It’s now the end of February. My last post was 2 months ago, and if you’ve been following on Facebook, a TON of progress has been made since then. My little bungalow is now a 2-storey home!
I wanted to take a step back and talk about some of the planning, and permits, required to take on such a job. I mentioned previously that I had found a great architectural designer who also is a framer for his family business. Super lucky find!
Just a watchout that I can share: I had no idea as a homeowner playing the role of General Contractor, that part of the permit application requirements was a formal HVAC Plan. I’d pretty much assumed that my HVAC Contractor would talk to the builder and figure things out and – ta da! – it would get done. Not the case. When you submit your permit application to the city, you MUST include a full HVAC Plan that includes calculations of the size of the duct work, the placement of the supply and air return lines, a calculation to ensure that your furnace and air conditioning units are sized appropriately for proper heating and cooling, etc. My architectural designer is not an HVAC designer. My HVAC contractor also doesn’t do the plans. So a couple of days AFTER I submitted my permit application to the City of Woodstock, I found all this out and scrambled to find someone to create my HVAC Plan. Did I mention that that day was December 17th? That’s right, just a week before before Christmas. My builder was hoping for permit approval so he could start ripping the roof off and framing up the addition between Christmas and New Year’s and there I was on December 17th finding out that I hadn’t submitted everything required. Face palm.
Luckily, my HVAC Contractor recommended someone that he’d worked with before. I looked them up and Surprise! it was someone that I went to High School with! I sent an email to Derek at DJ Design and within minutes he responded. Despite the fact that they were closing for the holidays the very next day, he assured me that they could get the plan out to me pretty quickly. By 3pm that afternoon, I had what I needed and ran it over to the permit office. Talk about saving my butt!!
I was able to get in touch with the permit office within a couple of days and they approved my plans, so we were off to the races! Oh, also, the fee for the permit was $1145.05 of which $460 was a damage deposit. As long as we don’t damage city property such as curbs or sidewalks when we’re doing the build, we will get that deposit back.
On the 28th of December, Ryan from Cocchetto Solutions got to work. First step was to demo the chimney in the middle of the house. Specifically, it was about a 2ft by 2ft structure that ran up from the basement, through the small (5×8 ft) bathroom, and up out of the roof. It wasn’t pretty brick that we could turn into a feature wall, it was just ugly cement. And after day 1, it was gone! Here are some photos originally and once it was just a memory.
Bathroom – Chimney on Right
Chimney Still in Place During Demo
Bye, Chimney!
Chimney is Gone from Basement
It was pretty crucial to remove the chimney – otherwise, it would run up through the middle of the new kitchen. Not okay!
I’m sure most of you have been following along on Facebook as I have been posting updates. I will try to add a slideshow that walks through the process from ripping the roof off to building the 2nd one – but my images need some optimization, they’re too big right now, so I’ll post this and make that a separate post.
I have big plans for this renovation. We’re gutting the entire existing main floor of the house plus we’re adding a 2nd storey. All on a very, very tight budget. We know that we’ll be doing quite a bit of the work by ourselves, and having family members help us out where possible. But the fact is, we still have a heck of a lot of materials that we have to purchase in order to get this done – and building materials have either become hard to find or have increased significantly during or as a result of the pandemic. That means I really need to be resourceful and search for as many “bargains” as possible if we’re going to make this happen. Fortunately, bargain hunting happens to be my superpower!
Kitchen Cabinets
Obviously, kitchens and bathrooms are the most important and the most costly when you’re renovating. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to find a great source for kitchen cabinets a few years back – an auction place about 45 minutes from Woodstock called Bryan’s Auctions. If you read through my Mississauga blog posts, you’ll see the before and after from the kitchen that I renovated there using a set of cabinets that I bought from there. I also renovated my apartment above the pub I owned using a set from another online auction. Well… this time, I bought what they call the “Dream” kitchen. For the upper cabinets, you have the standard 30″ cabinet, and then above that, there are 12″ tall cabinets that have glass doors. You can display your pretty, less used dishes in those upper cabinets. It also has 2 tall cabinets – one is a 24″ wide pantry, and the other can be either used for a wall oven or, in our case, we’ll use it for our microwave oven.
