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

[mimico_polak]

I might be wrong but I do not think a permit is required for replacing windows. Especially if you are not doing anything structural to enlarge the windows cavity or making it smaller.

High voltage line may not need to be removed but the Utility company (or its contractor) may install the orange covering you often see on reno projects.

Mississauga requires a permit to enlarge a window. Doesn't matter whether it's vertical or horizontal height.

Toronto used to not require a permit if you're just going down, but did require it for horizontal enlargement. Now they require it for both.

I called the City and confirmed. I'd do it without, but neighbour will 100% see it and call in. I only want to do 1ft down to add more light. But if I need a permit, I may as well expand them horizontally also to just add a ton more light. While I'm at it, I'll get a permit to expand my son's window as it's very dark, and the MIL's window will become a door to the yard.

Now just need to find my dad's $300 laser measuring device as he's going to lose it if I tell him I lost it. Need to measure out the house properly.

 

[GreyGhost]

Honestly it was a 2min search to get my bearings so Kijiji. Possibly stolen.

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.

www.kijiji.ca

They also have copper cat6 for $200.

 

[oioioi]

Honestly it was a 2min search to get my bearings so Kijiji. Possibly stolen.

Kijiji - Buy, Sell & Save with Canada's #1 Local Classifieds

Visit Kijiji Classifieds to buy, sell, or trade almost anything! New and used items, cars, real estate, jobs, services, vacation rentals and more virtually anywhere.

www.kijiji.ca

Oh yes I know the place.
Those boxes of Yesa cable are copper clad.

Those prices are not always accurate. Advertise low on kijiji just to get you through the door once you are inside they are out of stock or prices have changed.

They do also have some better quality cables but I never really found anything there to take my money.

 

[sburns]

Home Depot sells network cabling. I've used it without issue. Different size spools as well. Very convenient.

If you are adding some sort of camera system where are you going to store all that media? And will you be able to DIY the setup and manage it. I installed a couple of POE cameras but I have a NAS system to control and store all the media. This could be considered more advance steup.

Anyhow seems like your project is really growing @mimico_polak . Maybe concentrate on the cable drops and do the rest later.

 

[mimico_polak]

Thanks @sburns the project originally was just insulate and drywall.

Thing is while the walls are open May as well do the work so you don’t go through it twice.

Cable drops are much easier while the walls are open. But insulation is the #1 reason for the project as there is effectively zero between the walls and drywall.

The cabling can be installed and the actual cameras and access points can be installed later once more funds available. But the wiring needs / should be done while everything is open.

 

[sburns]

Thanks @sburns the project originally was just insulate and drywall.

Thing is while the walls are open May as well do the work so you don’t go through it twice.

Cable drops are much easier while the walls are open. But insulation is the #1 reason for the project as there is effectively zero between the walls and drywall.

The cabling can be installed and the actual cameras and access points can be installed later once more funds available. But the wiring needs / should be done while everything is open.

Oh I know. Its great you are going forward with this, you know why

 

[mimico_polak]

Oh boy...not me, but the house looks nice. It's the Town of Markham's fault I didn't do my research before doing a major renovation....FML.

'I thought it was a joke': Ontario woman told to reverse changes to heritage home

An Ontario woman said she didn’t know her home was in a heritage district in Markham when she rebuilt it after it burned down. Now, the city is asking her to reverse the changes.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

That's going to be costly. Although some fault may lay with the CoM if permits were needed and they approved it. Permit approval process stated heritage must be maintained...so she chose not to do it.

Now she wants CoM to pay for the reverse to bring it back to heritage status. LoL

Talk to your contractor, who will gladly do the work for a fee.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Oh boy...not me, but the house looks nice. It's the Town of Markham's fault I didn't do my research before doing a major renovation....FML.

