Plumbing without permit

[hockey88fan]

I am sure glad I am on a sewer connection, and not a septic system.
County didn't bat an eye when I got my permit for my shop with a full bath in it.

Being that you're on city sewer, do they charge you an additional monthly fee for the the toilet in the garage since it is in a separate building?

 

[Falcon67]

Around here it's one sewer charge on the water bill per address or meter. If the shop had a water meter, I'd get a separate bill for water/sewer/trash.

 

[djkeev]

Ok, you're good on bedrooms and SF. I'd wager a guess that their hang up is the distance from your shop to the septic tank. There are rules for distance from the building to the tank. Inquire about adding a tank for the shop. Then that drains into a pressure tank where it's pumped out of.

Seriously, let it die at the township level and just do it, or, get the permit for a water drain that they DO allow and afterwards do a "remodel" and add your toilet. You can even modify you pipe AFTER the rough plumb inspection to allow for the toilet, leave the stub 1/2" below the concrete with a sleeve around it for working space fo a coupler and when you get your C of O, chip chip chip.. Done!

Sadly, government often forces us to not ask / not tell when rules over ride common sense. Just know you'll need to undo the potty before a sale is made.

Dave

 

[hockey88fan]

Around here it's one sewer charge on the water bill per address or meter. If the shop had a water meter, I'd get a separate bill for water/sewer/trash.

Around here if it's in a separate building you get charged another fee. Not wanting to change direction of the thread but our sewer bill started at $50 per month 6 years ago and is now at $118 per month. If I wanted to put a toilet in the garage it would be double that per month.

 

[superduty59]

If it were me,

1) I wouldn't have asked
2) you live in the country
3) If it costs more than $50 to add a ******* then I would go to the house or take a leak beside the garage.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Being that you're on city sewer, do they charge you an additional monthly fee for the the toilet in the garage since it is in a separate building?

Generally they charge based on the water usage, since there's a meter on the water line.

 

[hockey88fan]

Generally they charge based on the water usage, since there's a meter on the water line.

We have a well no water meter, just a flat sewer charge, $118 per month.

 

[AbnerFurmond]

Well guys, I have appreciated everyone's input and I have made a decision after many hours of contemplating. I'm a 72 year old man. Myself and my wife are the only people that live on my property. The same amount of people using the toilet would still be using the toilet regardless if it were in the garage or in the house. I have worked too damn long and hard to not be able to do my business in the privacy of my favorite part of my property. The just assessed my property in February which means they won't be back for over 3 and a half years which will give my grass plenty of time to recover so no one will even know the yard was torn up. I'll have my son do the work so I don't have to worry about contractors saying something.
They can take those codes and shove it. What the inspector man don't know don't hurt him.... or me.

 

[ozyborn]

amen....

 

[Okie Pete]

Sounds like a plan. Go for it.
A Friend of mine got a tank and vent pipe out of a portapot and built a wooden outhouse on it. He has a septictank truck service come and **** it out every 2-3 months as needed . His shop is aways from his house.

 

[Den69rs96]

good for you. I think the towns are getting out of control with some of these codes and permits. I put a shed up about 6 years ago on my property. If I went bigger than 100 sq ft, I would have needed a permit. But before I could get a permit I would need to have my land surveyed and then I'd have to submit my application plus fee. Once they had my survey then then the conservation committee would have to come out and make sure I'm not on wetlands. This is for a 10x16 storage shed on blocks. I ended up building a 8x12 do to the hassle.

 

[dartsportsteve]

Good for you.

I'd at least change my screen name if I were you, though. Who knows if somebody from their office is a lurking member here...

 

[NUTTSGT]

Glad to see you found a solution to your problem.

 

[Falcon67]

After a full discussion of the issues in this particular case, can't say I would not go down the same path.

 

[rcpaulsen]

What we found out is that if the permitted septic system was designed for a specific size house we could not get a permit for the addition if the addition pushed the size of the house over that which was originally allowed for the particular septic system.

We ran into that when we wanted to add a "master suite" bedroom addition to our three-bedroom house. Local code sized the septic to the number of bedrooms, not total square feet, so we couldn't have four bedrooms. Simple solution: Knock out the wall between the two smallest bedrooms. Same sleeping space as four bedrooms, but now it was legal - ridiculous!

