ACTUAL Renovations begin....

It's all getting exciting....
1) We've replaced our roof (with skylights!), which apparently should have been done 20yrs ago!

2) We've moved the basement door out of the kitchen and into the main floor hallway!
3) We've torn down walls and lifted up the lino on the main floor to expose the original fir floors which we will refinish.

Graham & Rolf in the area between the living room & dining room.

Kitchen view to front door

 

Entrance Hallway

Dining Room To Be

 

Every weekend going forward there will be a project until we move in in April/May of 2010.
Light is shining through now...not so dark and we can picture what it will be like, very fun.

Some of the house plans and 'before' shots....

Fall Update

Nothing much has changed other than the fact that our water main burst.... we weren't sure if it was our responsibility or the cities....but since it was 2 inches into our plot, it was ours!

Our street was flooded but luckily the house was spared the deluge! We ended up phoning a few plumbers who quoted $3000+ for digging up the garden and laying the new pipe!!!

However, a good local plumber recommended by the city allowed me to negotiate! - "Ok, mate have you got tools - and we'll do it ourselves!!" . He obliged and sprayed the ground where we had to dig at least 4 foot down and 2 feet across. Back breaking put it took only 3 hours and so it was done! More imporatntly it saved us $1,800!

We now have a lovely new pipe into the house!!!

Contractors

Lately, we've been meeting with a lot of contractors and some are charging $200 psf! It makes you want to fly a group up from some foreclosed filled town in the US! We have some other options which is great....don't think they will all come in at that price, however, we don't want a bunch of cowboys either. The latest thinking is that if it is so expensive right now, perhaps we fix the 2 main floors so that Rolf and I can enjoy it, then when prices go down, we build out the basement and the attic as originally planned. We are leaning more towards this as we are craving a bit more space and are tired of all the sirens here.....even though, we love this condo still!!!

Denise Goes to The Planning Office

....I think there will be a lot of time spent in the East Wing of City Hall!

Green Eco Audit

So... since we are renovating, we decided we'd get a green eco audit which is when a qualified company comes and tests your house for air leaks, checks window, furnace, etc. They explain where you save costs, when you get the money back in the short, medium and long term. It's very interesting and if we can do anything to keep our monthly expenses down, while helping the environment, then Hallelujah! The pictures here are of our attic space which we would like to turn into a master suite and....the air test being done!

Heritage House Tour w/ Dad and Sue

Dad and Sue came to Vancouver and we toured some beautiful heritage homes. We also spent a lot of time at our new house looking around and examining the layout and what Rolf and I want to do to the space. Not only what to do with the space.... but what to do with this classic 1955 Oldsmobile we have in the garage!? It hasn't been moved in over 20 years and the owner is around, but only a select few in the neighborhood know where he is. If he doesn't claim it in the next couple of weeks, we will tow it to a garage and see what it would take to get it running. If there is an opportunity to sell it and make some more money for our renovations...then weeeehooo!