Vancouver's Real Estate Market

[Hondaracer]

You get more floor space with zoning?

In that case I’d say the main house would likely get less as it’s just a detached garage, not a lane way etc. I don’t care for that modern styling at all but I give them credit did a pretty good job. But I bet you that costs 500-600k if not more. that orange seemingly structural post the hand-tail is tied into is an eye-sore imo.

For people asking where the permits are, buy a house and see what a permit costs you lol..then you’ll understand why you try to do things without a permit lol

The beucracy and “engineering” involved in some of it is so fucking stupid and makes zero sense. Ie. I opened up a wall in my house that I built a beam for. My beam is 3 laminated 2X8. The Bc building code has a “span” book which basically tells you what you need to pick up a load over a span. My 3 peice 2X8 beam can pick up sonthing insane like 40,000lb point load or sonthing (probably off but whatever it is it’s overkill) that beam cost me maybe $400 all said and done.

My friend in Toronto had to pull permits because they were adding square footage, they had to have an engineer engineer a beam that was half the length of my beam but arguably picked up LESS load than mine. That beam costs $11,000 all in. The engineer in most cases as well only designs the beam. They aren’t there to see it implemented. So whether that framer etc. knows how to properly install and tie it into the exhausting structure relies on their own ability, and whether an inspector will actually look at it or not.

[Traum]

Dumb question -- what sort of work with a house would require obtaining a city permit?

Electrical panel upgrade? Behind wall / ceiling plumbling repairs? Central AC installation? driveway repaving? (I'm gonna need this one soon.) Closing off a car port into a garage? Other possibilities?

[Wormiez]

Originally Posted by supafamous

Considering it also has an unauthorized suite do people really ever get permits for this kind of work? Especially at this level of low end work.

Hard to say, most basic reno's get by without a permit. But this type of reno, which looked to have spanned many years, has structural and plumbing changes. Neighbors can easily snitch and call the city on noise complaints resulting in a city officer check-up.

The lack of sprinklers immediately raises suspicion in this reno.

[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

You get more floor space with zoning?

In that case I’d say the main house would likely get less as it’s just a detached garage, not a lane way etc.

I meant that back in the day a standard lot typically allowed .6FSR which worked out to about 2300sf which is what a typical Van Special is. Today you can do a main house of 2800sf on the same lot and you can get another 650sf for a laneway so at some point the cost of a renovation isn't worth the cost b/c the upside of building a new bigger place is better.

[Wormiez]

Originally Posted by supafamous

Damn, I find it hard to understand the high end of these kinds of Renos - why not just build a new house entirely? Doesn't seem to really save much money and you get so much more floor space with new zoning. For this example they must have really wanted to preserve the ground level floor in exchange for the additional space of a 3rd floor.

Many reasons:
- Time and cost to build new is expensive
- Old zoning bylaws are much more relaxed and better than new bylaws
- Old zoning allows you to retain much more per/square footage, many loops in 1940 and older builds...
- Old houses are built better than new materials
- Westcoast homes are dull and becoming the new Vancouver Special homes.
- Architects design better functional layouts to the owner's likings

[GIZZ]

The cost and the time spent waiting for permits?

My neighbour just stripped his house to the studs and redid it. There are 2 new builds on the block that were required to raise the lot height, cost a fortune and really shitty for their direct neighbours.

Where do you check to see if they got a permit?

[Wormiez]

Originally Posted by GIZZ

The cost and the time spent waiting for permits?

My neighbour just stripped his house to the studs and redid it. There are 2 new builds on the block that were required to raise the lot height, cost a fortune and really shitty for their direct neighbours.

Where do you check to see if they got a permit?

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public...earchByAddress

[TypeRNammer]

Originally Posted by Wormiez

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public...earchByAddress

Thank you, at least I can track the progress on the permits instead of having to bug the builder.

Waiting on the building permit for laneway house, from which I heard it takes a while.

[Hondaracer]

I know people may read what I wrote above and have a mentality of “if you can’t afford to get permits you shouldn’t be doing Reno’s”

I think it’s just a result of the housing market. You’ve got a million dollar detached or even a condo etc. have a big mortgage, every other expense, and you manage to save up 30/50/100k for a Reno. Hard as hell to save 100k then once you get your contractor and pull all the permits for a ensuite Reno your 50k ended up getting a 30k reno

Permits don’t guarantee work being done right either

[cafe22]

Originally Posted by Wormiez

Many reasons:
- Time and cost to build new is expensive
- Old zoning bylaws are much more relaxed and better than new bylaws
- Old zoning allows you to retain much more per/square footage, many loops in 1940 and older builds...
- Old houses are built better than new materials
- Westcoast homes are dull and becoming the new Vancouver Special homes.
- Architects design better functional layouts to the owner's likings

+ you don't have to deal with any off-site/servicing cost which may add another 100+k to the project.

[cafe22]

Originally Posted by Traum

Dumb question -- what sort of work with a house would require obtaining a city permit?

Electrical panel upgrade? Behind wall / ceiling plumbling repairs? Central AC installation? driveway repaving? (I'm gonna need this one soon.) Closing off a car port into a garage? Other possibilities?

