Young House Love

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Getting A Permit To Build A Deck

Permission accomplished!

Wait, before we get to the deck/permit stuff that this post is really about, we wanted to mention that we keep hearing from folks who had no idea that we have a family/personal/behind the scenes blog called Young House Life (which we started nearly a year ago – my how time flies). So if you’re looking for photos of our messy house, pictures of us being weird, life-stuff beyond the home improvement happenings at our house, and Burger/Clara galore, that’s the place. We usually post 3-4 times a week (very randomly) and you can get there by clicking the word “Life” under our header or by clicking the button that says “Our Family Blog” on the sidebar. We can be found chatting about everything from the Kool-Aid man and traveling with a toddler, to left-handedness, kid-babble, The Hunger Games and Clara’s moves like jagger.

Family Blog Button

For example, today we’re posting about what we did over Memorial Day weekend, complete with a photo of Sherry being overly enthusiastic on a carousel and me trying to have swagg (that’s right, with a double g) along with a video of Clara riding a few boardwalk rides.

Life Screen Shot

Just wanted to share that since the only time we really formally mentioned Young House Life was in a post last summer when we redesigned our entire site, and apparently there was a lot going on, so it might not have been the most clear introduction. Sorry about that!

But now back to our slow and steady deck progress. I must admit, this whole project makes me a bit nervous. Something about attaching a structure to our house that has to support human weight gives me shivers if I think about it too much. But at least it’s only a few feet off the ground and not a second level deck or anything. Having to get a permit wracked my nerves a little more since we hear the county can be pretty particular about decks since they can definitely be dangerous if they’re not built correctly – so there is a bit more going on with the county (like two different inspections throughout the process, etc). But, as this post title reveals, I did get our permit and work is officially, well, permitted to begin. Woot! So allow me to back up and tell you how we got here.

It started out with figuring out what we wanted, which is where this Photoshop sketch I did and the decision to go with wood decking came in handy.

Alley Aerial Drawing

My little doodle hardly sufficed as a plan for building a deck, especially compared to what I saw reading through my county’s how-to guide for obtaining a deck permit (which took me about five reads and lots of Googling before it stopped making me go cross-eyed). After a couple of false starts trying to draw up plans on my own, I threw up my hands (quite literally, actually) and told Sherry I needed help. She suggested I call two sources we’ve trusted in the past to help us plan projects: Home Depot and Southside Builder Supply (which is the place we bought materials for our last big outdoor project – the patio). SBS only does stone, so they referred me 84 Lumber (a lumber-specializing warehouse located about 30 minutes from our house) while Home Depot directed me to, well, Home Depot. So I decided to take both deck planning services for a spin to see which gave me the best plans and the best estimate.

Let’s start with Home Depot, where I was invited to bring my measurements to their Pro Desk to have a plan and estimate drawn up.

Permit HD Cover

It was a fairly painless process. The Home Depot associate clicked through their planning software, asking me questions along the way like what kind of footings and attachments I wanted (which made me glad I had done that upfront research so I knew what I was being asked). After 20 minutes or so, they had printed up a pretty comprehensive deck design which they assured me was something I could bring right to the county for a permit. It was so thorough it literally outlined every wood cut I’d have to make.

Permit HD Cut List

The shot below is actually the first plan I worked up with them (for a freestanding deck). I later went back and they happily revised it to be attached to the house, sparing me lots of post hole digging. They were also able to give me a version comparing the cost of composite to pressure-treated wood (which helped us make the wood decision here). I appreciated them not eye-rolling every time I asked for a change.

Permit HD Deck Plan

Overall I was pleased with the Home Depot process, especially since I always find it helpful to talk to someone face-to-face. That was actually one aspect I missed when going through the 84 Lumber design process. I spoke to someone in my local store by phone, but they said all the deck designs were done at their central office so it was best to just submit things using their online form.

Permit 84 Submission Form

I put in all of my information and uploaded the schematics I had sketched along with a few photos of the space. Two days later I got an email saying my plan was attached. The plan wasn’t as detailed as the Home Depot version, but seemed to be a better approach (from what little I know of these things).

Permit 84 3D Rendering

My contact there was very responsive to my questions by email and also made some revisions I requested within a day-ish. But I did kinda missed the human interaction element of it all.

