[jklingel]

People drywall 24" OC w/ 1/2" all the time; use 5/8" if you are concerned. Your big concern may be structural. What size studs do you need if you go 24" OC? That, of course, depends on what is above them; number of floors, snow/wind loads, etc.

 

[tibberous]

None of the walls are structural, except for a couple in the very center that are replacing jack posts, and won't be insulated anyway.

 

[jklingel]

None of the walls are structural, except for a couple in the very center that are replacing jack posts, and won't be insulated anyway.

Oh. You must be partitioning then???

 

[Ron6519]

Oh. You must be partitioning then???

He's framing the basement.

 

[jklingel]

He's framing the basement.

Tib: What, exactly, are you doing if you are not partitioning and none of the walls are structural?

 

[Ron6519]

Tib: What, exactly, are you doing if you are not partitioning and none of the walls are structural?

Confirming the partitioning. The question marks???
No structural added to the existing build.

 

[tibberous]

Yeah - the basement just has an outer foundation wall, so I'm adding an inner wall and sectioning off rooms. Hoping it turns out good, because I spent about two weeks tweaking the floor plan in Chief Architect.

Funny thing is, I'm tearing out three walls on the upper levels, but then building them in the basement -- trying to keep my 5 bedroom house a 5 bedroom house, but move one bedroom to the attic and one to the basement (will mean bigger rooms and THREE more bathrooms! 5 people will be able to **** at the same time )

 

[Ron6519]

Yeah - the basement just has an outer foundation wall, so I'm adding an inner wall and sectioning off rooms. Hoping it turns out good, because I spent about two weeks tweaking the floor plan in Chief Architect.

Funny thing is, I'm tearing out three walls on the upper levels, but then building them in the basement -- trying to keep my 5 bedroom house a 5 bedroom house, but move one bedroom to the attic and one to the basement (will mean bigger rooms and THREE more bathrooms! 5 people will be able to **** at the same time )

And you knew what you were doing removing the first floor walls?
You have two means of egress from the basement for this bedroom?
Tha attic bedroom has headroom clearance and windows?
Putting one bedroom in the attic and one on the basement doesn't mean you still have the real estate definition of a 5 bedroom house.
Both new bedrooms could be illegal if they weren't permitted and inspected.
Three new bathrooms were permitted and inspected? New C of O produced?

 

[tibberous]

And you knew what you were doing removing the first floor walls?

Kind of. Two of the walls had a chimney going through them (which I also ripped out, and one wall was just a rickety partition thing someone had tried to build)

You have two means of egress from the basement for this bedroom?

It has an exterior door and stairs to the main floor. I thought the exterior door was the big thing you needed.

Tha attic bedroom has headroom clearance and windows?

Yup, attic is huge. 10 windows, probably 9 foot ceilings.

Putting one bedroom in the attic and one on the basement doesn't mean you still have the real estate definition of a 5 bedroom house.
Both new bedrooms could be illegal if they weren't permitted and inspected.
Three new bathrooms were permitted and inspected? New C of O produced?

Bathrooms aren't in yet, I'm debating on what to do about the permits - might break down and have a plumber come out to correctly size the drains. Drainage makes me nervous because you can do it wrong and not see problems until way later.

Do you know if adding bathrooms can increase your property taxes? I'm worried that if I fix up the house, and they find out, they'll reassess the value of my property and then increase my property tax - is that something to be worried about, or doesn't it work like that? If I put in illegal bathrooms, will I get 'caught' if I go to sell? Like I said, I'm not worried about a $250 building permit, but an extra $1,000 a year in property taxes is a big deal. I could end up retiring in this house, which is going to be hard to do if my property taxes are as much as rent.

 

[tibberous]

Some other factors that will adjust the tax value upward include the following:

• Adding a new bathroom
• Adding a fireplace
• Adding a terrace
• Adding an extra room
• Expanding or adding a garage
• Finishing the basement

Almost makes me wonder if I shouldn't get the plumbing hookups installed now, while the place looks like ****.

 

[Ron6519]

Bathrooms aren't in yet, I'm debating on what to do about the permits - might break down and have a plumber come out to correctly size the drains. Drainage makes me nervous because you can do it wrong and not see problems until way later.

