Souvenir

As I say, run like hell.

dbd33

We moved to a house in the country in February. We heated it through the worst of the winter using only wood and have burned three bush cords so far. (Two bush cords is the amount shown being delivered in the pictures on the blog, we paid $250/cord + $50 for delivery). My brother, a wood stove installer, is aghast at this inefficiency, pellets would heat the house for much less money, but we like the look of actual logs. By way of comparison, the gas furnace in our old house in town cost $230/month in equalized payments so wood is dramatically cheaper but a lot more work.

We have a well which is nice because the water doesn't taste like it came from a swimming pool and which costs nothing day-to-day. Wells however are the source of occassional large bills when they dry up or get poisoned.

I have no luck with septic systems, they're great in theory but, I guess I shit too much for them.

Liana

When we first moved to Nova Scotia we were disappointed in the quality of the houses. We had lived out west for many years and Quebec for a short while and the quality differences were mostly with the western properties. The standard of construction was not as good and the word "renovated" quite often meant simply painted. I see a lot of people still doing that here. I think the problem here was/is, that people think of themselves as home handymen, obviously similar to the UK.

I have seen nice renos done by proper contractors and tradespeople and if a property has been renovated in that way then it should be fine because it will have been, hopefully, legally done so and therefore checked by the municipality building inspectors.

It seems popular here in new houses to have underfloor electric heating and it certainly is very nice as a visitor, but I am not sure what it is like living with it and the cost, because it is electric. Such heating can't be put under real wood floors- only engineered or laminate or tiles.

There are plenty of houses with baseboard water radiator heating -our new house is like that because we had an old house here, 80 years old and with the original forced air heating system (updated furnace of course) and we think the radiator system better. There are people with wood stoves but wood isn't cheap - had that in the old house also and very comfy but expensive, unless of course one lives in the rural area and has wood to chop down.

The appropriate thing when buying a house is to get it checked out by a house inspector and if there are problems with it then it will be easy to re-negotiate the offer or pull out of the deal. Not sure whether I would trust many of the realtors either. They are focused on selling the properties and they, even acting on your behalf, are still legally the realtors for the vendor.

I wouldn't buy any property built in the 1950s and 1960s- a friend had a real scare when an addition was being built- the foundation was not on footings and part of the basement walls collapsed and we have seen this on another house too. Bad builders/ regulations/inspectors- who knows? Very poor building though and no way to find out unless going for serious renovations. Go for something very old and do it up or something very new, in my opinion and experience.

Atlantic Xpat

Regarding showers and shit (or wells and septic)......

When putting in an offer on a house with a well make sure that it is subject to a water test for total/fecal colliforms (e.g. drinking quality) and also if possible get the well drilling record (on file somewhere with the provincial/municipal govt.) showing how deep and most importantly what the flow rate is (litres or gallons a minute.)

For rough calculation purposes a well will hold a gallon of water for every 10 inches if it is a standard 8" bore. So a 300 ft well with a static water level of 50ft will give around 300 gallons of storage. Water consumption assumptions for a household could be 100 gallons a person a day. Fine if you have a nice high flow rate - say 10 gallons a minute plus, not so good if like us you have a pitiful 1/2 gallon a minute. Running out of water frequently is no fun. It happens to us if we have heavy use during the summer and is a concern for the future with kids etc in the plan.

Fixing a low yield well can be expensive. $10K+ for re-drilling/hydrofracturing or a storage tank.

Moving on to the other end, try and get info on the size and most importantly the location of the septic tank & when it was last emptied. Unlike UK, here at least it seems unsual to have a manhole cover/inspection hatch to access the tank for pump-out or service. I recently had to have our tank emptied because it was evidentially near to backing up and had to hire a guy with a backhoe to locate and dig the hatch out so the vac-truck guy could pump it out. The bad news is that this cost around $500 all told, the good news is that it only needs doing every 4-5 years or so.

It's also worth knowing which way the leaching bed is running from the septic so that you don't try and plant tree's or run heavy equipment over it risking damage.

AX

Poppy2

Some subjects may well be like herpes - but as it is news to me I am not sure I need the *eye rolling* about it being mentioned again. I tell you what being new to this site isnt an easy place to be - I want to use it as a great resource, because it is one, but I am over getting shirty, short replies.

*UFFI - run like hell*...............then when asked why *ask a realtor*. Dont bother replying if I am driving you nuts for asking!:curse:

Thanks to those who have really spent time answering and informing me, I really appreciate it!

dbd33

The little I know about UFFI is that it was some sort of blow in foam insulation which proved to be poisonous to the occupants of houses. You can't get insurance for a house with it and you can't remove it either.

Poppy2

Thanks dbd33 - that helps a lot, sounds like a nightmare! I will also check out that link that someone added to the thread, I dont want to appear ungrateful for that.

I am so grateful for all that info regarding wells and septic tanks - that is invaluable! We do not want to walk into a complete nightmare, and you are right Realtors are going to want the house sale, they arent acting on your behalf.


Liana - do you mean radiators like in the UK, is it unusual there? Its unheard of in NZ. When I was reading radiant floor heating, I assumed it was the gas, pumped water thing that we see on all the house building programmes - but if it is electric then I can only assume it is hugely expensive. Not to mention that we are liking the idea of harwood.

I am that sad that all the tips are getting written in a book!! Oh yes, brain like a goldfish and enver any time to skim back over old posts!!

Liana

The majority of the radiators are baseboard- not the panel type as in the UK. They are just about 20 cms high and have one water pipe running through them with the metal trims about 5mm apart all along the pipe.

Not sure why Canada went with the UFFI banning- it wasn't banned in Europe. The problematic chemical is formaldehyde and everyone seems to have this all over their house with plywood construction and MDF wood as trim etc.. Most houses built today are full of formaldehyde. But not mine

Souvenir

Chill out girl.

You are getting advice. Mine, regarding UFFI, was short and to the point. dbd's was slightly longer. Both convey the same message. Run.

Keep coming back for advice. You'll get it.

Hudman

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/mah...inaiqu_008.cfm

fuzzbuzz

If possible I would look to rent something for a short term that way you get a feel of the area and time to look into what you would like to buy it takes off all the pressure.

Poppy2

Thanks for all the info regarding UFFI, I had never heard of it before this thread!

And renting isnt appealing but will be the situation I guess. I marvel at those people who move and have bought a house online practically - there have been a couple of threads lately like that.

I have to confess I want to get a house sorted shortly after we arrive because renting isnt much fun with 3 small children, family wanting to come over and Christmas (sort of) coming. But those things need to be put on the back burner for finding the right house and area.

Thanks!

fuzzbuzz

I know renting is a pain but you can get short term rentals even a month would help you to know what area you like best,when we moved to Winnipeg we went straight into rental with our 4 children and it worked out well as the area everyone told us we should be buying a house in we really did not like and ended up a few miles away in another part of town which we love,if you bought and decided it was not for you that is a whole new problem.I wish you and your family luck in whatever decision you make, moving to Canada is the right decision and that is all that matters.

steved61

One thing we found looking at houses is if it says the property is on well/septic, but municapal services on street is that the council won't force you to get the mains services connected one house we looked at was like this and would have cost about $2000 to have put on.

Everything i have heard about well /septic has been fine, just remember at least once a year you will probably have to have your septic system pumped out.


Wells you need to check the depth they have been drilled to normally the deeper the better, less likely to run out of water

regards

steve