Technically, anything that alters a building (e.g. improvements, repairs, etc..) will require a Building Permit.

Depending on the municipality's bylaws, a major renovation that changes the form and character of a house may require a Development Permit.

[donk.]

Permits/code come with good and bad

Good:
We don't have tofu buildings like China
You know your buying a quality build (generally speaking)
Higher safety standard vs "get er done"
Trained personnel are required to do the work, MUCH less skipped corners
People are held liable for their work (generally speaking)
Increases property value, when I renod my washroom, and had my unit up for sale later on, about half the realtors asked me if I had permits.

Bad:
Sometimes it's over engineered
Resulting in excessive costs
Resulting in excessive timelines
Politics playground
Your paying someone to justify their job
As mentioned above, some permits are a joke. It's like the permit department is an anti vaxxer trucker convoy flat earther, but there's nothing you can do about it.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by cafe22

Technically, anything that alters a building (e.g. improvements, repairs, etc..) will require a Building Permit

It depends a bit on municipality, but for most, you can do non-structural building repairs, or like-for-like electrical/plumbing repairs (Ie just changing a broken fixture or faucet) without a permit.

Most of what Traum lists would need a permit, with the exceptions maybe being the plumbing repairs (depends on if piping modifications are part of the repairs), and the driveway re-paving (permit not usually required unless grade, width or location of driveway is changing)

[E-40six]

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

You get more floor space with zoning?

In that case I’d say the main house would likely get less as it’s just a detached garage, not a lane way etc. I don’t care for that modern styling at all but I give them credit did a pretty good job. But I bet you that costs 500-600k if not more. that orange seemingly structural post the hand-tail is tied into is an eye-sore imo.

For people asking where the permits are, buy a house and see what a permit costs you lol..then you’ll understand why you try to do things without a permit lol

The beucracy and “engineering” involved in some of it is so fucking stupid and makes zero sense. Ie. I opened up a wall in my house that I built a beam for. My beam is 3 laminated 2X8. The Bc building code has a “span” book which basically tells you what you need to pick up a load over a span. My 3 peice 2X8 beam can pick up sonthing insane like 40,000lb point load or sonthing (probably off but whatever it is it’s overkill) that beam cost me maybe $400 all said and done.

My friend in Toronto had to pull permits because they were adding square footage, they had to have an engineer engineer a beam that was half the length of my beam but arguably picked up LESS load than mine. That beam costs $11,000 all in. The engineer in most cases as well only designs the beam. They aren’t there to see it implemented. So whether that framer etc. knows how to properly install and tie it into the exhausting structure relies on their own ability, and whether an inspector will actually look at it or not.

When we were pulling permits for our build in East Van, I think the cost was around $80-90K. That was in 2018 though, it could have gone up even more now. Mind you our permit cost included Rezoning from RS-1 to RT-10, Demolition and abatement and the build itself

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by Wormiez

https://plposweb.vancouver.ca/Public...earchByAddress

Do you know how far back that database goes? Looking up permits for a property and it's had extensive work done between 2009 and 2011 and it shows nothing..

[Wormiez]

Nope, no idea what the oldest would be.

Another trick is to see if the property had permits and you can't pull it up. Lookup google maps of the house and scroll to the previous images saved. You can see the progression of the house during the build. If landscaping fencing was used during reno/build, permits where issued.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by E-40six

When we were pulling permits for our build in East Van, I think the cost was around $80-90K. That was in 2018 though, it could have gone up even more now. Mind you our permit cost included Rezoning from RS-1 to RT-10, Demolition and abatement and the build itself

Yea, can’t really avoid permits at that scale

Abatement..that’s another shit show/govt money grab fuck

[Gerbs]

Has anyone here reno'd their washroom and kitchen in a condo?

Got quoted $15 - 20K for washroom and $40K Kitchen to start for 7xx sqft 1 BR. Debating if I should just save the $60 - 70k towards an upgrade.

[cafe22]

Did you get approval from your strata council?

What are you upgrading?

[donk.]

Originally Posted by Gerbs

Has anyone here reno'd their washroom and kitchen in a condo?

DIYd my washroom 2 years ago, with strata approval, city permits

Tile was caving in, ceiling water damaged, floors cracked, drywall in horrid condition

Parts: including permits, some tools, finishes, 5500$
Labour: 71hrs over the span of a month of actual labour. Not including picking colors, learning DIY etc.
No i would never do this again. Pay the man.

PM me if you got specific questions



Before


Half gut
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nbeQXz]

After

[GLOW]

your after looks amazing...but your before looks lightyears better than all of my washrooms...probably most of the rooms in my house

[blkgsr]

the studs and insulation look rough, was it poor/lack of waterproofing on the tile that caused water to leak through and cause the board to fail etc?

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by blkgsr

the studs and insulation look rough, was it poor/lack of waterproofing on the tile that caused water to leak through and cause the board to fail etc?

My guess is lack of maintenance. Previous owner didn't re-grout the tiles and over time water seeped through and the wall gave way.

[EvoFire]

How often do you need to regrout tiles?

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

How often do you need to regrout tiles?

We did it every 2 years.

Google says 6 months for the high use areas.

And don't forget it's a good idea to re-silicone sinks and other areas with water like back splashes.