Tried skipping permits for a small patio job and it backfired badly

I took on a concrete patio pour in my own backyard last spring, figured it was small enough to skip pulling permits with the city. The job itself went smooth, leveled fine, looked good. But my neighbor spotted the work and called code enforcement because he was mad about some fence line dispute. They showed up two weeks later, made me stop work, and I had to tear out the whole slab at my own cost. $1,800 down the drain plus a $300 fine for not having the permit. Learned the hard way that cutting corners on paperwork just costs more in the long run in LA. Has anyone else dealt with code enforcement over a small project they thought would slide?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor_flores1mo ago

Call me crazy @iris_rivera44 but permits are just a money grab half the time and it sounds like your neighbor was the real problem, not the paperwork. You could have waited him out or offered to fix the fence dispute before pouring and saved that $2,100.

iris_rivera441mo ago

People really don't get how far some neighbors will go when they hold a grudge. That fence dispute probably made your backyard patio a target from the start, so even if it was perfect they'd have found some reason to call it in. The city doesn't care if your pour was level or looked good, they just see a violation on paper and that's that. It is wild how a simple permit can be the difference between a done project and a ripped out slab with a fine. Throwing away $1,800 plus the fine for what could have been a $100 permit fee is rough, but now you know exactly how they operate out here.