My son lives in Killeen, TX and wanted to pour a 8x10 cement slab in his back yard for a small shed.
He contacted the city for a permit and they told him, that the slab had to be 10 feet from the property line. And he had to excavated the area, put rebar in the concrete.
I looked at what i could find and i can only find a building has to be 5 feet from property line.
Is the city code people right?
Just ask the code enforcement office to provide a reference for the construction standards. Then you will know if you are both looking at the same book.
Wayne
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
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in the long run if he's having to deal with knit picking building inspectors and codes it might be well worth whatever it costs for him to hire a local architect/engineer that deals with those folks on a regular basis to draw up plans and stamp em with his legal stamp to make the code folks happy
I would have poured it and ask for forgiveness if caught. Never ask permission for small stuff. But that is me.
Now I would forget about it.
for an 8x10 building, I would just call tuff shed and have them drop one off, comes with the floor already and its considered a temporary structure because it has no foundation and thus can be placed right on a property line.
if you are ever being chased by a taxidermist, don't play dead
He already has a little shed he put together. It has a wood floor. He wanted to do away with wood floor because bees are making nest under shed.
It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. Poor your slab. Play dumb. Case closed.
Flat cinder block foundation is easier and no code for it. Vapor/bug barrier under it.
Whatever!
Most places will gladly send you a copy of their ordinances and requirements.
I wasn't seated, but was called to city court jury duty once for a case involving a guy who had built a backyard shed
not in compliance with the city codes.
I didn't stick around to see how the case came out, but I'd guess he lost and had to move or get rid of it.
Your mileage may vary.
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In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
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EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
I was 99% done with the new garage / shop when they zoning board decided It couldnt be there, after issuing the building permit 2 months earlier.
Verify the setback, thickness, and reinforcing requirements with the city's Building Safety department and get a section/page/paragraph reference, in writing, for the information. Several years ago, the subcontractor doing the electrical on one of my projects got into a rather heated discussion with the city electrical inspector over the installation of a secondary electrical panel and when the electrician pulled out his copy of the city code to back up his position, the inspector said "I don't care what the book says, it's how I interpret it is the only thing that counts." This is NOT a 'war story', I was there and heard the conversation first hand but when I went to the City Administrator about it, his answer was that the inspector had recently updated the code to comply with current NEC so his interpretation had to be correct...case closed.
"I'm not often right but I've never been wrong."
Jimmy Buffett
"Scarlet Begonias"
most places 144 sqft needs no permit, certainly no rebar and poured floor. As for reference numbers to prove it. OR tear up floor in current bldg and pour floor. 80pound bag of ready mix is 0.6 cubic ft, or 2 sqft of 4 inch thick flooring. 4 sqft of 2 inch. rough estimation. So if you go with 4 inch, you need about 40 bags at about $4.25 per. That's $170 for cement. Add a 30 pack for the helpers, rent a mixer or build a mix box and use hoes - ( a wheel barrow will work), make a screeder ( u-tube). Get 'er done. Once started-do not stop till done
OR you could make your own floor tiles about a foot square-build wood 2x4 frames, now you can makes them over time and NO-ONE will notice anything, and you keep the 30 pack
best wishes
I believe that you can request his city to come approve the site ( after going before planning board and likely city council for structure approval). Have your son document the visit from the city official, and go from there. Each and every municipality I've lived in has had different 'code' - not worth finding out that an internet forum is mistaken.
The forgiveness rather than permission statement cost my baby brother $11,000 in May for a fence - just FYI.
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https://www.killeentexas.gov/Documen...tures-Brochure
ec. 31-474. - Rear yards. Accessory buildings or structures to residential uses shall be limited to twenty (20) feet in height and in sum shall not occupy more than twenty-five (25) percent of the area when located in a required rear yard, however no accessory building or structure shall be closer than five (5) feet to the main building, nor closer than five (5) feet to any rear lot line or five (5) feet to any interior side lot lines. In-ground swimming pools and above ground swimming pools shall be located only within the side yard or rear yard and shall not be placed in the front yard or the side street yard, exclusive of any publically dedicated utility or drainage easements, and shall be no closer than five (5) feet from any side lot line and ten (10) feet from any rear lot line.
Sec. 31-474. - Rear yards.
Accessory buildings or structures to residential uses shall be limited to twenty (20) feet in height and in sum shall not occupy more than twenty-five (25) percent of the area when located in a required rear yard, however no accessory building or structure shall be closer than five (5) feet to the main building, nor closer than five (5) feet to any rear lot line or five (5) feet to any interior side lot lines. In-ground swimming pools and above ground swimming pools shall be located only within the side yard or rear yard and shall not be placed in the front yard or the side street yard, exclusive of any publically dedicated utility or drainage easements, and shall be no closer than five (5) feet from any side lot line and ten (10) feet from any rear lot line.
^^^^^what this guy saidOriginally Posted by NyFirefighter357
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I lived in Texas for years, have no doubt they will not grant forgiveness, they don’t care of you’ve already built something, however small it is, they will order you to tear it down. Saw it several times during my years there. Sometimes I miss living in Texas but I do not miss the bureaucracy there.
Might as well do what the city wants. I was putting up a shed in NJ years ago that was One Foot to close to the line and had to be moved. Luckily it was caught early and the inspector wasn't a total jerk. I have seen where a fully completed house had to be torn down. I know because the guy gave me the windows just for taking them out.
I'm in Wake county NC. If you haven't had the lot boundaries surveyed then your better off to pull a string and pour your slab 12 feet off the line if they said 10. In Wake they take into account all the structure. If your roof eve hangs past your back wall 1 foot, like on most houses, than the measurement is from the eve. In Raleigh the rain runoff from the roof can't fall in the setback area. I add an extra foot so there's no chance to be wrong and have to pay for a survey.
Our slabs cannot be poured on top of any organic material which includes top soil. We have to dig down to base material and makeup the height with compacted stone or abc to get our slab to the height we want. As long as we build according to state building code we don't have to get an engineer's letter or architect's drawing. Don't know why you need rebar when contractors fiber added to the mix will take all the load you'll put in a shed. One yard of concrete will give you a slab 8'x10'x 4" thick with enough leftover to give you an apron to roll your stuff in the door.
Around here the city and county pay a reward for folks turning in others that are doing construction without a permit. Not just neighbors, but the trash guys, meter readers, cable installers....whoever will rat you out.
Now, Texas may be a whole nother thing.
I have used the fiber concrete (fibercrete) before for a slab where I park my truck, and have seen some people use cut up wire "hog panels" (usually 4'x16') for re-enforcing the concrete pour, instead of rebar.
There is also 6x6 inch steel mesh, 9 gauge I think, in panels or 6 foot wide rolls. Use blocks or pull it up into the middle of the slab.
Mal
Mal Paso means Bad Pass, just so you know.
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