Do you know if adding bathrooms can increase your property taxes? I'm worried that if I fix up the house, and they find out, they'll reassess the value of my property and then increase my property tax - is that something to be worried about, or doesn't it work like that? If I put in illegal bathrooms, will I get 'caught' if I go to sell? Like I said, I'm not worried about a $250 building permit, but an extra $1,000 a year in property taxes is a big deal. I could end up retiring in this house, which is going to be hard to do if my property taxes are as much as rent.

When you improve the property, the value is increased. When the value is increased, the taxes go up because the accessed valuation has gone up.
The funny part(not Ha ha funny) in that house values have taken a dive but the assessed valuations have lagged so slowly behind, you need to grieve your taxes to get them reduced to where they should be. The process take about a year and it's only good for that year. Next year you have to go through the same process all over again.
The point is that you should grieve the current tax assessment so with the added improvements you might end up where you are now, but with an improved house.
The illegal improvement scenario has issues.
Someone can make a call because you're having work done and there's no permit in the front window saying it's okay.
If you go to refinance, the banks inspector might wonder why the C of O says 2 bathrooms but he counts 5. In this case more is not better. Banks get really cranky about "t''s not being dotted. The paperwork will grind to a halt until you get everthing legal.
Selling the house? The buyers lawyer will be all over the building dept with the legal setup of the house. The buyers bank will not give a loan to a house without all work being permitted, inspected and noted on the house's C of O.
Checking on a house's legal status is only a few keystrokes away.
Welcome to "Digital World"

 

[tibberous]

Yeah - gotta put some thought into whether I care more about my improvements being legal or about my taxes staying low.

Reasons to be legal:
- Refinancing
- Selling
- Insurance
- In case I'd ever want to rent
- In case I need a contractor

Thing is, if I never do those things, then I'm paying thousands more in taxes for nothing. Plus, if I sell in 20 years, they might always overlook the fact I didn't get a permit 20 years ago. I'm thinking the best long term solution might be to get permits to put in the ****tiest, most utilitarian, toilet-show-sink bathrooms possible, and one to frame and insulate the basement. Maybe I could say I want to turn one of the bedrooms into a bathroom, but say the rooms in the basement aren't going to be bedrooms? That way I'm replacing a bedroom with a couple crappy bathrooms, which might not make the property appraise higher.

Probably the best idea on paper, but it means halting all my projects, hiding a TON of materials, staging (anti-staging?) my house, and then shelling out a bunch of money all at once (and doing everything in a weird order).

 

[Ron6519]

"Plus, if I sell in 20 years, they might always overlook the fact I didn't get a permit 20 years ago."
A little story. Cliff notes version:
I bought a house built in 1938 in 1978
Garage had no C of O
Bank didn't care and gave me a mortgage.
Building Dept didn't care either as my lawyer wrote them a letter.
Fast forward to 1992.
Seller's bank wouldn't give him a mortgage until I legalized a 54 year old building that was due to a clerical error.
But do whatever you want, it's your house.
Good luck.

 

[tibberous]

"Plus, if I sell in 20 years, they might always overlook the fact I didn't get a permit 20 years ago."
A little story. Cliff notes version:
I bought a house built in 1938 in 1978
Garage had no C of O
Bank didn't care and gave me a mortgage.
Building Dept didn't care either as my lawyer wrote them a letter.
Fast forward to 1992.
Seller's bank wouldn't give him a mortgage until I legalized a 54 year old building that was due to a clerical error.
But do whatever you want, it's your house.
Good luck.

That sucks =/ Wish I had a few extra thousand laying around so could just plumb everything, frame the basement, get the permits for that and not have to worry about anything till I can afford to build a garage. Guess building permits where I'm at are dirt cheap too - it's just having them come in, inspect everything and possibly raise my property taxes that sucks.

 

[Ron6519]

Here in Nassau County, they phase tax increases on home improvements over 8 years. You might inquire what the policies where you are.

 

[Gary in WA]

Without a permit your future renters may end up owning your house, cars, trucks, first-born, etc......or their dependents after the fire claim is rejected by your insurance carrier.....

Gary