Permit 84 Schematic2

Ultimately 84 won out for us because their plan felt more straightforward and was about $400 less expensive to execute. Plus it felt good to go with a company that specializes in lumber for such a lumber-heavy project. They also happen to be right here in Richmond and they supply wood from our region (our deck’s wood will come from somewhere right here in the south and will meet all of the requirements for human safety – like no arsenic, etc). We also plan to use an eco-sealer to keep it even safer for Clara and Burger- but more on that when we get there (we haven’t even started that research yet).

So with two copies of my plan from 84 printed out, I gathered all of the paperwork that my county’s website required (as well as some extras just in case). I’ll admit I wasn’t certain that I had the right stuff, but I told myself that the worst that could happen is that they’d send me away and say “come back with X, Y & Z.”

Permit Materials2

After speaking with someone at our county’s Office of Building Inspection we decided to try the walk-through process where you can obtain a permit in one day, in person. For some reason I pictured this like a job interview or pleading my case to a judge and jury, so I dressed up a bit for the occasion. This is dressed up for me these days (shirt tucked in and not wearing tennis shoes or a hat). I figured it made me look professional, but still like I could construct a deck. Seriously, I put thought into this permit-getting outfit.

Permit John Dressed Up

The actual process was very tame compared to what I had imagined. I spoke to a couple of receptionists, filled out a form, and was told to wait for my permit (and that they’d “let me know if they had any questions”). This sparked me running through all of the things I could be quizzed on – what size my joists were, what depth was I digging my holes, etc. I did my best to get lost in the episode of House Hunters that was playing in the waiting room.

Permit Waiting Room

Just before the cross examination scenario could fully play out in my head, a nice woman walked out and handed me my permit: “you’re free to begin work.” Sweet!

Permit Permit

I’m still kind of surprised it was that easy. Admittedly I’m still a bit nervous about the notoriously thorough inspection process, but at least this has given me a good boost of confidence to move forward. And Sherry, Clara, and Burger all did the happy dance in the living room when I returned home with that important piece of paper. So I’ve officially ordered the materials from 84 Lumber and am currently waiting for them to arrive. In the meantime, we’re gonna get started by taking down the old balcony. Demolition here we come! I actually planned to start on that today- and wop wop. Rain! Here’s hoping tomorrow is nice and sunny.

Alley 2 Through Door

Who else has gone through the permit process and lived to tell the tale? Any interesting stories, tips, or disasters you’d like to share? Did you like my permit-getting outfit, or did I overdress? A few dusty contractors walked in and out with their steel toed boots and certainly made me feel a little less rugged by comparison.

Comments

  4. Miranda says

    HAHA! John, you crack me up dude! Your outfit was awesome. Glad you guys had an easy process… Can’t wait to see the deck!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Nope. Both included it as a free service – even when I told them I was getting multiple estimates and it wasn’t guaranteed that I’d chose their materials.

      -John

  6. Karen Lee says

    Congrats on your permit!
    Your dressing for the permit obtaining made me spray coffee on my computer.
    Seriously funny!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We actually don’t know if you have to do that in our area! It doesn’t say it anywhere on the permit that we have to post it, but it does have to be available for anyone who might drop by and demand to see it!

      xo,
      s

    • Amy Knisely says

      In NY you have to have the permit displayed at the project site. When the electricians replaced our circuit box they had to have the permit posted for inspection.

    • Stacy Moore says

      In Henrico County, a neighbor of Chesterfield, you have to display the permit in the window. I actually work for the County. DPW represent! (I actually draw civil plans in ACAD & maps GIS) LOL. I know a few people in Permits & Building Insp. All really nice people, but you don’t get that everywhere. Glad it went well. I will say that by the looks of the folks that come in here, you were very over dressed. Some look like that just came off of the job site. Good luck with the deck! I’ll be in this boat soon when I want to redo my front porch. It’s just a stoop w/o a roof. I want something w/ a roof that you can actually sit on comfortably. :)

  9. Jodi says

    I am living the tale of a permit process and it was HELL just getting the approval. The inspection was easy in comparison.

    We had all the storm drain running through the entire length of our backyard and we wanted to bury 15 inch pipe and connect to the county pipe. They told us for 2 years, we could do whatever and just to “scribble on a piece of paper what you plan to do”. With pipe laying in the yard, 60 feet of rocks dug up and the existing headwall painstakingly removed by hand, we went to the county building to give them our sketch when the head engineer put a halt on the project and made us hire a civil engineer and pull a permit. Needless to say, 5 weeks later our plan was approved (after we sat in a meeting with the county and begged and pleaded. It went from just laying 60 feet of pipe to a 4 foot manhole install (which we planned to build ourselves, but gave up after reading the plans from the county), 2 contractors and 100 yards of dirt later and we finally reached our goal. We just spent 3, 12 hour days laying sod and sadly, have more to go.

