The drywall in the basement is coming along slowly, with H. and helpers Erik, Neil, Elliot and Robert - despite the flood resulting from someone unplugging the sump pump, which left the entire basement in water, just barely below the 2x4's holding the drywall off the actual concrete floor... Picture me in the dark (only one light in the basement at the moment) trying to find and plug in extension cords and portable lights (broken) to see the extent of the problem, without electrocuting myself; borrowing a wet-vac and dehumidifiers; Erik and family helping to mop, vac, and haul out the wet boxes of books, stored where I thought they'd be safe... The recently hung drywall and boxes of books, soaking water up from the floor. Huge packages of new insulation, opened just enough to act like sponges, bags of old insulation sopping all over the floor... I was not a happy camper. Enter Hugh, "What's the big deal, Mom? Just finish wet-vac'ing it, and let the dehumidifiers dry it all out." No problem, now that I've found and safely installed light and recruited help... But the neighbours came back for dinner and a good time was had by all. And, the drywall is fine. Phew! H. is planning to teach us to tape the seams, then we'll get a mudder in and move on to paint. I can't wait to have the drywall done, the painting finished and lights on at the flick of a switch. Imagine!
Andrew spent the summer nesting in the garden - planting 14 trees and over 80 small, flowering shrubs, to bloom next spring in mounds of carefully selected colours. Cedar mulch sets off the garden beds, and soaker hoses keep the new shrubs alive when rain fails. With the "new" deck and pots of blossoms, we transformed the back yard into outdoor living space, where we hosted barbecues at every opportunity throughout the summer. Seventy volunteers for the CORK regatta came one night, bringing their own mussels to steam and lots of yummy side dishes to complement our chicken on the grill. H. grilled, mussels steamed, and there wasn't much left over! With some rainy weather, everyone just grabbed their foul weather gear, huddled under patio umbrellas and an awning and let the potluck roll. So far, so good!
Erik Vreeken was building a new deck, after renovating his house with Hugh's and Andrew's help. Andrew thought a quick deck would be nice at our house, until we can custom-build something more in keeping with our long-range plans, so he arranged to reclaim Erik's old deck. Why waste all that lumber? There must be another 5-10 years in it!
The Yaris backed the deck frame into the driveway, missing the boat on its trailer by inches. How would I explain if my husband backed a deck into the boat? Doesn't a boat usually back into a deck? But have no fear, Andrew is the only person I know who can parallel park a trailer with a boat on it, and maybe some bikes on the trunk, in Downtown Anywhere.
It looked fine in the end, after neighbours helped us carry it to the back, and Andrew put the decking back on the frame - presto! Instant deck. For now.
We realized that a fence was required to contain Ollie, the puppy who hasn't learned to "Come!" when he's called. So Andrew approached the neighbours about a line fence. They were amenable to enhancing the privacy between yards, so we embarked on the building of a fence together, with the help of our buddy Erik Vreeken.
Aligning and digging the post-holes...
Andrew, Neil, H., Paul (neighbour), and Erik take a short break.
Stay tuned for progress (slowed by lack of stain at Home Depot - "on order" for three weeks!)
Finally able to sit again at a desk and write, I pause to look at how we took a crow-bar to not just our house, but to our life - moving away from Channelview, into the R&R chapter at Stormont, while the crow-bar tore apart the basement of Bicknell.
A barometer of how hectic or calm life is at any given moment, the linen closet has always reflected whether life is in order or coming apart at the seams. The banana-box linen shelves initially had me worried.
Preparing and beginning a physical renovation paralleled our life renovation. How long would we live in/out of boxes?! With kids in new chapters of their own, H. at home and Neil abroad, it is time to reinvent ourselves, too. Not-quite-empty nesters, making a nest for the chapters to come. Caught in the construction phase, between the reinvention and its manifestation. Such physical chaos expresses personal chaos as we find our way through a maze of challenges. New inner order both precedes and follows outer order, through sifting and sorting, unpacking priorities.
Things appear to be looking up, at least temporarily.
We have some distance to go yet - insulating, dry walling and painting the basement, replacing closet rods and shelves, ripping out and replacing the kitchen, creating a new heart-of-the-house around a H-built island. We will continue to plan it all together as a family, creating a new space for this new era in our lives. Competing methods, styles and preferences are reconciled, building understanding and learning through compromise. I can live with cardboard shelves, for awhile.
Moving day arrived, on Good Friday - an apt metaphor as our life on Stormont was being crucified... Gentleman Movers took everything I’d labeled with green tape out the front door, and Andrew’s army of friends taking everything labeled with blue tape out the back. Or sometimes the front – congenial congestion! Rob, Eric and Alex hauled the lawn furniture, mowers, and wheelbarrows in our trailer. Rebecca and Stefan toted all the art with loving care. Mark and Debbie cleaned the hardwood dust from the new house, while Beth scoured the fridge to make it usable. (Without hot or running water, buckets were filled at the neighbours' hose and heated on the stove for cleaning...) Pat and Brian pitched in with cleaning and moving, Carrie tackled the vacuuming at the old house, and Maggie excavated and defrosted the fridge and freezer. With our big freezer in storage, Maggie took our food to her house, where we now shop for frozen food until our freezer comes home! H. and his truck took the heaviest, bulkiest loads. Boxes filled every room. Furniture, tools and debris of every description littered the garage and driveway.
