I can’t legally do plumbing, mechanical or electrical, and that’s the stuff I’m most likely to sub out. Like I have a gas fireplace coming up and I’ll definitely have a plumber run the gas line and make the connection.
But I’ll do smaller stuff if I can get away with it. For example, there’s no way I’m calling in a plumber to hook up a new vanity or set a toilet. And with electrical I have a friend who lets me pull permits off his license. I do the work, he checks it out to make sure it’s all good, and I give him a couple hundred for his time and trouble.
Approximately 3 weeks back, I made a gas-line modification to a line that had recently been installed by one of our competitors. Where it terminated in relation to the cook-top it fed and cupboard that concealed it, did not entirely satisfy the customer.
I reworked it to their satisfaction. It was pure class, of course. lol
You wanna come run one in western MA? You’ll need to exit out of the utility room (and probably replace all the existing soft copper lines while you’re there), snake through 20’ of drop ceiling with minimal clearance, go through a rim joist on a foundation wall that you can’t really get to because there’s another joist right in front of it, then pop out into the garage, run surface mount across 2 bays, and finally up through the floor to the new fireplace. Should be a piece o’ cake.
I did one for my mother and they’re a lousy replacement for a real fireplace but a great source of heat. She spends 90% of her waking hours in that room and it’s toasty as can be in the winter while the rest of the house is maybe 60 degrees. Probably saves her a good bit of money.
Granted you can accomplish the same thing by adding another heating zone. Or a $20 space heater.
what do you mean by this precisely? understood all the other terminology
once in the garage, I have total access os. 2 bays means travel past 3 studs or floor joists os, and into the desired ‘bay’ between 2 other studs or joists?
I use ‘rim joist’ pretty often when discussing how a sump pump discharge line will terminate to daylight
I just mean the garage is wide open and you (well, more likely a local plumber who doesn’t live 1,000 miles away) can hang the pipe directly from the ceiling. No need to open anything up or cut holes.
So If I understand everything correctly, a homeowner can get permits for anything he does himself. Then he can hire someone unlicensed to do it and when inspection time comes he can claim that he did it himself. Is that right?
Next question: How do I know if I need a permit for something? I’m thinking of having some recessed lights installed in a bedroom. Does that need a permit?
I got a guy to change out a recessed light like 10 yrs ago. 99% sure he’s not a licensed electrician. Is this going to bite me in the ass somehow when I sell the place (shouldn’t be for at least 10yrs if we don’t GTFO of USA#1 first).
I had two dishwashers installed by the retailers who sold them. Nothing about permit was mentioned and I’m sure these are the kind of guys who try to do everything on the up and up.
@Melkerson the answer to all your questions is yes. Or no. Or maybe. It depends on the state. Or sometimes the city. Unless you’re in Canada where it depends on the province. Unless it doesn’t.
This has probably been answered, but the rules are different everywhere. In urban/suburban places you “need” a permit for just about anything. In rural places, especially in county areas outside of cities far fewer things require a permit. You find out by calling the city - or not. Like in my city you “need” a permit to get a new garbage disposal installed, but compliance is certainly quite low. I got a permit once for a solar pool heater which was “required”, but I was the first person in that city ever to get one, though far from the first person ever to put in a solar pool heater.
I don’t think most people around here would not get a permit to install from recessed lights, but the city would certainly want one if they knew about it.
