Leaving one wall standing
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Hello all. Been reading for a bit and recently joined. I am a homeowner with a full-time non-construction, non-trade job. I do light renovations as a hobby and to save money. My nasty habit is to overbuild.
I purchased a small home (24’ x 28’) in Maryland (4A) that was built in 1949. It has a basement that is fully underground on the front, and slopes on both sides until the back, which is only 2’ underground.
I have demo’d the home to bare studs in the walls and ceiling, and 1×6” diagonal plank subfloor. No electrical, plumbing or HVAC exist except for the cast iron sewer drain in the basement that is now jackhammer exposed. I also jackhammered a perimeter for a French drain/pressure relief system. The CMU basement is very humid. The DryLoc paint lasted 1 year before efflorescence bubbled through…..
I want to add a second floor (so entire roof is coming off) and make this house energy efficient with modern conveniences. Ideally, I would like to eventually remove all 4 perimeter 2×4 walls and replace with 2×6 perimeter walls. I have seen a couple of websites refer to “leaving one wall standing” to eliminate the headache of the county looking at the construction as a new build. I don’t know if this is true though. I also have some (not excessive) termite damage in the mud plate and rim joist. I would like to replace these so I can put in a gasket, termite shield, and PT lumber, but don’t want to run afoul of the building inspector.
Are there strategies to get around this? One place I read online wrote “There is usually a ‘misunderstanding’ between crew members, and the wall ‘accidentally’ gets removed. Or, the contractor says there was termite damage and needed to remove it.”
I hope I don’t razzle anyone the wrong way as I don’t want to start a discussion on ethics. I just want to know how I can make an energy efficient home without having to sister a 2×6 onto an existing 2×4 wall just to avoid a largely administrative hassle. Also, if you have advice that advises against this, I am also very interested in hearing.
With the home as small as it is (and easy square dimension), it wouldn’t add much to the cost by basically tearing it down to the CMU walls and rebuilding.
Thanks everyone. I plan on following up with additional questions as well as this place is a wealth of advice.
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Replies
The 'leave one wall' conversation usually revolves around a grandfathered building location on a site (ie - closer to a body of water than currently allowed) or grandfathered lot coverage (ie - larger building than currently allowed), or grandfathered setbacks (ie - closer to lot lines than currently allowed). I haven't actually come across it in person, as I believe a lot of jurisdictions allow the full reconstruction of grandfathered structures as long as it's done under a single building permit where you remove the existing structure and build the new one in one go. This was my experience in particular New England jurisdictions, I'm sure it varies place to place. I have no experience in Maryland.
That's a long way of saying I don't think this strategy is typically used to avoid remodel vs new-build permit fees, it's usually a zoning related trick.
The only way to know is to ask your local building inspector. Trying to outsmart them could be pricey. They may not be able to give you the full picture related to zoning concerns, if your community is large enough there will be a zoning clerk that can help you with that side of the question.
Zoning question aside, which you would have to check locally, there are a number of ways of adding in the 2nd story.
Our code allows for 2x4 12"OC to support more than one floor, so you can typically just sister the existing studs. With the small size you need two load bearing walls, you can leave two up and build two new ones out of 2x6.
Since you are building it yourself, there is very little cost difference between an 2x4 + 3" CI VS 2x6 + 1.5"CI (these both have the same assembly R value), so there is not a huge benefit in rebuilding unless the old wall is in bad shape.
You can also frame it like a timber frame building with LVLs supported on columns above the existing wall. You can easily span in either direction with three columns along the wall.
Generally the bigger issue is that people want taller living spaces, which does mean the old walls need to go.
Whichever way you go, make sure you have an engineer check that your foundation can support the extra load.
Thanks both of you. I left off a couple details for brevity. I want the existing 1st floor to be 9’ (along with the yet to be built 2nd floor). The architect drew up plans for an origami structure to add 1’ of height to the walls and I thought “I’ll just rebuild with 9’ 2x6.” and avoid the structure altogether. The reason I want to avoid sistering is to avoid the energy penalty of additional timber in the walls, as well as incorporate thicker insulation. The outside will be ZIP sheathing and LiquidFlash around openings.
The ceiling on the 1st floor will be rebuilt with 11 7/8” I-beams. The existing load-bearing wall in the center of the home will be removed and the I-beams will cover the entire 24’ span for an open concept design.
The engineer did a soil test in the basement and signed off on the plans.
I didn’t quite understand the “between an 2x4 + 3" CI VS 2x6 + 1.5"CI”. where are the 3” and 1.5 “ coming from for the insulation?
The values of the exterior insulation where for a high performance wall. You are in warmer climate so it probably doesn't make financial sense there.
Getting a well insulated wall is lot of times worth it for comfort perspective though. Adding 1.5" to a 2x4 wall doubles the assembly R value for not much cost. For new build the 2x6 with HD batts is probably a better value though.
What county are you in? I'm in Anne Arundel and my understanding is that as long as the footprint remains the same, you're good to go. Having said that, there's a new, anti-development county executive who read the riot act to the county buildings people and they're all going by the book even where they have discretion. So you want to be very sure of what they'll allow before you commit to anything.
If you're in AA county, you should be aware that there is a Residential Rehabilitation Program. If the tax value of the place is less than $350K, permit fees are waived and property tax increase is waived for 5 years.
Jacob,
What constitutes a renovation, rather than new construction, and when changes to a building necessitate bringing the whole thing up to compliance with current codes, are both judgement calls made by the jurisdiction issuing permits. Unfortunately there is no bright line, and as Sam said it will be largely dependant on what the municipal officials decide on a case by case basis. The only way to know in advance is to ask.
That is a scary thought. I have been working with the county folks for a while now, and I don't say this lightly: They are largely incompetent.
Jacob,
Well at least you know what to expect g0ing in...