New shop

[john hall]

Sounds almost like you are in a neighborhood and having to abide by covenants in the deed. I thought we were strict, that stuff is crazy. What drives me crazy is they never have to leave their desk and can zoom in via satellite and see anything you have built. I have heard of folks "remodeling" an old home to the extent that the majority was demolished and replaced with all new construction. So, do you guys have any impermeable surface requirements? We do, can't exceed 6%. That 6% includes your house, driveway (even if it is gravel), the concrete slab the AC unit sits on, stepping stones leading to the door, the 4' slab required around our wells, etc. When I built my house, I had to get another acre of land from the family farm and add it to my house so I could get a CO because we had exceeded the 6%.
Then when I built my garage, the inspector wanted an irrigation canal dug beside it to keep water away from it--it sits almost on the crest of a hill. We dug, grade, scraped for 2 months and finally waited for a new inspector to get assigned--he granted a CO without ever getting out of the car. At least you aren't having to deal with the tax office.

Best of luck!

[zippy1]

Hey Todd, after talking with you last night, I could hear the "displeasure" of the powers that be in your voice. Yeah, it's BS, at the very least.
You are going to build, improve the property, in doing so, your taxes will be going up, so they'll be getting more money from you over the years. Around here, that's all it is. $$$$$
When I added to the shop last year, went down to get the/a building permit, then I had to get a land usage permit. Pay more $ to use the land we own, and already pay the taxes on...
Always some desk jockey making new rules and regulations for the county. Hopefully there's a break in the clouds, and the sun will shine through. Good luck...

[clay1811/44c]

Want to get mad? Think how much you paid for your home. Then add up your tax bills on said home. You earn money and pay roughly 25% in taxes. Spend your money and taxed 7-10%. My real estate taxes are roughly 3% of our household income before any taxes. My real estate taxes have gone up X4 in the past 15 years on my current home and household income maybe 10%. The state just balanced the budget by raising my taxes. Kiss my grits state of Illinois.

[Dirty Steve]

That sucks, Oak. I hope it does not spoil your plans. NYS squeezes the cripes out of us on taxes. Some towns/counties are worse. I look at it as paying rent to the state even after you struggle to pay off the investment. Do we ever really own our land?? Land of the Free without true freedom.....

[Oak]

Wish me luck. I have a meeting with the zoning administrator on Monday.

[john hall]

Originally Posted by Oak

Wish me luck. I have a meeting with the zoning administrator on Monday.

The founder of the company I work for used to say all the time "You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Best of luck to you, hopefully the person you are meeting with has some common sense and will work out some compromises with you.

[CubyFan]

Permitting seems to be getting worse everywhere. I am in the process of building a large external garage here in Maryland. They have some of the most strict requirements in the country, some are rediculous. I have made it through the first 5 permitting office approvals but have been tied up for 7 months with the health department approval. Need a 100 year septic replacement plan by a licensed engineering firm, perc tests, survey and much more all for an external garage with no plumbing on my property with an existing house and fully functional septic system. Don't want to think about what that has cost.

I got very interested in hydronic heat when I rented a house in Germany for three years that had it. So when I built my own house 10 years ago it had to have it. I installed hydronic heating in the basement slab and hydronic gypcrete slabs on all three upper levels. I used a super high efficiency boiler that exhausts through a PVC pipe. There were very few companies in Maryland at that time that were knowledgeable about hydronic systems. The one I interviewed wanted to charge me 150K for a computer controlled system, the only type they installed. I am not a building professional but an avid tinkerer so I did months of research and design. The best source of information I found was a book "Modern Hydronic Heating" by John Siegenthaler (P.E.). I designed a very simple system that works great using John's information. Much better info than available on the internet and worth every cent. There are a few things I know that you may want to consider such as avoiding the use of a conventional tankless hot water heater to heat the system due to design and longevity issues in that application.

Send me a PM and I will send my contact information if you want to talk about it.

Rick

[CubyFan]

A picture of my son and I putting down PEX tubing in the attic space.

[Rescue11]

Originally Posted by CubyFan

A picture of my son and I putting down PEX tubing in the attic space.

He lives in Georgia, he's not going to be running this thing 24 7, a tankless water heater will be just fine for his region. He does not need to spend $7,000 on a high efficiency boiler. But whatever, you read a book, so now your an "expert" .

[CubyFan]

Your absolutely right about the boiler and I did not say that is what he should use. That is the solution for me, he will decide what is best for him. There are many options.