Renovation & Design
Renovation & Design
Tax credit can also be used to fix cottage
You've just bought a recreation property and the house could use some serious updating, or perhaps the family cabin is starting to show its age.
It might be time for some renovations, and the timing couldn't be better, thanks to the federal government's Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC).
Although it has received a lot of publicity, many people don't realize that the credit can also apply to improvements you make to a vacation home, cabin or cottage.
Joanne Gorsalitz, communications manager with the Calgary Tax Services Office, says as long as your recreational property is reserved for personal use and not rented out, it is eligible under the program.
Gorsalitz says the 15 per cent non-refundable tax credit is available on expenditures of more than $1,000 and up to a maximum of $10,000.
The maximum is per family, not per property, so the $10,000 can be shared between your primary residence and vacation property if you choose. The maximum available tax credit would be $1,350, which is 15 per cent of $9,000, since the first $1,000 is not eligible.
To qualify for the credit, the improvements you make to your recreation property must have an enduring nature to them, says Gorsalitz.
Some examples of eligible improvements, which can be found on Canada Revenue Agency's website (cra-arc.gc.ca), include renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement, new carpet or hardwood floors, septic systems, wells, adding deck or permanent hot tub or installing solar panels.
Examples of ineligible expenses include things such as purchasing new furniture or appliances, cleaning carpets, lawn care, or buying new curtains and drapes.
The expenses related to a project can include materials, permits, labour and professional services, fixtures and rentals. However, your own labour cannot be calculated as an expense.
Gorsalitz says the program covers projects that began, or were entered into contract for, after Jan. 24, and that are completed and paid for before Feb. 1, 2010.
People should keep all the receipts for a project and then report the total on their 2009 personal tax return.
A new line will be added to the T1 General Tax Forms and the amount will appear on Schedule 1 as a non-refundable tax credit.
Renovation & Design
MIKE HOLMES: How to keep your basement dry
The simplest thing you can do to keep water out of your basement is to control it at the surface. Surface water, like rain or melting snow, or water from irrigation, is pretty easy to control, compared to water below grade. There's not much you can do about underground streams, or the water table in your area and the resulting hydrostatic pressure on your foundation. But there's a lot you can do on the surface.
Most of the problems homeowners have with wet basements can be prevented if people correct the grade around their home. Make sure that surface water doesn't become groundwater and add to the pressure that's already down there.
The first step is to make sure that surface water drains away from your house. Ideally, you want the soil level right next to your foundation to slope away. Since water flows downhill, surface water, like rain and snowmelt, will flow away from your basement walls. If the soil around your home has either a flat or a negative grade, surface water will naturally flow towards your home or pool around the foundation. This will lead to trouble.
I'm going to hope your home is built right, and that the top of the foundation is at least six inches above the soil. That's minimum. But the higher the better. Also, the soil level needs to fall away -- on all sides -- in a slope away from your house. Bad grading can result in water pooling next to the foundation, which can lead to wet basements.
You might live in an area where the general drainage comes towards your house -- maybe you live at the bottom of a hill, below other houses. In this case, the grade needs to be altered to direct surface water away. Usually a swale is used to intercept and collect the water that's running downhill towards your house and take it around and release it lower down the slope. (If that sounds like your situation, you will definitely need to have a professional assess your lot's drainage.)
When a house is built, there's always an excavation for the basement and foundation. That is eventually backfilled, of course, but the soil right around the basement's exterior walls is never as firmly compacted as undisturbed soil. It's more porous and will always contain more air -- which will allow water from rain or melted snow or irrigation from plantings -- to collect and seep down to your foundation level.
That's one reason I don't like plants around a house's foundation. It's not because I don't like plants, but the irrigation into disturbed soil brings and retains too much moisture near basement walls.
When that backfill soil does eventually settle, after many years, there's a depression right around your home that will fill up like a bathtub with surface water. And most homeowners by then will have landscaped the area and won't even notice that the soil several feet out from their house is lower than further out into the yard.
If you don't re-grade that soil, the water will continue to pool and gather in the lower spots and eventually make its way down to your footings.
An easy fix is to make sure the downspout from your eavestroughs comes down, and expels water as far away from house as possible -- at least two metres (six or eight feet). If you don't make sure the downspouts expel water far enough away from your foundation -- beyond the area of backfilled, uncompacted soil -- you are pouring water down to your footings.
In older houses, the downspouts were often connected to the main stack and the sanitary line. Now they are tied into a storm line in the street. In older homes it's a good idea to disconnect the downspouts and have them empty above the surface.
After a number of years, it's likely the weeping tile has shifted or broken or is full of tree roots, and every time rain comes down those downspouts it has nowhere to go but up against your foundation, putting lateral hydrostatic pressure against those walls, which could one day crack the foundation. Or it could cause a sewage backup into your home, which you definitely do not want.
