Building Permits and Forms

Tis the season for the busy deck building season. The city of Ottawa requires building permits for the construction of most types new decks that you may adding to your home. The permit is to ensure your project meets minimum structural, fire, health and safety, construction and building standards.

It is the homeowner's responsibility to obtain all proper permits for the work occurring on your premises — but the contractor can do it for you, if that's part of your contract. At 360renos we can handle this step for the homeowner as it usually involves detailed drawings and measurements that must be submitted with the permit application. An inspector will check any work that is done after a permit has been issued on a pre-determined schedule.

The Building Permit links below guide you to the required permits and forms you need for any building project.

Need to know how to prepare and apply for a building permit? This link will show you what approvals, fees and applications you need for that new building project.
Link to City of Ottawa - Building Permits page

Want to know what building projects need a permit?
Link to City of Ottawa - Building Permits

How about building projects that do not need a permit?
Link to City of Ottawa - Building Permits

Thanks,

Dave - 360renos

Preventing Falls on Stairs

The stairs in your home — the ones you climb up and down every day — can be dangerous. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, between April 1, 2001 and March 31, 2002, a total of 6,224 Canadians fell on or from stairs or steps in their homes and were injured seriously enough to require a hospital visit. More than half of the 6,224 people hospitalized — 3,426 — were seniors (men and women 65 years or older.

We visited a home today that had a finished basement space but the stairway had no railing. This is an older home with quite a step staircase so it was in desperate need of a railing. The home owners insurance company requested that they have one installed immediately to reduce the risk of falling on such a steep stairway which would limit the home owners potential liability.

There are so many codes and regulations concerning handrails and stairways that it is a daunting field trying to interpret the Building Code for most home owners. Rise, run, nosing, headroom - it all must meet specific dimensions so it is best left to the experts.

SCHL

Dave - 360renos

Curbing Rental Property Maintenance and Repair Costs

It's one thing to collect rents. Ample rents, of course, amps up the cash inflow and is favorable to any landlord. But investors who turn a blind eye to maintenance and repair costs can also discover that, despite abundant income streams, their cash flow is surprisingly lower than expected and the profitability of their real estate investment bitterly disappointing.

Enlist a Handyman

Even if you plan to do some of the work yourself, it's still a good idea to build a relationship with a person on whom you can regularly depend and trust. Employing a trustworthy and competent all-around handyman to take care of your day-to-day property maintenance and occasional repairs will do wonders to ease the drain on your time and pocketbook. Moreover, it improves your status with tenants if they know the landlord is listening and is responsive.

Engage in Preventive Maintenance

The idea here is to save you money in the long run by fixing something correctly before it either breaks or gets worse. When a loose hinge, leaking faucet, or toilet isn't fixed in a timely manner, for instance, floors and ceilings can become damaged and cost you a lot more than a simple repair. Just apply the same principle to your rental properties that you would to your car. Anticipate and alleviate repairs when the cost is relatively small and always ask your maintenance experts how you might replace high-maintenance items with low-maintenance items.

Real estate investors that pay close attention to a property's entire financial performance, including maintenance and repairs, are more likely to succeed at generating a profit from rental property investment than others less discerning.

At 360renos we currently manage the maintenance and repairs for investment owners in Orleans, Ottawa and even as far flung as Nova Scotia.

Give us a call how our packages can save you money and to discuss our competitive rates for when your in need of repairs.

ezinearticles

Dave - 360renos

Kitchen Project in Orleans

360renos had the pleasure of completing the ceramic back splash, cork flooring and lighting for a home owners Kitchen that was renovated with new cabinets and marble counter top

Bamboo flooring is highly attractive and anyone who spends long hours cooking in the kitchen will know that hard floors can be extremely tiresome on feet and legs. Cork is much kinder to the body.

Swanky pendant light amazingly from a big box store and we also installed halogen under cabinet lighting on seperate dimmer switchesA kitchen back splash that is beautiful and functional and serves as a very attractive centerpiece for the kitchen.

Dave - 360renos

Points To Consider When Looking For A Renovation Contractor

Generally, when planning for a home renovation, we already have estimates about the things we want to refurbish in our houses. These great ideas are intented to add more solace in our homes and make our homes a true haven for each members of the family. Employing a professional however is a smart choice, holding more experience and knowledge than we do, they can add and even transform our ideas into something that we did not even concieve of. We need to be very careful though, knowing that in any area of work, there are always good ones and bad ones. Thus before moving any further with any renovation project, choosing the right contractor is a must to spare ourselves from possible headaches.

Always take things one step at a time. Many of us would think that finding a good contractor is easy, it is the other way however. To avoid landing on the wrong contractor, there are some points you can follow.

Once you have started your saga, center your mind on engaging a professional and well experienced renovation crew. Seek for references. A good contractor should be able to show off samples of their work of art. It is best that you check at least more than five projects they have done. Upon seeing their work you will be able to gauge if they have the capability of handling your renovation project.

Another thing to ask contractors is if they have licenses and insurances. You will never know what could take place during the renovation particularly to the crews doing the actual renovation, an insurance in place will save you from any possible troubles.

Always remember to place everything you have agreed on with your contractor into writing. The contract should clearly define what type of work needs to be done, when it will be completed and what are the materials needed. The contract should of course state the payments plan for the project, stating the amount of down-payment, payment once the renovation project sets out and the payment when the project is already completed. It is also wise to add in your contract the resolutions for things such as deadlines that are not met. This will restrict any possibilities of wasting time during the project.

Author articlespace.cz.cc

Dave - 360renos

Make A Statement

The pedestal is out and we are starting with a new vanity

The best powder rooms serve basic functions of a bathroom, to be sure, but they do so with grace and charm. Their small footprints have no correlation to their overall importance. "The powder room is one space where items might be examined up close," says designer Mary Evelyn McKee. Design it well, and you put your best foot forward.

The trick is to turn the challenges of designing a powder room -- the small size, the prosaic functionality, the all-too-common lack of windows -- into opportunities. Use the space to display art that is better viewed at close range, to experiment with layered lighting, or to hang a striking antique mirror.Above all, make a statement.

So we replaced the baseboards, gave the bathroom a fresh coat of paint, hung this funky mirror, with new light fixture and towel bars

Dave - 360renos