Conditions For Home buyers in Toronto deciding to expand semis

The thousands of semi-detached houses in the inner suburban town St. Clair, Toronto were the beginning of the city’s now grand real estate market.

However, the price for downtown semi-detached houses is now at a price of about $1 million. This new increase in price now has the owners of these semi-detached houses –who have increasing space requirements- deciding to enlarge their house as it is an affordable substitute for moving houses. Most semi owners think of adding a third storey. This is definitely another means of increasing space by a fraction of about one-third.

Increasing the space of a house will usually include a party all co-owned by two different families. This ownership of a wall by two families has a lot of technical, social and regulatory convolutions. These kind of home developments are very rare. These designs in which two different family houses are extremely close cause a lot of strains on the designs. In addition, because of the close proximity of the building, the building codes demands that extra fire protection on the common walls of the houses. The law of the city of Toronto demands that both families that own the wall sign party-wall permits. These permits are given in with the customary building permits. If the semi-detached is a duplex then will most definitely be more requirements than the ones listed above.

Due to the addition of a floor to the house, the house contractors and architects/designers will have to execute revaluations to make sure the existing house can bear the weight. For example, they will have to readjust the house by adding install supports etc.

Sharing a wall with another house or increasing the space of the same house can cause a lot of problems.