Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Im just curious if anyone living in something like this can tell me....Does it get noticibly colder in the master bedroom as its over the top of the garage, which presumably is pretty chilly in the winter, what with the front opening up to the winter air?

I know the end of our house with the garage beneath is noticibly cooler than the bit we huddle together in during the winter. Our heating duct system could probably be better balanced and the insulation and draft proofing below better...but still.

Insulation on a new place is presumably better than ours, but it cant be that good can it if you actually use the garage in the winter?

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

You're getting good advice here. When we arrived in Calgary, we made the mistake of buying too quickly, and found ourselves looking for a better location inside a few months!! A real pain when you've just moved a whole family and all the wordly goods that go with it, only to find you got it wrong. :( If you can find a fully furnished rental, at least you won't have the entire 'move' twice, just yourself and a few personal belongings. I wouldn't advise building without the ability to keep a VERY close eye on progress, anyway (we did it almost daily), and especially not without a good lawyer!

Good luck!

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

I know why I might want to keep an eye on things - but then I have no experience in this. On the other hand you sound as if you know from experience. Care to elaborate?

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Iain,

I haven't looked at the house plan mentioned, ours has master right over the 2 garages, reverse level, grade level entry with den hall and basement down.

Master bed doesn't get any colder really, I figure the insulation is good (5 year old home) as it is everywhere else I've checked in the place. Garages get bloody cold at night, we have BBH but don't use them in there. Cold garages doesn't seem to affect rest of the house.

The front, hall and den are all on the open sides exposure (land runs back up by the house at 35 degrees approx). Downstairs front is a little colder inside but house is open plan up, so air can vent right up the stairs from all downstairs areas. As we have 2 cats we leave all downstairs doors open.

No real big deal apart from a few degrees diference in temps. Summer will be nicer down. Err, once I finish the basement off. :o

Rich.

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

We don't have this style of home, but my friend does. The kids bedrooms are directly over the garage and they don't feel any cooler than any other room in the house. The garage is insulated but not heated.

He, like me, doesn't see the point in having a garage if you are not going to use it as such. :)

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Guess I need to fix up that insulation then!

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Ah you have cold garage syndrome ? :mad:

Nasty business. Call in Mike Holmes, he'll fix it.

Rich.

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Mike Bloody Holmes would just knock my place down and start again...I think my wife has already asked him to come have a look come to think of it. She insists that he must be Gay. I'm not so sure!

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Would it make any difference if he was? :)

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

i agree with everyone else, at the least you should rent first ( weve just done a 10day fact finding trip in calgary) and have decided to rent first as calgary is too big to get to know quickly and you will get differing advice on locations to live.

Ps that aside anyone have a rental preference eg sub-let, private or large firms that specialise in furnished as any help would be appreciated ( we have experience of rental in england)

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Hi Cowtown :)

This was our experience of new homes here:

We built a home during our first year here. Although it was with one of the apparently better builders, a number of things would have been incorrect had we not caught it as it happened. Some things small, but others more major, like failing to insulate the (exterior) walls behind the bathtub, (maybe you should check you actually HAVE insulation, iaink ;)) and installing the WRONG (cheaper) tub, not the one we had ordered. Other things like very bad studding in places (diseased wood), which we pulled out and insisted they replace, and layout of the bathroom was all wrong. I think the builder learned a lesson, too, as I don't think they made a lot of profit on that particular house, due to our 'hands on' approach. :D

Although it was very stressful (it was 40 mins drive from home with three young kids), the end result was worth it. Though I'm not sure I'd be too willing to go through it again in a hurry, and compared to us, some of our neighbours had far worse problems than we did, and this was with a variety of builders. I think you can actually get a better deal these days by buying a newer existing home. As someone already mentioned, no GST, no landscaping costs, or the mess of living in an 'under construction' neighbourhood.


About six years ago we bought a 'spec' house - one that a builder goes ahead and builds without a customer, then puts on the market. It was a lovely house, our first acreage. We didn't have any major problems with it, until just after the first year when we arranged for the 'poop' guy to come and pump out the septic tank! You wouldn't expect any problems with it being a brand new house - right? He took one look and announced "There's nothing to empty, it's as clean as a whistle!" The plumber who was responsible for all the plumbing/septic system, had installed the pump in the wrong side of the septic tank, and it had been pumping raw sewage, instead of effluent (the liquid) out to the field the whole time. This meant that the field was saturated, and rendered useless. We had to replace the field at a cost of $15,000. The builder had since gone bankrupt and had the world and his wife after him. Worth noting is that new home warranty does NOT cover septic systems (in Alberta), and ours had also PASSED inspection. :scared:


No matter which way you go though - you don't 'need' a realtor, but you DO need a lawyer. Have them go over everything, including your 'offer to purchase'. They will (or should) prevent you from making any expensive mistakes. :)

My dad was in the building trade and I grew up on building sites, learning a lot along the way. As a result, I am very wary, and would advise extreme caution in hiring any contractor. It's sad, but it seems there are more 'cowboys' today than quality guys, and even worse, the government allows it to continue, leaving the poor home owner on the receiving end!

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

LOL - does she not know he has a wife and at least one son? (OK I know that doesn't neccessarily mean he isn't.....)

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

Good for you!

That is the main thing that has repeatedly put us off buying a "new" house. Together with the lack of a school.....

How do they test a septic tank then if they dont test the pump?

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

I will take the advise and renting first..

Are you sure many Calgary house like this one? I didn't find one in mls. Please note that the Windsor II has the living room open to above, so it should have some 16-18 feet ceiling...I am not sure what's the name for this kind in Canada, in US, it's called 1 1/2

Re: Someone live in Calgary, please help
 

A number of phrases come to mind.

'open to above'
great room
cathedral ceiling

Any house with those large two story windows will have this type of layout.

Many, many houses are like this. Partly due to the fact that all of the builders are in the same market and build basically the same thing - and have been doing so for many years. Styles change over the years but each period has its own batch of similar houses.