Reno-amateur

Just Gutted

2011-09-27T23:23:00.002-04:00

Our downspout freezes up every winter, so this fall we are looking to remedy that and have the fascia, gutters and downspouts all replaced. Wish us luck and send along any recommendations you have for good roofers who know their way around aluminum.

A New Frontier

2010-06-16T17:52:00.001-04:00

Yay, I was able to log on again after a few year hiatus. Updates on our most latest project coming soon: landscaping!

Winter Woes

2007-02-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

So, if you are a regular visitor, you know that since we moved in, we kind of lost our momentum with regard to the home renovation. That was because we thought we were finished -- we moved in -- done. (That feeling may have contributed to my more infrequent posting). Though we thought we were done...

Think again.

With this arctic blast of winter our washing machine pipes have frozen. First we thought we could heat the area around them - which worked the first time - but alas, this time, this strategy did not work.

In retrospect, we shouldn't have located the washer on an outside wall - especially this particular wall which is very exposed and cold - it almost never gets any direct sunlight due to its north east orientation.

So Jamie got out his old work clothes, a few tools, including the drywall saw and cut a hole in the drywall to expose the pipes. Ah, that smell of drywall dust really brought back some memories. Though it did kinda turn my stomach and make me throw up in my mouth a little. Not the kind of memories I was after you might say.

Anyway, I hear the washer doing its thing down there. That means the drywall surgery was successful and we will soon have clean clothes again.

Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Hi, Remember Me?

2007-01-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

Geeze, time flies, it does.

I guess we've now been in our new old home for over two months. It's remarkable, because though much time has passed, not much as happened here. We haven't really done a thing to the house - and there's a lot left to do.

You probably came to see some pictures, so I won't disappoint. Here's a list of the stuff we've been working on.

Purchased three counter stools for the kitchen peninsula. Got them at Ridpaths after much searching around and debating. Surprisingly, they were the best price for the best quality we could afford. We were going to get stools with backs, but decided that we didn't really need them as we'd be using the kitchen counter/bar for breakfast and for in-kitchen entertaining and not for sit-down long meals.

Searching among the many Boxing Day sales for a couch. We've narrowed it down to a tailored, three-seater with down cushions and likely a microfibre upholstered fabric. We had our heart's set on a leather sofa, but the cost of a good quality leather sofa didn't seem worth it when we could just get a slip cover made for this one if we ever needed to. We're down to picking colours...any thoughts?

Unpacking still...boxes line our office walls, and there are boxes full of books in the garage - and winter has arrived so our cars are sitting outside in the snow and cold when they could be inside in the cold and dark garage...so silly...oh well...everyone tells me it takes months and sometimes years to unpack - frightening thought that one - I think we are both fed up with the clutter and will likely make this a priority in the next few weeks.

That's kinda about it. We've been working a lot and also planning to vacate in a sunny, warm climate on a last-minute special - stay tuned - could be Cuba, Costa Rica or Mexico or somewhere else - I'll let you know as soon as we book. Maybe while we're gone a house elf will come and unpack all of our boxes and redecorate our living room and bedroom....

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2006-12-14T13:41:00.000-05:00

Behold, this, our first real Christmas tree! He's from the Maritimes - Nova Scotia I believe. What do you feed Maritime Christmas trees to keep them feeling at home and alive? Rum? Scotch Whisky?

After a long and involved search for LED Christmas lights, we finally bought this tree at Rona and trimmed it last weekend. We're quite pleased with it. We named our tree Jonah, or maybe it was Jonas...I can't remember because this has been a busy week and I haven't spent much time with Jonah since we dressed him up and plugged him in.

He fills the house with a lovely pine aroma, which is supplemented a little by a lovely white candle that is also supposed to elicit the aroma of Christmas...it really works! I'm not sure why we got a male tree this year. We just did. He sits in the little alcove of the bay window and still gives us lots of room around him for the dining room table. It makes me feel that all the headaches, waiting and letdowns that occurred around the reveal and restoration of that bay window were all worth it.

Jonah is decorated with those old fashioned glass balls. I'm sure you can still get them, but ours were made in East Germany, which doesn't exist anymore. They were left in our basement when the former owner moved out. She left quite a few things behind...a leaky roof, lowered ceilings and lots of wood paneling, not to mention an electric knife and some old rusty tools, but these Christmas tree decorations actually came in handy. I'm not sure that we'll be keeping them all, but they should do for this first lean Christmas in our house.

