if you finish your basement

Do you have to get any sort of permit, or have an inspector from the town come?

Does this make your taxes go up in any way?

I am clueless about this stuff.

Thanks so much for any help!

Re: if you finish your basement

you probably won't need to unless you are upgrading your plumbing or electrical work (adding electric of a bathroom or something like that)

Re: if you finish your basement

In Town of Islip you need a CO for a finished basement. I found that out 8 years after we purchased our house and did renovations (dormer added to part of the second floor). We didn't realize it was required and should have been on the CO when we purchased. There is no plumbing, half the basement has finished walls, drop ceiling, floor and dry bar. We had to pay for a permit with fines (about $800), add a self-closing door with metal back between the finished and unfinished side, add drywall to seal off the underside and edges of the unfinished stairs, add additional wall or railing on the stairs, and fire-retardant sheetrock over the furnace. It was basically fire saftey regulations since the basement was now "living space" and the new CO now specifically states that there is no water or plumbing other than the washer & water heater/boiler.

If you just add walls and floor yourself the town may never know, but it could come back to haunt you when you try to sell or when you do any renovations where you get a permit and the town does come to inspect.

Re: if you finish your basement

to my understanding in my village you need a CO and yes your taxes will go up because its added living space. We also can't have a bathroom LEGALLY in the basement. I think its not a big deal to get a CO for a finished room as long as everything is accessible (elect box/furnace/water tank/main shut off valves/etc.) if you don't get one right away.

My parents have a partial finished basement with bathroom/sink and in order to sell we would have to rip out the bathroom/sink area but its so old it really needs to be done anyway. But the rest of the main stuff is open for inspection.

you can do it with out a CO then you will have to pay for permits/inspections and possible fines (depending on how long it takes you to get the proper CO) if you try to sell.

Re: if you finish your basement

if you never plan on moving or having anyone go down there from the state.

We did finish the basement and never said anything, but when we were selling the house we got the CO. Not a big deal to get. Was pricey and the taxes do go up.

Re: if you finish your basement

Thank you all for the info. We have to look into it more. We are only planning on finishing the walls and putting in a floor, so I don't know if it's worth alerting the town to and having taxes go up, KWIM?