'I thought it was a joke': Ontario woman told to reverse changes to heritage home

An Ontario woman said she didn’t know her home was in a heritage district in Markham when she rebuilt it after it burned down. Now, the city is asking her to reverse the changes.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

That's going to be costly. Although some fault may lay with the CoM if permits were needed and they approved it. Permit approval process stated heritage must be maintained...so she chose not to do it.

Now she wants CoM to pay for the reverse to bring it back to heritage status. LoL

Talk to your contractor, who will gladly do the work for a fee.

What is rediculous is that a house built in 1996 is a heritage house.

Sent from the future

 

[mimico_polak]

What is rediculous is that a house built in 1996 is a heritage house.

Sent from the future

I agree 100%. Didn't know Markham had such heritage. But thems the rules, she was informed (or at least her contractor), and they chose to proceed.

 

[GreyGhost]

Oh boy...not me, but the house looks nice. It's the Town of Markham's fault I didn't do my research before doing a major renovation....FML.

'I thought it was a joke': Ontario woman told to reverse changes to heritage home

An Ontario woman said she didn’t know her home was in a heritage district in Markham when she rebuilt it after it burned down. Now, the city is asking her to reverse the changes.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

That's going to be costly. Although some fault may lay with the CoM if permits were needed and they approved it. Permit approval process stated heritage must be maintained...so she chose not to do it.

Now she wants CoM to pay for the reverse to bring it back to heritage status. LoL

Talk to your contractor, who will gladly do the work for a fee.

While she is clearly at fault, markham needs to pull their head out of their ass. The previous house was ugly and didnt look historic. It looked like a 1996 house with some extra fake windows jammed in implausible locations.

Heritage district is the closest we have to hoa's where old people with too much time on their hands exert power over others.

 

[oioioi]

It makes you wonder if the cities wait for the project to be completed before then issue the notice in big print and during the construction phase, their notice is only in fine print.



Here is one from Gatineau.

Gatineau, Que. mansion built too close to road must be demolished, judge rules

A multimillion-dollar home in Aylmer must be demolished because it was built too close to the street, a Quebec judge has ruled.

ottawa.ctvnews.ca

 

[GreyGhost]

It makes you wonder if the cities wait for the project to be completed before then issue the notice in big print and during the construction phase, their notice is only in fine print.



Here is one from Gatineau.

Gatineau, Que. mansion built too close to road must be demolished, judge rules

A multimillion-dollar home in Aylmer must be demolished because it was built too close to the street, a Quebec judge has ruled.

ottawa.ctvnews.ca

An obvious solution is to require heritage sign-off before issuing a building permit. That will delay every project by months or more.

 

[oioioi]

An obvious solution is to require heritage sign-off before issuing a building permit. That will delay every project by months or more.

It can even be as simple as different coloured paper.
Any correspondence or notices sent from the city about the permit application should be printed on different coloured paper. This would differentiate the process and any experienced contractor/consultant would or should know that they are dealing with something "different".

Even the home owner would pay closer attention to that said letter if it was printed on pink/red paper.

I know it sounds silly but sometimes you don't need to overcomplicate things and just think outside the box.

 

[GreyGhost]

It can even be as simple as different coloured paper.
Any correspondence or notices sent from the city about the permit application should be printed on different coloured paper. This would differentiate the process and any experienced contractor/consultant would or should know that they are dealing with something "different".

Even the home owner would pay closer attention to that said letter if it was printed on pink/red paper.

I know it sounds silly but sometimes you don't need to overcomplicate things and just think outside the box.

I have little doubt the homeowner read the notices and knew what they were doing. Coloured paper wouldnt have helped that.

The homeowner imposed their belief that a 1996 house should be free from heritage restrictions. They failed to comprehend heritage district vs heritage home. It will cost them six figures to unwind their mistake. Lesson learned, they wont do that again.

 

[mimico_polak]

I have little doubt the homeowner read the notices and knew what they were doing. Coloured paper wouldnt have helped that.

