The word “renovation” can apply to many different types of projects, and the scope of renovations varies widely.
The scope of your project impacts everything from cost to timelines, and often determines whether permits are required. But renovating your home can be transformative, impacting not only its look and feel but also how your family interacts and spends time together.
Key Takeaways
- Basement Renovations: Flexible spaces that evolve with family needs; permits required only for structural changes or first-time development.
- Renovations That Provide a Refresh: Cosmetic updates that modernize the home without changing layout and typically require no permits. Often an exterior refresh.
- Changing the Layout of Your Home: Structural layout changes like moving walls that enhance flow and require designers and a building permit.
- Additions That Add to the Footprint: Larger projects that expand the home’s size, often requiring development permits and always a building permit, and full design/build teams.
- Secondary Suites & Backyard Suites: Major projects adding independent living spaces with specific requirements and mandatory permits.
What Are Scopes of Renovations?
When we talk about scopes of renovations, it goes way beyond the physical size of a project. The scope of a renovation can be defined by its size, complexity, cost, and timelines, and different types of renovations will naturally have different scopes.
A project that changes the physical footprint of your home will surely be larger in scope and may require additional time and work to be done to secure permits.
Understanding the scope of your project before work begins will provide a roadmap that can be followed throughout the entire process and ensure that your vision moves forward smoothly.
Different Scopes for Renovation Projects
Basement Renovations
Basement renovations are very common because they are versatile spaces that can be used differently as your family grows and ages. What was once a great storage and play area for young kids can become a bedroom as they enter their teenage years. Conversely, when kids move out of the home, their parents may want to convert basement spaces into an area they’ll use more often, like a home gym.
Are permits required?
Generally speaking, development permits are not required in Calgary for basement renovations, but a building permit is needed if you are developing your basement for the first time. The same is true if:
- You are making structural changes like moving or removing walls. This is true not just for basements, but for any floor of your home.
- You’re adding new windows or doors, or relocating windows.
For the most part, any interior renovation that is mostly cosmetic will not require permits from the City of Calgary.
Renovations That Provide a Refresh
When we talk about the scopes of renovations, there are many projects that are meant to improve the look of a home without actually changing the floor plan or layout. Sometimes, your home works well for you and your family from a functional perspective, but there are updates that will improve the look and feel of your home and make it feel more modern. This often includes the exterior being redesigned for a more updated look.
These renovations are typically less expensive and require less time for construction, but should still be approached carefully and with thoughtful design.
Examples: Replacing kitchen counters, light fixtures, interior design elements, or hardware like doorknobs in your home.
Are permits required?
In almost every case, neither building permits nor development permits will be required if you are not changing the physical structure of your home.
Changing the Layout of Your Home
The scope of renovations can get more complicated when you begin changing your floor plan. Moving or removing walls can often transform the flow and feel of your home. Simply removing a wall between your kitchen and living room can lead to significantly more shared time with your family, while adding an ensuite or mudroom can make your home feel much more livable.
These types of renovations will normally require a home designer, an interior designer, and a builder, and will cost more than less complex renovations.
Examples: Removing interior walls to create a more open-concept feel, redesigning layouts to allow for a mudroom or en-suite.
Are permits required?
If you are making any structural changes to your home, like moving or removing walls, you will require a building permit from the City of Calgary.
Additions That Add to the Footprint of Your Home
Sometimes, you just need more space. Adding a second floor to your home or building a room on the back, front or side of the house can provide badly-needed extra space. As kids who share rooms get older and need more independence, it is more cost-effective to add to your home than to go through the entire process of moving your family into a bigger house.
What’s allowed will be determined by the Land Use Bylaw rules for your Calgary neighbourhood, and the scopes of renovations of this sort are considerably larger than other projects. You’ll need a full team on your side, including a residential designer, an interior designer, and a builder.
Examples: Adding a second floor to your home, building a mud room that extends beyond the home’s current footprint, and adding a green room to the back of your home.
Are permits required?
Every addition to your home will require a building permit, at the very least. You will also require a development permit if your addition doesn’t meet land use bylaw specifications, and it may not be allowed at all if your home is listed as a historical building, the setbacks to your property lines due not allow for them, or is located in a floodplain.
Residential designers will be able to guide you through the process of determining what is and is not allowed on your property.
Secondary Suites & Backyard Suites
More and more Calgarians are seeing the benefits of adding a backyard suite to their home. They can provide additional rental income, increase property value, and provide flexible living options for kids and other family members. As far as scopes of renovations go, secondary suites and backyard suites are generally big jobs, and the City of Calgary requires that they have:
- Bedrooms with egress windows
- A separate bathroom
- Separate cooking facilities
- A separate entrance
Are permits required?
Yes, permits are required for secondary and backyard suites. You can check the secondary suite checklist provided by the City of Calgary, but your residential designer will be able to advise you on the specifics of what is needed, as well as the timelines you should expect.
How to Determine the Scope of Your Renovation
There are many different scopes of renovations, and it’s important that you have a clear understanding of them before you begin your home improvement journey for your next project. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to determine the scope of your renovation:
What are your goals?
Don’t just ask yourself what would improve your home and your life today; think long-term. How is your family going to grow over the next 5 to 10 years? It’s not practical to be renovating your home again and again, so consider how a renovation design might accommodate their evolving needs.
As kids enter their teenage years, they need more space of their own. Could a basement renovation give them space to hang out with friends? Could you add a master bedroom for you and your husband or wife that provides a little more space as your kids get older? Could a secondary suite be useful for aging grandparents?
What is your budget?
This is obviously a very important step that impacts the scope of renovations. Determine what you can afford and what you are willing to spend. The size and complexity of your project will determine the budget, and it’s important to remember that local pricing will affect the final price.
Just because you saw a home renovation that cost one amount on a TV show filmed in Florida, that doesn’t mean that price will be accurate for a project in Calgary.
What is your timeline?
The larger the scope of a project, the longer it’s going to take. Builders may require you to be out of the house while they work, which can have a dramatic impact on your everyday life. If you have certain goals and priorities that you’d like to see completed quickly, it can be prudent to take them on now and put off larger projects until a later date.
Who is on your team?
Building the right team for your project is critical. Working with residential designers not only ensures you get a design that matches your goals and vision, but also gives you a leg up when it comes to obtaining development and building permits. Including a builder from early on in the process will give you a better sense of the final project’s cost and help avoid issues during construction.
Design Renovations of Any Scope with Ellergodt Design
There are many different scopes of renovations, and projects large and small can transform your home and improve its day-to-day functionality and livability. Working with the experienced team of residential and interior designers at Ellergodt Design will help bring your renovation vision to life.
Contact us today to get started.