Raising a house in Vancouver

Building a brand new home while retaining heritage and character by raising a house in Vancouver can be a challenging but rewarding process. Here are a few of the top reasons homeowners and builders decide to raise a house instead of demolishing and building new.

1. Increased Density and Floor Space. The city of Vancouver has some unique heritage retention incentives in some of the zoning bylaws. In particular RT zones such as RT-5, RT-10. Building new, while keeping certain parts of the existing house, can pave the way for an allowance of an increased number of homes and an increase of allowable floor space than if it was demolished.

2. Cost savings. Typically there is less lumber required in a house that has been retained when compared to a new build. This should translate to cost savings if the framers have previous experience in the house raising and lowering process and also when framing new construction into existing structures. In Vancouver there is a chance that if the project is not considered a major renovation by the planning department service, upgrades (water and sewer connections) and sprinklers may not be required which can save $20,000 – $30,000. Note: Cost savings are not a given when retaining an existing house. It can actually cost more than building new in some cases. Planning and experience are key when it comes to budgeting for a house raise retention build.

3. Going green. Retaining an existing home should use less lumber which means less trees. The process does not limit the new construction when it comes to efficiency, so a well-insulated air tight home is achievable. This allows for healthy indoor air quality and economical heating costs for years to come.

Raising a house Vancouver

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Vancouver home on HGTV Massive Moves

Averra Developments big house move finally aired on HGTV’s show Massive Moves a couple weeks ago! The Vancouver heritage home was safely moved to its new home on Vancouver Island.

The HTGV show, Massive Moves shows the entire thing. Check out the Coastal Cruise episode.

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Teak Countertop

The use of teak in counter tops is becoming increasingly popular among designers and clients for its hardwood attributes, rich red/brown grains, and resistance to water and moisture.

Here is some of our advice and steps to helping you creating your own custom teak countertop.

Purchasing and Selecting Teak Raw Material

Most teak comes from sustainable plantations in its indigenous country of Indonesia, and also new plantations in the Caribbean, Central, and South America. Speciality hardwood and finishing suppliers import skids of rough sawn teak and offer individual boards for sale that can be hand picked.

The cost of the raw wood is greater than comparable options such as birch and oak. $30 per board/foot based on a 1-1-2” thick board, typically 8”-12” wide and up to 12 feet long is a common price for raw teak boards.

Milling and Sanding the Teak Boards

Precision milling, planing, and sanding of the teak boards is critical in getting the finished grains to resonate on the surface of the counter top.

Joining the Teak Boards

Biscuit Joined and glued

Treatment of the Teak Counter Top

For indoor use, teak does not need continuous sanding or oil treatment, the best oil from our experience has been Penofin Rosewood Oil. The oil should be brushed on with any residue remaining wiped off or rubbed into the counter top with a cloth prior to installation.

A custom teak counter top is not an easy task to perfect, however, it is not impossible either. If you have any experiences in working with teak or questions on how to design or build your own teak counter top feel free to leave a comment for us.

Teak Tree

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West 6th Condo Renovation

Renovating a condo can be a fulfilling and potentially rewarding experience. Often the floor plans and views in many Vancouver Condos are fantastic but the design and finishing required to mass produce the units creates an opportunity for the owner to add some personalization and improvement.

Recycled brick wall installations, floating vanities and faucets, and refinished concrete walls and floors are some unique renovation features we have done which have separated condos from other units in a development and also translated to increased value. There is often a misconception that renovating a condo won’t be costly or time consuming because the size of the space is smaller than a house and the improvements seem more cosmetic than structural. In reality though a high end renovation requires an incredible amount of planning and coordination to ensure it is executed on time and on budget. A good designer is instrumental throughout the entire process. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in meeting proven designers who may be a good fit for your project.

Dunbar Kitchen Reno

Here are some common planning considerations from our experience as experts in the field of high end condo renovations (shameless promotion for best Georgie winner for best Condo Renovation under $200,000)

1. Strata Requirements. The first step is to find out your strata requirements when renovating. They will typically require drawings of the proposed work, engineer letters of assurance if you are changing any interior walls, and stamped mechanical drawings if you plan to move plumbing fixtures, showers, drainage etc.

