My main worry .. well it's two-fold I guess. If I paid someone to do it, I'm worried about the "sticker shock." The other thing is timing, and yeah I can see that it would probably be spring before someone could do it, and that's .. so far away.
Do I need the permit? That's the $64 question, I get conflicting opinions on that one. If it were a pre-developed basement that I was just changing around, I wouldn't worry about it so much, but this going from a barebones concrete floor, no walls, no electrical (except for a few juryrigged circuits for my current tanks), no plumbing (well, a few drains roughed-in but that's it). And being that our hobby isn't exactly risk-free, my real main concern is that if it's not all 100% on the up-and-up that if something DID happen and I needed to make an insurance claim, that I'd be in really deep do-do.
Tim, incidentally, if you hire someone to do the work, supposedly they're responsible for any permits, not you as the homeowner. The homeowner only needs the permits if the intent is to DIY. That's the gyst I get from the City website anyhow. That's sort of the benefit to hiring someone, I wouldn't have to worry about what permits I'd need.
But on the other hand, going into debt by such a huge amount just to save on the headache of an afternoon or two of paperwork and so on, for getting the permits, .. hmmm, maybe it doesn't seem so smart. I don't know.
The other thing, between working and chasing the wee one, some weeks I barely have enough time or energy to clean the tanks, I don't see how I can envision taking on a whole freekin' basement.
Probably have to take a couple weeks vacation and do it that way, evenings and weekends: forget it, it'll take years!
Andy: heh heh. Sure. Hmmm, the thought of reefers and hammers and frags .. kinda scares me!!