The best part of buying cabinets from an online auction is that it is a SIGNIFICANT cost saver. If you go and order wooden cabinets special order from Home Depot or something, this kitchen would probably cost $30,000. I paid about $11,000 including the tax and auction fee. You truly can’t beat the pricing. The catch, of course, is that you get what you get. You have to be pretty confident that the cabinets that you’re getting are going to fit your space, or you have to be able to “make do”. For example, in Mississauga, I ended up using a 36″ base cabinet in a corner – just removed the door on one side as it was going to be tucked behind the other cabinet. In the apartment, I had a 30″ base cabinet cut in half because I only needed a 15″ cabinet in the space. If you’re willing to make adjustments or compromises like that, it is a super great solution. In this case, since I am designing my kitchen from the ground up, I’m going to be able to use pretty much every cabinet exactly as it is designed. Can not WAIT to see it all come together!
Vanity
I really love this vanity from Costco. I don’t, however, love the fact that it is listed at over $2000! That’s just not going to work with our baby budget.
I started watching Facebook Marketplace and searching for a dresser that would work for the same purpose. Fortunately, I found one that is just the right size! It’s an older, solid wood dresser manufactured by Kroehler Furniture, and a woman outside of town had painted it royal blue. I bought it for $150. I then purchased a heat gun and started to strip off the royal blue paint. I’ve never used a heat gun before, but I’ve watched lots of episodes of Restored where they use them quite often to remove years of layers of paint. Here’s a quick sample… you can see just how great it works!
We have a cool Antique Mall and Vendor’s Marketplace here in Woodstock, where I picked up a jar of Fusion Mineral Paint in a colour called Champness and am refinishing this dresser to look much like the lovely one from Costco. I ordered a granite Vanity top from Home Depot with an integrated sink and had it delivered for about $450. So by the time it’s done it’ll cost me about $650.00 (plus my labour) to get the same look I’d have had to pay well over $2000 for!
Windows and Doors
Kind of an important part of building an addition, right? We want it to be light and bright – and we want to be able to get in and out! 🙂 Part of the plan is to add French Doors from the new dining room, leading out to the covered porch. The cheapest French Doors that you can buy from home reno stores are about $1200 for a set. Well, you’re starting to see the theme here – that’s too much for me! Once again, I started searching Marketplace and then bingo – I found someone selling not just one set, but 4 sets of French Doors!! We went to Oakville and met a lovely woman named Barb. She has a beautiful home that is about 15 years old. 2 of the windows in the house – the ones in her main bedroom and her daughter’s room – started to lose their seal, so they decided that they would replace all of the windows and doors in the house. She figured that she’d be able to get something for the 4 sets of French Doors (2 in the master bedroom, 2 in the kitchen), so she posted them to Marketplace. We were the first to get there and check them out, and we chose a set from the Master Bedroom as it had been seldom used. She only wanted $200 per set. As we chatted with Barb, she told us that the windows were being replaced, too, and I inquired as to whether she’d be willing to sell some of those, too. Bottom line, we ended up getting the doors and 6 windows PLUS California shutters for all of the windows and doors, for a total of $1000. I was thrilled with the deal. That left only one more window to acquire – that was a transom-type window for in our new walk-in closet. We found that on Marketplace, too. A family had their home damaged when a tree fell on it and were selling their windows, so we picked that one up for $50. Hopefully we won’t have any issues, and we’ll be able to make all of the reused windows and doors work well throughout the house!
Kitchen Sink
There are several bargains that I’ve acquired so far, but none were quite as much of a challenge as the kitchen sink! I really love the look of farmhouse sinks – they’re pretty much the only thing you see now on home renovation shows. Everything from beautiful hammered copper finishes to the stunning white fireclay finishes. The thing is, the budget will not allow me to go for stone countertops – and that’s what you need if you’re going to install an undermount sink. So, therefore, no farmhouse sink. Well, then I also found a few listings on Marketplace for sinks with integrated drainboards. Super cool vintage farmhouse style sinks – either in cast iron or porcelain – seemed to be stupid expensive ($600 used) or in really crappy condition. Or, perhaps required wall mounting. Not what I wanted. Then I found one about 25 minutes away in Norwich, listed for $250.00. I messaged the seller to ask for the dimensions, and tell her I’m interested. She replied that it is pending pickup. NOOOO! She did say that if she didn’t sell it, she would let me know. Well, about a week and a half or so passed by and the listing was still up, but she didn’t get in touch, so I messaged her again. This time, she told me that it hadn’t been sold BUT they’d broken off a piece of it when they removed it.
