As we know the UK lives on its DIY thanks to countless home improvement shows and designers telling you painting your chest of drawers white will add 10k to your house price.

Well, I fall into that trap. I'm no builder (IT Manager) but I do love to renovate houses, I do my own plumbing, blockwork, woodwork, electrics, (I know..) pretty much the only thing I don't attempt is plastering as I find its a definite art form. Its for hobby and building the home I want, certainly not in any way a professional, though I've done a few houses.

My Canadian wife and I are very keen to continue this in Canada when we relocate early next year (subject to PR) and will be looking for houses in Toronto.

My point...I spent a lot of time on here but not seen much about DIY/building. I've done some work on her downtown condo and the building materials seem very different.

So, any DIYers out there with stories? Any guidelines like building regs, electrical regulations that I should read up - are they as strict as UK? I'm not even allowed to wire a light in now.

We'd love to come out there and find an old property to renovate but its a little daunting for me as it seems very different build styles. We may end up concentrating on a cottage as its called out there, funds allowing.

Thanks!

Hi,

Both myself and my husband are avaid DIY'ers. If you are going to be doing a full reno on a place for resale / large structural changes - you will need building permits. Canada is very big on permits and inspections for everything. However if it's just a case of 'doing it up' for yourselves with just cosmetic changes you should be ok.

However I would suggest reading up on the local codes (easily found online) just to double check.

Also elecrical work is done a bit differently out here so that side may be left to a proffessional, as i've said many a time, electricians are the only trade that work with sh1t you can't see

Any specific questions please feel free to ask

[QUOTE=mandymoochops;10717872]
Also elecrical work is done a bit differently out here so that side may be left to a proffessional, as i've said many a time, electricians are the only trade that work with sh1t you can't see

QUOTE]

What about heating engineers afterall you can't see gas

[QUOTE=Mikeypm;10717931]
Yeah yeah yeah

[QUOTE=mandymoochops;10718030] I know I'm very cheeky, there must be something in the water

We're in Ontario and just built new or better had a builder built new. He had all the permits (quite a few) hung up in the garage and at every stage they needed to get an inspector in to check structure, electrics etc. Also if you plan on reselling then be aware that at least in Ontario as soon as you find something that is not right you have to fix it and can't just put drywall over. That can get costly when buying a fixer upper where you don't know what has been messed up in the past, hidden behind drywall or flooring or what was up to code once but is not anymore.

[QUOTE=Mikeypm;10717931] Ah but you can smell it and hear it. Now ionising radiation......

[QUOTE=bats;10718064] Ah but you can only smell it because the powers that be decided to add a smell to it. gas in its natural form has no smell. Plus you can not always here you have a gas escape point in case here http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/ma...on-second-body

We had our last house for two years, we sold in April. It was in Guelph, not Toronto, as we couldn't find a suitable property in the Toronto areas I know.
In that house some of the things we did were:

- it had been a bungalow with an attic extension using dormer windows. We cut it off back to being a bungalow and had a contractor frame another floor.
This meant that we lived in the house with no roof for several weeks in winter.

- we drove to Buffalo and brought back all the fixtures and fittings, 100+ sheets of drywall, a bathtub, etc.

- we hung, taped and mudded the drywall, painted all walls and ceilings, hung doors, installed hardwood flooring, tiled the bathroom.

- downstairs we replaced the hardwood in one room, painted everything, insulated the basement.

Now we've moved on and, in the six weeks in the new house, we've:

- insulated the basement, replacing the framing which we suppose the previous occupants burned to keep warm

- built a wall to divide the basement

- built a pantry

- built planter boxes to beautify the outside

- hauled more junk than can be imagined

- started work on a fence to keep the dogs from runing off, we've set 30 or so posts so far.

My advice? Buy a minivan.

Just be aware, it is really hard to find nice stuff to diy with, i.e. vanities, lights, kitchens. Everything here, especially in Alberta is so old fashioned, home depot is a nightmare with never anything in stock. For example the display kitchens in hd are still the same ones they had when we first arrived 8 years ago, they took the bathroom displays out about three years ago and they still haven't replaced them. Just makes it really hard to reproduce an idea or something you have seen on telly.

Canada may be big on permits, but the standards aren’t that high

It is worth getting your local building code because some local best practices are just weird, some defy logic and some are just quirky

Personally I bought a Electrical guide form the local Home Depot, just so I had some form of reference when I was doing some wiring...

Ontario proves a nice pictorial guide to its electrical regulations

I'd agree with DBD about travelling south for the building supplies, middle of the road items costwise (ie ones around the thousand dollar mark) are half price down there.

Our current project is a shop build, post frame construction apparently. Posts are set and rafters going on in a couple weeks when hid gets home.

I'll make the food and bring out the beer, this one is nothing to do with me

That wouldn't be a problem from Toronto, Buffalo has several Home Depots and a huge Lowes, so if you're looking for hardware it's readily available. I think the only thing people routinely bring from Europe is the kitchen sink, if you want a draining board, the choice is, pretty much, IKEA or fetch it.

Isn't that just some parts of Alberta?

I believe that you would be hard pressed to be unable to obtain what you wanted in Calgary. There are all manner of hardware stores from Home Depot to more upmarket stores and bespoke manufacturers. Cost may be an issue but then I suspect the same would apply in the UK if you wanted something not provided in B&Q

A former client of mine manufactures bespoke kitchens in Calgary. He has them produced in Vietnam, ships them over and has local installers install them. He tells me that they cost about 20% more than what is available in Home Depot.

[QUOTE=mandymoochops;10718030] Right. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-22600294