The tiny house trend has taken hold in Canada. According to the CBC, more homebuyers recognize the benefits of smaller spaces, such as lower costs and less maintenance. That said, living in a compact house does have drawbacks. A lack of room can prove especially complicated in the kitchen. Luckily, there are ways to make a small cooking space functional while also increasing your overall property value. This guide explains how it's done.
Read MoreObviously, my standard plans are for marketing. Haha. But, if I were a homeowner about to design a backyard suite, I would ask if my suite is for personal usage or as a source of income? A personal use suite is a possible museum for the homeowner. Therefore, as the guest, you shouldn't touch anything unless given permission.
Read MoreThe Maisley, is what I would like to call a “treehouse for adults.” It is an open concept studio backyard suite containing a full kitchen, bath, laundry, living room, large balcony, and storage! Plus, you have a completely self-contained entire garage all to yourself. This garage provides room for your vehicle and storage for additional recreational vehicles such as bikes and motorcycles.
Read MoreIn case of fire, how is someone getting out safely? Secondary Suites are a fire compartment that is separate from the remainder of the house. Therefore, the two living areas are treated as two fire compartments. Here is where things get tricky. Since those stairs are a means to escape, they cannot be obstructed by fire. Therefore, if a room above that stair catches fire, then the window directly above the stair may explode, leaving the tenant below screwed.
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I like to tell people when it comes to your basement suite “plan for distance, not for time.” Your approach to your secondary suite project is to minimize the amount of work to repair, replace, or remove. THAT DOESN’T MEAN be EXPENSIVE! Instead, try to set your budget, so you come in the middle or higher. You want to experience the gains from your goals.
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This entry is the conclusion of legalizing your existing suite. I wanted to give you the basics, depending on the situation of your project. Watching these videos, you should have an idea of what your budget would look like, to proceed forward. I want to remind you that city is waiving application fees to legalize your suite until the end of 2021. If you are thinking of taking that step towards legalizing your suite, make it sooner than later.
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Think of Legalizing your suite? Or Would you like to build a new one? Then I would check out this video!
Read MoreHi Everyone,
In this video, I want to remind everyone to legalize your basement suite. It is not a matter of cost, but a matter of safety. Through the month of June, I will be speaking about secondary suites in the City of Calgary.
Hi Everyone,
It all comes to an end. The series “Selecting the Right Lot” concludes with this episode where I describe how setbacks can affect your backyard suite design, by giving the details about how the Bridgeland backyard came to its unique design.
Read MoreHi Everyone,
To build a backyard suite on a contextual parcel within an existing neighborhood comes with many stipulations. In this video, I have outlined some of the requirements referenced in the City of Calgary Land Use Bylaw.
Read MoreIn this video blog, we focus on the proposed lot dimensions
for our future suite. In the first part of this series, we look at the overall
length of the lot. If you are thinking of building a suite, then it is worthwhile
to check out this video.
If you are building a new basement or secondary suite, this is a requirement in Alberta. If you are looking to move forward with a basement or secondary suite project, please send your inquiry for more information.
Read More“Both shows rely heavily on the contractor's experience, to not only carry out the task but also come up with solutions to make sure the project continues to run smoothly. This relationship is critical because if either party loses focus, the entire project suffers. Therefore, as the homeowner, we need to understand our TIME, MONEY, and our expectation for the QUALITY of work”.
Read MoreSo, the goal of this blog is to get you into the right mindset. Instead of writing everything down into a list, I’ve decided to break this up into three parts bylaws, envelope, and building code. Therefore, your mindset is to understand the basics.
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