Grant County farmland
Handyman in George, WA
George sits in open irrigated farmland where the wind gets a long uninterrupted run at anything standing on it. Repairs, doors that will not close, fences that have taken one windy season too many, and the outbuildings that carry most of a rural property.
George By The Numbers
Inside George city limits a one-story detached accessory structure is exempt from a building permit only up to 200 square feet, and only one may be placed on a lot without a permit. The second shed is a permit job even at the same size.
In unincorporated Grant County an accessory structure up to 1,500 square feet may go up before the primary residence exists. It cannot be used for residential occupancy, business or industrial use.
In unincorporated Grant County a deck is exempt only when it meets all four conditions at once, one of them being not more than 30 inches above grade at any point. One corner over that line puts the whole deck back in the permit column.
Grant County's published design criteria set an 18 inch frost line depth, a 30 psf ground snow load and a 110 mph ultimate wind speed. Footings, posts and roof framing all key off those three numbers.
For an enclosed post-frame shop up to 10 feet from the top of pier to the truss bottom chord, Grant County's prescriptive handout requires a 39 inch deep post hole. That is the county number, not a city one.
Inside George city limits a fence may be 6 feet anywhere on an interior or corner lot, except within 20 feet of the front street property line, or within 20 feet of the side street property line on a corner lot, where wood and hedges drop to 3 feet and chain link without sight obscuring slats drops to 4 feet. On a corner lot in unincorporated Grant County the controlling number is different: a sight triangle with two 30 foot sides measured along the lot lines from the corner has to stay clear.
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Permits In George
Anything on a platted lot inside the George city limits runs through the city's own building chapter: houses, sheds, shops, decks, fences, additions and demolition. George rewrote the state shed exemption, and the 200 square foot line survives. What the city added on top is the part to check, because only one accessory structure may be placed on a lot without a permit.
Every parcel outside the George city line goes here, which covers the irrigated farmland, the shops, pole barns, carports, pump houses and long fence runs. The county publishes the IRC exemption list verbatim, so the numbers that decide most jobs out here are fixed and public. A retaining wall is one of them, exempt only up to 4 feet measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, and not exempt at any height if it supports a surcharge, meaning a slope, driveway or structure bearing above it.
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Based in Quincy, serving nine towns across Grant, Douglas, and Chelan counties
What Breaks Around George
- Posts go deep out here. Grant County sets an 18 inch frost line depth, and its prescriptive post-frame handout puts an enclosed shop on a 39 inch deep post hole.
- Roofs get framed for 30 psf of ground snow. Grant County pairs that ground snow load with a 110 mph ultimate wind speed, so carports and patio covers have to be sized for both.
- Fence rules change at the city line. In George a fence may be 6 feet except within 20 feet of a front street property line, or a side street property line on a corner lot, where wood and hedges drop to 3 feet and chain link without sight obscuring slats to 4, while out in unincorporated Grant County a corner lot has to keep a 30 foot sight triangle clear.
Questions
George Questions
The answer changes at the George city line, so each one names the desk and the number it turns on.
Do I need a permit for a shed here, and does it matter if I already have one?
It matters, but only inside the city. Both desks exempt a one-story detached accessory structure up to 200 square feet from a building permit, whether you are on a platted lot in town or on a parcel out in unincorporated Grant County.
The City of George added a per-lot cap the state code does not have. Inside the city limits only one may be placed on a lot without a permit, so a second 200 square foot shed in George needs one even though the first did not.
How big can I build a deck before it needs a permit?
In unincorporated Grant County a deck is exempt only if it meets all four conditions at once. Not exceeding 200 square feet, not more than 30 inches above grade at any point, not attached to a dwelling, and not serving the required exit door.
Height and attachment are the two that catch people. A deck that steps down a slope can sit under 30 inches at the house and over it at the far corner, and that one point pulls the whole deck in. Bolting it to the wall or landing it at the main door does the same.
Do I need a permit to reroof the house?
For a residential structure in unincorporated Grant County, no. Stripping and recovering an existing roof does not require a building permit, which covers the ordinary tear off and replace on a house out past the city line.
The condition attached to it is layers. Recovering is allowed, but two or more layers of any type of roof covering is not to be exceeded, so a recover over what is already up there stays capped at two. If there are two on now, they come off before the new one goes down.
What snow load and frost depth does a shop or carport out here get built to?
Grant County publishes the numbers, so there is nothing to guess. Ground snow load 30 psf, roof live load 20 psf, frost line depth 18 inches, wind speed 110 mph ultimate, and Seismic Design Category C. Those are the county design criteria every framing and footing decision keys off.
Frost depth and wind speed are the two that change the build. Eighteen inches sets how deep the footing goes, and 110 mph is the wind the same structure gets designed against. A post-frame shop carries one more number, a 39 inch post hole under the county's prescriptive handout.
Can I build the shop before I build the house?
Outside the city line, yes. Unincorporated Grant County allows accessory structures not exceeding 1,500 square feet prior to the construction of a primary use, so the shop can go up on a bare parcel and the house can follow.
The limit is what you do inside it. The structure cannot be used for residential occupancy, business or industrial use, so it is a shop and storage building, not somewhere to live while the house goes up and not somewhere to run a business out of. Stay under 1,500 square feet and keep the use accessory.
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