- Joined
- Nov 9, 2015
- Messages
- 3
Hi Everyone,
I have some fairly big (for me) renovation investment decisions to make in the next few days and wanted to enlist the experience and expertise of people on this forum before spending the money!
This is for my primary residence which has an 1100 sqft two bedroom secondary suite below our living space and a 600 sqft 1 bedroom detached studio. We think we are going to live here for the long term as the kids (2 months and 2 years )will attend school just down the road, so maybe 15 to 20 years. Though one can never know for sure.
These are renovation decisions like the following;
Foam vs Roxull insulation, I know foam is more expensive but so is labour and materials for furring our the walls;
Whether to insulate and put plywood over an uneven concrete floor for a secondary suite;
flooring choices for a rental;
best sound insulation methods ;
siding materials choices;
whether to install a gas line so that a gas fire can be added at a later date or to leave it as baseboard. We are bringing gas in for us anyway;
Whether to install a separate electric meter for the secondary suite, separate gas meters, could we use one gas water heater for both the secondary and primary residences, or an I setting my self up for a gas bill dispute down the road?
The tenant profile for the 1-bed studio is an elderly person who may require in-home care with meals, getting dressed etc. Hence going with a low barrier to entry shower etc.
The tenant profile for the 2-bed secondary suite is likely an early to mid-thirties couple probably with a child.
I want to a good job the first time around and to invest enough in durable hardwearing materials so that I don't have to worry for a while. I want to provide a clean and comfortable place for my tenants in the hope that they will pay a little more and stay for a long time.
Now that I have a completed materials list $18K (not counting windows $13k (whole house plus studio, and kitchens $8K) and am about to engage a contractor I am second guessing myself on some of the items in the list above.
Do I really need to tear down all the drywall and re-insulate if the building inspector doesn't require it? I was going to as I have 40-year-old insulation R10 at best and it is not that much to bring it to R22.
Same with insulating the concrete floor, does it get cold enough to warrant this, can't a tenant wear slippers!
Thanks for reading this far, it has been a useful exercise just in writing it down.
Let me know if you have any opinions or suggestions for materials or ways of doing things.
Thank you in advance,
Cheers,
Matthew
I have some fairly big (for me) renovation investment decisions to make in the next few days and wanted to enlist the experience and expertise of people on this forum before spending the money!
This is for my primary residence which has an 1100 sqft two bedroom secondary suite below our living space and a 600 sqft 1 bedroom detached studio. We think we are going to live here for the long term as the kids (2 months and 2 years )will attend school just down the road, so maybe 15 to 20 years. Though one can never know for sure.
These are renovation decisions like the following;
Foam vs Roxull insulation, I know foam is more expensive but so is labour and materials for furring our the walls;
Whether to insulate and put plywood over an uneven concrete floor for a secondary suite;
flooring choices for a rental;
best sound insulation methods ;
siding materials choices;
whether to install a gas line so that a gas fire can be added at a later date or to leave it as baseboard. We are bringing gas in for us anyway;
Whether to install a separate electric meter for the secondary suite, separate gas meters, could we use one gas water heater for both the secondary and primary residences, or an I setting my self up for a gas bill dispute down the road?
The tenant profile for the 1-bed studio is an elderly person who may require in-home care with meals, getting dressed etc. Hence going with a low barrier to entry shower etc.
The tenant profile for the 2-bed secondary suite is likely an early to mid-thirties couple probably with a child.
I want to a good job the first time around and to invest enough in durable hardwearing materials so that I don't have to worry for a while. I want to provide a clean and comfortable place for my tenants in the hope that they will pay a little more and stay for a long time.
Now that I have a completed materials list $18K (not counting windows $13k (whole house plus studio, and kitchens $8K) and am about to engage a contractor I am second guessing myself on some of the items in the list above.
Do I really need to tear down all the drywall and re-insulate if the building inspector doesn't require it? I was going to as I have 40-year-old insulation R10 at best and it is not that much to bring it to R22.
Same with insulating the concrete floor, does it get cold enough to warrant this, can't a tenant wear slippers!
Thanks for reading this far, it has been a useful exercise just in writing it down.
Let me know if you have any opinions or suggestions for materials or ways of doing things.
Thank you in advance,
Cheers,
Matthew