Permits!

maestro_dmc

maestro_dmc

Uses Paramedic EQ
So I have already gone to my city hall and tried to get a permit to convert my garage into a recording studio.

I was told flat out, NO. :mad: (I barely got the words out of my mouth before I was shut down.)

Apparently my neighborhood is zoned so that a garage MUST be on the property. So I would have to build a new garage. There's just no way I can afford to do that.

I have gone forward with the work with full knowledge that I may be making trouble for myself. :o

What can I do at this point? Any workarounds that anyone knows about with a different approach with the authorities? I think it's too late.
 
Apply for a variance. Code enforcement jurisdictions issue them all the time.

Keep in mind that the changes you do that aren't reversable could prohibit you from selling your home in the future, as well as cause huge insurance headaches in the event of a fire.

Like suppose a fire starts in the wiring of your illegal buildout and spreads to your dwelling. You will be up shit creek as far as your insurance company is concerned without having signed-off permits for the work you performed.

Even if the fire isn't a direct result of work you performed your insurance company would try still use the remodel as a pretense to deny your claim.
 
At the risk of stating the obvious: one workaroud is to limit the work you do to that which doesn't require a building permit. Of course, in addition to being obvious, that presumably is considerably less than you want to do.

c7sus has correctly noted some issues with doing un-permitted home remodeling. The effect on resale is not to be sneezed at. You might find yourself effectively compelled to reverse everything in order to sell the house.

Another thought: I'm guessing you're doing the work yourself, as contractors and tradesmen generally are loathe to put their license on the line by doing un-permitted work. Doing significant electrical wiring without the involvement of a licensed electrician may not be a great idea, even if you do it correctly.

I wouldn't be too sanguine about the chances of getting a variance. Generally, a variance needs to be justified by some peculiar hardshop in your situation or characteristic of your property which makes compliance with the zoning code unreasonable in your specific case. If your only reason for wanting the variance is because you really want to use your garage as something other than a garage, it's hard to see why everyone else in the world (or at least in your zone) who doesn't want to comply wouldn't have just as good an argument as you do. The fact you got an immediate, flat-out "NO" isn't encouraging, as it suggests lots of people want out of the same requirement, and they don't let them. While public officials are a highly variable lot from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, at least where I am they're actually pretty helpful at letting you know whether there's a possibility for a variance (of course, this may primarily be because they are justifying their continued employment by the need to review variance applications).

Some things to do:
- Read the actual restriction in the zoning code, and see if there are exceptions or something.
- If you do want a variance, you should be able to find reports on previously-granted variances somewhere. This might be online, or published somewhere, or you may need to go down to some office and ask for files. You want to try to make a case that your grounds are as good as those in some previously-granted application.
- If you start to develop arguments to explain how what appears to be a wildly different previous variance actually justifies yours - or start to get an urge to argue that the zoning code is unconstitutional or something - take it easy. You're more likely to make a fool of yourself than to accomplish anything. At the point you start wanting to make elaborate arguments (or earlier), you'll want to get an actual lawyer involved.
- One side-note: it's possible (though your post indicated otherwise) that the restriction is in a covenant, rather than the zoning code. Requiring all houses to have a garage (as opposed to merely some sort of off-street parking) seems to me to be a slightly odd thing to find in a zoning code, whereas it wouldn't be surprising to find it in a sub-division's covenants.
 
If the studio is only for your own use, no paying clients, ask to build a sound proof home theatre room. Then kit it out as a studio, if the room meets all the requirements as a home theatre a home studio will be the same classification. If you want paying clients, thats a different thing all together as the zoning needs to be for a business.

Alan
 
That's prolly not gonna cut it, because there are very specific requirements for dwelling space that don't apply to garages.

Like you need to have windows of a certain size to allow for fire egress.

Regardless of the final purpose of the room, if it is designated dwelling space it needs to meet code.
 
moresound said:
The remodeling of the inside of your property is no one elses business!
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It is if you want to sell the property later, or if you care to have the property insured.

You would change your tune about that if you bought a property with a seriously fucked up electrical or plumbing system or structural problems installed by some clown that didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground and it was only after the deal closed you found out that none of the work was done to code.

If it weren't for building codes and code enforcement there would be so many shitty homes being built by unscrupulous contractors your head would spin.

Take a look at some of those house-flipping shows and you'll get an idea of why civilians with no experience shouldn't be doing home remodels. They tear out load-bearing walls, cover up dry rot and termite-infested framing, and don't have a fucking clue about half of the stuff they are doing.

Another milk-curdler is the Holmes On Homes show on HGTV. That guy routinely goes behind builds and remodels done by licensed contractors and signed off by building inspectors and finds all kinds of fucked up work left in the wake. With no inspections it would be even worse.
 
moresound said:
The remodeling of the inside of your property is no one elses business!
Click to expand...

And if your remodeling leads to unsafe living spaces and something unsafe happens, your insurance will laugh at you and deny your claim.

Good job.

1765-96-20090311100848.jpeg
 
guitaristic said:
But Uncle Sam thinks it is... :(
Click to expand...

The NFPA, ANSI, and the ICC aren't Uncle Sam. They are non-profit/NGO's that develope the product standards and building codes that are adopted by state and local jurisdictions in order to create uniform standards. Their members that write the codes are firefighters, inspectors, industrial engineers, and contractors, and other stakeholders from industries involved with manufacturing and construction.