Sadly, there are no presents under Jonah at the moment. We decided not to get each other presents this year. The house seemed to be a significant enough present in itself. I think enjoying time with friends and family will be the best present we could hope to have. And we look forward to visiting others and having visitors drop in...there's not much to see...we are still on the hunt for a sofa and actually need some interior decorator expertise, but we're happy to be in and enjoying our home.

We are slowly still moving in and unpacking. Yesterday Jamie put up the last of the bathroom fixtures - towel rail, ring and medicine cabinet etc. It looks great - we'll be putting the finishing touches on it over the holidays. I'll send an update on the mostly finished bathroom next. Very much enjoying the heated glass tile floor!

Renovater Fatigue

2006-12-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

Seems that all of the high octane fuel we've been burning has left us in need of a tune up. We're kinda tired. We were tired before, but now that we've finally moved in and are actually living in our new home, we seem to have lost A LOT of steam.

Jamie says he feels like he did when he arrived home after finishing Christmas exams. Bone tired and on the verge of getting sick. We've all been there, and unfortunately, there's not much one can do to avoid actually succumbing to whatever opportunistic infection wins the battle with the immune system.

I'm tired - but am not getting sick. At least I don't feel anything coming on. But alas, I lack the skill to really forge ahead and continue to do the things that need doing: hanging hooks, towel racks, toilet paper holders etc. I guess I could try, but I'm sure I'd get it wrong, only creating more work for my poor, sick husband.

Oh well, there's lots of shopping to be done: stools, a sofa and window treatments are at the top of my list at the moment. So, I'll be spending the next few days making some Jewish penicillin (chicken soup) for my sick husband and sourcing some items that will continue to make our house more livable and cozy. It's not there yet. But it will be...stay tuned!

We're In! Kitchen Completed

2006-11-27T13:03:00.000-05:00

It's true. Finally, after over a year, we have finally moved in and not surprisingly, a week after actually moving in, we are still unpacking boxes and getting organized, but we have moved in to our new home.

We rented a U-Haul truck and made a couple of trips, back and forth, between my Mom's place and our new place and got the bulk of our big items moved in one day. Some dings to the walls and floors will need to be patched up, but there were no major casualties on this moving day.

The room that I've had most involvement in getting to a full functional level would most definitely be the kitchen.

Here are some shots of it - notice there are no window coverings or stools at the island, but all the appliances work and we've had a few meals there already. Looking forward to hauling all my cookbooks out of storage and cracking them open to find some gastronomical inspiration.

Guess What?

2006-11-08T17:59:00.000-05:00

We're almost ready to move in.

With the exception of some shoe mould, installation of a few closet shelves and closet hardware (rods and latches) the house is almost move-in ready.

Oh sure, there are tons of things we still need/would like to do. The front vestibule is a disaster (and that's not an exaggeration). But I'm really trying to ignore the fact that there's a huge hole in the ceiling and exposed studs above the ugly wood panelling.

We completed the hardwood floors last Saturday. It was a long day 8am - 9:30pm, but we had lots of help (Silvia, Fred and Drew) and were generously fed (by Silvia, Fred and Drew) so we came out the other end exhausted but happy!

The main floor looks great. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how it looks sans furniture. Notice that some pictures are taken during the daytime - and the finished ones are taken when it's dark outside......did I mention that it was a long day?

Flooring 1-2-3

2006-11-02T18:43:00.000-05:00

Well, let's just say that we hope that it will actually be flooring 1-2. We started to lay down the pre-finished birch hardwood flooring last weekend - during our 4-day house blitz and got about 1/4 completed. As most how-to books and magazines will tell you, the first line of planks take about 75% of the entire time you'll take laying the whole floor. With our out-of-plumb and crooked floors and walls, this was not an easy task - probably never is - but in our 130+ year old house - these variances are extreme.

It was nice to open the boxes (after moving them around the living room from various locations to make room for trim installation, painting etc. several times) and finally see the wood that would soon rest under our feet in the hall, living room and dining room. We bought the wood sometime in the late spring at Woodchuck Flooring - a place we found through the Holmes on Homes Web site. Anyway, they were helpful and we also purchased our cork floor from them - just the materials - Jamie installed it himself with some help from our friend Rick.

Some pics of the floors (jubliant Jamie exhalting over his newly installed cork floor in what would become the kitchen and birch in the hallway) and our buddy Rick during the demo (he's much better looking clean).