The only phone was my cell, which failed and was replaced with a loaner, which I couldn’t figure out how to answer.
The puppy went to the new house with Andrew, and the cat and dog waited patiently in the car until the last minute, when I drove them over to the new house where they waited in the bedroom until the front door was reliably closed. Oops – no interior doors reliably close; the door hardware was all removed in preparation for replacement. At one point, as I leaned against the wall gazing at the chaos, the cat emerged from an open duct. Good thing the furnace wasn’t on yet...
Ollie supervised from the shade of the front yard
Andrew found a use for the bottoms of boxes. Without closet rods or shelving restored after painting, at least there was something in the linen closet to put the towels on...
Andrew and Beth peered over the chaos, taking a break from organizing the kitchen.
But it wasn't utter chaos for long!
By the end of the day, the boxes were in rooms where they belonged, the sparkling fridge full of food, dishes in the cupboards, bathroom plumbing worked without hot water, and one bed was made – for us to fall into. Martin and Maggie graciously had us over for dinner, their house just a short walk around the block. We picked up a few remaining items from Stormont in the following days, including the garbage and recycling, and Andrew hand-washed the kitchen floor before we said good-bye to a lovely neighbourhood, a happy interlude in our lives. Neighbours said good-bye and good luck, and we left.
26 Stormont Ave.
On to 230 Bicknell, another lovely neighbourhood, with wonderful neighbours emerging from every house to welcome us. And, the bulbs I planted last fall were popping up – the beginning of the garden.
The last of the team paused for a champagne toast - a split that we "split" among 8 of us!
Lots of food and lots of friends got lots of flooring laid before moving in commenced. Connor Vreeken sorted pieces by size, so a quick fit was easy to find. Eric Vreeken and Cam MacDougall helped H. to cut and lay the pieces perfectly, finishing in our bedroom.
Wait - why isn't there any heat? H. returned to finish cutting the holes over the heat vents, but the wood was so hard the drill bit melted before it got through the wood! "Hello, Gaylord Flooring? What cuts into this stuff???" Another adventure in renovation...
H. and Dan broke open the boxes of beautiful jatoba, got going with the flooring nailer, and two bedrooms are done! When I dropped by with beef stew for lunch, the hall was coming along quickly, with a lovely "brick-laid" corner piece at the turn. It's starting to look livable! Trim will come in awhile - maybe custom milled by H., if he has time. But at least with fresh paint and new flooring, we could move in and work around the rest. That is, if the electrical and plumbing become functional by next Friday... TBA, a.s.a.p.!
Who knew that insulation that H. and Cam reclaimed from a local industrial site would end up in our basement? Last summer, H. and Cam retrieved bats of pink insulation from an industrial location that was renovating. The stuff was in perfect condition, completely reusable, and they had someplace to store it, so... why let it go into a landfill?
Today, Andrew and Elliott Perkins got the fluffy stuff out of storage, and Andrew hoofed it down the basement stairs. It's destined to fill the newly-framed walls, in between the basement rooms, for both acoustic and thermal insulation. Ahh... the colour of peace and quiet...
It's time to pick the cork flooring. Would the dark or the light version look best with the jatoba flooring adjacent? (The cork samples are the squares in the middle...)
Either one looks great, with the variation in darkness of the flooring, it's nice to think we could pick either easily. We all lean toward the darker version - more interesting grain. More dramatic. We found it in Albany, NY, and will have to order it soon. Hopefully, Neil can claim it when he re-enters the country, and reduce the duty on importing it. We haven't seen anything quite like it here, so we have our hearts set on this cork for the working area of the kitchen. Renewable, soft under foot, durable and unique, this cork will make a statement in the new kitchen - whenever we get one!
What's that they say about renovations and moving being stressful?
The family from whom we are renting our temporary abode may need to move into this house soon, requiring us to move into Bicknell way early. Like, next weekend! Moving was not on the radar, with insulation, walls and electricity still being installed, no plumbing (on hold since we tore out a bathroom), and no flooring on the main level yet... Flooring would be a pre-requisite, not to be laying it underneath furniture and daily life, and electricity and plumbing are pretty basic, aren't they? So - how are we going to do this?!
We had thought we'd negotiate a date that worked for both families when the notion of this rental came up. When we finished our reno and moved out, the owner's family would move in and do their reno at their own house. But, no date was set, and as reno's go, ours was on schedule but is behind now because of delays with the basement... No kitchen, no flooring, no plumbing or electrical, and a week to go?!?! I feel like that guy on HGTV doing an extreme reno and the family is due to come home before the kitchen is installed... How will we ever manage this?! We might not. Stay tuned.
