balcony building and getting a building permit in ottawa

Ever since i've owned my house, i've known that i've needed to have some work done to its rear end. As you can see in the picture, which was taken shortly after i took possession, theres always been a door leading to nowhere. The original owner even nailed a few 2x10's up there for me to "get started" on an awesome balcony. Thanks!!! Unfortunately after discussion and research, nailing to the side of a non waterproof surface is probably not a good idea for a structurally sound chill pad for apt. #2.


So this year, the main plan was to get er done. I started early on researching and discussing with an experienced friend of mine exactly "how" i was going to do it. I went through a few basic structures and ideas:

Build it on top of the existing structure

Build it with supports in the ground

With or without stairs?

In the end, i settled on a no stair, but extended balcony that is NOT supported by the structure underneath. Basically if it was, it would of required engineer's help to verify the integrity of that structure, and that structure was highly suspect. The previous owner did an "ok" job on everything done, and i just didn't trust it.

So late last year i realized if i was going to build a balcony up there, i should probably ensure that the roof was good. Because it would really suck to have to tear down the balcony to fix a leaky roof. And the roof was already leaky. So i had the roof replaced. Which was not cheap, but at least i trust it now. Its properly flashed all around, and is in good shape. Earlier this year, i also decided to have eavestrophing installed on the roof above the door. That part of the roof is the lowest point so a lot of water attracted down that wall, and would be onto the roof, causing more water issues. I thought that was a good idea, and i'm happy with the result.

Then came the building permit. From conception and farting around on the city of ottawa's web site to issuance, it was many months. But i got it in the end.

The problem with the building permit, is the plans. The application itself is nothing, but it must be accompanied by plans of what you're going to do. Which makes sense. But is not trivial. I do believe you can get home depot and/or rona type stores to do plans for you for "free", but i kinda wanted to do this all myself. As i said i have a friend who helped conceptualize what the thing would look like, and then i just needed a tool to put it together. In retrospect i would have been MUCH easier to have someone else do it, but i was stubborn and like doing things myself so i understand them.

Enter Google Sketchup. Is there anything google can't do? I mean this tool is amazing. In a nutshell, its a layman's CAD tool. You can design pretty much anything in it, and if you really want to, import it into google earth (which apparently has a flight sim built into it, but i haven't tried it). So if you design a house or a building, you can plop it down in the googleverse and see what it looks like. I have not done this. But what i did do, was design the whole thing in sketchup, as well as site and floor plans where necessary.


The end result is pretty sweet. After quite a few hours i developed a model of the entire balcony including every piece of lumber to be used, proper angles, railing, etc.. I thought this was a much cleaner idea than drawing up some crappy sketches that would no doubt need to be updated during the permit talks. And i was right about that!


Getting the building permit was quite an ordeal. Once the drawings were done and i had filled out the application, here's a summary of how it went down:

1) Show up at city hall on a friday morning.

2) No lineup, ask to submit an application for a building permit.

3) The lady looks it over, tells me it'll be 80 odd dollars, and calls the dude from the back.

4) The dude spends a few minutes looking it over, and takes issue with a few points. My footings were not deep enough (originally i had 4 foot holes, they needed to be 6 feet), and i needed to properly quote building code sections for the blocking and railing, or have a proper diagrams that showed screws and specifics.

5) I asked where i can see the building code

6) He said it was for sale "over there".

7) I said gee thanks.

8) I then thought about it, and decided to go to the library. They did not have the 2006 building code, but they had the 1997 + amendments.

9) I spent some serious time going through all the different schematics coming up with a now different railing plan. The lady at the library was very nice as i didn't have my card, but let me borrow one of their photocopy cards, and i just payed what i spent when i left. How trusting!!!

10) I choose a model i liked, made photo copies of all the appropriate sections, and went home.

11) I then updated my model with the footing adjustments and changes to the blocking and railing, printed it off again, and went back.

12) They accepted the application!!! Yay!!! I paid the 80 odd dollars.

13) About 6 business days later, i get an email from someone at the city that was assigned to my application. It contained a pdf of issues, which included, among a few other things, that the photocopies from the old building code needed to be from the 2006 building code. Arg!!!

14) I bought the damn 2006 building code. 150$. Now i'll have it forever. Or at least until 2012 when a new one comes out and this one becomes useless reference material.

15) I made photocopies of the newly revised sections, which looked to be identical to me, and now proceeded to communicate with this nice lady via faxes and emails.

16) We sorted out the remainder of the issues over the next week and a half, mostly to do with floor plans, and "is it a fire exit", etc..

17) Roughly a month after the initial application, i was back at city hall signing the real permit. I got my original plans and faxes stamped, and a sheet to put up on my window saying i'm a wicked permit holder.

