Do I Need A Permit To Finish My Attic

You will also want to be sure to schedule any required inspections and stop work until they are completed.

Do i need a permit to finish my attic.

Don t even think about doing an attic expansion without pulling a permit. That doesn t mean you can t use the. When a house is for sale and has a finished attic that didn t apply for a permit from the county how should you proceed with the sale. She wanted to know if it was necessary or possible now to apply for the permit now what would be the circumstances if she wants to sell the house and the town will find out that she finished the attic without a permit.

The basic space requirements for a finished attic boil down to the sizes of the finished rooms. In most cases though the joists cannot support live loads and may not even be covered with boards. Permits are required for just about everything and if they know you re doing anything they can fine you or require you to stop. In rare cases especially in new construction homes the attic may have been built unfinished with the correct flooring in place with the idea that the homeowner could later on finish the space.

If you re finishing your attic insulating it to the proper r value can cause a dramatic loss of headroom if you limit yourself to fiberglass batts. That ll just come back to haunt you when it s time to sell your home. To pull a permit you ll need to a detailed plan that s been reviewed by a licensed structural engineer architect. To meet all three goals insulating your finished attic ventilating the roof and maximizing headroom use a combination of dense batt insulation rigid foam sheeting and air chutes.

Flooring ceiling and wall materials and other elements will reduce headroom and floor space and it s the finished area that matters. Finished is important to remember when you re measuring an empty attic space. Please submit your questions v ia email. While local codes vary many communities will not permit the ceiling in a finished living area attics included to be lower than 6 8 to 7 6 from the floor.