Basement Development & Associated Costs

[KTrain]

What sort of costs are involved in getting the permits? How long do the permits stay on the city record?

After looking at the permit document troutman posted I have a question. It says I need to include the names of any contractors and that those contractors are required to hold a valid City of Calgary business licence. If I'm doing the majority of the work myself how does this apply?

I want to do this development right as we're going to be staying in this house for a long time.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by troutman

That is an interesting question that we have been discussing. The standard Real Estate Contract contains warranties from the vendor that the building is in compliance with all municipal by-laws etc. There is a two year limitation period in Alberta.

I would come down on the side of probably. I think the Courts may well attach a duty of care to subsequent owners and allow a negligence claim. Standard of care is pretty easy to establish by the Building Code, and remoteness isn't really an issue, especially with the contractual warranties you mention. I'm certainly not aware of any precedents though, and caveat emptor may have some role to play.

[MacDaddy77]

Originally Posted by DESS

I did the same thing in 2005, with about the same square footage - one bedroom, one family room and one bathroom, as well as a storage room/furnace room.

I paid a guy to do it and it was only $24,000. He did a good job. Other quotes were as high as $40,000 for the same thing.

Don't bother with permits. You'll just have to pay more in taxes every year on top of the cost of the permits.

I am now in the taping stage of my basement development. I have done everything myself so far and to date it has cost me around $1000.00 yes that's $1000.00.

Like other people have stated, the electrical was super easy.

The only things I'm not soing are the carpet and the bar.

All told when I'm finished it should cost me around $3500.00 for my completed basement. ($3525.00 when I win Gobsgraham's Golden Tee draw!!)

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by KTrain

What sort of costs are involved in getting the permits? How long do the permits stay on the city record?

After looking at the permit document troutman posted I have a question. It says I need to include the names of any contractors and that those contractors are required to hold a valid City of Calgary business licence. If I'm doing the majority of the work myself how does this apply?

I want to do this development right as we're going to be staying in this house for a long time.

It's only if going to use contractors. If someone is charging to do renovations the city wants to make sure they're licensed.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

I am now in the taping stage of my basement development. I have done everything myself so far and to date it has cost me around $1000.00 yes that's $1000.00.

Like other people have stated, the electrical was super easy.

The only things I'm not soing are the carpet and the bar.

All told when I'm finished it should cost me around $3500.00 for my completed basement. ($3525.00 when I win Gobsgraham's Golden Tee draw!!)

yep, I've got a pal helping me with mine, it'll be around $2000 before flooring (might wait and do that later). Well worth the savings. I know next to nothing about doing this stuff, but he's more than happy to show me.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by KTrain

What sort of costs are involved in getting the permits? How long do the permits stay on the city record?

After looking at the permit document troutman posted I have a question. It says I need to include the names of any contractors and that those contractors are required to hold a valid City of Calgary business licence. If I'm doing the majority of the work myself how does this apply?

I want to do this development right as we're going to be staying in this house for a long time.

The permit for electrical is around $70. The building permit will likely be in the $70 range too; just be sure to estimate your cost of materials low- $1500 should be fine.

As for getting a subcontractor to do the work, I know some people get a homeowner's permit, then say that they and a buddy did the work. The important thing is to make sure you know how everything works; the inspector asked me a couple of technical questions about my plumbing to test to see if I had done it myself.

With the electrical, the guy made a comment about it looking very professional. I started to tell him that my father is a licensed electrician, and he interupted me saying "ah, your dad helped- good to have a father like that." He then started to sign off on the inspection. I then told him that my dad lives in Winnipeg, and when I was a teenager I would spend summers helping him out with odd jobs. Basically my point is he was less concerned that I was related to an electrician that might have helped me; and was more interested in the quality of work that was done.

As for how long the permits stay- I don't know for sure. They stay on your "My Property" report for 3 years, and there is a big yellow permit sticker that stays on your electrical panel forever. (Unless for some strange reason you remove it- which I can't see why you would.)

[Tower]

Originally Posted by ken0042

With respect to the permit/no permit debate- let me add the single most important reason for getting one- resale.

Let's say 5 years from now you are looking to sell, and it happens to be a bit of buyer's market. You accept a good offer based on an inspection. Now the inspector finds the basement never had it's permits pulled, and the buyer wants thousands off to get it back up to code.

Never mind the insurance
Never mind the fact that its a good idea to have somebody else double check your work on "things that can start fires."

Yes, it's a hassle. Yes, it will add a few dollars to your monthly tax bill. But I still think it's a good idea.

I never said don't get it inspected!

Don't bother to get a freaking permit! You don't need permission to upgrade your own property. Any bylaw says you do? Ha ha that's a joke in itself. However I won't go into that topic as the derailment will be fun....

Always get someone to inspect the work. That is common sense.
The CITY OF CALGARY get's enough money from it's tax payers.

The only argument that would stand is if your house is owned or the bank owns it. Is it paid for free and clear? If not then the other owners (bank) will want you to get a permit.

[onetwo_threefour]

Originally Posted by Tower

I never said don't get it inspected!