All in all it wasn't a horrible experience, and i understand why the back and forths occurred, and i understand why you need to quote from the new building code, but they really should make the building codes available for perusal at city hall. That part is ridiculous.

Once i had the permit i was assigned an inspector. I discussed with him what inspections i need. I needed an excavation, framing, and final inspection. I have had the excavation inspection, and it went very smoothly - he didn't even measure the awesome 6 foot depth. I dug 2 perfectly deep 6 feet by 2" diameter holes and he didn't measure them!!! O well, at least i know they're the real deal.

There will be more boring assed balcony discussion to come, you can bet your bottom beam on that.

patch day 1

So i've decided to quit smoking. Like really quit. None of this smoke sometime, and not others. I've been debating for a while, and decided to give it a kick.

In order to "setup for success", i've got the patch. I'm not a heavy smoker, so i'm starting on nicoderm, stage 2. I was told by my doctorb to hit that for 2 weeks, then stage 3 for two more weeks after that.

I put my first patch on this morning. Within five minutes i was buzzin like crazy. All morning i was on a massive rush, this stuff is addictive man!!!! I took the patch off a few hours ago cause i didn't want the "vivid dreams" the box suggested were a possibility... it also suggested "insomnia", so probably not.

The day was fine... one day, not a problem. A week or two will be tricky. 1 year is what will be tough. I figure, one day at time.

Yay exercise!!! And being able to taste food again, that'll be sweet.

pasta from the gods

Desperately low on substance in the fridge, i needed to eat something... and i needed it fast.

One of the beauties of having a house, and some yard, is the veggie garden. This year i planted a bunch of tomato plants, basil, red peppers, lettuce, and cilantro. The tomatos have been good allthough a little sparser than i would've expected (considering i planted 13 plants), the basil has been great, cilantro had its times (remember to pick flowers!!!), and the lettuce much the same as the cilantro. The peppers are just coming in full force now.

So back to lunch. I needed some, and had very little in the fridge. Some sundried tomatos was about all that was in there. So i went out to the garden, picked a bunch of basil, and the one tomato i could find. I came inside, pulled some shallots out, and sauted them down with some balsamic till tender. Then added sliced sundrieds and garlic. Of course s & p and oil al mucho. Once done, i took the whole bit along with the pile of washed basil, into the cuisinart with you!!! They had a bit of a pesto party in there they did. Cooked the de cecco pasta (the spooled fettuccine, best dried pasta money can buy), spooned directly into the original saute fry pan, added the pesto, and voila, lunch. Chopped my one tomato on top, some red pepper flakes, and now it is in my tummy, but not before taking this pic on top of my new filing cabinet. What a way to kick off what will likely be paradigm shiftastic weekend.

omg all your can eat sushi in ottawa

When i was in Vancouver a few weeks ago i got to partake in the glorious transcendence that is all you can eat sushi. It was good, great, amazing... but now, upon my return, i have heard of not one, but 2 all you can eat sushi restaurants in Ottawa!!! Yes, its true!!!!!

Having heard that, and having spent the vast majority of my weekend 5 feet underground under extreme physical duress (more on this later), i knew the only thing that would appease me was a mountain of raw fish. It was risky, considering the place we were going hadn't been open long, but i was game.

The place we went was on carling between maitland and the 417. It is called 1000 Sushi Islands. O man, we were not disappointed.

There's just nothing like the tenderness and flavour of fresh raw salmon sashimi (i don't know how they get it here so fast, but man i'm glad they can!!!). The texture is like a really thick al dente noodle, but a little more forgiving. The smell, o so good. No need to bathe in soy/wasabi, these babies are islands unto themselves. The quality told me right away that this place was legit. Their seaweed salad was probably the best i ever had. Tempura, of which we tried the shrimp and squid (i know, squid tempura, wow!!!), and it was all delightful. They did rainbow rolls which were killer, and their spice salmon rolls were a little different as far as ingredients, but man were they good. Unagi. Awesome. The pieces were a little small, but it was ALL YOU CAN EAT!!!! SO WHO CARES!!!! The only thing that didn't blow me away was their hand roll thingys, but i'm not a big fan of those anyways.

The service was good, but it seemed one or 2 of the things weren't what we ordered, or stuff we ordered went to the wrong tables. They come around and fill your water and tea quite regularly, as well as take additional order sheets whenever you have new ones ready (i think we went through 4 sheets). No liquor license yet, but pops are included with the buffet, as is everything - nothing on the menu had a price, except the whole buffet which was 20.99 for fri-sun, and 19.99 (lunch was cheaper, and there are kids and seniors discounts). The menu does say you'll be charged for what you don't eat, but i assume this is only if there are piles of things untouched (if anyone has experience with this i'd love to hear about it).

So ya, 1000 Islands Sushi is an ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi place. Its in ottawa. I think the food was better than sushi 88. Which might mean i never go back there, as even being the cheapest sushi restaurant in town i've never left there with a bill under 50 bux, and never full, and our bill was 43 and change... o man. I'm totally stoked.

