Secondary Suites

[Russell]

Has anyone gone through developing a secondary suite?

I was looking through the "Guide to developing a secondary suite", in one section it says the following:

"Secondary suites MUST be server by an INDEPENDENT heating and ventilation system"

Seems crazy that I would have to install a new heating system just for my basement. Just wanted to see if anyone had been through this before.

[Silverstoned]

Re: Secondary Suites

It depends on whether you want it as a legal or illegal suite. The reason for a seperate heating system is so that the basement tennants don't have to ask the upstairs tennants to turn the heat up or down. One option would be to do radiant heating in the lower level and close up the furnace ducts. You might want to check zoning too to ensure that your lot is approved as a multi family dwelling.

[Russell]

Re: Secondary Suites

Yeah i would have to do the zoning and all that good stuff.

But now that you mention radiant heating it makes sense... I was thinking of a separate furnace etc... which I thought was crazy.

[Stonewall]

Re: Secondary Suites

You also have to have a separate metered power service. Not sure about gas and water though.

[Russell]

Re: Secondary Suites

hmm PITA

[mylesw42]

Re: Secondary Suites

Whatever, I have an illegal suite in my basement. I think you need R2 zoning, which is pretty common. I didn't build it though, but it was a deciding factor in why I bought the house. Provides me with a mortgage payment every month. No separate water, heating or electrical. My tenant even likes to take care of the garden out back Win.

[Benjamin]

Re: Secondary Suites

You don't need two furnaces, when I built my house over a year ago I got what they call dual zone heating. 1 furnace, two thermostats, and I can control which level receives the heat. Not perfect as of course when you heat the lower level it rises, but there is a noticeable difference. This system would work perfect for a secondary suite, just don't think its very easy to do once the furnace is installed. Something to think about I guess if you are building a new place.

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Secondary Suites

Make sure about everything else in the bylaw also, like parking required(1 per suite i believe), bedrooms allowed (one less than the rest of the home), separate entrance, windows to meet egress, etc... bylaw reading sucks, but yeah your zoning has to R-2 for this case.

[Russell]

Re: Secondary Suites

I have a large corner lot so most of the requirements regarding parking, land etc etc would not be an issue. And I hope that because I am more or less inner city that I could get a R-2 zoning but the city and my neighbours may have something to say about that.

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Secondary Suites

Yeah, the city definitely will.It's a pain to work with the city.