Yeah, they broke a huge chunk of the corner off of it. So she said she’d sell it for much less, if I wanted to try to fix it. Of course, I did a Google search – how to repair porcelain sink/tiles, etc. Turns out a tube of Gorilla Glue Epoxy Gel and a porcelain repair kit will do the trick, so I thought why the heck not! It’s worth a try. Well… honestly… I definitely had my work cut out for me. When I picked it up, the old plumbing was attached, as well as the faucet. I set about pulling it all apart to clean it up. Well… I haven’t seen that much disgusting filth since I bought an old, filthy pub. It looked as if whoever had owned the house prior to this young couple buying and renovating had just shoved tons of dirt down the drain and left it there. After I dug a lot of it out, I put the whole sink overtop of my current sink and just ran water into the drain holes for about 30 minutes straight – that’s how long it took it to run clear. GROSS!! I then got the epoxy gel glue out and was worried that it wasn’t going to work – it actually fell off once. I braced it up and taped it with some scotch tape and left it overnight and it seems to have held together perfectly. Then I applied the porcelain repair cream and let it set overnight. I just have to sand it with the 800 grit sandpaper that came with the repair kit and it should look great. I’m really hopeful that it will be amazing when it is done! If it does – it’ll be about a $200 total investment (plus my labour) and they’re selling for about $1500 (or more) new!!
These are just a few of the bigger bargain purchases that I’ve made so far. The list is long… and I didn’t even mention the fact that I bought beautiful hardwood flooring for the entire house from the auction place for a fraction of what I’d pay at retail! I’m worried about the budget, definitely… but so far, I’m really happy with the stuff that I have bought and the prices that I have paid have been extremely reasonable. The builder started just yesterday to frame up the walls and make the structural updates necessary. Tomorrow he’s supposed to start ripping off the roof!! It’s starting to move forward, and it is SO exciting!!
Hello! As I mentioned on my “Woodstock” page, I have purchased a 1960s bungalow in my hometown and plan to do a major renovation to it before moving in. It’s a big, huge reno on a very modest budget, so every dollar must be spent wisely.
I bought a great property in a great neighbourhood with a beautiful pool… but the reality is, the house as purchased really didn’t work well for my needs. With tiny bedrooms and an even tinier kitchen, there would be no room for storage of all my stuff, and no room to actually do the stuff that I enjoy doing in the house – baking, quilting, etc.
So I decided to pursue adding a 2nd storey.
The Plans
Step one in the planning process was finding someone to actually work with me to draw up the plans that would be needed to build a 2nd storey addition. I tried several different firms in Woodstock and surrounding area and got the same responses – “we’re too booked up”, or “we’re only doing new builds now”. Finally, in May, I stumbled across CR Group Design on Facebook. I reached out to Ryan, and he was able to help. We met to discuss the project and share some initial thoughts. At that time, I was thinking about adding an extension off the back of the house, but after discussing and realizing that the roof would have to come off the house anyway, I decided it would be best to add a 2nd storey.
It’s now been more than 6 months since that initial meeting. We’ve gone back and forth on the plans a few times to come up with just exactly what I want the house to be. I have a pretty clear vision for what our needs are and I’m pretty definitive, so I don’t think I have been too unreasonable with change requests.
Here are the plans – starting with the initial floor plan, then moving on to what will be the main floor, and finally, the 2nd storey!
Original Main Floor
New Main Floor
New 2nd Storey
The Crew
We got the keys to the house on October 15th, and since then, the priority has been to remove anything that can be reused and sell it, and basically gut the entire first floor to get ready for the build. My brother, who has been working on house flips for the past couple of years, has been working on the demo. My “uncle” Tom, (actually my Mom’s cousin’s husband), who has been a builder and carpenter for years is my project manager and my advisor. His experience and expertise is so valuable – and I trust him completely to help me do what is right, while being very aware of budget limitations. He’s the kind but firm hand that says “you really don’t want to touch that right now!”
As for the plans, once totally finalized, they need engineer sign-off, and then we apply for a permit. That’s where we are right now… I’m expecting to head into the permit office this week and the hope/intention is that the main build (ripping off the roof and framing the 2nd storey) will take place over the Christmas break!
The great thing about working with Ryan is that his family has been in the construction business for decades, so we didn’t have to go and search for an available builder (they’re all double booked these days). We just signed up with Cochetto Solutions!
In 2018, I’d had a bunch of personal things happen – I was in a relationship that wasn’t going anywhere. I’d had several years of fertility treatments, including one final round of IVF, all of which had failed, and I needed to try something new. I sold the house in Mississauga. I quit the job I’d been doing for 8 years – the one that paid really well and enabled me to do renos and take vacations, etc. – and I bought a small town pub! That’s a whole other blog. It was quite the adventure. But for now, I’ll stick to the reason we’re here – to showcase how things ended up with the house in Applewood Heights, Mississauga.
