Handyman in Wenatchee, WA

Inside Wenatchee city limits, no building permit if the shed is 200 square feet or less. It also has to be one story, sit five feet or more from every property line, and stand a foot or more clear of every other structure. Miss either distance and the code calls it attached, which means a permit.

Outside the city, unincorporated Chelan County exempts up to 288 square feet. Same one story limit, larger footprint. The same shed can be exempt at a county address and permitted work at a city address, so the answer starts with which side of the line the lot is on.

Eighteen inches inside the city, twenty four in unincorporated Chelan County. The City of Wenatchee design criteria table sets the 18 inch frost line depth. The county sets 24 inches for the same work.

This is the fact most commonly gotten wrong here. A crew that works both sides of the line and carries one number digs short or deep every time it crosses. Give us the address and the footing gets designed to the jurisdiction that inspects it.

No permit inside city limits if the deck is not more than 30 inches above adjacent grade at any point. At any point is the part that catches people on a sloped lot, since the low corner is what pushes a deck over the line.

There is a second condition. The deck also cannot serve the required exit door, and if it does it is permitted work no matter how low it sits, per the city exemption list.

Under the city building code, no permit for a fence not over 6 feet high. That settles the building permit question and nothing else.

Zoning sets a separate height limit. In residential and mixed use zones a fence in the street or street side setback area is capped at four feet if it is solid. So a six foot solid fence can be permit exempt and still be too tall for the spot you want it in.

Yes, inside Wenatchee city limits a reroof is permitted work. Reroofing is not on the city's permit exemption list, so it needs a building permit.

Check the snow load while the roof is open. The city design criteria table sets a flat roof snow load of 40 psf, marked non-reducible. That figure is a flat roof design load and is not the same thing as a ground snow load.

Look the registration number up with the state, not with the contractor. Washington requires contractor registration through Labor and Industries, and you can pull a registration number, bond and liability policy through the state Verify a Contractor lookup.

Ask for the number before anyone starts work. We are licensed, bonded and insured, and we hand the registration number over so you can run it yourself rather than take our word for it. Estimates are free either way.