house building
 

This is a bit of a wishful thinking question, but it has come up a few times in discussions we've been having so I thought I would enquire :)

Has anyone here built their own house in Canada? Well, maybe not built their own, had one built for them :lol: . We are hoping to move to Nova Scotia and OH is becoming very keen on the idea of having a house built, whereas I don't think we'd be able to afford it. In Scotland I have googled and found building companies with plans for houses they build, an idea of costs etc. I can't seem to find anything for Nova Scotia! I guess I have basic questions like...

do you look for an NS company, or just a Canadian one?
Do you pay someone else for design plans? How much might this be?
How much might a 4 bedroom house be to build - not including land?
Can anyone recommend a company I could get in touch with for some info?
And lastly... are we mad to even consider it?

Any info would be more than we have at the moment :)

Re: house building
 

Hi izzi

I dont think its unusal for Canadians to get their houses built for them through private contractors. This is something I'm interested in doing myself when I move over to Canada. When I was flying to Canada in June this year to land, I had a lady sitting next to me on the plane who knew quite a lot about this stuff and I had a very interesting discussion with her about it.

With regards to the cost, she told me building a house in the same area on a same lot size (land) wont cost you a lot more than a readymade house unless you want better quality building materials to be used in it. The choice is huge when it comes to building materials, decorations and finishings etc and your contractor will give you an option in everything you can think of that goes in a house. So the better the quality, the higher the cost.

I am afraid I still cant answer all of your questions but I'm sure there will be people who have more knowledge than me. I anticipate this becoming an interesting thread. Good luck with your research :thumbup:

Re: house building
 

When I first moved here I was very impressed that so many people told me 'Oh yes, we're building a house', imagining that they had secured a lot, engaged an architect and contractor and were having their dream pile built. As it turns out, when people say 'we're building a house', what they generally mean is 'We're buying a new house on a sub-division as a turn-key package from the developer'. In this instance you generally get the choice of a limited number of house styles and further choices on interior finish, kitchen etc. How much depends upon the size and flexibility of the developer.

So if this is your dream then first find your sub-division and you will invariably be able to find the developer/contractors website from there.

If you are talking about the more bespoke approach to building your own dream house, perhaps on a piece of land outside a sub-division, then start by finding your piece of land. mls.ca is your friend. Then google 'House Plans Canada' (or US) and you will come across many sites giving different styles of house. If you find something you like you can buy the plans for the appropriate fee. Finally, and perhaps the most difficult part, find your contractor or developer. This is probably best done when you arrive in your chosen area and can obtain local knowledge and opinion of their abilities.

Re: house building
 

We were told it costs about €165 per square foot to build plus cost of land. Obviously fittings can vary vastly.you would also have planning costs and architects fees as well. You will of course get exactly what you want. It may be cheaper to alter the internal Walls etc on a builders standard model prior to it being built

Re: house building
 

RICH is the man on bespoke self builds, or indeed thorough reno's. I seem to recall build costs of $100-300 per sq ft depending upon finish levels. Plus land cost of course. When pricing land, if it is semi/rural factor in costs for clearing, drilling a well and installing a septic.

Re: house building
 

Yep, I built for c$275 sq/ft. Plans were purchased from an internet home build/plan website, then amended to suit us by an architect for a few hundred $. Total cost of the plans was around $1,500 IIRC.

It was a 3 bed, 2,050 sq/ft house (rancher = single level) with a 500 sq/ft garage. Build cost was c$650k. The whole process from planning to city permits, build and move in was a little over a year.

The renos to another house I've recently carried out cost $150k, which entailed re-modelling a 4,500 sq/ft home (3 levels). I've posted pics on other threads if you care to search.

Re: house building
 

Hi

4 bed house would cost from $270,000 in Nova Scotia, plus land, septic, well, ground clearing , electric and HST!! Depends how big you want it really and where you buy your land....

Re: house building
 

Hi Izzie

try a post on the BE's of NS page there is at least one member on there who has just arrived who is in the process of having their house built here:thumbup:

Re: house building
 

A friend of mine built his home himself. Every last nail, trowel of cement and roof tile has his sweat in it. In 1964 he bought 4.5 acres of bush in the middle of nowhere for $1,000 an acre and set about clearing the land by hand.

No, of course, it is in suburbia. He sold a couple of acres to a developer some years back but still has a park like oasis in the middle of sub-division land.

Edit: I think he got bored when he'd finished the house so he built himself a sailing boat. He still sails it down to visit his friend in Los Angeles every year.