    Reply

  10. Sandra says

    I have always tried to build so I would not need a permit. Keeping retaining walls just under three feet and that sort of thing. I am glad you are attaching the deck to the house. My brother in law a deck that was freestanding, but right up to the house and the between the deck.and the siding always looks a little off. Good luck with your inspections! I can’t wait to see that process.

    TheHouseOfBing.com

    Reply

  12. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    Yay on the permit! I always feel like when you’re 200% prepared they go smoothly but if you’re less than 100% prepared then there’s a million little issues.

    PS: I am so jealous that that’s your dressing up. I have to wear business – buisness casual every day!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I used to be so jealous of Sherry’s wardrobe in NY. Being a copywriter, Sherry could wear jeans and a t-shirt, even flip flops unless she had a presentation with a client. Meanwhile I was the account guy, so I needed to wear khakis and button downs or even suits on occasion.

      xo,
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oops, John was relaying his comment for me to type it (he was cleaning up in the kitchen but wanted to share that story) and my hands slipped and I signed it as me instead of him. Haha. Auto-pilot comment problems!

      xo
      s

    • Chrissie says

      Haha I work from home at the moment, so I’m here in my nice jeans, nice top… and Monty Python killer rabbit slippers from Think Geek! Professionalism at its best.

    • Amy Knisely says

      I convinced the folks at the school I work for that running around taking photos of children all day was not terribly easy to do in a pencil skirt and blouse, so it’s jeans and a blouse/shirt/sweater and comfortable shoes for me!

  13. Lisa@wanderdownpennylane says

    Wow good work! We are currently going through the permit process for a fun eating nook project we hope to start tackling this summer. They don’t do inspections during it but their process to obtain the permit is pretty extensive. Fingers crossed for both of us!

    Reply

  14. Devon @ Green House, Good Life says

    I went through the permitting process to tear down an old house. (Did you know that you need to get a certificate from the tax office proving that the taxes are paid? That way, if they aren’t, there will still be a house there for them to sell off when they foreclose. The joke was on them, though, because in our case the house had had a pretty severe fire, so the property was probably worth more without the house on it.) Then I went through the process again to get the permit to rebuild, but by then I was, like, totally experienced (with one permit already under my belt), and it went a lot more smoothly.

    Reply

  15. ErinY says

    I approve of the outfit and totally would have done the same thing! Can’t wait to see how the deck-building plays out!

    Reply

  16. Emily says

    Alright my big question after reading through this post is…WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR FANCY PERMIT-GETTING JEANS? My husband needs a nice dark pair like that. Thanks and good luck with the deck!!

    Reply

  17. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    You have to get a permit to build a deck?! Crazy! I guess I’m used to where I grew up (the middle of nowhere Indiana).

    Kevin and I had better look into that before we start out backyard work just I case Dallas is anything like Richmond.

    Reply

  18. angie says

    yeah a permit… where are those jeans from?? sorry, but im obsessed with jeans for the hubs, and those look like what i have been looking for…

    Reply

  19. Jenn @therebelchick says

    I am so incredibly jealous that you are getting your deck done…we just took down our pool so that we can start the process of leveling the yard and building our deck. It’s going to be a long, tedious process to do ours…and the permitting department in Miami is not easy. Until we are able to do ours…I am going to live vicariously through you!

    Reply

    • Siding San Antonio says

      Permits are definitely not easy to come by in some areas. The deck you guys are planning on building looks like it will be amazing though. Way to get the permit (I would have dressed up, too!).

  20. Lauren@FilingJointly says

    John dressing up for getting a permit is hilarious!

    I spent days planning my outfit for my campus tour at college, new sandals and all. I wanted to make a good first impression on my fellow students. Halfway through the tour I had to run into a Walgreens and buy bandaids and socks for my poor blistered bleeding feet. And then yes, I did wear socks with sandals for the rest of the tour.

    I was VERY popular in college.

    Reply

  22. heather says

    I don’t know what it is about this post but I was laughing throughout your description of getting a permit (and I needed that laugh today! so thank you). My husband is the one who handles getting the permits for our place (since I would be like “you. allow. me. build. this” with a crayola drawing and then drag my caveman bat behind me out of pure incompetence) but I’m pretty sure he’s never dressed up for it haha. You’re awesome.

