Owner afraid to get a building permit
Q: I need to convert part of my garage to an extra bedroom and am afraid to apply for a building permit. My home was built in the early 1920s, and the garage has no clearance to the property line. Part of the garage has been partitioned as a storeroom, but now I need to make a bedroom for my disabled son. If I apply for a permit, I'm afraid they could make me bring the entire house up to code or even tear down the garage. What do you recommend?
A: Your home predates the advent of modern building codes. Therefore, the building is “grandfathered” and may continue to be used as is. However, some aspects of the grandfather status could disappear if you invoke the building permit process. Municipal building departments have varying policies and degrees of enforcement in this regard. Some apply current building codes only to those portions of the building where permitted work is taking place. Others enforce further code compliance, depending on their particular policies and the type of work being done on the property.
A critical factor in your case is the garage having no setback to the property line. Most building departments would decline a permit for a bedroom conversion because of that condition.
Many owners alter their homes without permits to avoid administrative and bureaucratic complications, but doing so without permits can be risky. If discovered, a building department can order restoration of the building and can even impose fines.
To determine where you stand regarding a possible permit application, visit your local building department, and ask whether they would approve the proposed bedroom. You'll never know if you don't ask.
Q: Last week, the smoke detector in our kitchen started shrieking in the middle of the night, even though there was no smoke in the house. We unplugged it and then realized that the ones in the garage and basement were also going off. So we unplugged those as well. Now they shriek whenever we try to plug them in again. What could be causing this, and what can we do about it?
A: Your smoke detectors may be interconnected with each other, which is typical in recently built homes. The networking of smoke detectors provides added protection in case of a fire. If smoke were to occur in one part of your home, the detectors throughout the house would be activated, ensuring that those sleeping in remote parts of the home would be wakened. One of your smoke detectors apparently has a problem, and the network complicates the task of discovering which one that is.
A piece of airborne debris or a small spider may have invaded the sensing component in the faulty unit, causing it to activate the entire system. Now that all of the smoke detectors are unplugged, try plugging them in one at a time. The one that “shrieks” is probably the one that needs replacement. If that doesn't solve the problem, there could be an issue with the network wiring. In that case, a licensed electrician should diagnose the system.
And be sure to take care of this as soon as possible to restore fire protection in your home.
• Distributed by Action Coast Publishing. Questions to Barry Stone can be e-mailed to barry@housedetective.com.