Sensible ways to save money on a home addition?

SVreX wrote: In reply to Curmudgeon: Did you ask to see the ordinance? I strongly doubt that law existed. Code enforcement officials do, however, frequently interpret the law in their own unique ways. I have had such an encounter (officials making up rules) in virtually every municipality I have worked in the the last 39 years. Most people say, "Yes Sir". I always say, "may I have a copy of the ordinance you are referring to?" They almost always back down. I have gotten 2 Building Inspectors fired for it. You may have a local ordinance, but I doubt it. It would come too close to conflicting with Consitutional rights.

Yep. It was available on line. The builder of my house cautioned me they were pretty hard nosed about it. Framing roofing etc can be done by a yokel like me (with proper inspections) but electrical and plumbing must be done by a licensed professional. It's understandable; having seen some real butcher jobs on home grown wiring yeah it should be done by someone with some nollij of the subject.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

So, your local authorities care less about the structural integrity of the roof construction than they care about the quality of the turd herding, right?

Curmudgeon wrote: Yep. It was available on line.

I am not doubting you, but I was unable to find it.

If I lived there, I'd fight that tooth and nail. I've never lost similar battles (after dozens of efforts).

It is extremely common for local officials to enforce things that do not actually have existing codes giving them the authority. I push back on almost every inspection I have (which probably averages 1 or 2 per week for over 30 years).

Code enforcement officials HATE conflict. They want to show their little badges and have everyone bend over for them. But they do NOT have the authority to create law, only to enforce it. However, in practice, they create law routinely. It usually goes something like this:

• Local commissioner gets a call from a resident, usually an influential one, with a complaint. Generally, something minor, often regarding property appearances.

• Commissioner calls inspector and suggests he "Make sure that gets taken care of".

• Inspector likes his job, so he begins enforcing the suggestion routinely. It becomes the "norm", though it has never had a relevant code adopted. Low level bureaucrats and secretaries even write the "policies" on their websites and application forms.

• Years go by, with everyone bending over and just doing it, because it is "required".

Virtually everyone just does what they are told. I do not.

Thought about that. In the end, it was easiest just to do what I did. There was so much other going on in my life at the time that it just wasn't worth the fight. I personally could not have cared less whether a code official has a problem with their personal authority, I just wanted the damn thing done.

The last thing I needed was to get into a 'who's got the bigger wang' contest because she would have won; all she had to do was not sign off on my inspections and I was screwed. I was already guilty of building it two feet bigger each way than the max allowed, I did NOT need a crew of inspectors scrutinizing every square inch. And I'm not going to argue any further about this.

There is a very good chance I will be pulling wiring and running plumbing in another house sometime in the next couple of years but in a completely different municipality. So I'll be crossing this bridge again.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Curmudgeon: So, your local authorities care less about the structural integrity of the roof construction than they care about the quality of the turd herding, right?

Funniest thing I have read in a long time.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

So, you're saying she had the bigger wang?

In that, yes she did. She could easily have brought my project to a screeching halt and, since I had exceeded the max size, could have even required that I tear up the slab and start over. Since the driveway was poured specifically to meet that slab size, well it would have snowballed. I could have won in the end via attorneys etc but as I said it just was not worth it.

Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win a war. The trick is to know which battles to lose.

Dr. SVReX was kind enough to sit through a two hour therapy session with me on Saturday morning. I took the results and presented them to my wife, who has deemed the outcome good.

We aren't going to do a massive add-on or overboard renovation. We are going to fix what he hate in stages. We will concentrate on making daily life easier for my wife and kids.

We are going to start with finishing the basement in a simple way to make it one large open space. This will be our new living room/play room for the kids. Sheetrock walls over the concrete blocks, a simple drop ceiling, and either a polished concrete floor or fake plastic Pergo that I lay down myself. No real hardwood or carpet just in case we ever have a water leak. Or a child leaves the basement bathroom sink on...again. Just saying.

Next we will knock a hole in the wall that separates our kitchen from the current living room and extend the kitchen. Stay at home wife + home school kids = everything happens in the kitchen. This is where we will spend our money, but it will all be from IKEA some hopefully the cost won't be too bad.

We will also move the laundry room upstairs, which is easy because it was up there at one point in history. The water and drain hookups are already there, as is the electrical outlet for the dryer. Here is the clever part: we are going to build a temporary wall to create the laundry room in part of the kitchen. IKEA sells it all, you just have to get creative.

And that's it for now. No adding a master suite, no adding a bedroom. Just making it more livable. The kids can share a room for a long time, even if our third (due in December) is a girl. We have ideas on how to handle adding a bedroom in the future, but we'll deal with that when it happens.

I'm not sure we really covered that much construction detail, but I did enjoy talking with you!

Sounds like you've got a good plan! I like dealing with it a step at a time, instead of jumping full speed into a bunch of unnecessary expense and debt.

Just remember, if you end up with a front door leading directly into the Master Bedroom, the only thing it takes to get the Jehovah's Witnesses to stop knocking at odd hours is one time answering the door in the buff!

I agree with Datsun.

You've only got an 8' ceiling. You don't have the space to drop it.

SVreX wrote: I agree with Datsun. You've only got an 8' ceiling. You don't have the space to drop it.

I found the tape measure my kids ran off with and measured. Yup, I only have 8' ceilings in the basement. There are some pipes that run under the joists and of course random ductwork. When I get the sheetrock quoted I'll have them include the ceiling as well. It will take some creative soffit work to make things look nice.

Experience talking here: basement floor options should never include "laminate" as there is a lovely void underneath it for first water and then mold to fester.

Ceramic tile is best, VCT is easy, speckled paint is easiest and cheapest. All will be cold and echoey so area rugs are a great way to soften the space.

The hard ceiling is much better than the dropped ceiling in most respects. Be aware the water leaks from above can and will happen. That's just life.

In reply to Datsun1500:

I would agree. While I know you want to minimize the cost and effort, relocating some pipes along the perimeter and the going between the joists could free up head room. It'll depend on the layout, of course. One nice thing is you can run most of the pipes while the existing is still in use, then make the tie-ins over a few hours.

KyAllroad wrote: Experience talking here: basement floor options should never include "laminate" as there is a lovely void underneath it for first water and then mold to fester. Ceramic tile is best, VCT is easy, speckled paint is easiest and cheapest. All will be cold and echoey so area rugs are a great way to soften the space. The hard ceiling is much better than the dropped ceiling in most respects. Be aware the water leaks from above can and will happen. That's just life.

My wife keeps saying she wants the concrete floor polished and sealed. I do know that the Harbor Freight foam squares that we are currently using as flooring are usually damp on the side that touches the concrete. That's is probably not good. Sounds like we need either a breathable floor or something that will totally seal the floor.

In reply to slefain:

Yep - that definitely means the floor has moisture issues. Sealing it properly to stop that will need similar prep to what is required for a garage floor (which we've discussed to no end...)

Ian F wrote: In reply to slefain: Yep - that definitely means the floor has moisture issues. Sealing it properly to stop that will need similar prep to what is required for a garage floor (which we've discussed to no end...)

Part of me just wants to get a few pails of pourable epoxy, kick them over and let them spread over the whole floor. Works for bar tops and hipster coffee tables.