Finishing basement

[nessiesens]

I am thinking about starting my basement but I realized I need city permits to start building it. Just wondering if anyone else went through this whole process and what they experienced.

[R.F.D.]

Originally Posted by nessiesens

I am thinking about starting my basement but I realized I need city permits to start building it. Just wondering if anyone else went through this whole process and what they experienced.

I went through the whole process myself, given it was burlington, but the process is similar and the city of ottawa has good online resouces. I have posted a lot of information on this site myself, pictures, contractors.

Any questions let me know.

Thanks

[good2know]

this is quite a complicated answer so suggest incremental steps

what is on the walls in the basement now? can you post a couple of pics?

what are you wanting to do down there in general terms? permits may not be required beyond electrical

[brentb613]

I finished my basement at our old home. Only permit we had was for electrical which I did myself.

[R.F.D.]

I've never heard of not requiring a building permit...

http://ottawa.ca/en/licence_permit/b...ent/index.html

[nessiesens]

Originally Posted by good2know

this is quite a complicated answer so suggest incremental steps

what is on the walls in the basement now? can you post a couple of pics?

what are you wanting to do down there in general terms? permits may not be required beyond electrical

Well being a Mattamy home, they put insulation on the concrete and then "nailed" it in, and that covers 3/4 of the basement, apparently the new way of building basements is framing over that insulation, not framing first...

I know permits are needed because that's policy here, I mean people do it without it but I feel like it's not a risk I want to take.

Thanks for the link to the Finished Basement, I never saw that, I guess it's just a matter of sitting down with someone and doing all the measurements. The thing we are trying to figure out is if the insulation on the wall before hand is fine to work with or is it better to take it off and start fresh (especially since I would need insulation for my ceiling).

[good2know]

Need for permits: totally dependant on what you are doing. Look at the list carefully and you will see - if the outside walls are framed and insulated, no structural additions, no new plumbing .. there is nothing to inspect if you simply cover the existing walls, and add some non-structural walls. Just electrical needs a permit and inspections.

Your place:

This insulation in a bag is inadequate for a number of reasons when placed inside a wall. So you need to remove all that. There are many ways to proceed so a few questions.

Do you want to insulate the floor?
Do you want to spray foam the walls?
Is there a bathroom to be installed?

[Homebuy]

Builders mostly put batt insulation right up against the concrete. This is for energy savings purposes only, not suitable for drywalling over or finishing. Although it isn't against code, if you drywall over that you will guarantee yourself moisture and mold problems after a few years.

Batt insulation against concrete in basements needs to be removed first. Then foam board against concrete, then framing, then drywall.

Many many "professionally finished" basements are done incorrectly.

[goofball]

Originally Posted by Homebuy

Builders mostly put batt insulation right up against the concrete. This is for energy savings purposes only, not suitable for drywalling over or finishing. Although it isn't against code, if you drywall over that you will guarantee yourself moisture and mold problems after a few years.

Batt insulation against concrete in basements needs to be removed first. Then foam board against concrete, then framing, then drywall.

Many many "professionally finished" basements are done incorrectly.

That's one way of doing it. Foam board isn't a requirement or code either.
The builder typically puts a paper of some sort (kraft or tar), then batt, then vb. My builder didn't put paper against the concrete that was above grade, only the area below grade got any paper against concrete.
I do agree that it isn't ideal to just drywall over what the builder has done, especialy since most people will want electrical/low voltage outlets installed so the batt will have to be removed to install this properly anyways. The builder-installed VB is so full of holes that the indoor air gets behind the vb easily.

[good2know]

Goofball you don't want moisture barrier above grade so what you have is not a problem