    I can’t wait until we get the permit in hand for our renovation. Refinancing is almost complete and then once it is…game on!

    Reply

    • Jayme Mount says

      hahahaha! I also love the “you. allow. me. build. this.” sooo funny!!

    • Heather Flint says

      I completely agree with you Heather!…I couldn’t stop laughing when reading this post. Just something about the thinking process that John explained going into his outfit and thinking about him waiting out in the waiting room had me crying from laughing so hard!!

  23. Monika says

    I love your family blog! Maybe we’ll run into each other one day at the beach :) I would be so start struck! haha And I agree that the inspections are typically more of an obstacle than the permits themselves.

    Reply

  24. Emiles says

    Love the permit-getting outfit (and my husband rocks his BR jeans for “dress up” too :) )

    super excited to see the deck completed! we have a small deck on the frotn of our house that they tied into the house and used posts on the “outside of it”. unfortunately, they didn’t support the outer posts enough (likely didn’t pour concrete footers) and it’s cracked the block in our foundation. SO! Lucky for us, we get to tear it off. Not planning to rebuild either, it’s super small and we’re on a busy street so sitting out front isn’t a great time.

    Reply

  26. mribaro says

    Yep, it’s good to know that John prepared himself through googling before going to the permit application process – shirts hanging out cause a major delay in obtaining the permit, and sneakers are a close second! :) Congratulations!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, the poor guy was sent of like it was a job interview! I was yelling “good luck babe- knock ’em dead with your permit-getting skills!”

      xo,
      s

  27. Dina says

    What impresses me the most about this post is how FANCY and CLEAN your local government offices are! Are they really that nice or did you just strategically crop the photo? :) I’m in Philly and let’s just say… I have no idea where any of our taxes go. Haha.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It was actually very tidy, so there was not strategic cropping going on! I think that’s what you get for the all-suburban/rural county (we live right outside Richmond City lines).

      xo,
      s

  28. Paige @ Little Nostalgia says

    What! That’s so easy! I would’ve expected it to be more like a job interview, too, but I guess they get a ton of requests everyday, so they have to do something to make it flow.

    You looked just right for the situation. And I think my husband has those same Banana jeans. If you shop there a lot, I recommend getting one of their store cards. Crazy coupons every month!

    Reply

  30. Amy L. says

    Love the outfit! My husband also gets very nervous when it comes to permits and inspections. Since he does most of the building, I offer to go downtown to get permits. I haven’t had a problem getting them, they do seem happier when it looks like you have a good plan of action. One funny inspection story though, we transformed out attic into a master suite when we bought this house. We permitted a bathroom, but did the rest without permits. When the electrical inspector came out to inspect the bathroom work, she asked about the rest of the upstairs. I said, “well, some of it was already here”, she asked me when we bought the house, and then pointed out the wiring has a date stamp on it and was therefore obviously installed after we moved in. WHOOPS!!! Luckily, I could play dumb about not knowing what was done and she didn’t mind that I didn’t really know. She looked at the work to make sure it was safe and off she went. :)

    Reply

  32. Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says

    Before our daughter was born I worked as in interior designer in healthcare design. I would get so nervous every time I had to submit plans for review. Thankfully, my questions were never to hard but it feels likenyounare taking an oral exam. I’m glad y’all didn’t have any trouble.

    Reply

  34. Lani says

    Although I thoroughly enjoyed having all that info about the deck (no seriously…it’s all good to know for the future)…my favorite part of this whole post was your permit getting outfit. That is so something my husband would do…what would make me look just professional enough…but not too professional. Hilarious. And you hit it spot on!

    Reply

  35. Erin says

    This couldn’t have come at a better time! My husband has been reading county code guides on building a deck for the last several nights in preparation for the deck he plans to build on our house… on his upcoming paternity leave no less. He’s a committed DIYer through and through! Thanks for all the info on HD and 84 Lumbers’ planning services! :)

    Reply

  36. Staci @ My Friend Staci says

    Now, I predict the readers will be abuzz speculating John and Sherry’s middle names!

    Congrats on getting a permit. We talked with a nice lady at our Home Depot pro desk about planning a deck as well! We’re thinking 16 x 16, but if we want to shave a few dollars we might end up with 16 x 14. We want lots of space!!!

