Doug_N

Nice solution!

Rick, please post the plan, so that someone can explore all the settings.

This post moved to suggestions.

I use a Brother MFC-J6945DW Printer, which will print 11 x 17 copies in colour. The printer was less than $500, has two media automatic feeders and will scan 11 x 17 as well. This size is pretty useful, and covers about 95% of all my client paper needs, and most applications that still require paper copies. Ink is not out of this world expensive either. I still wish that I had a 24" wide printer though, even though realistically it wouldn't pay for itself.

SB-9 Requirement for Soil Gas Control.rtf I have scanned a copy of SB-9 in the Ontario Building Code for Soil Gas Control The only part that I can see that mentions where the radon vent is to be located is near the CENTRE of the FLOOR, not the centre of the room. This could actually be worse for you. 3.2. Providing for Subfloor Depressurization (1) Except as required in Sentence (3), granular material shall be installed below the floor-on-ground according to Sentence 9.16.2.1.(1) of Division B of the Building Code.(2) A pipe not less than 100 mm in diameter shall be installed vertically through the floor. at or near its centre. such that (a) its bottom end opens into the granular fill described in Sentence (1). and (b) its top end will permit connection to depressurization equipment....

This unintended stair shelf is common in lots of houses. Sometimes this is addressed by adding a false wall on the shelf in the stairwell to make the wall look continuous, but that results in a void behind the wall. This could be filled with extra insulation or used to hide ducts or piping. If you do renovations, you're bound to find these "shelves" in lots of northern homes (houses with basements.)

I would create a ceiling plane below the stairs to get sufficient insulation that would match the suite floor insulation thickness, not that it is require, but it sure would make good thermal sense. I have a BCIN HVAC designer who would do the building calcs, supply design forms and drawings for you for about $500 or so. Adam Carter 1 905 419 1961. Canada HVAC Design. http://canadahvacdesign.com/. canadahvacdesign@gmail.com I am sure that Adam can make some recommendations that would suffice.

I would have a discussion with the plans examiner. The area under the slab is all connected, so it shouldn't matter where the radon rough in is located. (I am assuming that the rough in goes through the slab on grade.)

Where the heck did you snag a RTX 3080??

Does Alberta use the National Building Code? In Ontario we have our own version (OBC) with lots of goodies added onto it just to make live unbearable. SB-3 for fire rated wall and ceiling assemblies and sound transmission indexes are very helpful though.

Maybe put in in the furnace room and mechanically vent to room to the exterior. None of the air in the furnace room should get into the occupied space because of the HRV. The tough part comes when they do a radon test and find that you have to vent the gas, and then you need to go above the roof!

I have another question for you. How is the radon gas rough in accessed?

Your welcome Chad, glad to be of assistance.

Ryan, I agree that roof returns can create great and varied returns, unless I am missing something here, that won't work in this case. My model, in answering the challenge, is pretty sloppy, but I did it in a few minutes just to see a method for answering the OP problems. I posted my working file, just so that the working method could be examined. This is pretty much a manual roof job.

Thanks

RC.plan

How much do you charge? This is really interesting.

Holy Cow this looks like a complicated project. Not just for the design, but the construction as well. As for the blurry image, have you updated your PDF printer drivers? Are you using the native CA=> PDF exporter? I use Kofax Power PDF Advanced as my PDF tool of choice (it creates PDFs, edits PDFs, allows signatures, converts PDFs to MS documents etc. I don't experience this problem using that application. Mybe you should post the plan file. The actual PDF output file, and, just beating Solver to the punch here, fill out your signature so that other members can see what version of CA you are using, your hardware, OS etc. It helps us to further diagnose problems and offer better solutions, or (shudder) work-arounds.

Which printers are you looking at? I have toyed with a wide format printer purchase for a few years now but the cost still causes me pain. How do you get a payback on this Rob?

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful colleagues out there, and of course to their families. All the best in the new year to you all!!!

Has anyone used a pen tablet or pen display?

Wow Richard, you make a very good point! Yup, minimum room sizes, joist and beam spans, door and hall sizes, stair data, and windows parameters. There is more but the list gets smaller.

Here is the best business advice I can give you. 1) Find out what qualifications are required to design houses for other people in the jurisdictions that you are planning to be working in. In my area a person must be qualified by writing building code exams and passing with an acceptable mark in each exam. If there are qualification requirements, you will need to meet those before practicing on your own. 2) If possible while learning the BC ropes, work for someone now in the design process. 3) If possible, get a plans examiner to mentor you in the beginning. 4) Find out what the requirements are for Errors and Omissions insurance, and General Liability Insurance. Design something that fails, and you will be up to your neck in lawsuits. 5) Get a good lawyer to design a Scope of Work Agreement that outlines what your service covers, what constitutes an extra, how to exit the agreement, who owns the intellectual property that you create, progress payments, and what is entirely outside of the scope of your work. 6) Do not ever work for free, or on speculation. That is a rabbit hole that is never ending and creates bitter experiences. 7) Never believe a person that suggests that you should work for less on this project and they have others to follow that will be worth more. If you work for less now, you are setting a benchmark that will be hard to change later. Also, that is a good chance that there never will be a later, at least for that client. 8) Not and hard and fast rule but don't negotiate price. Know what you are worth, what the market is paying, and stick to your guns. If the client wants a lower price, then take something of value off the table as well. Lower price equals less work in other words. Sometimes if times are lean you will have to cave on this, but certainly not if work is ongoing. 9) Once you have a client, treat the client as respectfully as you can. Return calls promptly. A satisfied client is your best sales tool. 10) Talk to lots of real estate sales reps. People moving into a new house often want renovations, or they may have clients that want to do renovations to improve the curb appeal to sell. 11) Lean on this forum for ongoing advice, there are lots of people here who really know their stuff. Ask questions and consider the answers that you get. You may not follow the advice but at least you have a perspective that may help you in ways that you least expect. Good luck, it is always tough to go out on your own, but it can be very rewarding both financially and in personal satisfaction because you have created designs.

Larry, Zoning and the bylaws that are enacted to create them is a totally different aspect to designing buildings. Because a building complies with building code doesn't mean that it is going to be allowed for a specific lot location. Here we have a quasi legal Committee of Adjustment, where you can appeal for relief from a bylaw with what is called a minor variance. The committee looks at your appeal, determines if the minor relief (say 32% lot coverage instead of the 30% allowed in the bylaw) and decides to grant relief or not. Is there a similar process in California? Here zoning is, as I assume it is in California, determined by each municipality.