Don't bother to get a freaking permit! You don't need permission to upgrade your own property. Any bylaw says you do? Ha ha that's a joke in itself. However I won't go into that topic as the derailment will be fun....

Always get someone to inspect the work. That is common sense.
The CITY OF CALGARY get's enough money from it's tax payers.

The only argument that would stand is if your house is owned or the bank owns it. Is it paid for free and clear? If not then the other owners (bank) will want you to get a permit.

I really wish you would just stop... The bank does not own your house, they have an interest in it. Yes, you should get permits. Having the home inspected by the city after you do the work costs the same as taking out the permit, so why not just follow the rules so that the city will review your plans in advance and point out any problems for you?

The idea behind a permit is so that we all know that generally incompetent people aren`t going out and running their own electrical and gas line that may blow up one day and burn down a whole neighbourhood of houses that are eight feet apart from each other.

[Shazam]

Taping and mudding walls = easy.

Taping and mudding ceiling = hell on earth.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

As someone who works with various codes on a daily basis this is quite possibly the single most ######ed thing I have ever read.

You're tainted because of the work you do. He writes way dumber things...

BTW, I own my car. Do I need to get a license?

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

I really wish you would just stop... The bank does not own your house, they have an interest in it. Yes, you should get permits. Having the home inspected by the city after you do the work costs the same as taking out the permit, so why not just follow the rules so that the city will review your plans in advance and point out any problems for you?

The idea behind a permit is so that we all know that generally incompetent people aren`t going out and running their own electrical and gas line that may blow up one day and burn down a whole neighbourhood of houses that are eight feet apart from each other.

Also so they know to charge you more on your property taxes.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Feel free to derail the thread now.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

The idea behind a permit is so that we all know that generally incompetent people aren`t going out and running their own electrical and gas line that may blow up one day and burn down a whole neighbourhood of houses that are eight feet apart from each other.

Damn straight. That job is meant for incompetent builders

[mac_gurl]

We are also developing our basement right now. The hubby is an electrician, and so far he has spent about $500 on wire and all the fixtures.

I agree with MacDaddy77, $3500 is about what we are anticipating to spend.

[Tower]

Originally Posted by onetwo_threefour

I really wish you would just stop... The bank does not own your house, they have an interest in it. Yes, you should get permits. Having the home inspected by the city after you do the work costs the same as taking out the permit, so why not just follow the rules so that the city will review your plans in advance and point out any problems for you?

The idea behind a permit is so that we all know that generally incompetent people aren`t going out and running their own electrical and gas line that may blow up one day and burn down a whole neighbourhood of houses that are eight feet apart from each other.

I'll never stop.

If you bought your house paid and clear do you have paper that say's you own it? As in Joe Shmoe owns this house. A deed? Chances are the bank didn't give it too you. But you did receive a piece of paper saying something along the lines of tenant or regent. Not owner. What does your say?

Follow who's rules? Not mine!

[Tower]

Originally Posted by Barnes

You're tainted because of the work you do. He writes way dumber things...

BTW, I own my car. Do I need to get a license?

Did you register it?

Then the government owns half of your car/truck.

De register it and you don't. A driver is only a person who is using the road for commerce. If your not a truck driver/pizza boy/taxi you don't need to be a driver and do not need permission to travel nor a license to do it.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Potty

Consider a T-Bar ceiling in the basement. It is so nice to have easy access to plumbing/electrical in the ceiling in the event you make any future changes to your house, both in the basement or upstairs.

Sorry for my ignorance... what's a T-Bar ceiling?? Developing our basement is a higher priority for us right now then renovating our kitchen. But renovating the kitchen is also in our near-ish future. Contractors are recommending that we do whatever we want upstairs first before finishing the whole basement and then needing to muck up ceilings and walls later to access plumbing. So... is this not really true?

Also, every recommendation we've heard so far is if there's one thing to leave to the pros, it's the mudding and taping. I don't know if that's due to the crappiness of doing the work itself or difficulty of doing a quality job yourself, but that's just what we've heard.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Tower

Did you register it?

Then the government owns half and you do.

De register it and you don't. A driver is only a person who is using the road for commerce. If your not a truck driver/pizza boy/taxi you don't need to be a driver and do not need permission to travel nor a license to do it.

I had trouble getting home insurance on my previous house due to their wariness of the electrical upgrades that had been done. And the upgrades and new box that was installed had even been permitted. So regardless of the bank and City influence, in my experience you could run into trouble getting insurance somewhere down the line if your work isn't permitted.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I had trouble getting home insurance on my previous house due to their wariness of the electrical upgrades that had been done. And the upgrades and new box that was installed had even been permitted. So regardless of the bank and City influence, in my experience you could run into trouble getting insurance somewhere down the line if your work isn't permitted.

This is true. If you do your own electrical work for a basement developement, without a permit, and your house burns down, your insurance company can deny your claim.

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Peanut

Sorry for my ignorance... what's a T-Bar ceiling??

YESS,

I have been waiting to do this.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+T-Bar+ceiling%3F

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

YESS,

I have been waiting to do this.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+T-Bar+ceiling%3F

I'm so not clicking that link at work.