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#1
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have done withmy cottage renovation
Hi all,
I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft (the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks |
#2
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 9:56*am, caledongrl wrote:
Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft *(the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. *I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. *I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? *Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. |
#3
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 11:33*am, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 9:56*am, caledongrl wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft *(the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. *I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. *I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? *Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. the township sets the requirements. they are also very concerned about disturbing the trees during renovation. I am located in the middle of 30 acres, completely treed. It is a bit "big brotherish" in my opinion. Also, there are two houses on one property, something that they frown upon, and will only allow you to renovate based on existing footprint because of that. |
#4
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
caledongrl wrote:
On Jun 7, 11:33 am, ransley wrote: On Jun 7, 9:56 am, caledongrl wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft (the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. the township sets the requirements. they are also very concerned about disturbing the trees during renovation. I am located in the middle of 30 acres, completely treed. It is a bit "big brotherish" in my opinion. Also, there are two houses on one property, something that they frown upon, and will only allow you to renovate based on existing footprint because of that. Have another talk with the code office. Here in the states, at least, basement is only considered living space if is finished off. Bare concrete basements are storage or utility space. Not even counted as a basement unless it is walkable height. 'Footprint' is the dimensions of outside walls, number of floor is irrelevant. -- aem sends... |
#5
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 11:19*am, caledongrl wrote:
On Jun 7, 11:33*am, ransley wrote: On Jun 7, 9:56*am, caledongrl wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft *(the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. *I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. *I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? *Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. the township sets the requirements. they are also very concerned about disturbing the trees during renovation. I am located in the middle of 30 acres, completely treed. It is a bit "big brotherish" in my opinion. *Also, there are two houses on one property, something that they frown upon, and will only allow you to renovate based on existing footprint because of that.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Digging down wont affect trees, footprint here has nothing to do with depth, I will bet you are misunderstanding the codes |
#6
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have done with my cottage renovation
Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft (the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks *As an electrician I spend some time in crawl spaces. I would definitely put a concrete floor in there. If you plan to use it for storage have insulation installed below the concrete as well as a moisture barrier. You could also have hot water radiant heat installed there. If you can, use the Styrofoam insulated concrete forms for your crawl space walls. Insulate the floor above. |
#7
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 2:58�pm, "John Grabowski" wrote:
Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft �(the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. �I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. �I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? �Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks *As an electrician I spend some time in crawl spaces. �I would definitely put a concrete floor in there. �If you plan to use it for storage have insulation installed below the concrete as well as a moisture barrier. �You could also have hot water radiant heat installed there. �If you can, use the Styrofoam insulated concrete forms for your crawl space walls. �Insulate the floor above.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Or dig it much deeper, then leave dirt floor, with complete walls and footers to 6 foot plus Then one day finish digging and pour floor. Around here you can request a variance, for all sorts of rules. Do they offer that in canada? |
#8
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 2:45*pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 11:19*am, caledongrl wrote: On Jun 7, 11:33*am, ransley wrote: On Jun 7, 9:56*am, caledongrl wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft *(the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. *I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. *I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? *Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. the township sets the requirements. they are also very concerned about disturbing the trees during renovation. I am located in the middle of 30 acres, completely treed. It is a bit "big brotherish" in my opinion. *Also, there are two houses on one property, something that they frown upon, and will only allow you to renovate based on existing footprint because of that.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Digging down wont affect trees, footprint here has nothing to do with depth, I will bet you are misunderstanding the codes It is not my interpretation of the code. It is the townships interpretation. I just finished emailing a counciler of the township asking where I can find the information I need. |
#9
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
On Jun 7, 4:17*pm, bob haller wrote:
On Jun 7, 2:58 pm, "John Grabowski" wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft (the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks *As an electrician I spend some time in crawl spaces. I would definitely put a concrete floor in there. If you plan to use it for storage have insulation installed below the concrete as well as a moisture barrier. You could also have hot water radiant heat installed there. If you can, use the Styrofoam insulated concrete forms for your crawl space walls. Insulate the floor above.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Or dig it much deeper, then leave dirt floor, with complete walls and footers to 6 foot plus Then one day finish digging and pour floor. Around here you can request a variance, for all sorts of rules. Do they offer that in canada? My builder suggested doing that. Just put in as if putting in a full basement, then next year dig it out. The township would never know.... |
