codes and trailers...help plz

Hey everyone...seems I got myself between a rock and a hard place and HOPEFully someone can point me in the best direction....my parents gave me a trailer about a year back that had been built onto a long time ago. I have been making improvements on it while living there and almost have the whole thing rewired (i have family who are electricians and plumbers so I know everything is by code and correct). I also re-did all the plumbing. My problem is that I never got any permits b/c tons of ppl told me I shouldn't (including some important ppl in town, the said i would end up worse off). So what now?....do i just finish it and act like it was always like that?...what do i do if i wanna sell it in a year or two? (this is my first place)..

 

Skirting the requirements for building permits can come back to haunt you. There have been forum posts where basement remodels and attic conversions had to be ripped out because they were not permitted or walls ripped out to inspect plumbing and electrical.

"Tons of ppl told me I shouldn't." Did they work for the local building code office?

Savvy home buyers will pull the permits or have building inspector do so. Non-savvy home buyers will not, and you may skip buy.

FIY, always pull the permits. The building codes and permits exist to protect the public safety, health, and welfare.

 

Well...my dad is paranoid and said they would tell me to tear it all down if i went down there(alot of ppl dislike them in this town). I also fixed a section of the walll....when u really get down to it, its 5X better than wut it was though...

Also, i'm suppose to be doing this all by myself as the owner right?....does it matter if family just helps me? (i know your not suppose to higher ppl unless they are licensed)...but wut about family just basically telling whats right?

 

Assuming that all the work is covered up I'd leave it as is, depending on the inspector, pulling a permit now may lead to a lot more work. That is not to say that doing work without a permit is right or good, just that you have already made your bed.

Any place that allows the homeowner to do his own work doesn't mean you can't have family/friends help, you just can't hire an unlicensed contractor/helper. Unlicensed/uncertified workers is even more of reason for inspection - to prevent any dangerous or potentially dangersous work to be put into use.
BTW - family didn't tell you right when they said no permit.

Since a mobile home isn't high end housing you are less likely to have a prospective buyer dig deep into the home's history. More likely to be a problem with an insurance claim in the event of a claim linked to unpermitted work.