    Reply

  37. Shannon says

    I am so glad your shoes matched. ahem. Is there a way for me to post a picture on here? LOL. Shannon

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Ha! I’ve made great strides in keeping my shoes matching lately, thank you very much.

      For everyone else – Shannon and I used to work together and I once showed up to work wearing one brown shoe and one black shoe. The dangers of getting dressed in the dark! There’s a picture on Facebook somewhere…

      -John

  38. ashlee says

    it never ceases to amaze me – the extent to which you manage to save money and do major renovations one after another. we have relatively well paying jobs, yet we have student loans to pay back – BUT – we have money leftover but it still doesn’t add up to enough to renovate our house. i don’t understand your secrets! it seems as though you do fairly expensive projects within a close period period of time. even if things are thrifted/diy’d, it still seems like you guys whiz through things really fast. i don’t know how you do it without using credit, unless you have a lot of disposable income.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It all starts with buying a house that’s really affordable! Our first house started with a 1 (as in, 100,000-something) which allowed us to save up a lot over the 4.5 years we were there- just slowly squirreling away as we went. And thanks to house prices being really low (along with mortgage rates) when we bought our second house last December, we were able to pay at least 50K less than we’d pay for something that was already done or newer (thanks to the “bad” housing market). This allowed us to save up extra when going into the house buying process (since we thought we’d have to spend more). And since our mortgage payment is lower thanks to buying a fixer upper we’re able to save more money each month (much more than we saved when we lived in NYC where our rent was super high).

      We also try to space things out- we did our patio over a year ago, then we really only tackled our kitchen as a major project in the year that followed as we saved up our pennies (no major bathroom or other room renos were touched), and now we’re gearing up for the deck, which should be around $1,200 total. Taking on really small things in between (like free yard work, free Dude Get On That stuff, inexpensive projects like painting rooms, thrifting stuff) and even using secondhand cabinets and outlet lighting for things like the kitchen reno as well as craigslisting things like our old granite, our old appliances, and even our old dining room table helps too! Check out the money section of our Projects page for more cash-saving tips! We also only have one car and eat at home a lot – heck I even give John his haircuts, so we try to keep living expenses nice and low so we have more money to put into house projects!

      xo,
      s

  39. Brenda says

    Love the permit outfit! I, too, dress a little more nicely when I’m doing something important. It makes me feel a little more confident, and like I’ll be taken more seriously. Congrats on the permit!

    Reply

  40. AJ says

    ADVICE: If you need to replace an existing deck, do not demo the deck before you get your permits. Our deck was too close to the property line. Since it was built before the ordinance was written, it was grandfathered; however, if we had demolished the deck before getting permission to “repair” it (which was basically rebuilding it), then we would have had to rebuild the entire thing on the other side of the house. As you can see from our deck-building video, we got our project approved and built it ourselves with some help from a friend. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xZGS3qiZBo

    Reply

  42. Emma says

    That’s all really great information! I’m looking, planning and saving to tear down my garage and small barn and building a new sturdier garage/storage structure. I’m really nervous because of the variances I’m going to need to get because of the location and the property line. I hope it all goes as smoooothly as yours did! and I will surely dress up as well!!

    Thanks for the laughs!

    Reply

  43. Janna says

    If I could count the permits we’ve pulled! You definately were dressed up, usually I’ve showed up in my filthy work clothes because I’m in the middle of filthy work! But our permit office is 2 blocks from my house and they know us well! It’s a lot easier then people expect-we’ve given them hand drawn sketches and they’ve been helpful too with suggestions and advice.

    Reply

  44. Jenn says

    Wow. I love living in rural America. No permits needed. I believe there is some sort of inspection process possible on new buildings; however, I feel 100% sure that there are a number of dwellings nearby that have never been inspected for anything. For any project we can tackle ourselves, and then some, the only thing we have to do (and only because I live close to “town”) is have the phone company mark the underground fiber optic line. Speaking of decks, I have seen (yes, for real) a deck leading to a front door which consisted entirely of old washers and dryers. As in, you are walking on top of them, and stand on a washer to knock on the door. Hmmm….maybe SOME regulations would be in order…

