Wholesaler · Richmond, VA · Member since 2012 · 32 posts · 3 votes
Hello everyone,
I just came across a property in Richmond, VA that's listed in tax records as a 2 beds/1 bath with 900 sq ft. The house was built in 1955. A full dormer was added some years ago and the attic was converted to two additional bedrooms and a bath thus making the house 4 beds/2bath. The home inspector stated the original stairs leading up to the addition weren't wide enough and needed to be at least 36 inches wide and the steps needed to be at least 9 inches long and thus the addition wasn't up to code and wouldn't be considered as additional rooms and sq ft.
This was my first time hiring this particular inspector and this will be my first house with intensive repairs. In order to make this an attractive fix and flip I need the addition to qualify as square footage. Has anyone else experience a similar scenario? Any advice on how to move forward? I would like to know your thoughts.
Lender · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Dom Allen In my experiences, this varies so much from city to city and even from inspector to inspector. If you've already been told those things need to be changed, There's almost no way around it. I would find out if they would grandfather in the wiring/plumbing without making you open the walls, as that's going to be a lot more expensive than redoing a staircase.
Architect · Papillion, NE · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 840 votes
10y
You will have to do some demo to get the stairs wider and the trends the correct length. Im guessing you don't have room to do either. Your stair run will get longer due to increased tread width. Watch out for the headroom clearance as when you move the stair. You need 7' clear above each tread measured at the nosing. I bet you need to add somewhere around 30" to your stair run, but this is just a guess. Draw out to scale a stair section and plan before starting to give you the proper game plan. Solving one problem may create another.