Water heaters and permitting

[Curt Bixel]

I have recently purchased a duplex in Columbus, OH.  It came with a list of code violations that I am working on addressing.  I wonder if anyone has been down this road before and has enough of an understanding of the process to provide some advice.

The tenants would like to stay, and I think I can honor that request while addressing the issues.  There are some different ways I could solve some of the problems, and I don't know enough yet to make the choice. 

One example is the bathroom.  The bathroom has several code issues that I could fix without too much trouble.  At the same time, a better solution would be to simply do a complete tear out of the bathroom and replace with all new.  Then tenants would be on board with this and are perfectly happy to stay with a friend for a week while we get this done.  At the same time, as the city is involved, I would probably have to pull permits to do a full rework of the bathroom.  I am worried that the inspection process would add so much delay to the job that I would not be able to complete it within a week.  

If there were not tenants, it would be easy.  I would just pull the permits and do the full tear out. 

I wonder if anyone has any advice.

[Evan Polaski]

@Curt Bixel, there are few things to unpack here.  If you just handle the code violations, what is the cost?  How much of that would be "undone" if you later gutted the bathroom?

If your tenants stay and you renovate bathroom, are they going to pay more?  When they leave will you be able to get more rent by renovating the bathroom?

Specific to permits and inspections: I am in Cincinnati, specifically dealing with Hamilton County Building Dept.  Each jurisdiction will have their own timelines. For me: 3 weeks (15 business days) from application drop off to permit approval.  Electrician called for rough in and scheduled 3 days later.  Plumber called for rough in and scheduled 2 days later.  Mechanical still needs called, and once that passes, then we will call for framing.  

The point being, while I am a huge advocate of permits on all projects that require them, in this instance, I would probably wait for tenants to move out, and then renovate when you have more than a week, AND hopefully get more rent.

One last anecdote: I did a gut renovation of my small bathroom at a prior house, without permits.  It took 2 weeks.  The bathroom was 6ft by 9ft.