Hi everyone,

I have searched the site but found little or no reference to this topic so thought I would ask the question. Please be prepared, it is likely to be long, with lots of questions and seeking a lot of help. :scared:

My first question is simple - How easy is it to build your own home to a standard or doctored design in Canada?

Leading on from this I would ask the following questons;

1. How easy is it to hire conractors?

2. What sort of cost is it for a build (excluding land) - I know this is an open ended question but for a large 4+2 house what would it be to the nearest $50,000?

3. What sort of restrictions am I likely to face in Alberta?

4. Who has responibility for getting power and water to the property if it is out of town?

5. Can anyone point me to any contractors websites that will demonstrate plans, skills, abilities, costs etc etc

There, told you it was a lot to ask but I am seriously interested in any help that anyone can offer around this area please?

Regards

Grap

thanks for thread on building you own house , we too are interested in this and have done a little research , your questions will save me a lot of typing

LOL that is supposing that someone answers it

Having just returned from Calgary I would answer as follows:

1. Damn near impossible at the moment - that is partly why house prices are rocketing - the developers can't get enough skilled workers resulting in a housing shortage which has pushed prices up.

2. A large house would cost in the region of $250,000 (excluding lot), the higher the spec the higher the cost.

3. Would depend on what you want to build and where - similar to over here really in that you have to get the appropriate permission.

4. You will be - spectic tank/generators etc .

5. Google search on builders/Alberta etc will give you all you need - hiring them is another thing.

Hope this helped

This is a great help, thank you. Seems to me that the biggest issue is the resourcing of contractors to do the project, would this be accurate?

regards

i bet there are a few contractors in the building trade sat in the never ending queue waiting for visas.

LOL, anyboby who is should try the PNP programme then, they sound like they are in short supply

By far the biggest obstacle is finding someone to build your house in a reasonable time frame / cost.

Too right - I'm one of them

In all honesty - minor hiccups aside - this is the only real obstacle

Thanks for the advice, very much appreciated

now i am going to throw a spanner in the works , thanks for the info but does this apply to ontario as well :

Pretty much. And it takes a long time to build a house here. This is a picture of the neighbour's house at the beginning of August last year.



Today it's been framed and has a roof but the exterior walls are just particle board.

not the fastest of builds then , we had a villa built in florida last year and it was up in 8 months , so i guess we can rule out building in ontario.

thanks for the help , it is really useful

Why does it take so long? Our builder has promised us 4 months from the date that they break ground to completion. Can quite believe it, around where we live at the moment houses are popping up like mushrooms. House opposite is just being finished and they poured the foundations in January.