Basement development?

[Delphinus]

Who's done it or could recommend a contractor (not that I hold my breath for finding anyone who's available these days..)? Any fish-friendly contractors or architectural firms and/or whatnot?

I kind of find the whole permit process kinda overwhelming.

Near as I can figure, if I do this myself, I need:
- building permit (basement development)
- electrical permit
- plumbing permit
- heating permit (ducting?) ?? (Really? or is that only if a new furnace goes in?)

The electrical one seems not too bad. The building one though, I think I need about 17 billion different drawings before I can go apply for it.

[AJ_77]

I did my own basement drawing, Tony - and it was no big deal, believe me.

Then I used these guys: www.urban-renewal.ca

Give Jonathan a call, see what he says.

[AndyL]

[sarcasm]
Rumor has it the next frag party is at tony's Apparently we swing hammers for a while... Drink a few beers, then tony pays for our labour in frags
[/sarcasm]

[Snappy]

Do you really need permits for developing a basement? Sounds like the city's way for a property tax grab. Once they know you made improvements they increase your assessment. As far as contractors go, once you know what you want to do exactly, my son in-law is a framer and all around handy guy and is priced very reasonably.

[Cap'n]

I finished the basement suite a little while ago and now I'm on to the loft in our old fixer-upper. I haven't even considered getting a permit because I'm mostly just fixing things that were done wrong or worn out and all my work is interior where it isn't blatantly obvious. Once I get to adding exterior structures or need to hire someone I'll probably do the permit thing.

I would suggest talking to a contractor ASAP so they can squeeze you in come springtime. Contractors in Calgary are swamped, which is also why the city will never notice if you forget one or two extra bills. I know a few good contractor's if you're interested.

Don't worry about the tanks, Tony. Any competant builder will be able to incorporate them into the plan you want.

[Delphinus]

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!!

[Midknight]

1 - Yes you would need a permite if you are changing electrical & plumming.
2 - If you hire a contractor and he says "don't worry about permits" I would worry about they because if they screw up you are the one that could be in trouble.
All new electical needs to be inspected to comply with your insurance.
Or so i beleive...

[OCDP]

Tony,

FWIW ... my dad has his own contracting company.. he does tons upon tons of side jobs, developing basements, bathrooms, whatever it may be... he does the drawings as well. He developed a basement for some friends a couple years ago.. buddy wanted his basement into a pub, and a pub he got.. it turned out and looks like a full on pub. Anyways.. I hope I'm on the right page, if not .. ignore me... but he's great with developing , well.. anything IMHO.

My dad would be more than willing to hear you out on what needs to be done and so on... so if your up for anything let me know.. and again, if I'm way out to lunch on this post then ignore me... it's Monday, I'm tired ...

[Delphinus]

Hi Midknight - I didn't mean to say that a contractor would say "don't worry about the permits you don't need them", I meant that a contractor is supposed to say "don't worry about the permits, you need them, but I am supposed to take care of all that." It's sort of outlined in our city's webpages, I'm not sure how much this varies from municipality to municipality.

Scott - no you're not off base - maybe PM me his contact info and I can give him a call sometime. Sounds like there are a few people on here who know people, that's awesome. Ultimately I think what's going to happen is I'm going to DIY anyhow, just on account of timing and funds (at least I can blame myself for going over budget and not finishing on time), but I wouldn't mind a few #'s that I could call just to try to get a feel of "what it would cost to have someone else do it."

[Cap'n]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Andy: heh heh. Sure. Hmmm, the thought of reefers and hammers and frags .. kinda scares me!!

Don't forget about the beer!