T for Transformation

We have our renovation permit!

It's a Transformation permit which basically means we can go forward with all the plans we have for our home. This is great news. And we successfully secured this permit in no small part to the detailed work Jennifer did to prep the paperwork for the City. She had to do before and after floor plans, before photos along with photos of our neighbours' houses.

Jen created a detailed drawing of what our balcony would look like when it's done, details of the types of windows we'll be getting. It was a LOT of work. Throw two kids into the mix and you get a bit of an idea the stress Jen had getting all this together. Her reward was a seamless meeting with the City and a rapid-fire issue of our new permit. With our letter of the year -- T. Now prominently displayed above our front door.

Oh the heat...

Last weekend, we loaded up a full container with all the garbage stripped from the walls. We need the house pulled back to the bones so the contractors can come in and have a clear view of everything.

As you saw in the last post, this was the task at hand:

All that junk had to leave the basement. By hand. Honestly, just the thought of moving it all makes my head spin again. But by Sunday afternoon, the space looked like this:

The heat was absolutely suffocating. It was around 30 Celsius, but add on the humidity, we were creeping close to 40. The small grace was that we were working in the basement. But we still had to haul our garbage cans of crap up the stairs...then down the front stairs and into our waiting container:

PLUS...yes it gets worse. The dust was terrible and the nails and debris was flying. So a mask and glasses were necessary.

Anyway, enough moaning. We did the ugly, sweaty job, I was spent by the end of the weekend, but the house is clearing out really nicely. As messy as this job is, I get a lot of satisfaction out of digging in there and getting intimate with the new home.

Oh the pain!

Today, we rented another giant container and hauled crap all day. Unfortunately, my day began with an up close and personal rendezvous:

Almost 1 inch of 90-year old rust pierced deep into the sole of my foot. Right through my sneakers. Yes...I was wearing sneakers. Dumb-ass. But our Africa trip is already paying dividends. Less than a month ago, I had to get my battery of shots for the trip, tetanus being one of those shots. Still, it went deep and I heard a squeal pop from my throat like I haven't heard since I was 5.

Anyway, onward and forward. Today we finished clearing out the top two floors. Some shots of Graydon's room before and after:

Before

After

And this is tomorrow's task in the basement:

Pray for me...and my sole.

When the walls came down...

The demo job has been long and hard. Our guy, Louis, is our demolition guy. He's the one leading the charge in stripping our new home back to its bones and prepping it for the contractors to come in and begin the work of rebuilding and restoring.

Louis

Louis is patient, careful. He strips back only what's needed while keeping all the wiring and potential trouble walls intact. It can be easy to demo, but it takes real skill to do it without destroying your home in the process.

And to be honest, at times it feels like we're just destroying our brand new home. Here's a view of our upstairs floor as it looks today:

View from Jada's room, through the master ensuite into the master bedroom.

That's after the rubble has been cleared out. Two weekends ago, we cleared out over 5 tons of rubble! That's 2 guys hauling over 5 tons over a 2 day period. With 2 garbage cans. Is that even possible?

Things have moved quickly and we're getting more and more excited. It's going to be a beautiful home. Here's our upstairs bath before the demo:

And after:

And there are other less destructive changes that have happened too! The flashing was redone on our building to fill some leaks. The flashing runs along the top of the house, capping the bricks. The old flashing was black, but we went with silver for the upgrade. To match our attached neighbour:

Old black flashing

New improved silver flashing

We also had a small army of guys attack the side of our house to do repairs on the brick work. It needed repointing with some plates added to ensure it doesn't weaken over the next 5 years. 

Scaffolding for the job

These guys flew in like a hornet's nest, attacking the bricks. That green netting you see in the photo above was meant to keep the dust in while they worked. I had no idea just how much dust there could be, but without a doubt we announced our intentions to the entire neighbourhood as a massive red cloud wafted across every lawn. I scrambled to make sure everyone knew what was up. No sense stirring the natives unnecessarily, but everyone took it pretty well....most everyone. We had only one grumble, but what can I say. Renos are messy.

One of the plates added, painted a matching colour. 7 plates in total.

And the finished job. Hard to tell from the picture, but they did a fantastic job.

It's exciting to see things happening already. Not just dust and demo, but progress...our home's taking shape. One baby step at a time.