Welcome back to 1342 Linden. This past week has been a doozie, at least in the world of this house. We've had numerous contractors checking out the opportunities, yours truly engaging in an (un)forgettable visit to 604 Sherman, the City Division of Compliance and permitting offices, and some progress made at least on one side.
First off, last week after closing the loan, we figured that permits would be the next necessary step to keep "the Man" off our backs. They've already been on our backs since we bought it last October. The laundry list of items brought to our attention could've been a narrative of the entire renovation scope. It was a joke. Ultimately we did not want to spend money until completely ready to renovation, which included going back to the drawing board after the first estimates, as well as some procrastination over the summer due to many factors, not the least of which was having a baby. Give a guy a break!
So permits should get us a little freedom to move forward without having someone looking over our shoulder every 3rd week of the month. We acquired a homeowner structural permit, and ILP (Improvement Location Permit) and a drainage permit. The last two I didn't think were really necessary, but the folks at the DOC certainly want to make their money. Due to the addition of 108 square feet on the second floor, my permitting fee went from about $30 to $340. Still not too bad.
Any time you add impervious area (inlcuding wooden landings and stairs on the back of a house -- go figure), you must acquire an ILP. These days, anything requiring an ILP is also looked at by the drainage team. Apparently, anyone building now in Indianapolis is being punished into paying for the bad stormwater management of the last century. It's a good time to be building something in Indianapolis! I'd rather go ahead and support it though than continue to have raw sewage dumped into the local streams...ah, decisions!
I did not require a drainage review, which would have extended my visit to the permitting office to two days at the minimum, so my visit to the permit office was only a measly 4 1/2 hours. OMG! Seriously, you'd think that since this is their job, they would've streamlined this process a bit since the last time I spent all afternoon in the permitting office (about 3 years ago for the CitEScapes Greenhouse project).
Did you know that you're supposed to get a permit to do a tear-off and re-roof? The homeowner structural is the way to go for that, as well as a remodel like ours. The catch is that you can't get craft permits, such as HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing. Apparently, as we were told from the DOC: "A man's house is his castle. We can't keep you from building your own house. But it stops at the MEP Craft Permits." Furthermore, one can actually take a quick Friday morning exam at the DOC to get your own homeowner craft permits, but you can only do that for the residence in which you live. You can't do it for an investment property regardless if you are the homeowner. Even if you have a duplex, you can only do it for the side in which you live. What a ruling?!
Part 2 Continues Next (With Pictures!) ...
