Great video, Andy! I wish I have subscribed to your channel much earlier. I like the topic of how to basement dry, you mentioned the weeping system and sum pump. I am working on a 100 years old house with basement, white flaky stuff on the concrete wall. Do you think it will be ok to paint waterproof materials on the concrete walls, will it do the job? Thanks!
Thanks for the walkthrough. What is your stance on dual furnace and AC units when doing these conversions, to accurately determine heating costs and also reduce stress between tenants?
Good to do, but slight overkill in my opinion. Maybe supplementary smaller system for second suite such as heat pump, electric heating, mini split etc is more appropriate.
Hi there Andy. I’m a Millennial from Toronto and I love your vids. Just wondering what areas you would recommend a younger person with less money to look at in terms of buying a property and adding a second suite to it. I was thinking Barrie?
Thanks for watching. It depends on what you can qualify for. If Barrie is what you can afford then I would do it. Make sure though that the city/town is self sustaining economy that doesn't rely on Toronto to a large extent (i.e it isnt just na commuter city of Toronto). I don't think Barrie is.
Hi Andy, thanks for your great videos, very detailed, very practical. I have a question about ceiling height, my basement ceiling height is very okay, around 7ft, however the under the beams and ductwork, it is exactly 6'-5'' ( haven't got drywall), so thinking that with drywall, it will be only 6'-4". I am in Cambridge Ontario, I wondering if I have to redo the ductwork, or usually the city tends to be more lenient over this. Thanks and have a great day.
Hi there. Just following up on some previous comments about utility splits in legal basement conversion projects. Just wondering what you feel the best/least hassle utility split arrangement is for hydro and heating between main floor and basement tenants. In one project I wired the AC unit to the basement panel and so basement tenant pays for the summer AC hydro but then the main floor pays the full property gas bill (including winter heating including the basement). The idea was to share the costs. However basement tenant complains that too cold in basement and I don't seem to be able to easily adjust air flow into basement. Any advice would be gratefully received?
I would say best would be to have separate hydro/gas/water meters for each unit, but not always feasible or cost effective. Least hassle would be to do a split say 50/50 or 60/40 and bill back tenant. Normally people will have gas furnace connected to the basement meter panel (minor electrical use since it's only blower fan), and A/C electrical is connected to upper unit panel/meter. But there is no single right/wrong approach. It depends on condition, costs, timing, etc. So every project is unique and has to be addressed as such. Hope that helps!
Thanks for posting this series of videos. There's a LOT of really good information that new landlords need to consider when deciding to duplex a property. I hope you will make a Part 3 and include information about fire codes: separation between units (ceilings, fire doors), interconnected AC smoke detectors that tenants can't shut off, sprinklers for the furnace etc.!