    Reply

  45. Debbie says

    we are building a three season gazebo at one of our lake homes in MN down by our beach amongst the cedar trees. its a pretty large structure (two levels & about 1300 sq ft total including the wrap around deck). we’ve had to get permits there in the past so we knew what kind of hassle it would be, but the county has added new hoops to jump through this year. not only did we have to pay the county to come out & stake the area we’d already flagged, but then they declared that the area was part of the wetlands so we had to pay for a water conservationalist to come out & give us his two cents, which amounted to him saying (literally) “well, its fine w/ me as long as bob over at the soil office signs off on it.” so then we had to pay bob to come out & he said (literally), “well i dont see a problem w/ this as long as the army corp of engineers says its ok.” so after three more long form applications & plans submitted to the corp, they have until june 5th to raise any objections. so if we dont hear anything from the corp then bob signs off on it, then it goes back to the water guy who signs off on it & finally back to the county who will issue our permit. thankfully other than having to hop in the plane to meet the guy from the county, everything else has been able to be done through phone calls, email & faxing. we built an airstrip at our AZ home & it wasnt this complicated!

    Reply

  46. Stephanie says

    This reminds me of the time I got all gussied up for traffic court in a small town and ended up severely over-dressed. I also always put our ten-month old in her cutest clothes when we travel or eat out at a nicer restaurant with her in tow; something in me thinks if I focus on controlling the details I can “will” the outcome I want! : ) This deck project is very exciting, congrats!

    Reply

  47. Vonda says

    I’m thinking it was the permit-getting outfit.
    Oh, and that it wasn’t the city of RVA you were trying to get the permit from. They’re a bit more ‘unorganized’ than the counties!

    Reply

  48. Deb D. says

    Very excited for you all about the deck. One question though — have you considered the noise of the a/c unit? We built a concrete patio outside the porch of our last house and actually had the compressor moved to the other side of the house for two reasons: 1) it was ugly and right in the middle of everything (I know yours will be out of site with the deck being higher) and 2) it is LOUD!! You could barely hold a conversation over it when you were on the porch when it was running. Kind of killed the outdoor “ambiance” if you will when you couldn’t hear the birds or each other. Something to consider — and it wasn’t actually that expensive to move since they ran the lines through our basement.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, if you read the first post about it (linked in this one) in the comments we talk about how the ac doesn’t run very much when we think we’ll use the deck (for dinners outside) and it’s not very loud anyway since it’s pretty new (bought before we moved in by the previous owners) so we can definitely chat out there while it’s on or click it off for an hour if we don’t want to deal with it (since an hour or two of no air in the house during the evening shouldn’t be too bad).

      xo,
      s

    • Carol says

      I noticed the discussion of the noisy AC units in the original post, but didn’t have time to send you our ultimate solution, but now thought I would “over-share” in case you’re interested some day! After many years and pennies saved (and in the meantime, using your idea of turning the system off while enjoying our patio,) we installed a geo-thermal HVAC system and we ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! It was a tough decision, a lot of digging (as in 3 300′ deep holes – NOT DIY!) and mess and repair, and initially expensive, but the quiet is AWESOME…and, as it turns out, we couldn’t be happier with the comfort, the environmental benefits, and the financial impact! Due to substantial federal and state tax credits, as well as one from our energy company, the initial outlay was significantly reduced. It has been two years since we installed it and based on our energy bills over that time, we are confident we will completely recoup all of our additional costs (beyond the price of a traditional system) within another two years. After that, we are in the black! In addition to no noise, there are no unsightly compressors to attempt to disguise with fences or shrubbery (many shrubs and compressors don’t like each other, but we had success with a few hearty evergreens that helped with the disguise, so I’m sure you will, too.) Everything is underground! Every situation is different, but if your current system bites the dust – hopefully, not for a long time – I wanted to share our solution in case it’s something you’d like to evaluate.

      p.s. per “mission accomplished”……cute! Good luck with the building!!

    • Devon @ Green House, Good Life says

      Just want to second Carol’s enthusiasm for geothermal HVAC. I am reaping all of the benefits she listed, plus (since we put it in while we were building our home) we were able to get another 25 square feet or so in our master closet by bumping out the wall where the outside unit was going to go. But the coolest (or warmest, depending on time of year, haha) part is using the heat from the earth to heat and cool the house — for every unit of energy we put in, the geothermal system gives us something like 10 units back.

  50. Kim says

    Since it seems like there are different regulations for what you need a permit for depending on where you live (is it by county? state?), how do you know which renovations can be done without vs. with a permit? I wouldn’t want to replace my front door and then have the permit-people come beating it down!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You’d have to go to the website for your county and look for their section on permits. They usually list what you need one for (and anything they don’t list is usually fair game). You can also call the county for more clarification! Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

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