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ululi · Feb 17, 2008, 07:18 AM

Hi,
I am in the process of remodeling the kitchen. Some plumbing needs to be done, mostly to move drain and hot/cold water lines from a wall that will be removed and a permit will be pulled. The house was built in '86, and I know of at least one code violation (the electric water heating is sitting on the floor in the crawl space, instead of being elevated 4'' above floor as required). My question is: will I have to fix that (and other possible code violations) before the inspection (even though not related to the kitchen remodeling), or preexisting conditions will be grandfathered in? I am just afraid that if the inspector starts pointing thins here and there the cost will skyrocket... The property is in NC.
Thank you

massplumber2008 · Feb 17, 2008, 09:26 AM

Ululi... hard to answer absolute for you here... see, all inspectors are different... some will focus on permitted job only... others feel it is their job to inspect entire house and see what they find. Most are trying to be helpful and, of course, others are just being creepy!

Anyway, if water heater is all properly piped by code I do not expect him to make an issue of being raised up off floor. IF HE DOES THEN JUST ASSURE HIM THAT WHEN THE WATER HEATER NEEDS TO BE REPLACED (and it will) YOU WILL BE SURE A PERMIT IS PULLED AND THAT IT WILL BE SET UP ON BLOCKS THEN... that should make him feel better... I hope!

Hey, I hope this helped. If it did please RATE THIS ANSWER!! . Thank you

ballengerb1 · Feb 17, 2008, 10:43 AM

Yep, you need to "feel out your inspector" to see how picky he is going to be. Most codes are the same but inspectors vary. As for grandfathering code violations I can suggest many other fictional books to read. Changes in code can be grandfathered but outright violations will not be. IE if code was 2" washer drain when your house was built and you have 2" but the new code, in 2009, requires a 3" drain you will be grandfathered. If your pipe was 1.5" you will be replacing that drain, and for good reason.

ululi · Feb 17, 2008, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Yep, you need to "feel out your inspector" to see how picky he is going to be. Most codes are the same but inspectors vary. As for grandfathering code violations I can suggest many other fictional books to read. Changes in code can be grandfathered but outright violations will not be. IE if code was 2" washer drain when your house was built and you have 2" but the new code, 2009, requires a 3" drain you will be grandfathered. If your pipe was 1.5" you will be replacing that drain. and for good reason.

Thanks to both replies! Well, I just keep my fingers crossed. Raising the heater by itself is not a big deal. The problem is clearance with the ceiling. There may be just enough room, but it's going to be a bear of a job to work in such a tight space. The heater is not that old, and I'd hate having to replace it with one with low-clearance.