Looking forward to finishing the flooring this weekend (fingers crossed that it will indeed be the last time we'll need to rent a flooring nailer.)

Hired Help

2006-10-26T15:18:00.000-04:00

Along this long and winding road to a completed renovation, we endeavored to do as much of the work (fun and backbreaking alike) as possible ourselves.

Well, I've had an epiphany. It's worth hiring skilled tradespeople who do a good job, fast and professionally. This may not be news to most of you, but it became abundantly clear to me when last weekend, we tried to paint our bathroom. It was frustrating, very difficult to do well and entirely unsatisfying work - it looked like crap - it looked like we did it ourselves.

I love our painters as only a woman who has cut her own ceilings unsuccessfully on a teetering, rickety ladder can love. They are a Godsend, and I would recommend them to anyone, anyday. Reasonable, professional, thoughtful, thorough, detailed and fast. What's not to love?

Here are some close-ups of the trim that they painted. Tye installed it with Leah and they did a lovely, very professional job - quite something given that there is not a square corner or plumb wall in the entire house. The trim came from a wonderful Canadian trim and moulding company called Brenlo. They were very helpful and gave us great service - as well as an account - and refunded us for all trim (over 3 ft long) that we didn't use.

This is an official shout out to all trades who we hired and did a superb job. We thank you for allowing us the privilege of paying you to do stuff we couldn't have done 1/2 well ourselves.

We were on the floor!

2006-10-16T19:11:00.000-04:00

All of those days we spent wrecking our knees and scrubbing the floors during our Cinderella days finally paid off this past weekend.

We got the upstairs red oak floors fully prepared for coatings of polyurethane and applied 3 coats over 3 days with sanding and tack cloth cleaning in between. We used Minwax Fast Drying Clear and the floors look lovely. It was suprisingly easy and and didn't take very long at all. And what a sense of accomplishment we felt!

It was nice to finally do something that was fun to do and gave us a great feeling of achievement. We also felt good about our decision to keep the original flooring...while the floors are not perfect, the wood has lots of character and gives the rooms a nice warm glow. We even like that you can, if you know where to look, see the patch that the former owners put in the floor space that used to be occupied by a wood stove (pre-central heating).

Next, we are prepping for trim priming and painting and completion of painting the remaining rooms (bathroom and kitchen) and a few touch-ups. Oh, and it was my birthday on Sunday - so I got the day off! Thanks Jamie!

Northern Kitchen Exposure

2006-10-11T14:30:00.000-04:00

Thanksgiving weekend we helped Jamie's parents set up their kitchen (see nearly finished kitchen with Robbie looking very satisfied) at the family cottage near Algonquin Park. Beaver Lodge is a beautiful cottage on a secluded lake nicely situated between crown land and the park. I've posted some pictures from the 2nd floor overlooking the lake at sunrise (left) and sunset (right).

The whole family came up to celebrate Thanksgiving and the weather cooperated nicely, so we had a productive and (later on) restful weekend.

It was great to see the Lodge and the product of all the hard work that has gone into its construction. It was a beautiful place to spend time and to enjoy the last beautiful days of Indian Summer which Mother Nature graced us with during this early Thanksgiving holiday.

ReStore Reduce Reuse and Recycling

2006-10-03T17:10:00.000-04:00

Is it possible that as the end of this renovation approaches, that our progress loses momentum? We are getting down to the details - and it's not speeding things up. It's true that the devil's in the details.

Nonetheless, we did accomplish a few things over the weekend. We (mostly Jamie) installed the microwave/range. It looks fabulous - much better suspended over the stove than sitting on the counter, where it lived since the counter-tops were installed. We thought they could also install the microwave, but alas, we discovered that this would not be so easy.

We are proud to own a stainless steel microwave and stove which were purchased used from the ReStore run by Habitat for Humanity which benefits the charity. It's cool because we got some nice appliances at a great price, and they got our money which will go to help other people less fortunate than we are who also need a home to live in. It also felt nice not having to buy another new thing.

When we bought the microwave we assumed all the necessary parts came with. They did not. So we called LG the manufacturer and they kindly helped us out with a backordered bracket and a few other key pieces of hardware. Thankfully, it didn't even take the 6 - 8 weeks they suggested it would.

While Jamie wrestled with the microwave in the kitchen, my friend Andria and I worked on filling holes in the trim that had been over looked. She filled, I sanded. It took a long time, but I was thankful for her help - a lot more got done than would have if I were working alone.