2. Permit Requirements. The city of Vancouver may require a field review where a building inspector comes to see the space before processing your permit application which will add on at least 2-4 weeks to the process. The permit application will also require the following:

• scaled drawings showing as is and proposed work including existing walls and demolition plan.
• “original signed” letter from the strata granting permission to apply for the permit.
• Strata plan of the property the building is on.
• Strata plan of the floor showing the strata unit within the floor.

City of Vancouver Building Permit Application

3. overlooked considerations when taking on a condo renovation:

• Cleanliness. Hallways and elevators are shared common space, keep them clean and keep your neighbours happy. Leave drywall dust and cooperation from your neighbours will be met with resistance.
• Access. Scheduling access for trades is very challenging as security in current developments deny front door and elevator access.
• Parking. Arrange for extra spots for trades and underground fobs if possible, especially during cleanup phases.
• Noise. Keep noise to a minimum and definitely during business hours. Your neighbours want to come home to quite, not banging ductwork or coring through concrete.
• Neighbour Consent. If you are planning on moving drains in suspended concrete slabs you will need to get the consent from your neighbours below or above as it will be extremely disruptive.

West 10th Bathroom Reno

Feel free to send us a line if you would like to learn about some of our past projects or if you are interested in renovating and would like a realistic estimate on what it will cost and how long it should take.

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Water Heaters

What is the most efficient source of hot water for your home?

Based on a recent study from the CMHC, comparing gas fired on-demand hot water heaters and conventional hot water holding tanks, the on demand water heaters proved to be the most cost effective using 46% less energy.

Although clearly the way to go for long term efficiency and energy savings there are some downsides when selecting on on demand over conventional tanks:

1. It is possible that the use of hot water becomes excessive and possibly wasteful with the notion that there is unlimited hot water.

2. If an on demand hot water heater is vented out the sidewall of a home (instead of the roof) and is in close proximity to a neighbouring house, there will be significant damage to the neighbours house over the long term.

3. The biggest concern raised by consumers from on-demand is the time it takes for the hot water to reach you when you turn on the tap. It can take up to 20 seconds for hot water to be supplied depending on the location of the heater and where the water is being delivered. There are solutions to this problem. Such as installing small holding tanks or recirculating pumps that supply you with warm water instantly before the on-demand hot water reaches you. Although, perfecting a system to match that of a conventional hot water tanks can be challenging, especially in larger homes.

4. Cost. A conventional, insulated 60 gallon tank can be purchased and installed for approximately $500 whereas an on demand tank including venting through the roof will be in the $2,000 range.

If a hot water tank is still your chosen method to heat your hot water, ensure that you properly insulate the tank and the lines to prevent as much heat loss as possible. This will go a long way in conserving energy.

Other economical ways to greatly conserve energy when heating your hot water include solar hot water heating, and hot water recovery systems. Stay posted for future posts on these complimentary and alternative methods.

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Feng Shui Home Layout

What is QI? Qi (pronounced ‘Che’ or ‘Chi’) is a principle based on traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine. It is translated as the flow of life energy, the breath of any living thing.

We researched a little bit on some positive and negative Feng Shui practices to keep in mind when you are decorating/building your home.

Do:

1) Lots of natural light on front door outside
2) Make sure you can see bedroom door from bed
3) Front door at center of house
4) Open spaces at tops of stairs for congregation
5) Locate your stove on an outside wall

Don’t:

1) No vaulted ceilings
2) Range not across from sink
3) No windows above bed
4) Make sure front door and back door are not aligned
5) Avoid putting walls or anything that will block energy coming in the front door

For more information on Feng Shui in the home check out this site of our a local Vancouver Feng Shui Master. She has also recently published a great reference book titled “Feng Shui Do you see what I see?”  which is worth the read.

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House on the move

The Dunbar character home that was featured in The Province, The Vancouver Sun, and on various Vancouver news broadcasts including the CBC has now been successfully moved from its original property and is waiting on a barge dock at the Southlands Musqeum Indian Reserve before crossing the Georgia Straight on its way to its new location in Union Bay, Comox valley.

The house weighed in at an estimated 140,000 pounds and the planks they had set up on top of the power lines to protect them as the house turned street corners creaked and groaned under the weight.

A large crowd gathered to watch the house move that consisted of all the surrounding house owners, some onlookers and most of the past house owners of the character home itself, to see this old home take off.