You may find you need to direct water away beyond the end of the downspout, or from a low-lying area next to your house. The best fix is to put in a French drain, which is basically a shallow trench filled with gravel that will carry excess groundwater away from your house.
A French drain relies on gravity and on the grade to divert surface water. It needs to be as deep as the lowest point of the pooling water at its start, and it slopes down to where you need it to empty. Simple. Line the trench with landscape fabric, fill it with gravel and put more fabric on the top. Then you can sod over it to camouflage it as part of your lawn. You can also use a length of plastic weeping tile with a sock buried in the gravel if you like.
Before you dig a French drain, make sure you aren't letting the water out onto a neighbour's property. And make sure your downspouts don't empty on or over the property line. Ideally they'll empty onto your lot, or into a drainage swale between two adjoining lots.
It's not supposed to happen, but over time homeowners do landscaping projects and renovations, and little by little they can significantly alter natural surface drainage patterns until they create big problems for people next door. Be aware of how your plans might affect surface water drainage.
For more information on home renovations go to makeitright.ca
Renovation & Design
ASK THE INSPECTOR: Sacrificial anode? How do you know about that?
QUESTION: If the hot-water tank comes equipped with sacrificial anodes, is it a good investment to have them replaced? Will this extend the life of the tank?
Rob Matthews, Winnipeg
ANSWER: You have asked a rather unusual question about something that very few homeowners even know exist. The answer to your question would be different if you lived outside the city, and I will address this issue with that in mind.
Sacrificial anodes are metallic rods that are installed inside water heater tanks to help prevent excessive corrosion of the metal tanks due to corrosive minerals often found in the water. The idea is that the corrosive minerals will attack the bare, uncoated rod before the tank, which may be lined with fibreglass or other coatings to help protect the inner surface. These rods do have a limited life expectancy and should be replaced on a regular basis, but the need for this will depend on the water quality in your home.
Inside the City of Winnipeg boundaries, we have exceptionally soft water that contains very few minerals, which is why our water heaters and plumbing fixtures last for many years. The straight answer to your question is no, you shouldn't need to replace the anode on your water heater, as it may not deteriorate much over the life of the tank.
If you live outside the city and have well water or municipally treated water that is high in minerals, especially lime, then regular replacement of the anode is an excellent idea. Even if you have a salt bath water softener or iron filter, you may still find that excessive minerals can be seen building up on the plumbing fixtures. Also, if your water has a strong mineral odour when a faucet is opened, it's advisable to regularly change the anode.
The difficulty in changing this protective element of your water heater is to know when it is damaged to the point of being ineffective. It's normally accessed by loosening a bolt at the top of the tank that is attached to the rod. It is advisable to shut the water-supply valve to the tank and partially drain the tank to prevent leakage. If the water is heated by electricity, the power must be shut off prior to any draining, as the elements can very quickly burn out if they become dry. For a gas-fired unit, the temperature on the thermostat should be turned to the lowest point before any water is drained.
As previously stated, requirements for maintenance on water heaters may vary considerably depending on the water quality in the home. With soft city water, rarely is draining or replacement of anodes required, but with hard well water, maintenance is necessary. This may include replacement of the anodes, but also will require periodic draining of water to help clear minerals from the bottom of the tank.
With very hard water, considerable mineral deposits may develop in the bottom of the tank. Elimination of these deposits by periodically flushing the tank, removing the bottom electric element and physically extracting the clumps of minerals may help extend the life of the unit. In some cases, the mineral buildup may cause damage to the bottom element due to contact. If this occurs, replacement of the element after clearing the debris will improve heating performance and capacity.
While replacement of sacrificial anodes will help prevent premature corrosion of the tank, regular maintenance of water-softening equipment is also very important. Following the manufacturer's instructions for maintenance as well as adding salt regularly to the softening system will be critical for proper function. If these items are neglected, not only will the water quality in your home suffer, but the life expectancy of the water heater, metal faucets, drains and other components of the plumbing system may be negatively affected. I have seen homes in certain areas where the chrome and brass in faucets are literally eaten through by the corrosive minerals in the water.
Just like any system in your home, water-heater maintenance is important to maintaining the longevity and performance of the component. This maintenance may include changing of the sacrificial anode in your tank, but water-quality control is just as important in this case. Surprisingly, within the area serviced by the Winnipeg municipal water supply, this is not an issue. The water quality is excellent to begin with and any treatment of the water that is required is done at central facilities and not normally necessary for the average homeowner.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors -- Manitoba (www.cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed or sent to: Ask The Inspector, P. O. Box 69021, #110-2025 Corydon Ave., Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9. Ari can be reached at (204) 291-5358 or check out his website at www.trainedeye.ca
trainedeye@iname.com