The best thing about it: sushi full. Normally when i'm full, and i mean stuffed, with other types of food, i kinda want my body to digest. I go for indian buffet, i stuff myself on 2 plates or so, and i feel like i'm going to die. I recognize it is not healthy to eat so much in a sitting, but when i do so with sushi, i feel like i'm in heaven. No bloating, no barfing, no tooting, no burping, no nothing. Just pure peace. Pure sushi full. And this is something you only get with all you can eat, cause i never eat "enough" at a regular place to reach this level of gastronirvana. O baby, ottawa has never seen so bright.

sonotube dimensional annoyances

I've bought some sonotube's lately. Not branded "sonotube", likely cheap rip offs, i got 8" versions from both rona and home depot. The ones from rona are actually smaller than 8"'s, would probably make a 7.5" concrete form. The ones from home depot are a little bigger than 8", likely to make and exactly 8" concrete form. Am i the only one bringing a tape measure to these places to pick stuff out cause whatever dimensions are printed on whatever are not to be trusted??

While not the most exciting thing to happen to me lately, i thought it was worth mentioning. Its been a great summer, but now its time to build!!! I'm building a balcony in my backyard, i'm all permit ready, and now i have to dig 6 feet into the ground in 2 places. This isn't going to be pretty.

so hard for it honey

This video came to mind recently and i thought i would share this massive flashback with the rest of you.

do not safedrop

I've had some dealings with the post office lately, i'm hoping someone can shed some light on some possibilities i have not considered.

A few months ago i placed an order with amazon.ca for 8 or 9 music cd's. About a week and half after i received their shipment email, i still had not received them. I checked canadapost's tracking site, and it said the parcel was delivered to the recipient a week ago. I phoned canada post, and they said they can't do anything, i should call amazon. So i did, and they said "this happens", and said they'd resend the entire parcel. It surprised me how easily they agreed to do this, but whatever, i was happy.

This time I followed this tracking number a little closer, and when canadapost said this package had been delivered and it had not, i grew worried. I called amazon again, and again they were very nice. They said they rarely send a parcel 3 times, but made an exception for me cause i really wanted these cd's (they also would've just refunded my money at this point). The availability of one of the cd's was a little off, so they graciously offered to split the shipment up into 2 chunks.

Again, i followed the tracking info, the bulk of the items being the first thing shipped. I added myself as an email recipient for updates on changes to the status of the package tracking. When i got the email telling me this package was delivered i was home. I of course went straight outside, again to find no package waiting for me. My guess is this info isn't "up to the minute", and likely was reported delivered the previous day (when i was not home).

A few days later, the lone late cd did arrive in my mailbox. My mailbox is pretty standard, big enough to fit a small parcel, but any larger parcel would stick out the top. I've gotten books from amazon before, and they did stick out the top. This was the first time i've ever had any issues.

I called amazon again, they were apologetic, but we both agreed there was nothing left for them to do. They refunded my money, and someone out there might very well have 3 copies of neon bible, joel plaskett's new cd, and a variety of other kickass albums. I ordered all the missing cds again, this time shipping them to my work, and they arrived safely there within 5 or so days.

So what happened? Is it possible that "bad people" stole these parcels off my doorstep 3 times, when previous amazon packages that were sticking out of my mailbox arrived in my safe hands? This is the only possibility i can possibly accept. Did someone in the middle (ie an employee) scam them? Unlikely considering the parcel did arrive to my work. Is it possible amazon never actually sent them? Very unlikely considering canada post did note tracking info. Can anyone think of any other possibilities?

I was told by someone (can't remember who) that you can request canada post not deliver parcels to your door without a signature. I called canada post and asked about this. They said i can not do this, but i can ask that parcels not be left at my house. They referred to this practice as "safedrop" (not sure whats safe about it though!). You are allowed to request that letter carriers "do not safedrop". The lady asked me to put a note on my mailbox that says "do not safedrop" and that she would put a request in to the depot marking my address with this same bit of info. So i did these 2 things. I got a call today from the local centertown postal outlet. The lady there informs me that letter carriers never leave parcels that do not completely fit in the mailbox. I said... ok. I didn't know what else to say, as well, i had no additional ideas. I was tired, frustrated, and bewildered.

With the package that i did successfully get delivered to my office i debated filling it with cat poo, arming my house with cameras, eagerly hoping to catch a culprit... but i lost interest. The cat poo woulda been fun, but some possible outcomes could've been disastrous for my property, so i opted against it.

I really hope it isn't skids walking by scoping out folks' mailbox's in hopes of treasures... i really really hope this isn't the case... but the whole situation has added to my cynicism, which was sparse before but increasingly grows as i do. Which kinda blows.