After raising a number of houses in Vancouver, forming new basements and then lowering back onto new foundations we have finally completed our first house “move”. Well, Nickel Brothers actually did all the moving, but it when it was gone we were left with a beautiful 50×130 foot lot west of Dunbar. Although demo was an option, we really didn’t want to knock down. (see “Moving a house in the Dunbar area of Vancouver to save it from Demolition”)

With the house move now a success we are excited to start building an exclusive modern home for the future. More to come as we document the progress and features of this one of a kind residence on our site, FB, and Twitter.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the house moving experience.

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Dunbar character home

Our latest residential home build/development has had an
interesting start compared to the others. Typically new homes are designed and built to satisfy demand in the market and ultimately replace old homes that have little value left. These homes are demolished to make way for something that is better designed with energy efficiency in mind.

On this site, just west of Dunbar, there was a beautiful 1915 character home that was in great shape considering its age. So much so that the city of Vancouver identified it as having heritage significance and placed it on the Heritage “B” Registry. After several meetings with city development and heritage planners we learned that an owner of a house that has been listed on the Heritage “B” Registry in an RS zone has the option to demolish it if they are building a new house that satisfies outright use under the applicable City of Vancouver Zoning Bylaw (in this case RS-5).

Although we were free to demolish the house we wanted to explore all options of retaining it into a new build first, as we have done on similar projects;(Glenliving) and (La Tessa). In this case, the cost to raise the house enough to build a new foundation, full height basement, new roof and extended dormers for increased living space upstairs, and an addition on the rear of the house for more space on the main while structurally opening up the floorplan, was cost prohibitive considering the estimated market value upon completion.

The heritage planners understood the constraints we were dealing with and appreciated our proactive approach of including them in our development process. After we determined the house had to go in order to allow for a new build we pursued two options simultaneously.

OPTION# 1 – MOVE THE HOUSE

We contacted Nickel Brothers, a house mover we have used in the past on house raises to find a buyer for the house and move it to a new owners site. This is a huge undertaking and the chances of everything working out perfectly to move the house were not great, but we were anxious to pursue as it would be very fulfilling if it was indeed feasible. The way the deal works on these types of arrangements is Nickel Brothers takes care of everything including insurance and risk for the house raise and move. They receive all proceeds from the sale of the house and in exchange we have a house removed from our site at no cost to us.

OPTION#2 – RECYCLE THE HOUSE

In order to pursue with our building permit for the new home, a demolition permit had to be obtained as well, as we would have had no choice but to demolish if the house could not be moved. We felt the best we could do if we had to demo the house was recycle the materials that would normally go to a landfill. The city of Vancouver recently introduced advanced deconstruction permits that are awarded to builders prior to a building permit being issued. The caveat is for the builder to follow a controlled process of recycling 75% or more of the materials from the original house that would normally be sent to the landfill. As per our application to recycle the house we were granted the 2nd ever advanced deconstruction permit in Vancouver.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to use the demolition permit and are excited to go with our first option and be a part of the house move on July 26th…

Here’s a quick article featuring the move in The Province with a bit more info on what is involved. Read more.

For those of you looking for houses for sale in Vancouver, this Dunbar home will be be hot on the market very shortly! We have been working in conjunction with The Wilson Ho Group to market and sell the new Dunbar home. See more for information about the new home!

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There were a couple of comments posted on the video about how cool it would be to see a comparison map or something to show then vs. now. See video and our best effort to chart the route on google maps below, enjoy!

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Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson recently formed a task force comprised of 14 representatives from the development, building, finance and non-profit sectors to explore avenues to increase the city’s availability of affordable housing for moderate income households. In addition to the current and future residents of Vancouver, property owners, builders, and developers will note that the task force’s recently published interim report continues to support increased housing density specifically around transportation including Southeast False Creek (former Olympic Village), Norquay Village (Kingsway and Nanaimo) and the Marine Gateway node at Cambie and Soutwest Marine Drive. As the city council and planning department aims to increase density of housing around these areas the mix is expected to be more balanced between stratified condo projects and purpose built rental buildings not seen since the 1980s when many of Vancouver’s low rise apartments were built. With the city mandate for increased rental units, an apparent softening condo market, and very few good quality rental buildings for local, foreign, and institutional investors, purpose built rental projects could form a new breed in development in the near future.

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