Home Construction Help

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by spawn

Talk to your lawyer, if the county approved the D.P. in the first place, & is now trying to say that the windows are against local fire code, it shouldn't be on you to pay to fix it. The house does not look that old, so someone must have seen & approved it???

That's no really true, if it was passed before then fine as long as you don't change it.... If you want it replaced they wil ask you to do so according wiu code fo your city at present time

[spawn]

Like I said ALL IN average Sq.Ft. Price's $25-40 Per Sq.Ft. $25000-40000 for about 1000 Sq.Ft. 16 years Experience. & Busy.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by spawn

Like I said ALL IN average Sq.Ft. Price's $25-40 Per Sq.Ft. $25000-40000 for about 1000 Sq.Ft. 16 years Experience. & Busy.

I can agree to that , there's always ways to make it " cheaper " but if you want it done by people who specialize in these trades it's gonna be pricey... But hopefully done right , keep it simple and get a plan going don't do it flying by the edge of your seat lol that seat gets uncomfortable

just for spawn lol I'll put down As well business owner and general contrator for 13yrs with over 20 years in all trades and over 200 happy customers and referrals in Edmonton

prices for trades seem to be higher in Calgary , one if my customers us based out of Calgary and I'm constantly fighting to get Calgary prices, not a lot of difference but a bit

[toxic111]

Originally Posted by The Codfather

Realistically, I think if you are contracting out all this work, you can add a 0 after those numbers. Just my opinion, but material alone is going to be more than $5000 to finish that size of basement. I see a rough in for a bathroom, trust me unless you are doing the work yourself, it's a bit more than a few grand. Just my 2 cents.
Bob

My numbers were based on what the OP had asked for, which was not to finish a basement. For a finished basement I use anywhere from $60 to $125/ft2 budget.

I usually know my budget pricing pretty close, since I am in the industry.

Now for the fire code, that is different. I don't have my code book here, but if I remember correctly if you are closer than 1.2m to a property line you can not have any unprotected openings on a house (windows & doors)

There might be something you can do to keep the windows. Find out if they (the county or rm) would accept a sprinkler protected window. Which would mean having a sprinkler head installed right above the window. We use them in fire rated assemblies to have large openings of glass. There is usually a head on each side of the opening, but in this case it only needs to be protected from one side.

My questions is on the age of the home, usually if it is an existing home a varience would be granted no problem & be grandfathered.

Just for a FYI on me, 15+ years in residential & commercial design & 10+ years in construction.

And with a full basement finish, easliy $10,000 to do, I have about $8k in my basement & I have 2 bedrooms to paint & install floooring yet, plus a bathroom to completly finish.

[spawn]

Cheers to Reefwars, & I think if the rates for Lloydminster are correct & from what I here they're not far off, & somewhat Toxic. I might consider moving there. However I've been in Cowtown since before the boom, through it, and successfully after, & without crazy price fluctuations. The market correction was the best thing that could have happened for honest quality contractor's & trades, to help weed out gougers. I'm happy to stay here, work here, provide people & customers with fair pricing. For materials only, I'm @ $22 Sq.Ft. with a sauna, 2 head shower +2 body sprays, 10mm glass door,tile, a rec room with media, + 1 bedroom. I would put my labor @ $25.FYI.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by sphelps

These are the windows that need to be removed. On a side note if anyone is familiar with fire code I'd love some advice on how I could fight this and keep the windows. The problem is the side yard is 5cm too narrow so it doesn't meet fire code, in order to get a variance from the county we will have to remove the windows to prevent a fire from spreading to the next house as easily. I understand this issue but what I don't get is the house has a fire sprinkler system just as you would find in Condo buildings. Now condos and townhomes can be connected because they have these systems so why would 5cm make a difference in my case.

i gotta say thats a nice lonnnnnnnngggg tank wall ya got there in the second pictire

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by spawn

Cheers to Reefwars, & I think if the rates for Lloydminster are correct & from what I here they're not far off, & somewhat Toxic. I might consider moving there. However I've been in Cowtown since before the boom, through it, and successfully after, & without crazy price fluctuations. The market correction was the best thing that could have happened for honest quality contractor's & trades, to help weed out gougers. I'm happy to stay here, work here, provide people & customers with fair pricing. For materials only, I'm @ $22 Sq.Ft. with a sauna, 2 head shower +2 body sprays, 10mm glass door,tile, a rec room with media, + 1 bedroom. I would put my labor @ $25.FYI.

i lived in lloyd maybe 4 yrs ago i lived there for a year, i was getting mostly basement reno's as i guess they had some kind of flood a while before and alot of people were covered and finally got approved for reno's. it was paying good money and there seemed to be lots of work but i couldnt live there much longer lol not really big enough for me i like the city

[The Codfather]

Originally Posted by toxic111

My numbers were based on what the OP had asked for, which was not to finish a basement. For a finished basement I use anywhere from $60 to $125/ft2 budget.

I usually know my budget pricing pretty close, since I am in the industry.

Just for a FYI on me, 15+ years in residential & commercial design & 10+ years in construction.

And with a full basement finish, easliy $10,000 to do, I have about $8k in my basement & I have 2 bedrooms to paint & install floooring yet, plus a bathroom to completly finish.

True enough, and I totally agree with your numbers(I am not trying to start anything or say you are wrong) if the homeowner is doing the work. However, if you take into account the wages to pay the tradesmen to come in and do the work, I can say you could quite easily double your cost. This is of course if you are hiring certified ticketed tradesmen.

[DiverDude]

That house looks pretty new so I'd be asking some questions about who goofed on the surveying.

Regardless, I'd look into the possibility of an easement. There has to be a limit butfor the sake of 5cm, it seems extreme.

When my neighbor sold his house, the city forced him to re-survey it and it was determined that his fence wasn't quite straight and one end was something like 5 inches onto my property. Now I know this isn't a FIRE issue, but I granted him and easement for the fence and the problem was solved. Had I not done that though, he would have had to either pay me to give in or tear down the fence.

Did the house design show bedrooms in the basement ? A window is required for egress in basement bedrooms so you'd have even more ammo against the builder because you wouldn't be able to move the window because you'd need it for the bedroom.

Bottom line is that the window thing should be someone else's problem; not yours.

[The Codfather]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

That house looks pretty new so I'd be asking some questions about who goofed on the surveying.

Did the house design show bedrooms in the basement ? A window is required for egress in basement bedrooms so you'd have even more ammo against the builder because you wouldn't be able to move the window because you'd need it for the bedroom.

Bottom line is that the window thing should be someone else's problem; not yours.

My thoughts exactly.