrical and the plumbing of the house without permits. </p>
<p>So…can you go back and get permits and does the house have to be ripped up?</p>
<p>I am not the homeowner. :)</p>
<p>Yes, you can go back and get permits. We did our basement without permits, but it was done by a contractor according to code back then. When we sold our house we had to pay for the permits, and had to bring it up to code for electric. The code was different 10 years ago. Our town didn’t penalize us, but it maybe different for every town. You shouldn’t waive the clause that says all work in the house was done with permits and up to standard.</p>
<p>I am a litte worried about safety issues. </p>
<p>The homeowner did the work himself. </p>
<p>My daughter would like to buy the place if things work out which is a big if.</p>
<p>Can you make a contingency offer that the homeowner get the necessary permits and bring the house up to code before you close the deal?</p>
<p>It maybe costly for the seller to bring the remodel up to code. I would at least have it inspected.</p>
<p>Yes…my daughter can make any offer she wants.</p>
<p>I am not an expert on construction. Do you have to rip up all the walls to make sure the plumbing and electrical were done correctly.</p>
<p>You probably will have to rip the sheetrock off to let the inspectors look at it. When we remodeled our kitchen and put in a sunroom, the inspectors came in before the walls were put up.</p>
<p>Ok… Thanks.</p>
<p>They didn’t rip off anything when they inspected our basement. </p>
<p>Hmmm… So how did the inspectors know the electrical was done properly?</p>
<p>In our county you can’t claim any electrical or plumbing work as updated or finished if it was done without permits. It’s what turned my 6 week basement reno into a 4 month project. At every step we got inspected, even insulation required a separate permit. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t buy a house that was fixed up without permits. There is no way of knowing what is behind the walls without ripping them out. </p>
<p>I have done this a lot. Every town is a little different, but this is how it generally works here. You apply for a building permit to legalize existing work. This permit usually includes a hefty fine. Some town with let the work be done to the code when it was built (especially for insulation where the studs might not be big enough to easily insulate to current requirements), but electricity always has to be brought up to current code. You can’t apply for a permit without a stamped plan from an architect who will tell you generally what it is up to code or not. (Deck railings are always a big issue here, and foundations - so many decks with inadequate foundations!) When the permit is issued you hire a contractor, electrician and plumber who will certify that the work is up to code and they’ll arrange for the inspections. When everything is fixed (which may requiring opening some walls to see what is in there) you have a final inspection and pay for the C of O. The whole process takes months and thousands of dollars generally. </p>
<p>I’ve worked on projects where the new buyers had something in escrow for whatever it was, but really it’s much better if the original owner gets the C of O. There are too many unknowns. </p>
<p>If it’s something pretty straightforward like a deck, I might be willing to buy it - but a kitchen - no way.</p>
<p>You can generally test electric circuits to make sure they are grounded and pull off the plates and look at the wiring. Plumbing is a little trickier, but it’s generally the vent lines that are missing. Insualation you poke a couple of holes. I’ve never had to tear down whole walls.</p>
<p>Eyemamom, mathmom, thanks. </p>
<p>I guess this transaction is not going to happen. </p>
<p>Don’t give up on it. Have it inspected with special attention paid to those issues. </p>
<p>Ok…</p>
<p>Is there a way to make sure the electrical is ok without ripping out the walls? </p>
<p>Whatever is exposed (in the crawlspace or in the attic) or can be easily exposed by taking off a wallplate can tell a trained eye a lot about the quality of the work. If you personally have zero experience with wiring a house, ask an experienced friend or hire someone to take a look.</p>
<p>Similarly, look how the plumbing was done - is the quality of soldering good/ is the PVC glued nicely? If you see signs of sloppiness, move on to a different listing! </p>
<p>With electrical, isn’t the wiring done without interruption inside the wall? It looks to me the place one has to watch for will be where it gets connected, in the outlets and in the box. That what an inspector looks anyway, I think.</p>
<p>“With electrical, isn’t the wiring done without interruption inside the wall?”</p>
<p>You also need to make sure that the guy used the right kind of wires, used conduits where required, that the wires are properly secured to the studs, etc. </p>
<p>We have an older home, 60 years old. I doubt our electrical is up to codes. Even the ones we had professionals put in 10 years ago no longer meet the standard. I personally prefer the original wiring, the cables are thick with solid copper wires, not the thin kind they put in these days.</p>
<p>My D went through this a few times before finally buying a home. She got inspections from a general contractor who told her the problems with houses she looked at. Eye opening. She followed him around (took pix) and learned a ton in the process. Cost a bit more in the house hunting but saved her from some HUGE mistakes.
Problems ranged from asbestos, a buried oil tank in back yard (10K to remove and take care of–which owner did but still more problems so no sale), a beautiful place newly redone where it turned out the entire second floor had been added with no permits and lacked sufficient foundation (beams were propped up in the basement–not exactly reassuring–it could be fixed but the cost wasn’t worth it), plumbing done to put in second bathroom–which had to be redone anyway so that turned out okay. Good thing about the house inspections was that she knew upfront what certain problems were going to cost to fix.<br>
Decks were built without permits but could live with that also.
If a kitchen was done without permits–no way. I’d never trust it.
Some people can live without permits but when it comes to resale you see what happens. Every city is different in how stringent they are on permitting. D got a local attorney who knew the ropes and what could be done to get some permits taken care of. Worth it.</p>