I also painted a few sample strips on our stairs. We have stripped them and now are going to paint them - we are thinking white ballusters, newel post and risers and chocolate brown treads and banister. We need to find the right colour though. Would be an easy weekday project - paint every second stair one night and the others the next...ta-da...Done in two days.

I forgot my camera so no pics of the microwave in all it's glory - promise to add them later.

Cinderella Story

2006-09-26T17:05:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe, but we have been doing this house renovation for a year next month: October 2005. We are really in the home stretch now though.

We took this weekend off, but the weekend before was dedicated entirely to getting our red oak floors upstairs cleaned up. Now I know how poor Cinderella felt, except we didn't have any evil step mother or ugly step sisters to make us feel bad. The gunk that came off the floors was punishment enough. So was the 15+ hours we spent on our knees. Kneepads help, but not that much and not after that much time on those very taken-for-granted joints!

Anyway, the floors had been sanded before, so weren't up for another go (too thin). We therefore were stuck with screening them or basically scrubbing the hell out of them with everyone's favourite caustic chemical TSP (trisodium phosphate) and these crazy pot-scrubbers-on-steroids, otherwise known as baseboard/utility pads and easily found online at www.toiletpaperworld.com (not kidding) or at Home Depot .

They really look great! Especially considering they were covered with dust, primer (from using a sprayer to prime all the walls and ceilings), sawdust and drywall dust. Next step is to polyurethane. We're considering using an oil based formula - apparently better for novices - more forgiving.

Here are some pics of the rooms we did (master b-room, guest b-room and hallway).

We Break for Weddings

2006-09-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

We won't be doing much work on the house this weekend as we're off to Peterborough for a wonderful wedding. Phil and Betsey are getting married after many (how many???) years together. It's going to be low key and joyous and fun, a lot of what I'm missing in my life these days.

We welcome breaks like these to keep us sane and in touch with the world outside our own. We also are so happy to be going to Peterborough - Jamie has a wonderful group of friends, many cycling buddies and outdoor-lovin' folks, who he loves and misses because we don't get to visit very often (especially with home renos happening). I too love them and so much enjoy spending time with them, they are down to earth, genuine and like to have a good time.

Jamie has managed to put a few house things on the list though...we need to measure and purchase vent covers for the whole house. We are getting our ducts cleaned next week and that signals the beginning of the end to me. No more drywall dust and various other contaminents in the air. We wanted to do this before the furnace goes on for the winter.

So here's to weddings, clean ducts and going away for fun weekends with friends.

Kitchen Co-operation

2006-09-18T13:58:00.000-04:00

As my father-in-law pointed out, I have not yet mentioned the kitchen at any great length. The primary reason for this was I couldn't find the pictures I took of the assembly and installation. But, they appeared, and so here's a little story about our IKEA kitchen.

We had all kinds of dreamy ideas of what we would do with the kitchen. Originally, we thought we wouldn't do anything at all, just leave it and live with it until we had the money to renovate - well - we couldn't and didn't. If it came down to only one or even two of the things that were dramatically wrong with it: cabinets, the plumbing the stove or the windows, well, we would have just kept it. But as you learn when you gut a house, these things never turn out the way you think they will. Everything had to be replaced. We had a leaky sink and old, old plumbing, drafty windows and an old stove, on top of it all, the cabinets weren't even real - they were shelves with doors screwed on to the front.

So it all went out to the dump and we started over. IKEA offered the best option for us because the price was reasonable and we wanted to install them ourselves (to save money). The only think we didn't do was to measure and install the countertops - we left that to the pros, who did it in about a day - it would have taken us a week. At least.

Jamie's family helped with the cabinet assembly - everything was delivered on a skid, packed flat in boxes. Robbie, Lucinda and Erica helped unpack and assemble and hang all the cabinets in one day (I had to go to my office to work - it was a Sunday!). Jamie and Robbie had them up and the kitchen pretty much complete by the time I came back. It was fabulous.

Exhaustion

2006-09-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

After nearly a year since taking possession of our money pit, we are tired. The feeling of being overwhelmed by the huge financial investment slowly dissipated and was replaced by the panic of sinking more of our finances into this fun house with slanted floors and walls. This coupled with the fact that we have sunk blood (our own and our friends), sweat (mostly Jamie's, family and some friends) and tears (mostly my own) into this house has left us feeling very tired - physically from the sometimes daily work visits and mentally - from the strain of feeling that this project will never end.

