Building permits and inspections.

I would like to take a moment to say a few words about building permits.

Permits for finishing a basement, adding a deck, or an addition etc etc.

OBTAIN A BUILDING PEMIT NO MATTER WHAT!!!

First if you sell your home and you did not get a permit for whatever all hell can break lose for you from the new owner. Very easy these days for any one to check to see if you got a permit and the work was inspected. I can't emphasize this too much many many horror stories out there. If you hire a contractor make sure they get a permit and you see it and make sure all the inspections are done. If in doubt call the Loudoun county plan review and permit dept. Most information is public knowledge. I know in Fairfax County if you know how you can even get the plan reviewers comments on line if you know how. Not going to give how out to this group at the moment. [}] Not sure about Loudoun if they do this yet, the reviewer comments added.

Call them if you are in doubt whether you need a permit, better to be safe then sorry. They will make you dig up that foundation even tear out concrete that has not been inspected at the least they will make you get it certified and stamped by a professional engineer if you are luckly. THe engineer will probably make you dig it up anyway and want a core sample. I have seen the county make people take off as little as a half an inch of concrete if it is over the building envelope.

The Loudoun and most other jurisdictions around the country are dead serious about this stuff today and it is just not worth taking the chance for the problems for. There are also standard details for a simple deck that you can use on the loudoun county website as well as other valuable information.

If you bought a home and want to know if the work was permitted and inspector the county can tell you that too. If you have done work without a permit go and get one even after the fact the county will work with you the best they can most of the time.

http://www.loudoun.gov/b&d/home.htm here is loudouns website for plan review and permits

Lee J. Buividas

 

Something else to remember ... your builders/remodelers may tell you they'll get all the permits, however, they normally DO NOT perform the HOA application for modifications. That is your, the homeowner's, responsibility.



Neil Z.
Resident since 1999

 

One of the major reasons for getting permits and inspections is for insurance purposes. If you have a house fire, even a minor one, and the insurance company discovers you have modified the house without permits, then your insurance is invalid. At today's prices for houses, you would go bankrupt if your house burned and the insurance company dropped you.

I'm finishing my basement (nearly done now!) and I've had very good experiences with the inspectors. They've been helpful, and I've gotten excellent advice from them that is worth far more than the $65 per permit that I spent. (Saving hours of effort is worth $$ to me.)

--- John B.

 

two excellent points approval from the hoa and insurance.

Glad to hear you had a good experience with the loudoun county inspectors. I deal with them all the time and they take their jobs very seriously and they want to and do go out of their way to help especially to homeowners that don't act like *******s, sorry just kidding had to throw that bit in. loudoun's inspectors are very well trained and are always taking classes etc to stayed informed with the latest information to keep us all well protected.

Lee J. Buividas

 

I'm almost at the inspection point for my basement. I also went thru getting the permits mainly because I read about the new rule that all basements must have an exit. We did not get an areaway and the windows we have don't meet the requirements so my only option was to take out the permits and do this the "correct" way before the new rules went into effect. I only have to finish one room (we had the builder finish most of the basement) but I am a bit nervous on what an inspector will say. I've done all the work myself and I've been careful to follow code but you never know...

Should know this week. For those of you completing basements and doing it yourself as well. I'm currently stuck at the firestopping portion. I've got the majority of the room firestopped but the closet has a dropped ceiling and I have not found a way to secure the sheetrock. I've heard about some sort of flexible firestop material that you can shove between the framing and the wall but I can not find it anywhere. Any ideas?

 

Don't be afraid of the inspector he or she ("I must be politically correct these days ") is there to help and make sure you are protected not to judge, believe me he will work with a homeowner better then the builder. but nothing will be left for chance or overlooked 99.9% of the time whether you are builder or homeowner. Please don't tell me all the homeowner horror stories[|)] Always best to walk with him or her as they can be very informative and don't be afraid to ask questions even about things he or she is not inspecting. They certainly are easier to work with then HOA just kidding then maybe NOT because they are professionals not homeowners on the HOA [}]


You can use sheet metal for fire stopping also.
Rock wool also works and we use that sometimes to plug around plumbing and where wires penetrate easier to plug larger holes then fireproof caulk or I should say fire resistent caulk.

There are many products you just got to make sure they are approved by the county not because it says so on the product.

Checking for fire stopping is a major deal in loudoun county. You can also call the county and get an inspector on the phone best early in the morning or when they return in the afternoon and they are very good about calling back.

Lee J. Buividas

 

Loudoun inspectors certainly are sticklers. Both my deck contractor and I were surprised when our deck failed because the stair railing was 1/2" too short at one end. Apparently they recently changed the requirements for railings, and my contractor wasn't exact enough to be w/in the new 3" range. What a pain. But we got it fixed, and all is good.

Pam D.

 

It also gets to be real fun when they bring a rubber ball and use it to mearsure the spacing between the spindles on the stairs and railings and what a nightmare if spacing on one is barely too large by code. Then the real fun begins to fix it sometimes with very creative solutions to meet code so the whole thing does not need to be taken down and replaced. Especially on the inside.

Lee J. Buividas