I did this 10 years ago so not sure if it's still he same, but I was able to get a copy of all the permits on our house for $5 on a CD. It was a PDF of all the permits since the beginning of construction.
You might want to request that and then comb through to see if your property ever had a permit pulled for the bathroom
Our garage was also converted to a rec room, there's an old permit for a bathroom in it as well. When we wanted to renovate the rec room, the inspector made us tear the old bathroom and said it's not permitted. We showed the old permit we found online, and they still said, NO tear it. I had too much going on besides the renovation to really look into what I can or can't do but it was still messed up that I had to tear something I didn't even build to begin with.
Ran into a similar problem when we were redoing our wall. Originally built in 44 and converted in 66(I think).
Inspectors came to check the work and required us to redo that particular section of foundation because it didn't go deep enough. It was done to code at the time and hoped we could just be grandfather in but we were denied. I can fully appreciate work being done to modern code, but it added many thousands of dollars to the work and totally blew our budget right out of the water.
Makes me very gunshy about getting the city involved as we renovate our old house.
Do you have an architect or engineer for your planned work yet? They should know what new codes are needed for each part of the renovation. My inspector was so trigger happy, one of the things he cited us for was moving the old water heater. A water heater that has been unplugged and just sitting there...tried to bully me to moving it back to its original spot. Then he tried to tape a sign on the wall of my main house that said "No construction to be done until rec room bathroom is demolished" total power hungry people sitting in some of these positions. A lot of good service in Burbank too but that experience I had was quite annoying.
It truly is. I have a friend in Burbank who submitted permits years ago for an addition and it’s still not approved. Meanwhile, a friend in LA did a complete tear down of their home and added a second story. The permit was approved in 4 months and the house is already complete.
There's a house I pass on my running route that was torn down and has been in a rebuild since probably September. Everytime I pass it I'm always thinking, "What a terrible contractor they probably got. Who takes this long to finish the work. I'd be so upset."
This really helped me recontextualize that its entirely possible that they're stuck in the twilight zone of burbank permitting.
Absolutely. We bought a house there and waited \~2 years for them to approve our ADU. It wasn't rejected it was stuck in outsourced approval hell. We gave up and sold the house, because the conversion was part of our purchase plan.
If building obstructed a walkway or something I could better see the delay and whatnot, but this was in our backyard out of everyone's way with clear blueprints by a builder who had done this a hundred times before, every i dotted and every t crossed. It was a shame; we loved the house and neighborhood, but local government was a nightmare.
This has changed in the last year or two. It is just easier to get now, particularly if you don't intend to rent.
You are correct that in years past it was a complete nightmare and they basically never got approved.
Sounds like they didn't get a permit before demo. You can't demo until you have your permits signed off. Likely it's a terrible contractor or owner/builder
That is ridiculous. Your friend is either stretching the truth or there are extenuated circumstances. I've bought and renovated 10 houses in since 2016 and permits have never taken more than 4 months including COVID era. They must be doing something wrong. They should use a licensed architect
Burbank has told us it will be at least 8 months to break ground for a NON ADU prefab auxiliary structure (one room and a bathroom) - having friends in city hall shouldn’t count when you are shaming others
I have been in a similar situation and the half bathroom in my situation actually ended up included on the original permit after requesting the all the permits. Great advice already on this post for the resources to pull permits and not have to talk to anyone that might want to take a closer look which is exactly what I did. Also it might be permitted which puts you into a possible grandfathering situation if you’re not touching it. Good luck!
When you bought the house, was that bathroom included in the count of bathrooms in the house? If so, it should be legit. If your house was sold as, for example, 3 BR 1BA, then probably not.
When we bought ours it was 3BR 2BA, but one of those bathrooms was really only a half-bath (no tub or shower). When we remodeled, the house didn’t get reclassified so the permit process was easier.
A bath would be a separate permit. if the city has your rec room permit on file - they would have the bath. I would guess it was done shortly after the permit for the rec room was signed off on.
It's Burbank. Don't tempt fate!
A bathroom add-on was always a red flag for them--it implied granny flat, which until recently were basically forbidden after the 1970s. Also, garage conversions always required the construction of a new garage. Not sure about now. Do you have a garage there?
My advice: keep it to yourself for now. Maybe someday turn the rec room into an ADU.
I did this 10 years ago so not sure if it's still he same, but I was able to get a copy of all the permits on our house for $5 on a CD. It was a PDF of all the permits since the beginning of construction. You might want to request that and then comb through to see if your property ever had a permit pulled for the bathroom
You can look up the permit history for your address online here: [https://permit.burbankca.gov/epalspi/](https://permit.burbankca.gov/epalspi/)
Doesn't go back very far....at least not back to original construction in 1943 :>
ADU only, not rec rooms.
