Permitting Horror Stories 5
Don't be cheap doing it yourself
Times are tough and where most people think they can save money, they will. Julie was one of those people, but like what often happens when you try to save money and be cheap, it becomes much more expensive in the end.
Julie figured that the bathroom addition she’d been dream about would be less of a hassle if she did the work herself, which included enlisting some friends instead of hiring a professional and getting all the proper permits needed. Now Julie was very familiar with the knowledge that she needed permits as she had, had a deck addition put on her home. That addition, she had gotten the proper permits for though.
Speaking to Julie, she told us that she thought, “Who wants to waste time and money, it’s cheaper, quicker and easier to do it myself?” Well, it may have been cheaper, quicker and easier but it sure as hell wasn’t convenient for her neighbors. One of her neighbors didn't appreciate the early morning, late night, annoyingly loud construction noises and called in a complaint to the city.
The city stopped by Julies house and hit her with thousands of dollars in fines which included fines for construction outside of allotted hours and starting construction without the proper permits. Julie of course was pissed, was mad at her neighbor and especially mad because all the money she was trying to save had gone right out the window. Now, it cost her even more money.
Julie was frustrated because she had to hire someone to deal with all the headache that came with permits and fines. She refused to use the last contractor who had worked on her house because she felt he’d ripped her off. She would later learn that he had. So, in searching for someone new she came across us, Building Permit Expeditor-Permit Angels.
We knew exactly what needed to happen to get her out of this major headache and she hired us to help her fix this issue. In hiring us and doing the process correctly, she learned that the structure her and her friends built was completely wrong and would have to be demolished. In addition, she learned that the addition that was built wasn’t built properly and that the inspector that had approved the completed addition was arrested for corruption. So, not only did she have to get permits for her bathroom but she had to get all new permits for her addition. If she didn’t, the safety of her and her family was at risk as the structure could collapse and they were lucky it hadn’t.
With our help we got her the proper Building Permits, a legally sound inspector and worked with the new, professional construction team that she hired to ensure that the structure was sound and the proper permits were filed. Working with us, Julie was at peace in knowing that her and her family could sleep safe and sound without the worry of her home falling apart.
It was a very expensive lesson in not being cheap as well as hiring the right people to do the job. While some of what happened couldn’t be helped, other parts could and the parts that could, we helped with. Let this be a lesson to you in not being cheap. You will never successfully be able to save money on additions on your home by attempting to circumvent the system. It will always cost you more money in the end. Invest in your homes protection and hire us to make sure its protected correctly with the correct permits.