Re: house building
 

Wonderful information from the posters. This thread is getting more and more interesting :thumbsup:

Re: house building
 

I built my own house almost ten years ago.
First we (she who would like to be obeyed that is ) got a book of plans and chose a couple that suited our needs. As it was a retirement home and we planned on being away for part of the year we wanted a single storey with minimum maintenance. Basically, we modified a plan from the book and drew rough sketches.
We were living in Oakville, Ontario at the time but knew where we wanted to build, here near Truro. We bought piece of land here and, on a visit, lined up the tradesmen that we would need. I did that by asking around and visiting sites where there was a build in progress. I also checked at local suppliers like Kent, Home Hardware, Hubcraft and so on to find out who the quality tradesmen were. When I got some names I went and looked at their work and spoke to them. I was able to put together a good team this way.
I also asked around about getting the plans drawn with the mods that we wanted. I was able to find a local draughtsman who could draw the blueprints. This cost me $200 !!! It included six sets of drawings and a Mylar master and a "stick list". That is the list of materials that I would need. I thought it was a bargain but bare in mind that it was 10 years ago.
I shopped the stick list around local suppliers and got the best deal I could.
The folks that sold us the land also cleared it and dug the foundation and the basement.
The work started on May 1, 2001 and was all done by mid August.
Fortunately I didn't run into any problems of note. I had good tradesmen and all went smoothly. The electrician said he had never put in so many outlets (plug ins) I have many more than you would get in a ready built job. I also wired the place with "cat 5" wire which, in those days was unusual. I also wanted a 220 volt supplies in my radio room and workshop.
The doorways are all the widest possible and all rooms are wheelchair accessible. This was a boon when I got a bit banged up five years ago and was incapacitated for a while.
We tried to cover every aspect of getting old !! There is a laundry room in the basement but there is also one plumbed in in a closet off the kitchen where a stacked washer and dryer could be easily installed in the event that we couldn't climb the stairs.
Would I do it again ? Yes, if I needed to.
Some things I might, with 20/20 hindsight, have done differently. One thing that I wish I had done was put a washroom in the garage ! Sounds odd but how many times have you needed a facility when you are wearing work boots or whatever and don't want to have to take them off to go into the house. A toilet and stainless steel sink would be ideal.
Oh and I also paid for everything with an Aeroplan Visa card ! That got me two business class tickets around the world !
I would not, however, build until I was sure about staying here. There have been instances on this board where folks have bought a place right away and then regretted it because they then found out that, for whatever reason, they weren't happy or settled. Rent for a while and then build is what I would do if I was a newcomer.

I would wait until you are comfortable with your new life and then do it.

Re: house building
 

Thanks very much for all the info. Before we opted to try to emigrate we had thought about building a house here in Scotland so I guess it was just a matter of time before we started thinking about it from a Canada point of view. We will definitely rent first, get jobs etc. to see where we stand before thinking seriously about starting this.

Secretly this is what i would really like to do... but I have zero experience so it's not really an option :lol:

Simon thanks for your info, gives me quite a good idea of the process to expect... that must have been one big Visa bill you had at one point! :eek: I think this is something we'll keep in the back of our minds, see how things go, once we're there and established maybe start asking around at Kent etc. and see what specific info we can collect.

Re: house building
 

We had our house built for us in 2003, but we are at the opposite side of the country to where you are thinking of being.
It is a VERY traditional Highland house. Gable decor, finials and whitewash on the outside; ROOMS! on the inside.
I designed it, my husband tweeked it and we went to a designer who made the plans so that the design was buildable (?). The builder then set to. We had many little hiccups when he wanted to alter things to make them "more traditional" but we always got him back on track of "traditional" Scottish not "traditional" Canadian.
Canadians hate the house as it has no huge open plan area; except the kitchen/sittingroom; but they also think it is over 100 years old.

My father has a flat in the North of Scotland which cost the same as our 5 bedroom, 4 pubic room, 3 1/2 bathroom home. I am not bragging, just trying to show you that you can have your dream if you go about it the right way.

Good luck, I hope it is as easy in NS as it was here in BC.

I would highly recommend Kevin Fraser at K2 Construction in Duncan, who built our home, he may be able to help you find someone in NS.

Re: house building
 

Is that a typo or an acknowledgement that there's not much to do in Scotland in the winter?;)

Re: house building
 

We visited this place in Stewiacke NS http://www.towncountryhomes.ca/ . Hope it helps