Rehab, permitting, and plans

[Curt Bixel]

I am a long term landlord and have substantial experience as a handyman.  I am fairly new to buying a beat up property, rehabbing it, and then keeping it for a long term rental.  I recently finished my first rehab, and learned quite a bit.

I have my eye on another property, and am looking for some input regarding planning and permitting. 

The property has a strange layout.  Here is a basic diagram. 

Currently, both reasonable entrances to the building take you through a bedroom before you reach either the living room or the kitchen.  That is not a great layout.  You can see a boarded up door on the south wall of the kitchen.  (South is down in the diagram.)  It seems likely that that used to be the main entrance before an alley was constructed that ran so close to the home that the door was no longer usable.  The alley runs within 3 feet of the south wall of the building. 

The property is also quite small, so running a hallway along the south part of the large bedroom and using the front porch as the front door makes the bedroom at the left side of the property too small to be usable. 

What would make the most sense to me is to simply create a new door on the north side of the living room or the kitchen and use that as a main entrance.  This sounds like it would require permitting if I were to do things right.

If I purchase this property, my plan would be to pull permits for everything and plan on doing it right.  This would involve replacing all windows and at the same time adding a new door to the north side of the kitchen or living room and building a small covered porch for access.  Then having the property completely rewired, as it is mostly knob and tube.  I would get the HVAC done and have the plumbing replaces, as much of it is the CPVC stuff that is supposed to be unreliable. 

With a full kitchen and bath remodel, the project would pretty much result in a fully rehabbed property, as the walls, floors and roof are in good condition.

What I don't know, however, is what the planning and permitting process would look like for this, and it would be good to have some guidance.  I really doubt that the plan I shared above is anywhere near detailed enough to share with anyone who would sign off on it. 

Any thoughts?  

[Zachary H.]

@Curt Bixel I’m not in Ohio, but here in Arkansas (and everywhere else) you would need detailed plans of the existing property and then detailed plans of what you plan to do with it. Usually a general contractor is required and if there are structural pieces of your project then you will want to consult an engineer. If you’re moving a lot of walls and changing a lot in the house you want to make sure it is all done right by licensed professionals.

Good luck to you! Looks like you’re on the right track!

Blessings

[Reece Iovine]

Write a scope of work and draw out a floor plan with the changes you want to make. Then make an appointment with the columbus building department. They can help you with the plan paperwork and are the ones who will approve the plan. Once the plan is approved it will also state what items need permits/inspections and which don't. For a single family home you can pull the permits yourself and do the work if you want or you can get licensed contractors to pull the permits against the plan for you.

[Reece Iovine]

I should also note for more complex renovations an architect and engineer would be involved in the plan creation process.

[Jon A.]

It seems to me that you need permits for the plumbing, wiring and heat pump. All of which will require licensed tradesman and they should be able to do all of that communication for you with the building dept. and they should already know what will be required. According to the layout, without actually seeing the roof line, I would assume that the north and south walls of the home are load bearing and if you are going to install a door on the north side you would need to build a header over the door. If there is a window opening you can use, it will already have a header installed and/or the load is carried by either side of that window. If you are building a roof system over the new porch include that in the drawings. If you are tying that roof system into the old roof I would strongly consider having a new roof put on by a reputable roofer so that you can have the advantage of their warranty and the ability to call them if there is a leak in the near future. Weaving a new roof into an old one can be time consuming and if the old structure isn't somewhat straight and your new one is it will show in the layout of the shingles. 

Here in Asheville, all of the communication is now done via e-mail and a portal to upload plans. So there is no meeting with folks in person and looking at drawings together to make changes. Lots of time can be spent redrawing and resubmitting but once you get the hang of it, it really isn't that bad to be honest because you can do it in your underwear from home. Just be honest and communicate with the inspectors exactly what you want to do. I would specify as much as you can on your drawings. The size of the lumber used, pitch of the roof, setbacks to property lines etc. Submit an elevated drawing and a birdseye view of the lot with the home on it. Once you get started they will tell you what they need and indicate it on the drawing when they send it back to you. Alter the plans and resubmit. It may take longer than you expect so I would plan accordingly. But at least you don't have to stand in line at the building and zoning dept and waste a half day waiting in line. Their job is not make sure that you do it "right". Their job is to make sure that you do it their code. Just start the communication with them and see how it goes. I don't know if any of this helps but it can seem like a daunting process until you start the process of communication with the building dept. Sometimes you may have to argue your point to inspectors because code can be somewhat subjective in how it is written, but this really doesn't seem to be anything out of the norm for them on a daily basis. This home is small and fairly straight forward. 

[Steven Foster Wilson]

@Curt Bixel I am also in Columbus OH.I would make it open concept. Removing the living room and kitchen wall, add the front door behind the fridge to make sure its out of the way 

[Curt Bixel]

Steve.  That is really a pretty great idea.  It might even leave enough space to include a stairway up to the attic, which, if I can bring it into play, would increase the usable space in the home by 50%.  Thank you for that.  :)

By the way, what program did you use to generate the diagram you included?

[Zeke Liston]

Originally posted by @Steven Foster Wilson:

@Curt Bixel I am also in Columbus OH.I would make it open concept. Removing the living room and kitchen wall, add the front door behind the fridge to make sure its out of the way 

 Woah, nicely done! 

[Steven Foster Wilson]

Originally posted by @Zeke Liston:

Originally posted by @Steven Foster Wilson:

@Curt Bixel I am also in Columbus OH.I would make it open concept. Removing the living room and kitchen wall, add the front door behind the fridge to make sure its out of the way 

 Woah, nicely done! 

Thanks Curt & Zeke , I used to work in architectural design for my fathers construction company here in Columbus OH, I use Sketchup for quick renderings, layout for my blueprints, and Lumion for my renderings! The programs are a bit expensive, but if you are a student.....they can be majorly discounted!