Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

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mimico_polak said:
I've seen them go into stucco. Plenty of houses in our neighbourhood have woodpecker holes within their stucco.

Maybe they like the insulation / styrofoam? Can't figure out what else could be in there that would entice them. One house has about 20 holes above their garage.
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They like stains and rotting wood. Hope that bugs haven't moved in.
crankcall said:
Was it Fruedian that you used a tool flyer to fix a hole , that should be using those tools to fix the wood paneling?
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Paper is there in case something was nesting in the hole. It is easier to tear/dig/eat through a sheet of newspaper than a sheet of drywall. If the paper is intact in a couple more days, I'll patch it with tin.

One family helped their neighbours by plugging a hole in the exterior wall that wasps were nesting in. Neighbours came home to a house full of angry hornets.
 
mimico_polak said:
Got a quote to put up a second story at the cottage…100k just for framing (rough price) with me being responsible for getting all the permits and approvals.

That includes second story framing, roof, and enclosing it from the elements.
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mimico_polak said:
Got a quote to put up a second story at the cottage…100k just for framing (rough price) with me being responsible for getting all the permits and approvals.

That includes second story framing, roof, and enclosing it from the elements.
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What's happening to Wasaga Beach, house wise? It used to be cottages only but is now a year around home community with most amenities. Which market do you build for, a home or a second (Toy) property? Cottage real estate isn't doing well.

What would the final cost be with windows, electrical, plumbing, finished walls inside and out, trimmed and painted, finished flooring, heating etc? Keep in mind that if it's for yourself upgrading as you go destroys budgets. Then the new addition looks better than the old part so the old part gets a reno.

If the lot value is now $XXX,XXX what would the projected equities be if you added the floor compared to tearing down and building a new house?

I ask because a friend has a fixation on a future inheritance where he gets an uninhabitable house on a premium lot worth ~$1.7 M

He wants to throw a $400 K house on the lot so small bungalow that would sell for $1.8 M, negative ROI. If he had the money he would be better off putting up a $1 M house that would match the rest of the neighbourhood and sell for ~$3 M, positive ROI.
 
crankcall said:
At one hundred k for framing , you doing the permits, that guy is making GREAT money .


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100%

I’m not gonna go for it because it’s a ludicrous price IMO for what would add…maybe 500sqft of living space.

The land value is worth more than the house.
 
Spray foam day today. Learned a few things.

The wood has to be below a certain humidity threshold or the foam won’t stick.

The wood can be treated with a stain blocker beforehand (we had that done to cut down on any small rotten areas left over after replacement).

They are putting 5” of foam into the ceiling which will be just about level with the bottom of the ceiling joists. This requires at least two passes. If you don’t do this with a time break in between sprays the foam mixture can heat up enough to cause damage or even a fire and can lose adhesion over time.

That’s a lot of foam. The room will be pretty comfy all year round after this.

After this it’s just drywall and painting and then the roof/room saga is finally done and I can stop paying $100 a month for driveway storage (since last September!) and get back to normal.
 
nobbie48 said:
He wants to throw a $400 K house on the lot so small bungalow that would sell for $1.8 M, negative ROI. If he had the money he would be better off putting up a $1 M house that would match the rest of the neighbourhood and sell for ~$3 M, positive ROI.
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While I agree with that math, that lead to a lot of the cottage stupidity. When empty lots exceeded $250K, it made sense to build a $1M house and sell it for >$1.5M. If you build a $250K shack, value would be less than the sum of the parts as the next buyer would likely be tearing it down and building a huge thing. Starter homes or cottages (as opposed to mcmansions on the water) are victims to high land prices.

For your buddy, I would be shocked if it wasn't much cheaper to renovate the "uninhabitable" house than build a crappy new one. That minimizes the money burned to have a dwelling for a few years. Whatever they do on the cheap, the next person will be tearing it down. If they have a 400K budget and live in a 3M neighbourhood, they may find they can't afford to live there anyway as property tax/neighbour complaints will eat them alive.
 
@nobbie48 Wasaga is changing fast (they’re getting a COSTCO!) and there is a lot of new builds.

I’m going to upgrade the house slightly to make it more livable and more modern instead of the wood panelling look.

New drywall, new ceiling drywall, bathroom needs a ton of work as it’s horrible.

I’ll be up there this week to work with an appraiser, measure everything out, learn to draft it in some software.

I’ll frame the basement, insulate the walls, and make some type of space that’s not for living, but isn’t bare walls so at least it can better be used.

I need to upgrade the lights in the basement, recommendations for low ceiling height are appreciated. Panel to be upgraded to 100A breakers from 60A fuses (maybe that should be done before transfer?).

But something needs to be move forward.
 
mimico_polak said:
@nobbie48 Wasaga is changing fast (they’re getting a COSTCO!) and there is a lot of new builds.

I’m going to upgrade the house slightly to make it more livable and more modern instead of the wood panelling look.

New drywall, new ceiling drywall, bathroom needs a ton of work as it’s horrible.

I’ll be up there this week to work with an appraiser, measure everything out, learn to draft it in some software.

I’ll frame the basement, insulate the walls, and make some type of space that’s not for living, but isn’t bare walls so at least it can better be used.

I need to upgrade the lights in the basement, recommendations for low ceiling height are appreciated. Panel to be upgraded to 100A breakers from 60A fuses (maybe that should be done before transfer?).

But something needs to be move forward.
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You've already triggered the appraisal, I wouldn't be trying to drive up cost-base now.

Pancake lights work well for basements. Flush with drywall and you aren't restricted on location by joists above. Not my favorite light output (CRI/pattern/etc) but for a basement, good enough. For most of my basement, I replaced the existing boob lights with large (~12") surface pancakes. Given the renovation and really limited height you have, I would recess them to save the 1/2".
 
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Personally of all the options you have considered, I’d go up , not addition out ward ,never the basement . But wasaga is the new frontier since collingwood is over the moon and contractors smell Toronto money . If the foundation you have would support the second story , I’d be doing that . Find a better framer , from shelburn or someplace not in cottage land , get the exterior closed in so you can pick away at finishing the space at leisure . Redo the exterior siding on the original cottage so it all looks the same . I’d pull the trigger using pre inheritance money …..


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crankcall said:
Personally of all the options you have considered, I’d go up , not addition out ward ,never the basement . But wasaga is the new frontier since collingwood is over the moon and contractors smell Toronto money . If the foundation you have would support the second story , I’d be doing that . Find a better framer , from shelburn or someplace not in cottage land , get the exterior closed in so you can pick away at finishing the space at leisure . Redo the exterior siding on the original cottage so it all looks the same . I’d pull the trigger using pre inheritance money …..


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Once all is said and done, we’ll know where we stand financially depending on the final CG tax amount (expecting 50-70k).

Pay that down and then work with what to do next and how our renewal goes. Plan is for HELOC but I’ll reach out to my broker today to get his opinion as well on best route forward.

Any capital upgrades will be well tracked this time around though.

I’m dumb so would even consider doing the framing myself…but not sure that’s actually a viable plan.
 
mimico_polak said:
I’m dumb so would even consider doing the framing myself…but not sure that’s actually a viable plan.
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If you're doing that, get a great set of plans. The more detail the better. I'm sure some designers cater to homeowners and include all the standard details you must do to meet code. The few thousand you spend on plans (which you need anyway for permit) can save you many heartaches at inspection time. The big problem with DIY when going up is time. You are removing the existing roof and trying to get it closed in again before everything gets soaked. DIY is much easier when expanding out as you don't care if the new build gets wet.
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