As I wrote about previously, my friend Jimmy did the kitchen and bath renos on the main floor. My brother and I finished the basement, and just before I sold the place, I did some more work in the basement to add a coat closet and make it a separate entrance so that the new people could potentially rent it out. It was lots of work, but I think it turned out so much better than when I started. There were lots more projects that I’d have wanted to complete if I’d stayed – modernizing the front even more by opening up that closed in porch, replacing the front door entirely, and probably painting or replacing the front railing and flower beds… but I did what I could in the time that I was there and I think I build a much better functioning house!
Now, I’m on to the next project. Hope you’ll follow along!
Exterior Before
Exterior with new Garage Door, Light, Number, and Painted Door
Eat-in Kitchen Before
17′ x 11′ Kitchen After
Opened up Between Kitchen & Living Room
Living Room Before
Living Room After (open to Kitchen)
Main Bath Before
Main Bath After
Main Bath Shower with Custom Celtic Knot Tile Inset
Hey all. Today is Wednesday, and it is a Damn cold Wednesday. Welcome to January in Canada. I’m just waiting for Jim to get here to continue working on the bathroom. Yesterday, he got the drywall on the ceiling. That was interesting… first he had to strap the walls with wood strips that the drywall wood we screwed into. Then he trimmed the drywall to fit, and then it was a 2 person job to lift the sheets up to the ceiling (while standing on a ladder, of course) and then prop the sheet of drywall up with the strapping wood. It would be very dangerous to try on your own, I imagine. Now the ceiling is drywalled. Next step is to install the bathtub.
American Standard tub – it was on sale at Lowes!
While Jim was working on the ceiling, I went to work in the kitchen. I’d started taking down some cabinets the day before and wanted to continue. Funny thing is, I’d unscrewed 2 of the cabinets from the wall the day before, but they were still hanging. The tiled and grout were holding them in place. As I started to chip out the grout and tile, and pull the cabinets down, one of them started coming apart and I found mouse droppings – I wasn’t sure where they were coming from, but keep in mind that I haven’t used these cabinets at all, so I figured it must have been in the corner of one of the shelves. Eventually, with the tiles free, the cabinets finally started to fall and as they did, it started to rain mouse poo. Disgusting! I even had one on my shirt. Gag. Apparently, they had made quite a comfy home for themselves running on the tops of the cabinets, between there and the bulkhead. I can’t wait to pull the others down and see what else falls in me. Next step, obviously, was to get out the Shop Vac and start sucking it all up, before the pets got interested, and then to remove the pieces. After the poo flew.
Ok, Jimmy is here. More later…
Happy New Year! Ok, it is Friday, January 2nd, and a lot of people are back to work today. Had a nice visit from my sister’s family yesterday, and time with two of my adorable nephews, and now I have today, and all of next week, off!
A couple new developments to report this morning:
1. Foundation Flaws
My electrician, Rich, came by on Monday and walked through the house with me to get a look at what all needs to be done. In order to do some work in the kitchen, such as adding the dishwasher, I had to remove the paneling on the wall downstairs (where the wire will run). Well, I got started pulling off the trim and paneling, and discovered a couple of cracks in the foundation.
This was something that was identified in the home inspection, and we’d negotiated a small savings from my original offer, but actually revealing cracks in the blocks that had potentially been leaking for years (paneling was probably up since about the 70s) was quite eye opening. Why wouldn’t it have been looked after years ago? They had to see wet spots at times! Anyway, I contacted two companies on Tuesday. One was able to come out that afternoon, the other booked me an appointment for January 9th. When the guy from the first company, Gord’s Basement Waterproofing, came out, he provided an estimate to dig down and waterproof/seal in 3 places – around the 2 cracks, plus a large spot along the front step (underneath which the cold room has a significant leak) – all for $2,300 plus HST. Sorry, other company, but this will be repaired before you can even fit me in!
2. Playing with Fire
Next up was the fireplace inspection, this morning. The Insurance Company refused to insure the house at first, because I couldn’t provide them any details on the fireplace/wood stove. Then they insured me, on the condition that I have a WETT Inspection and Sweep completed within 15 days. I booked Richard Haart, who used to do the inspections in my condo. He arrived this morning and advised that the firplace is actually an insert, and that is not to code as it has a pipe that is only 6 inches, and the gases, heat, etc. that are released into the chimney (which is much bigger than 6 inches) can cause explosions. He is going to have to remove it, and I am hopeful that what is left can actually be a working fireplace. He said it depends on if the damper remains in place. For now, he is going to write me a letter with these details, in order to satisfy the Insurance Company, and try to get the work done in about a week.
Next up is the electrical work. Rich will be here in am hour, and start some of the work, and then he’ll probably be replacing the electrical panel next week.
