Thinking of closing in screened porch

[Anonymous]

We have a three season porch which we barely use. We got a quote from a contractor who said we don’t need a permit to close it in, is that true? We are in Montgomery county.

[Anonymous]

Not needing a permit would astonish me.

[Anonymous]

We did this. Our GC got a permit.

[Anonymous]

Screened porches and 3 season rooms count towards lot coverage in MoCo. So while you technically might not need a building permit if you are not making any structural changes you’ll need to make sure it doesn’t exceed the lot coverage for your property.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Screened porches and 3 season rooms count towards lot coverage in MoCo. So while you technically might not need a building permit if you are not making any structural changes you’ll need to make sure it doesn’t exceed the lot coverage for your property.

But if they're just closing in an existing screened porch the lot coverage will be the same.

[Anonymous]

We did not need a building permit when we replaced our (wood frame + nylon mesh) sides with normal exterior house walls (with glass windows and fiberglass doors).

Note there was no electrical or plumbing work when we did this (so there were no power outlets in the new exterior walls). Also, the roof framing did not change at all. We did put insulation above the ceiling and below the existing untouched roof framing.

If there is any licensed trade work (plumbing, electrical, etc.) or if the roof structure changes, then I think a building permit probably would be required (and also desirable for the homeowner, as county inspectors would check the permitted work).

[Anonymous]

Can you get a permit after the work is done?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did not need a building permit when we replaced our (wood frame + nylon mesh) sides with normal exterior house walls (with glass windows and fiberglass doors).

Note there was no electrical or plumbing work when we did this (so there were no power outlets in the new exterior walls). Also, the roof framing did not change at all. We did put insulation above the ceiling and below the existing untouched roof framing.

If there is any licensed trade work (plumbing, electrical, etc.) or if the roof structure changes, then I think a building permit probably would be required (and also desirable for the homeowner, as county inspectors would check the permitted work).

Oh, no, I think what OP is describing is that they just did it without a permit and not to code. You can’t just elect not to have outlets in some of your walls. That’s not how it works. They didn’t “need” a permit in the sense that no one stopped this. If I looked at a house for sale where the porch had been closed in with no electrical, I would just walk right back out. It’s a can of worms now.