Hence, we are hiring painters to finish the trim. Though this will not mean we can move in, it will mean that we can continue to work on the things we still need to do ourselves like installing door knobs, finishing the kitchen and bathroom and figuring out what to do with the vestibule and the sketchy basement door. Oh, then there are window treatments and interior decoration to consider... It's looking like October may be a good month to move....but we'll see.

Ah, what a long, strange trip it has been. Nearly there though and what a happy day it will be.

Living/Dining

2006-09-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

The biggest problem with the largest open space in the house was a decrepit chimney that stood between the living and dining rooms. We looked at covering it with drywall (cheap option), taking it down (expensive option) or covering it with another natural material - in this case - stacked slate (most viable option). It really was the best solution and it took a long time for us to find it. And I'm proud to say that we found it on our own, no interior designer or architect or engineer came up with a better, more affordable and visually interesting option. We did find it in a magazine, but the application was totally different. The product is called Erthcoverings and it's comprised of stacked natural stone tiles that are basically glued on to a flat surface - we did have to have concrete backer board bolted first to the original old chimney brick, but the tiles were glued on to that and they look great.

I guess the other big problem was a weird hump in the middle of the dining room floor - we didn't really ever figure out what caused it. Building a ledger board and cutting the joists so that they now rest on the board was the solution - recommended by a structural engineer. Probably had something to do with the freaky bay window fake foundation next to the hump. The best thing is you would never know it was ever there...unless you had a good look in the basement at the floor joists above.

Next and final step will be to install the hardwood flooring in this room. It's the last thing we'll do and we're kinda counting down the weeks to that event - it will really finish off the first floor.

Get into the Groove

2006-09-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

Another original feature of our 100+ year old home is a tongue and groove wall beneath the stairs. It's constructed of pine and was covered up with the same wood paneling that covered the rest of the walls in the house. When we uncovered it we thought we'd strip the stain and repaint.

Four layers of paint, chemical wood stripper, blistered hands and scraping later, the wall was clear and the original pine boards were exposed. Stripping the paint was not easy with the grooves and it was a messy, messy job...but with the help of some steel wool and sanding, they look nearly the same as the new closet doors that Robbie built from scratch to cover the closet that is now under the stairs. Pictures here of the wall before stripping with the little silly rectangular closet door and mid-way through stripping with the new closet doors hung.

These pictures show the original balustrade and banister that we had to replace running along the staircase.

During and During - Stairs

2006-09-06T18:31:00.000-04:00

I so deeply wish that the title of this post was Before and After. But it's not. Nope, it's not even close. Well, I guess it's closer than it's ever been before. Indeed, we are really enjoying the fact that we are seeing some progress. However, we are not done.

The fact that we have come so far was really driven home when I unearthed some printed photos taken sometime this winter. So this is the first in a series of posts entitled During and During.

This pair of shots is of the stairs just after they had been gutted, and after the drywall had gone up - the newel posts are stripped down to the bare wood in the second shot (on the right). Got to love the smell of Poly Strippa while I did those babys. We have ball-tops that were custom made for them by Century Porch Post so that we were able to at least keep one part, if not all of the original trimwork. We are still in the process of stripping the black gunk off of each tread and riser to prep for paint.

I love the old curtain hanging behind Jamie in the left shot - probably there to "protect" the kitchen. HA!

What you cannot see are the balusters that, though made of lovely maple, were covered with thick, old, chipped paint and needed to be stripped as well and also doubled in quantity to meet code regulations - less than 4 inches apart. As well, the banister had been hacked away, much like the ball tops and was beyond repair. These both would have to be fully replaced.

Bay Window Blues

2006-08-30T09:55:00.000-04:00

Well, once the drywall was up, we still had a big problem to solve, and that was, what to do with the bay window. And it wasn't just the window that was a concern, but the foundation, the framing, the condition of the interior and the exterior (which was clad in insulbrick, a shingle-like material that was all the rage in the 70's). With Tye's help, we developed a solution and the digging began. About one tonne of dirt, old bricks and dilapidated foundation was dug up. It sat in a large pile on our side lawn for many months. Finally, it was replaced with a beautiful foundation and a lovely bay window frame. The windows were installed in the Spring and were worth the 4 week wait. It looks beautiful and completely transformed the side of the house, where there was once nothing, then a gaping hole, there is now light and a view. We just finished priming this past week.