 

[nadogail]

Can you put a Deep Sink with a faucet in your garage, rather than a toilet?

Magically after the Inspector leaves, the Dink Sink becomes a urinal.

 

[AZ Pete]

the thread is nine years old....I expect the problem was solved long ago.

 

[karoc]

Well guys, I have appreciated everyone's input and I have made a decision after many hours of contemplating. I'm a 72 year old man. Myself and my wife are the only people that live on my property. The same amount of people using the toilet would still be using the toilet regardless if it were in the garage or in the house. I have worked too damn long and hard to not be able to do my business in the privacy of my favorite part of my property. The just assessed my property in February which means they won't be back for over 3 and a half years which will give my grass plenty of time to recover so no one will even know the yard was torn up. I'll have my son do the work so I don't have to worry about contractors saying something.
They can take those codes and shove it. What the inspector man don't know don't hurt him.... or me.

Power to the people

 

[MooreGarage]

We've shopped for a house for the past year and a lot of the ones we've looked at had septic systems. Some normal systems, some engineered, some pressure dose. In some instances we were interested in expanding the size of a particular house with a septic system. What we found out is that if the permitted septic system was designed for a specific size house we could not get a permit for the addition if the addition pushed the size of the house over that which was originally allowed for the particular septic system. I think it has to do with the number of possible people using the septic system. Sooo...perhaps they don't think your septic system could handle the extra load (pun intended).

Here in WA state, the septic system is sized to the number of bedrooms. You can get a permit to add onto the house as long as you don't add additional bedrooms.

My son had to sign affidavits that his workout room and his home office in their finished basement would not be used as bedrooms in order to get it approved.

 

[Ak Jim]

Let this be a lesson to everyone here. If you need a new septic or leach field have it built larger than the minimum. When I did my garage addition it was also time for a new tank and leach field. I went with one size larger just incase I wanted to put a bed room in the addition. It was a small increase in cost to upsize the system.

 

[Metal-Marc]

Let this be a lesson to everyone here.

The real lesson to learn here is to not reply to users who are long gone in a 9 year old thread.

 

[firebirdparts]

Yes. Let that be the lesson.

 

[LOW1]

Get a copy of the applicable county code. It may be on line. Ask the inspector the section and page number of the code to verify if it says what he claims it does. If it does I would not annoy the inspector. You should ask him and plumbers for alternatives

 

[karoc]

The real lesson to learn here is to not reply to users who are long gone in a 9 year old thread.

Well ****

 

[Sullivan]

Sorry guys, I guess I wasn't exactly clear about my septic pump. I have a little giant sewage ejector with basin. I just happen to have one that we thought we would need building the house but actually didn't.
I went and talked to DHEC today and they said their reasoning is that my house is already using the max amount of possible people on our septic so there wouldn't be room for one more toilet in the garage.
I explained that it will be the same amount of people using it, just in the garage at times instead of the house. No dice. They explained that they have to go by possible numbers of people using the tank and not how many I say will be using it. Which I understand. I am not mad at them, just disappointed on how much money I am going to have to spend in order to get a toilet to my garage now.
I think I may just have to deal with not having one for a while.
It looks like my options are the composting toilet which my cut into my tap system budget right now or a holding tank, which means I would have to get rid of a large portion of my grape vinyard which I also really don't want to do.
And then of course there is also my favorite idea out of the bunch, the funnel urinal haha.
I am in rural South Carolina by the way.

When you say rural SC what county and are you in city limits or an unincorporated area? I used to live in rural SC. The first mistake was going to DHEC. The second was putting it on as a garage. Also why does the toilet matter to living space? Its not increasing how many people there, just where those people poop. In most rural SC counties you could have built an AG building with your plumbing and had a lot less hassles. Its all about what call the building. I built my AG building with electric and plumbing with no issues. It later became my shop again no issues. It may depend on the acreage you live on as we had over 50. However my neighbor went the same route on 4.5 acres and he didnt have any issues either. Another thing is its rural SC most places dont care. Except Horry county they nail you for every stupid little thing.

 

[The Cobbler]

^^^ don't expect an answer , this is a 8+yr old thread, and about hat long since the OP logged on...

