Kitchen added in basement, no permits

[John Fakish]

Hey All - Super n00b here.

We remodeled our basement and added a kitchen. There was plumbing and electrical that was added. There was also a washer and dryer added upstairs. We then added a wall to close off the water heater into a closet and finished drywalling the walls and ceilings.

Are we totally screwed because we did not get permits to begin with?

[Chris Jeub]

As long as you built to code, you will be okay. If or when you decide to put your house up for sale, an inspector will perhaps check for permit history, but they won't call the municipal or county on you. There is no enforcement arm for self-improvements. Inspectors likely just check to see if it's built to code and flag anything that isn't, and then those things will likely become negotiating items (whether to fix or reduce price). In other words, you aren't in an ideal situation, but you're far from "totally screwed."