Wood Siding Under Masonite,What To Expect?
Upon replacing an outside door I found that under the masonite exterior, which is in rough shape and needs to be replaced is wood siding. What kind of can o worms am I opening up when I pull down that first sheet?
Just thought you should know; go to www.masoniteclaims.com to join in on the class action against masonite siding. YOu could be in for part of the settlement money if you qualify but do hurry. The first part of this claim is over 1-05..good luck
The average class action lawsuit pays out to the winners on average $30.00. These siding and roofing lawsuits have a history of paying out on average about $120.00.
The problem with pulling off that siding to reveal the siding underneath is the condition of the siding underneath could vary considerably depending on where you pull it off. A south facing side of the house might be in great condition, while a north facing could be horrible. A section higher up the wall could be in great condition and a section lower to the ground maybe horrible.
The problem is looking under a small sampling like you have and trying to determine the rest of the siding condition is a bad idea. The sample you are seeing maybe in great shape but that doesn't guarantee the rest of the siding will be similar. Conversely this could work in the opposite way, you could sample a small section and find it nasty and assume the rest of the house would be the same.
Permitting varies with locale. Typically, your contractor picks up what permits he or she needs. For this work you may need a building permit, or you may not. You can do all kinds of sheetrocking, doors and trim without need of a permit. It just depends.
If I were in your shoes I wouldn't be calling the city to come view my property and tell me what permits I need. I'd get that info from the contractors you call out to bid your work. No use stirring up a hornets nest.
I would follow the advice of the contractors you might use. If it was for your own use, it might be a different story. From the vantage of an investor and resale, permitting should make your resale easier. I agree about the hornet's nest, though. Local contractors advice would be the way to go.
Thanks for your quick replies. We are going to do the work ourselves though, so there will be no contractors.
Thanks
WHOA! You are all over the place with your post.
There are 2 issues with permits.
The 1st is open permits on a house you are buying. The last thing you want is an open permit on a house you are going to buy. An open permit can be an unknown bill waiting to be recieved. If you have an open permit on a house and work has been done and never inspected you have no idea if the inspection is going to pass or fail in order to close the permit. If the inspection fails you are going to have to pay whatever it takes to make it right. Why would anybody want to roll the dice on an open permit unless they were about 95% sure of what the outcome would be? If there is an open permit you should have the seller get it closed by inspecting and doing whatever needs to be done so you buy the house with no surprises. The second choice is having the seller discount the price even further because of the unknown costs associated with the open permit, however how do you know what is a fair discount? $1000 could be fare unless you end up having to spend $3000 to correct the problems to get it to pass. Always have the seller close the permits with a final inspection.
From your post it sounded like there were no open permits. The 2nd part of the permit issue is doing work without a permit. Why would you do it? To save a few dollars? What happens if the house burns down and the insurance company discovers it is because of work such as electrical that wasn't permited. If you think they are going to write you a check for your damages you are wrong. Insurance companies stay in business by not paying claims, unpermitted work is a perfectly legitimate reason to deny a claim.
While you may actually be buying in a community where the building dept has a half assed approach to doing its job and doing code enforcement, most communities are not this way. The chances that it is going to work out as smoothly as you say are not as good as you may believe.
Permitting is in place to protect the homeowner - that's you. When you hire somebody, the permit process can protect you from getting ripped off, make your final payments subject to the inspection passing. The inspection is in place to make sure the work done meets MINIMUM codes. What kind of work do you want done on your place that is running the risk of not even meeting minimum codes?
Ok. Here is the typical process.
When you buy the house title company should check all that and title insurance will cover most surprises that popup like undicscolesed liens and such
For the repairs - you do not need their inspector to come out for that.
What you do is go through the house and decide on what you need to fix. Normal rule of thumb is that if it is structural you need a permit. So moving or adding walls/beams and such - need permit. Roof - new, reshingle, etc - need permit. In certain locales if the repair work will be over a certain amount you need a permit. Things affecting public health - like private septic, etc - need permit. Heating/air conditioning - generally need permit as do electrical adnd plumbing. These are general and not specific to your local. Call them up and ask them their repair limits and also ask them what items need licensed contractor. Anything requiring license contractor generally needs permit.
Things like tile, change carpet, change tub to shower, etc do not need permit.