Block wall.....Get a permit or just take good pix & forget it???

[redgtxdi]

In my neighborhood, the original wooden fences are starting to go. A few years ago, neighbor 1 and I rebuilt a new wooden fence.

Now neighbor 2 fence is going and he wants to do block (as do I) so asked neighbor up the road and he recommended contractor. Definitely came in cheapest of 3. (72 feet of block wall including removal of old wooden fence = $5k, $5,500 and $4,900 respectively)

Guy asked me if I want to do permit as my neighbor up the road didn't, but only real penalty will be time & a few hundred extra bucks.

Anybody have opinions?? (I know....Do the right thing, right? So why did my neighbor skip it?)

 

[Jimzz]

If its not load bearing or supporting I would skip myself.

 

[BoomerD]

How aggressive is your local building department? If they will make you tear it down for building without a permit...then, duh, get a permit.
Is a permit even required for a block wall in your area?

How high will it be? If it's short, it might not require a permit.

 

[redgtxdi]

If its not load bearing or supporting I would skip myself.

Consequences?

 

[lxskllr]

I'd skip the permits, but get a surveyor. If the wall isn't built correctly on the property, it could cause a hassle at sale time. I'd also prefer it was 100% on one property rather than splitting the line. In the future, if someone doesn't want a wall, it could be a problem.

 

[manimal]

careful. I had a buddy have to tear down a retaining wall because his association decided to be pricks.

 

[redgtxdi]

I really kinda' doubt anything bad would happen but I don't want to just say "ok" because somebody else did and everything went ok. (Following friends off cliffs, etc.)

FWIW, I didn't do a permit on the patio slab I poured in the back w/ brick ribbon, nor did I get a permit for the wooden fence my neighbor and I built on the other side.

The patio slab was over 10 years ago and the other fence is about 5 years old now so I can't imagine cities care much about that stuff, just that now we're talking about a "wall" that separates properties so I just wanna know what current consensus is.

 

[Greenman]

I really kinda' doubt anything bad would happen but I don't want to just say "ok" because somebody else did and everything went ok. (Following friends off cliffs, etc.)

FWIW, I didn't do a permit on the patio slab I poured in the back w/ brick ribbon, nor did I get a permit for the wooden fence my neighbor and I built on the other side.

The patio slab was over 10 years ago and the other fence is about 5 years old now so I can't imagine cities care much about that stuff, just that now we're talking about a "wall" that separates properties so I just wanna know what current consensus is.

Generally speaking there is no permit required for a fence or a patio slab.

 

[redgtxdi]

Well, except that I live in Southern California, the mecca of the liberal left who would love for you to get a permit to so much as plant a daisy in the front yard!! (Quite literally, you cannot touch the tree in your front yard if it lies in the first 6 feet from the curb as that is the city's tree, not yours).

And I know they want permits for any concrete pour and property wall/fence/curtain. It's just that California's so large and people have been circumventing permits for stuff like this for so long that it's kind of a "speeding on the freeway" kinda thing. Everybody (or almost) does it.

 

[rky60]

I pull permits as part of my job, residential remodeling. If anything i'd listen to lxskllr. Most just want their cut $$ for the township, borough, city or whatever. I've never had one force us to tear anything down, not even close. I've missed a few over the years ...



Some code offices can be bat shit crazy tho. Had one call me last week. Wanted pictures faxed of the bathroom fixtures we were using. Not one mention of inspecting any plumbing or framing.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you are in a HOA I would not bother, they'll probably make you take it down. If not, then just find out what are the requirements for getting a permit. If less than a certain height does not require a permit, then make sure to build it no higher than that.

I always hated the concept of permits, you should be able to do what you want on the property that you are paying taxes on. But sometimes it's simpler to just bite the bullet and go with the system that way there's less chance of getting hit hard with consequences.

 

[Drekce]

Get a permit. Let me repeat, get a freaking permit. I built a wooden deck 7 years ago on the back of my house. Didn't permit it, never thought about it again.

Now, I'm in the process of selling my house and that deck is a nightmare. It's costing me 5x what it would have cost if I had done it in the first place, and may hold up closing or result in the buyers walking away.

The county won't let me permit it as "owner/builder" because I'm selling the house within a year. That means that I have to hire a contractor to go through the permit process for me and hire an engineer to draw up and certify the plans...on a deck that is seven years old!

 

[BoomerD]

Get a permit. Let me repeat, get a freaking permit. I built a wooden deck 7 years ago on the back of my house. Didn't permit it, never thought about it again.

Now, I'm in the process of selling my house and that deck is a nightmare. It's costing me 5x what it would have cost if I had done it in the first place, and may hold up closing or result in the buyers walking away.

The county won't let me permit it as "owner/builder" because I'm selling the house within a year. That means that I have to hire a contractor to go through the permit process for me and hire an engineer to draw up and certify the plans...on a deck that is seven years old!

That's the part that most people over look...often, banks won't loan against property that has non-permitted work. Granted, a simple thing like a fence/wall probably won't be an issue for a bank, but anything structural, like your deck can be a BIG problem.