#10
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have done with my cottage renovation
"John Grabowski" wrote in message I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks *As an electrician I spend some time in crawl spaces. I would definitely put a concrete floor in there. If you plan to use it for storage have insulation installed below the concrete as well as a moisture barrier. You could also have hot water radiant heat installed there. If you can, use the Styrofoam insulated concrete forms for your crawl space walls. Insulate the floor above. In Ontario, the best ICF. is www.integraspec.com Their HQ is in Kingston. |
#11
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have done with my cottage renovation
Every jurisdiction has it's own interpretation of what is 'living space' and
what you are allowed to do within their code. Call a reputable arborist - perhaps someone associated with the county extension service or a local university and have them give you some guidance on how to protect the trees. My neighbor and I have each added on to our houses under the canopy of a 250 year old oak. We had an arborist advise us on how to put in a foundation (northern climate where we needed to dig down 50 inches) and we're now 4 years post-construction and the tree is as full this spring as I've seen it in 35 years! I would go as deep as they will let you particularly if as you mention you need to put mechanicals in the area. No sense making it any harder than you need to! I'd consider a concrete floor as well, at least in the part you need to use for the equipment and any storage. No sense trying to work on a gravel floor and put in some sort of footing to support the furnace. Finally, give yourself good access to the area. Maybe a trap-door the size of a closet floor if you don't have a way to give yourself a bulkhead door to the area. My crawlspace only has an old basement window from the original basement - a pain in the A%( to get thru when I want to get in there, and I don't have to worry about any mechanicals to access. "caledongrl" wrote in message ... On Jun 7, 2:45 pm, ransley wrote: On Jun 7, 11:19 am, caledongrl wrote: On Jun 7, 11:33 am, ransley wrote: On Jun 7, 9:56 am, caledongrl wrote: Hi all, I am looking for some advice on the type of crawl space I should have when I renovate my cottage. I am demolishing about 1200 sq. ft (the living room and kitchen area of the cottage) Currently the building sits on blocks.. For this renovation I am only allowed to build on the existing footprint. So I cannot put in a basement - they consider that additional living space. However, I can have a crawlspace. Max. height from the floor is 5'9". So if including the joists, the walkable space under the cottage would onlly be 4'8" approx. I will be having a proper foundation put in this time, no more cinder blocks. I am wondering what do do about the crawlspace area. Insulate the walls? concrete slab? I can't imagine that keeping it as a dirt floor makes sense.... Also, what if I only had crawlspace under a portion of the cottage to hold plumbing, furnace etc. and the rest no crawlspace at all? Would it just be a concrete slab then?? Then I thought I would put in the radiant floor heating into the concrete. I live in Ontario, Canada. The soil where the construction is taking place is very very sandy. Any advice or ideas would be welcome. Thanks Around here south of you in the U.S. where I am. Digging out a crawlspace to be a basement is done everyday without issues you mention. I turned my crawl into a basement, legaly without question. Who states you cant do it, footprint to me does not mean digging down, its sq. ft. area of structure, not cu.ft. the township sets the requirements. they are also very concerned about disturbing the trees during renovation. I am located in the middle of 30 acres, completely treed. It is a bit "big brotherish" in my opinion. Also, there are two houses on one property, something that they frown upon, and will only allow you to renovate based on existing footprint because of that.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Digging down wont affect trees, footprint here has nothing to do with depth, I will bet you are misunderstanding the codes It is not my interpretation of the code. It is the townships interpretation. I just finished emailing a counciler of the township asking where I can find the information I need. |
#12
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have done with my cottage renovation
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote:
You may want to clarify that. Every interpretation of "footprint" that I've ever dealt with was length and width and had no bearing on depth or height (although height may still have some restrictions). Why would that care how deep you went? Basements are usually not considered living space either for real estate purposes, however, you local laws may differ. I have read that a city near me (Manhattan Beach CA) has restrictions on the size of houses and the size of basements. They claim it is to reduce visible bulk. I think the real reason is house envy. The people writing the laws do not want other people to have bigger houses than they have. -- I don't understand why they make gourmet cat foods. I have known many cats in my life and none of them were gourmets. They were all gourmands! |
#13
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advice needed regarding type of basement/crawlspace to have donewith my cottage renovation
Daniel Prince wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote: You may want to clarify that. Every interpretation of "footprint" that I've ever dealt with was length and width and had no bearing on depth or height (although height may still have some restrictions). Why would that care how deep you went? Basements are usually not considered living space either for real estate purposes, however, you local laws may differ. I have read that a city near me (Manhattan Beach CA) has restrictions on the size of houses and the size of basements. They claim it is to reduce visible bulk. I think the real reason is house envy. The people writing the laws do not want other people to have bigger houses than they have. -- Another example of the creeping socialism that has taken over California government. The West used to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. What happened? TDD |
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