 

[p00p]

even though its an old thread:::::

What if you removed 1 bedroom (example: Remove the bedroom wall to increase the space for two nearby rooms) ?

Would that appease the Bedroom to pooper field ratio to accommodate for an outbuilding's added-on half-bath?

Does a half-bath differ from a full-bath when accounting for septic sizing? I would expect that there would be a difference to the formula in figuring it out.

 

[The Cobbler]

Around here the septic field is sized by bedrooms, so I would imagine adding a bath to a garage would be permissible .
and if a bedroom doesn't have a closet, its not a bedroom.

 

[mikegt4]

even though its an old thread:::::

What if you removed 1 bedroom (example: Remove the bedroom wall to increase the space for two nearby rooms) ?

Would that appease the Bedroom to pooper field ratio to accommodate for an outbuilding's added-on half-bath?

Does a half-bath differ from a full-bath when accounting for septic sizing? I would expect that there would be a difference to the formula in figuring it out.

Removing a wall to reduce the bedroom count may well run afoul to a "minimum number of bedrooms" zoning issue.

 

[p00p]

Removing a wall to reduce the bedroom count may well run afoul to a "minimum number of bedrooms" zoning issue.

I think i see where you're coming from.
The intention is to satisfy code while obtaining what is needed in current times.

It frustrates me that those that are on the review board for permitting house work are not required to provide a solution to meet code when the requester has an nonconforming need.

 

[mmb617]

This may be a zombie thread but I think this statement still sums up the situation nicely. Probably even more so now, since red tape tends to pile up as time goes on.

Sadly, government often forces us to not ask / not tell when rules over ride common sense.

 

[dcg9381]

(Aware this is an old thread)
I'm good with doing what you want if it works and if there is no re-inspection process.
Here, upon resale, a seller has to stipulate that there have been no alterations to the septic system since it was installed. If you sign that, and the septic turns out to be modified, they can come back to get you years - or even decades after you've sold the home...


Be sure that there is no "re-inspection" process. Here, septic requires an engineer, a certified installer, and 3-4 inspections before you're allowed to "operate". Inspections on sale too.

 

[Uncle murph]

I would just do it,they tend to be pretty full of themselves but the reality is that private property is still private,don’t let them bully you.It’s when you go to sell that they get their digs in,forcing you to remove un-permitted items before allowing title transfer.

 

[kj_mustang]

Virginia, I assume, is like most states on septic permitting in that the system is sized by the number of bedrooms in the house. If you add on a room with no closet and put on the drawing for the building permit that it is an office/den, then you should get it approved.

 

[TractorJeff]

A friend of mine bought a house with a detached garage and was all ready plumbed for a toilet. It did not have the rough plumbing out to the tank yet so. He bought one of those blue plastic 55 gal barrels and used that as a septic tank put about 10 ft. of lateral line in and ask people to go #2 inside the house not in the garage, as not to have any problems. Just an idea. If you have nosy neighbors they will rat you out if some authorities come asking questions. but if you live in the country. I don't see why they would come looking.

Blue Barrel and a Urinal!
This prevents your Beer Drinking, Pool playing Buddies from taking a ****!

 

[lml999]

I would just do it,they tend to be pretty full of themselves but the reality is that private property is still private,don’t let them bully you.It’s when you go to sell that they get their digs in,forcing you to remove un-permitted items before allowing title transfer.

I'll provide a slightly different context.

We bought a house five years ago. While the house is 25 years old, the PO finished the basement and did some other work, apparently without pulling any permits.

Shortly after we moved in, I discovered that the PO had replaced the original NG water heater with a larger one. In doing so, he screwed up the draft (as in, we weren't getting any) and the heater was dumping CO and combustion byproducts into the basement.

I went to the town hall and requested all of the house records. What I got was a folder with the original building plan and that was it. I wonder if my wood stove permit made it into the jacket.

No permit was pulled on the hot water heater replacement. If there had been, I might have been able to get the PO or the installer to fix the problem at their cost. Instead, I had to cover the cost of fixing the problem...and opted to go for an indirect unit at a higher expense.

The upside was that I learned, via the original building plan, is that our lot line is 41' from the house foundation rather than the 14' shown on the mortgage paperwork. That was a win.