Delays and Drywall Days

2006-08-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what tipped them off. Could it have been the giant dumpsters that kept appearing, getting filled and being replaced with empty ones at the side of our property, or was it the 6 x 6 x 6 foot hole in our front lawn. It may have been the pile of dirt, bricks and debris that came from the triple 6 hole. No one can really say. All we knew was that we had to call the city to obtain a permit to do the work we were doing inside and outside the house. Most people will tell you that if you're doing a small renovation that you don't need a permit. But I agree with Mike Holmes, host of Holmes on Homes on HGTV. GET A PERMIT. Not to mention the fact that we were not doing a small renovation - we were engaging in a total gut and restoration of our home. The fact that we needed to get a permit did a few things - mostly it delayed us by about a month, during which time we were not able to do any work on the house. We could begin again only when we had appropriate permission to do what we were doing, and this depended largely on having plans and drawings. Luckily, with some family help, such things were done up and we were able to begin again, and we were now sanctioned to renovate. Things got rolling to the point that we were ready to drywall. I'm skipping the complete rewire of the electrical, new plumbing and insulation and vapour barrier that had to happen before the walls went up, but that happened and we were ready to go. The pictures show some of teh rooms drywalled and taped and ready to seal and prime. We went away for a week on holiday and when we came back the walls were up - it was an amazing transformation - and the first time that we really had a sense that we might actually live in our house, not just go there to work! The photos don't tell the full picture though, to understand that you'd have to imagine devoting every weekend and many evenings to hauling dusty plaster, lathe, insulation and dust in garbage bins, wearing a respirator and using safety lights to see through the dark, cold halls. Then coming in to see light and walls and smelling no dust!

The Saga of the Bay Window

2006-08-16T09:08:00.000-04:00

I think it's human nature to avoid those things that we don't understand or to put off those things that we don't know how to deal with. This is the story of our bay window. When we purchased the house, we noted that there appeared to be a bay window that had been covered with shingles on the exterior and drywall in the interior. We knew that we would want more light in the dining room, and therefore we planned to reveal it. Little did we know that this would lead to city permits, redoing the foundation and experiencing Big Expense #2. Here are a few pics of the bay window before and during demolition. The saga continued for many months, it's only just being drywalled now, more than 6 months after it was first deconstructed. It was not fun heating the neighbourhood through the winter through the gaping hole at the side of our house.

Restruction

2006-08-15T09:07:00.000-04:00

With the roof repaired and reshingled, and most of the interior walls demolished, we started the process of rebuilding, shoring up the interior walls which over the years had become warped and out of square. This required a lot of lumber and reinforcements. Tye did most of the work though Jamie and I built a door frame or two. This work was definitely more gratifiying than knocking down walls, inhaling plaster dust or carrying loads of destroyed walls out to the bin in heavy garbage cans. Sean also pitched in to help finish most of the interior framing.

Demo Days

2006-08-14T09:46:00.000-04:00

So, the moment the house closed, we knew we needed to demo - the extent to which we would do so went well beyond our wildest imagination - the 8-foot lowered ceilings, pink broadloom and wood panelling and ceiling tiles all had to go.

Here was the first demo day, when about 15 of our closest buddies showed up with saw-z-alls, crow bars, hammers and respirators to help us out.

It was a mess, and through the several month-long process, we filled 5 bins full of plaster, lathe, panelling, carpet, ceiling tiles, insulation and all imaginable destruction waste.

It was only a few weeks into the demolition that the rain started to pour in from the roof. The former owners had not disclosed that the roof was leaky - so we scrambled with the rest of the city - or so it seemed - to find somone to re-shingle our roof: unexpected major expense #1. I know you're thinking, "Didn't the home inspection turn up a leaky roof?" No, it did not - in fact it said that there were at least 3 - 4 years left in the existing roof. This signaled the beginning of many surprises we would find working at Willoughby House.

The original plan of the house, from the 1870's, showed that the street name was originally Willoughby Avenue. It was named for Captain James Willoughby and his estate which was situated on most of the area northeast of High Park, where our house is located.

Beginning of the End

2006-08-11T15:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, 365 days minus 79 days, we are nearing the end of our renovation. We bought our house nearly a year ago, and never, in my wildest dreams, imagined that we would:

Spend so much time demolishing, then building it back up
Spend so much money
Own our own compound mitre saw
Live with my Mom for most of our married life together

Time flies when you're having fun. It also seems to fly when you are living though hell.

I've attached some photos - all pre-reno - yes, this is the house we purchased with our hard earned money. Next post will give you a sense of what happened in the ensuing months.