I was having my bathroom remodeled in PA. I looked on the website for my city and it said nothing about a bathroom needing a permit. My contractor said that I should not need one since I am not changing the structure but only pulling out a tub and putting a new one in and also a new sink. Well after 2 days of work, my nice little neighbor across the street called the inspector who came down and immediately accused me of illegal construction. He was very rude from the get go. I was shocked so I asked what I needed to do? He said I needed to have the contractor stop and he could fine me $2000 a day and hold the permit for 30 days which would cost me $60,000. I said in a shock, you mean a fine? And he said, "oh so you want to be fines do you!" and he said something on his nextel. I said no, that's not what I meant! I just want to get this resolved! Why are you being such a jerk? I asked. He said, oh, are you threatening me, I will call 911 if I have to. Then he proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs that my neighbors must hate me! He screamed this. Then he screamed, you don't know the law do you! (which I thought I did according to the website). At that moment, my guy came out and he seemed to calm down. Was he treating me different because I was female? I asked him where I needed to go to get the permit, and all he would say was, I dunno, I dunno. Basically playing stupid. My guy then talked to him. He seemed to calm down. At that point he refused to talk to me. I asked if I could just get a permit. He said, "I will give a permit to you but not to her!" referring to my contractor. So he went down and filed the permit. It has been 2 days and when I call down there, the lady says it is still in the bin and they just haven't gotten around to it. My bathroom is half apart and I have kids! We haven't bathed in 4 days but I am afraid to do anything because these guys could make it worse for me I feel. I have drywall and materials in my living room. It would be done by now if it wasn't for this! What can I do??? I heard these people can make your lives a living hell. I would like to not take it but fight back against unprofessional behavior and retaliation. I just want the permit so I can get on with it and get my bathroom finished. My house is almost inhabitable which is what the inspectors office seems to be doing to me. I thought they were there to protect us as public officials? I am afraid of his threats to fine me. Really afraid to call. In fact, I just called and the lady at the permit office told me she will call me when the permit is approved. (STUCK) I feel people should not be punished for trying to improve their bathroom. (The old one had all the shingles falling down and water was washing behind the tub and if I had waited, I would have rotted my joints). What do you do if you call an emergency plumber service with water gushing everywhere? Wait to do work until you can pull a permit?

I am planning on remodeling our very tiny galley kitchen and adjoining family room by expanding out about 8 feet. The problem is, neither one of us has an eye for what goes together. We both know what we like/don't like when we see it, but just aren't creative enough to coordinate things on our own. So, are we better off getting an interior designer's perspective first, or hiring an architect? Are architects trained in any way to help people decide on things like what countertop color looks best with a particular cabinetry color? On the flip side, would an interior designer be aware of things like plumbing & electrical requirements/codes? This is the home we plan on staying in for at least the next 15 years, until our children finish school, so we'd like to make it very much "ours". Can anyone help?