NFPA

National Fire Protection Association - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.ansi.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_National_Standards_Institute

http://www.iccsafe.org/Pages/default.aspx

International Code Council - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ICC is a United States-based non-profit, non-governmental organization which allows governmental jurisdictions around the world and other stakeholders to collaborate to create model building codes.
 
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c7sus said:
It is if you want to sell the property later, or if you care to have the property insured.

You would change your tune about that if you bought a property with a seriously fucked up electrical or plumbing system or structural problems installed by some clown that didn't know his ass from a hole in the ground and it was only after the deal closed you found out that none of the work was done to code.

If it weren't for building codes and code enforcement there would be so many shitty homes being built by unscrupulous contractors your head would spin.

Take a look at some of those house-flipping shows and you'll get an idea of why civilians with no experience shouldn't be doing home remodels. They tear out load-bearing walls, cover up dry rot and termite-infested framing, and don't have a fucking clue about half of the stuff they are doing.

Another milk-curdler is the Holmes On Homes show on HGTV. That guy routinely goes behind builds and remodels done by licensed contractors and signed off by building inspectors and finds all kinds of fucked up work left in the wake. With no inspections it would be even worse.
Click to expand...



Bryan316 said:
And if your remodeling leads to unsafe living spaces and something unsafe happens, your insurance will laugh at you and deny your claim.

Good job.

1765-96-20090311100848.jpeg
Click to expand...





Sorry I was talking from the view point of a very experienced carpenter, specializing in historic renovation.

Not a everyday joe homeowner playing house. ;)
 
Then you know exactly why remodeling the inside of your house is somebody else's business.

;)
 
Yes I do but around here you don't need a permit for work that is being done on the inside of your dwelling that doesn't change the outside of said dwelling.

Just a little nerving that if you want to change a not so good tread on your front steps that you need to give your local legal mafia posing as your town officials a $100.
 
Little notes:

- I have no idea about New Hampshire, but "the law" (not Uncle Sam: more like whatever personal incarnation is appropriate to your state, county or city) almost everywhere else in the US certainly cares about what you do to the inside of your house. That doesn't mean that everything you do to the inside of your house requires a building permit, but significant remodels do.

- I may have misread the original post, or maybe the responses, but some of the latter seem to have little to do with the former. The OP says his problem is
my neighborhood is zoned so that a garage MUST be on the property. So I would have to build a new garage.
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In other words, the problem isn't that there's something wrong, in itself, with a building a studio in his house - the problem is he can't eliminate his garage. Presumably the basis for this is "esthetic" zoning intended to make parked cars invisible. As I mentioned before, that seems a bit odd in a zoning code, though restrictive covenants in subdivisions sometimes include similar provisions.
 
In San Francisco they recommend wearing a rubber when mounting a fan, but it's optional.
 
c7sus said:
Apply for a variance. Code enforcement jurisdictions issue them all the time.

Keep in mind that the changes you do that aren't reversable could prohibit you from selling your home in the future, as well as cause huge insurance headaches in the event of a fire.

Like suppose a fire starts in the wiring of your illegal buildout and spreads to your dwelling. You will be up shit creek as far as your insurance company is concerned without having signed-off permits for the work you performed.

Even if the fire isn't a direct result of work you performed your insurance company would try still use the remodel as a pretense to deny your claim.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is of great concern to me. I am an electrician (low-voltage) in my day job, but I plan on having everything checked out thoroughly before it's closed up. I am lucky to have next door to me a professional building inspector (he works for home building contractors, not the city, but I think he knows local code) who will check out everything for free. I'm hoping documenting everything photographically will also befefit me, but I'm not counting on it. Maybe my neighbor can direct me a little on this too.

I have been building with the thought that I may have to put it all back someday. So far, nothing is irreversible.

This has got me thinking, if I were to get this permitted, I would probably have to put in some windows for egress, especially since I have sealed up the garage door. I could do it easily enough, I guess. In fact, maybe I will. . .hmmmm.

I will take the advice to research into the variance idea, and find out the exact wording of the zoning restriction.

Thanks to everyone for your responses.:eek: more than I expected!
 
maestro_dmc said:
Yes, this is of great concern to me. I am an electrician (low-voltage) in my day job, but I plan on having everything checked out thoroughly before it's closed up. I am lucky to have next door to me a professional building inspector (he works for home building contractors, not the city, but I think he knows local code) who will check out everything for free. I'm hoping documenting everything photographically will also befefit me, but I'm not counting on it. Maybe my neighbor can direct me a little on this too.

I have been building with the thought that I may have to put it all back someday. So far, nothing is irreversible.

This has got me thinking, if I were to get this permitted, I would probably have to put in some windows for egress, especially since I have sealed up the garage door. I could do it easily enough, I guess. In fact, maybe I will. . .hmmmm.

I will take the advice to research into the variance idea, and find out the exact wording of the zoning restriction.

Thanks to everyone for your responses.:eek: more than I expected!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't count on photos satisfying a building inspector. I've been on jobs where the drywall contractor had to remove sheetrock because he covered work that wasn't signed off.
 
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