Correct. Bathrooms were a no-no.
It’s not included in a rec room.
Our garage was also converted to a rec room, there's an old permit for a bathroom in it as well. When we wanted to renovate the rec room, the inspector made us tear the old bathroom and said it's not permitted. We showed the old permit we found online, and they still said, NO tear it. I had too much going on besides the renovation to really look into what I can or can't do but it was still messed up that I had to tear something I didn't even build to begin with.
Ran into a similar problem when we were redoing our wall. Originally built in 44 and converted in 66(I think). Inspectors came to check the work and required us to redo that particular section of foundation because it didn't go deep enough. It was done to code at the time and hoped we could just be grandfather in but we were denied. I can fully appreciate work being done to modern code, but it added many thousands of dollars to the work and totally blew our budget right out of the water. Makes me very gunshy about getting the city involved as we renovate our old house.
Do you have an architect or engineer for your planned work yet? They should know what new codes are needed for each part of the renovation. My inspector was so trigger happy, one of the things he cited us for was moving the old water heater. A water heater that has been unplugged and just sitting there...tried to bully me to moving it back to its original spot. Then he tried to tape a sign on the wall of my main house that said "No construction to be done until rec room bathroom is demolished" total power hungry people sitting in some of these positions. A lot of good service in Burbank too but that experience I had was quite annoying.
No one yet. We're still shopping around contractors and prices.
Dealing with Permits in Burbank are a total nightmare - some of the worst in the country. You have my sympathies
It truly is. I have a friend in Burbank who submitted permits years ago for an addition and it’s still not approved. Meanwhile, a friend in LA did a complete tear down of their home and added a second story. The permit was approved in 4 months and the house is already complete.
There's a house I pass on my running route that was torn down and has been in a rebuild since probably September. Everytime I pass it I'm always thinking, "What a terrible contractor they probably got. Who takes this long to finish the work. I'd be so upset." This really helped me recontextualize that its entirely possible that they're stuck in the twilight zone of burbank permitting.
Absolutely. We bought a house there and waited \~2 years for them to approve our ADU. It wasn't rejected it was stuck in outsourced approval hell. We gave up and sold the house, because the conversion was part of our purchase plan. If building obstructed a walkway or something I could better see the delay and whatnot, but this was in our backyard out of everyone's way with clear blueprints by a builder who had done this a hundred times before, every i dotted and every t crossed. It was a shame; we loved the house and neighborhood, but local government was a nightmare.
ADUs are purposely difficult. The city doesn't want too many of them so they outsource it and blame them.
This has changed in the last year or two. It is just easier to get now, particularly if you don't intend to rent. You are correct that in years past it was a complete nightmare and they basically never got approved.
Sounds like they didn't get a permit before demo. You can't demo until you have your permits signed off. Likely it's a terrible contractor or owner/builder
That is ridiculous. Your friend is either stretching the truth or there are extenuated circumstances. I've bought and renovated 10 houses in since 2016 and permits have never taken more than 4 months including COVID era. They must be doing something wrong. They should use a licensed architect
Burbank has told us it will be at least 8 months to break ground for a NON ADU prefab auxiliary structure (one room and a bathroom) - having friends in city hall shouldn’t count when you are shaming others
I have been in a similar situation and the half bathroom in my situation actually ended up included on the original permit after requesting the all the permits. Great advice already on this post for the resources to pull permits and not have to talk to anyone that might want to take a closer look which is exactly what I did. Also it might be permitted which puts you into a possible grandfathering situation if you’re not touching it. Good luck!
When you bought the house, was that bathroom included in the count of bathrooms in the house? If so, it should be legit. If your house was sold as, for example, 3 BR 1BA, then probably not.
I'd have to go back and check that. The house itself is 3BR and 2BA, but I'm blanking if the garage/rec room bathroom was included.
When we bought ours it was 3BR 2BA, but one of those bathrooms was really only a half-bath (no tub or shower). When we remodeled, the house didn’t get reclassified so the permit process was easier.
Probably not permitted but an easy permit to pull. Bad if the construction is questionable. Burbank architect here.
A bath would be a separate permit. if the city has your rec room permit on file - they would have the bath. I would guess it was done shortly after the permit for the rec room was signed off on.
Forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown.
It's Burbank. Don't tempt fate! A bathroom add-on was always a red flag for them--it implied granny flat, which until recently were basically forbidden after the 1970s. Also, garage conversions always required the construction of a new garage. Not sure about now. Do you have a garage there? My advice: keep it to yourself for now. Maybe someday turn the rec room into an ADU.