The homeowner imposed their belief that a 1996 house should be free from heritage restrictions. They failed to comprehend heritage district vs heritage home. It will cost them six figures to unwind their mistake. Lesson learned, they wont do that again.

Question is what is the penalty if they don't comply? If it's $1000-$10,000 then whatever. Keep as is and let the neighbours be pissy. If the monetary stick is large enough...then they'll have to repair it. But the stick has to be higher than the cost of bringing it to the arbitrary status.

Can they be dinged / prevented from occupying? I know it's a stupid rule, no offence to Markham, but I don't see the point of heritage status / district if these homes all look like this.

 

[GreyGhost]

Question is what is the penalty if they don't comply? If it's $1000-$10,000 then whatever. Keep as is and let the neighbours be pissy. If the monetary stick is large enough...then they'll have to repair it. But the stick has to be higher than the cost of bringing it to the arbitrary status.

Can they be dinged / prevented from occupying? I know it's a stupid rule, no offence to Markham, but I don't see the point of heritage status / district if these homes all look like this.

If the stick does not exceed the cost of repairs, there is no point having the process in place at all. It adds a ton of time and money to every job.

 

[backmarkerducati]

My guess is the "heritage" is the area/district to have the houses be Victorian in style and the house itself built in 1996 is not an actual heritage house. Maybe there are other actual Victorians in the area or they are just going for the ye olde timey vibe... Victorian style with garages as part of the house (1990s style, not 1890s) is a good laugh for me BTW.

Her renos changed the style of the house to not meet the specifications for the area, sucks to be her.

 

[Mad Mike]

Oh boy...not me, but the house looks nice. It's the Town of Markham's fault I didn't do my research before doing a major renovation....FML.

'I thought it was a joke': Ontario woman told to reverse changes to heritage home

An Ontario woman said she didn’t know her home was in a heritage district in Markham when she rebuilt it after it burned down. Now, the city is asking her to reverse the changes.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

That's going to be costly. Although some fault may lay with the CoM if permits were needed and they approved it. Permit approval process stated heritage must be maintained...so she chose not to do it.

Now she wants CoM to pay for the reverse to bring it back to heritage status. LoL

Talk to your contractor, who will gladly do the work for a fee.

Silly ass woman knew heritage approval was required. The building permitting process is from heritage approvals. Building department permit approvals check compliance with zoning and building code. Zoning stamps building permits with a notice that builder must collect heritage committee approval.

Everyone in a heritage zone knows their property has external architectural controls. They paid a premium for their location, their realtor and lawyers would have made it clear when they bought, I'll bet the first thing out of her mouth at a social event is "we're in the Markham heritage district (blow on fingernails)."

Markham has several hamlets that were mostly buildings from the 1800s. By 75, lsnd started to before valuable, developers wanted the old villages for redevelopment, some got demolished, but since 1980 most in the districts have been preserved. New builds, like the one in the mentioned her must fit and blend with the arcitecture to preserve the character of the districts.

All I see here us a very expensive lesson.

 

[Mad Mike]

What is rediculous is that a house built in 1996 is a heritage house.

Sent from the future

It's in a heritage district, meaning the character of the neighborhood is preserved and protected. Nobody us blindsided about heritage district rules.

Not really different than an area that is architecturally controlled by an HOA, strata or condo Corp.

 

[Mad Mike]

If the stick does not exceed the cost of repairs, there is no point having the process in place at all. It adds a ton of time and money to every job.

It's a big stick, and it has thorns.

If work is in progress, you get a STOP order, untangling a ball of barbed wire is easier.

If work was done without approvals or is non compliant, a compliance order gets issued. The owner needs to get an heritage approval then do the remediation inside the timeframe specified in the order.

If the owner does nothing, the town steps in and does the work. The total cost of permits, legal, and construction is liened on the property. Markham paid $275,000 to build a 12×12 2 stall public restroom in the Main Street heritage district, can't imagine how punishing it would be if they had to reno a heritage district property.