A friend of mine had a neighbor here that put up a deck without a permit. The inspector happened to be going by (or maybe somebody ratted him out) and he got caught. He wound up having to rip it out and redo it. Not sure the exact reason. Usually as long as it's conforming and done to code, or can be brought up to code, they let you continue. I suspect he had some issues, eg incorrect footings, header board attachement.
Doesn't sound too smart compared to paying a $50 permit fee. And again, your probability of getting away with it depends on how visible it is, if your neighbors are pissed off, etc.
A lot of that creative stuff goes on here on the water at the shore.
The OP (Leza) didn't mention anything about getting or not getting a permit, and I suspect that she would just get one if needed depending on what she decides to do. For example, she recently had an entire new roof put on her house, from the rafters up -- meaning all new plywood decking and then a new roof on top of that. She either did or did not get a permit for that, but my guess is that she did since a contractor did the job. (And, just as an aside, I wonder if she or the contractor thought to include adding insulation and venting between the rafters since it is a sloped roof where the sheetrock on the bottom side of the rafters about 2/3 of the way up is the ceiling for the upstairs rooms. That would have been a good opportunity to do that if no existing insulation was already there.).
What the OP did mention is that she doesn't want to rebuild a new garage because she cannot afford the cost of doing that right now. (Again, permits were not a question that came up, but even just a tear-down -- a demolition -- often requires a permit in many locations.)
The OP also talked about the "center wood bar that goes horizontally to hold the roof" being broken. My guess is that, depending on exactly what is there (a few photos would help), she may be able to just "sister" one or two new joists along the sides of the existing broken joist to keep the existing roof up, and then repair or replace the flat roof that is on top. I think that may even cost less than the cost of tearing down and removing the whole building. And, if she did that, she wouldn't have to worry about building a new fence or about doing a tear-down and later losing the opportunity to put up a replacement garage (either her or a new owner).
So, my vote is see if a repair to the existing garage can be done and skip the tear-down and new fence idea.
I'm probably not going to get a permit for projects where the permit costs more than the repair. :) Fixing sinks, replacing toilets or water heaters, adding an electrical outlet, etc.
I did reshingle our roof last summer without a permit. I wasn't aware one was needed at the time. Oops, my bad. In any case, I completely tore off the old roof and went way above and beyond what basic code requires. I was doing it to fix a leak and wanted to be darn sure it wasn't going to leak again. :)
Generally though, I try to get permits for any major work. But, I'm really hoping I won't be doing major projects like that any time soon.
Maybe it's not so hard to repair as the OP thinks. First the center beam needs to be "sistered", at leat until it is replaced. Without knowing more, I don't know if sistering is enough, or if it has to be replaced. Sistering is temporairly jacking up (with jacks made for this purpose) the two pieces of the broken beam until they are in line with each other and the origiinal height, and using machine bolts (I assume) to attach a similar beam right next to it that spans the break, so that when the jacks are removed, the structure is sound again. Then patch the holes in the roof, And the OP wouldn't need a fence and the run-off water situation would remain as it is, and the OP would have a garage too. I wish I had space for a garage.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.