Pulling permits for a basement renovation? Got the permit - work has begun

if the fire dept is going to do the inspection you might not have a problem. if it is the building inspector that will inspect the stove set up you will need to pull permits for everything else so that he doesn't put a stop order on you.

the insurance guy would be inspecting

does he want to see any permits?

Nope. That's not just you. Lots of folks feel that way.

Can you say you 'own' your home, even if the mortgage is fully paid down, if they can still take it for unpaid taxes? Well, the vast majority of Americans live under precisely that hazard.

I'm trying to get my property taxes reduced. No, seriously. Stop that laughing. But recent, actual sell prices in my neighborhood ('comparables') are no good, 'not real', sez they. The vast majority of even non-foreclosure sales lately are considered by them to be 'duress sales'. Remember the gal on Mad TV? Fingers in ears, going "La la la la la... I can't hear you..." (etc.)

What a load of excrement. So they get to keep the taxes based on X amount of pre- bubble burst home value, whereas the actual price I could possibly hope for today in this market is more like 0.5X or 0.6X. They're bleeding me. If I had a mortgage, I'd be 'under water' for sure. They swear up and down that the Emperor has clothes on. Power always goes to 'their' heads, whoever 'they' are. The tax/ code enforcement 'authorities' around here are absolutely drunk with power.

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

I'd not be surprised if someone started a class action suit over this nonsense.



Oh, yeah- skip the permit if you can do it right and safe, and they can't see it. Otherwise, don't do it. With recent code changes here since Y2K, you pretty much need to pull a permit to fart. Or is that "pull my finger?" ;-)

It's mostley just a way to raise your property tax. You pull a permit they raise the value of your house and your taxes plus get the inital fee. I wouldn't pull a permit unless it is something they will see from the road.

Ok, so I got the permit pulled in the spring, and have finally begun to work on the basement.
First step was using Drylok on all the interior foundation walls, as it was required to be waterproofed in order to get the permit. (I never had a water problem, but Town requirements required waterproofing)
Anyway, I am going to go with Rigid Insulation on the walls, and had 2 questions:

Can I just use construction adhesive to attach the insulation to the walls?
Can I use perhaps 1/2" to 1" rigid on the cement floor as well? (My plan was going to go with a cheap pergo type product on the floor, and thought that the 1/2" rigid might be good for a bit of insulation on the floor as well as a little cushion) Would this act as a moisture/vapor barrier?

My plan was to go the walls with 1" rigid (R5) and then frame walls normal 2 X 4, with a 1" barrier between the walls and rigid foam. Then use R13 inbetween the studs. (Probably overkill for the basement, but the insulation is poretty cheap)

Any thoughts would be great.

I built a shed a couple of years ago and actually got a permit. Inspector came by when I was working on it and told me that it was a good looking shed, but would look much better with a bottle of scotch in it. When he came for the final inspection I put a fifth of Johnny Walker on the floor. We were both happy.

I'm glad you both walked away happy . . . but I still think that public servants should not be willing to take bribes . . . now don't get me wrong . . . I'm sure you did everything by the book and you're probably the type to do the right thing . . . to me the issue is with the inspector who is pretty brash to be dropping some pretty big hints . . . I'm sorry, but I still am naive and think folks who are being paid by the public have an obligation to simply accept their weekly pay as payment and not expect bribes -- sure it may not be much this time around . . . but a bottle now . . . in a few years he may expect a few $20 bills. Sorry . . . didn't mean to get off track here . . . it's just I see this happen and it just doesn't sit well with me.