Atlantic Xpat

You don't have kids do you?

Our very modest 800sq ft a floor + 600 ft finished in the basement is feeling small already and my kids are only 3yrs and 2mths respectively!

Siouxie

Nice lounge!

Try living in 900sq ft with 2 x 29 year olds (plus me) and 2 lots of household belongings bought over from the UK and various items purchased over the last 10 years in Canada... now that is tight!



Edit: The lack of space and 'clutter' is driving me loopy

R I C H

Nope, and that's kinda my point. Adults can live relatively easily in smaller spaces - tidiness can be managed. Six people living in 2000 sq/ft (no mention was made originally of additional basement space), is in my mind a clutterf**k.

el_richo

I'm pretty sure they could buy a 4 bed place near Glasgow for 200k

R I C H

Thanks, and no thanks.

The first house I lived in here was 1,000sq/ft, converted from old farm sheds, which had to accommodate a 40ft container load of possessions and equipment, operate a business from and serve as home.

fletcher m

Yep, pebbledash palace. Give the guy a break, he is persuing a dream, it might work out really well for them. Seems quite level headed apart from the on the bus off the bus mentality. Good luck alcat, go for it!

fletcher m

Lucky barsteward, i shared a 20ft as my home with another bloke in -30C in Bosnia. 40 footer, a bloody luxury! The 40ft was the cookhouse.

Novocastrian

Nice sitting room, if a bit cluttered.

This house is about 2000 sq ft (4 beds) plus a 700 sq ft finished nasement family room plus 2 other small rooms used as a study and a storage space (could be a 5th bed) and a 200 sq ft utility space. It's on a 3/4 acre lot in old Richmond Hill.

We maxed out at four inhabitants and that was never a problem, but the family we bought it from had 4 kids. They sold it to us when their kids became teens because they were too crowded.

They moved to an awful 'burb (Aurora) and a 3500 sq ft house. Poor bastards.

Tony-the-Tigger

Don't know about BC but in Ontario, the square footage of a house for sale, generally excludes the basement unless specifically stated. Also, you can't assume that there would be six people living within a four bedroom house. One room could be used as an office for example. Anyway, wouldn't there normally be five people in a four bed house, using your logic?

Almost Canadian

I note that none of those chairs have cup holders; one assumes you have arms like Mr. Tickles if you can reach that table sitting down.

We manage fine in our 1600 sq ft house

fletcher m

The bigger the house, the more it will cost to heat. The more furniture you will need and the louder you have to shout to get anyone to hear you up/down stairs.

How about a little crofters cottage and go to the pub every evening to get away from all the trivia of teenagers.

R I C H

That's an interesting point, but debatable. The house I built had gas fueled in-floor radiant heat. It was built to the latest building codes, all internal walls were insulated etc etc. The heating costs were substantial, in the main due to high ceilings (10 to 16ft), though cooling costs in the summer were minimal due to deep covered decks and porch areas that kept the sun off.

The house I'm in now is over twice as large, yet my heating bills are far lower - free firewood heats the main floor, and baseboard heaters everywhere else.

Novocastrian

Is it really free? If you hew and carry it yourself have you worked out the value of your labour invested? If you pay someone else, is it still free?

Most importantly for an idiot like me, are you sustainably replanting the trees you're using for "free" firewood?

fletcher m

That too is an interesting point. during the weekend i gave up counting how many trees i dug up that self seeded, holly, elder, hawthorn and blackthorn, I suspect his trees also self seed.

Buckingham palace is more expensive to heat than a crofters cottage. You have invested capital in heating systems to get a lower annual cost, that cost has still been used.

R I C H

I'm taking my ATV and trailer onto the crown land at the bottom of my yard, chainsaw in hand and liberating pine beetle kill trees that are dead. A couple of Saturday's effort in the fall, perhaps $10 of gas for the ATV and saw. It's better than sitting loafing inside, and as cost free as I can make it. It's also good for my peace of mind that fallen trees aren't laying around as a fire hazard when the summer arrives.