Don't know what kind of walls were removed
I am interested in an older 2-story, brick house. I happened to meet the owner before the OH. She mentioned that six years ago she and her husband had a wall removed from the first floor to make the living space more open and another from the 2nd floor to combine two bedrooms. Checked nyc.gov and see no permits were ever issued. Can an inspector determine if the work was done properly? Or I am taking a chance? I have no wish to make major renovations to the house. Thank you.
stephanie
in Building Code 13 years and 1 month ago
5
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5 replies
rh | 13 years and 1 month ago
I think an average inspector will be able to see if it was done properly. If it was a load bearing wall, you should be able to figure out if the beam is steel even if under sheetrock. The columns may be located behind the walls if it’s steel or in the middle of the room if they used wood beams.
NeoGrec | 13 years and 1 month ago
I favor the direct approach. Ask the owner — directly (if you are still in contact) or via the broker — to tell you what work they did and to give you the phone number of the GC who did the work. Any reluctance to give you the full details speaks for itself. When we did this on our parlor floor, we installed a steel beam where the wall had been and a steel lally post going all the way down into the cellar on which the beam sits.
Bond | 13 years and 1 month ago
PS- On the plus side, there’s not many walls to remove in most of the older homes in Brooklyn, the layouts tend to be rather standard. So if you think about it, you’ll probably be able to figure out which walls were taken down with a high degree of certainty. That will also give you some idea of how concerned to be. The front to back wall in the front hallway would concern me more than the side to side wall that seperates the first floor into two rooms. Either way, you’re inspector will know where to concentrate his search for cracks, patching, bounce, sagging, etc.
Bond | 13 years and 1 month ago
I would think that any house inspector worth his or her salt would be able to tell especially if the work was done six years ago. Make it a point to stress that walls were removed and you want extra attention given to the situation. No they won’t be able to tell you with one hundred percent certainty that it was done correctly without removing some sheetrock, but there will be some tell-tale signs if it wasn’t that a good inspector will be able to pick up on. While I agree with Michael on the permit issue in theory, in reality, I think that It’s pretty rare to find a house in Brooklyn that hasn’t had work done without a permit. The process is just so onerous that homeowners go to great lengths to avoid filing if at all possible, so if work done without permits is a deal breaker, you’re going to have a tough search ahead of you. If you love the house, I’d make a bid, if you get it, it will be part of the inspection process which you would do anyway. Good luck either way.
michaelfriedman | 13 years and 1 month ago
If you cannot tell but know that walls were removed, you probably need a serious inspection by a real building inspector, someone with a PE license. They do not do this for free, of course. Paying maybe $1500 will seem like a lot – but would be much better than finding out you have to re-build the second floor because supports were removed. Maybe you want to pass on this house one altogether, as this might not be the only construction project that requires a permit, that did not have a permit.