And did I mention we're training a 5 month old puppy? I read someplace that there are three things NOT to do while writing a dissertation - don't renovate your home, don't get a puppy, and don't move unless you're evicted... so much for the dissertation progress!
After the Home Depot spruce flooring was delivered to Bicknell, Gaylord Flooring called. "We have a shipment of the jatoba flooring you liked coming in at a fabulous price, in case you'd like to reconsider..." The beautiful flooring we had loved, and denied ourselves, was being offered at a reduced price! Could we afford it now? Yes! Could we return the Home Depot spruce? Yes! OK - we're on! Jatoba it is.
We ordered 5" wide jatoba "rose, rustic". Not distressed, but with a "dog finish" - multiple coats of titanium for a durable, scratch-resistant finish. H. agreed to do the work, but we thought we should have a clue... so Andrew and I attended a workshop to learn about installation.
After several days of letting the new flooring acclimatize in the house, H. recruited his friend Dan to install it, and they are slaving away to get as much in as possible this weekend. Ahhh... visible progress, and fabulous wood everywhere! This is going to be soooo beautiful! Who needs rugs?
So I ran away for a week with two girlfriends to Puerto Rico - a birthday gift from Andrew to me and my friend Christina for her 40th and my... 55th! We took another friend along and headed for Christina's cousin's condo outside San Juan. Lovely week of beaches, waterfalls, snorkelling and "fuzzy drinks at five"... Ahhh... totally indulgent.
Then it was back in the saddle - office, school and... reno, of course! So what happened in the house while I was away? Some walls got framed, some more tar paper went up, and most of all, the basement became festooned with electrical wire! Mike had been busy re-locating all the light fixtures, outlets and boxes required to adjust every electrical connection after the original walls were moved. Some walls moved less than 6 inches, but what that did to the wiring... Lots of work, looked kind of like this:
I was a little discouraged, I guess - I had hoped the walls might be farther along, more visible progress maybe? But some progress just isn't very visible, so I adjusted my faith and hope meter, and figured I have a lot to learn about renovating. (Duh!) And the work carried on...
After much debate about whether to use Blueskin or tar paper on the basement wall; steel, Bluwood or ordinary studs; what kind of fasteners and how it all fits into the budget, H. started hanging tar paper and ordered a load of 2x4 studs delivered to the driveway. The basement is taking shape again! After taking out the basement board, insulation, strapping and studs, the bare walls looked forlorn, with seemingly vast work to be done. Why did we do this - tear out a perfectly usable finished basement?! Oh yeah, that energy retrofit. Spray insulation for R27 walls. New gas furnace and heat pump. I remember
Andrew and I spent the afternoon with H., stripping wallpaper and sanding drywall mud so the painter can get going tomorrow.
I have never done this, although I'm acquainted with the insidious pervasiveness of drywall dust. I don't think I'll become a construction worker overnight anytime soon! I clearly need to work up to this. I was reminded of Mr. Miyagi teaching The Karate Kid to strengthen and quicken his arms - "Wax on, wax off..." - alternating left and right arms in circular motions until I thought both arms would fall off. I fell asleep on a pile of flooring boxes, resting and stretching my back. Nice to work on our nest together - quite the romantic Valentine's weekend! After throwing together a curry vegetable stew and biscuits for my crew (wait - Andrew is the GC and H. is the expert here, I'm the crew!) I'm headed directly to the bathtub, with a nice cool beer. I'm sure my shoulders deserve it!
We bought this house we're renovating on January 12, the same day that the earthquake struck Haiti. We've been unable to reconcile how it is that we're debating hardwood flooring when so many people have no floor, and wondering what the most efficient toilet is when Haitians are subject to open latrines. What to do? Which charity to support?
It seemed fitting to direct our support to a housing effort, with all our focus on hearth and home. We may be regrouping as a family, in a different age and stage, someplace without a stalker, but our adventure is an incomparable joy and privilege relative to the experience of so many, many people in Haiti. A friend, Shelagh Mirski, drew our attention to ShelterBoxes, a project of Rotary International that delivers substantial tents, along with tools, cooking supplies, and bedding for 10 people in a box to places in need of relief housing. As Camp Outlook alumni, we have an acute appreciation of how much can be achieved with a tent and some tools, so this approach appealed to us. We made a contribution to ShelterBoxes, which will be duplicated by the Government of Canada in its Haiti Relief Fund. It's not enough, but it's a start.
For information on ShelterBoxes, click on http://www.shelterbox.ca/
Last weekend, Andrew and I went shopping for a little comparison info on flooring before seizing the current Home Depot sale price on birch. We headed to tiny Tweed, Ontario, which has the distinction of being home to Gaylord Hardwood Flooring. In an old-fashioned downtown storefront, flooring is displayed on every surface. Walls, floors and ceilings are covered in gleaming oak, ash, maple and hickory, glowing by firelight or lit with track lighting. It was like shopping in a jewelery store of wood, except for the taxidermy deer peeking out here and there, to suggest a rustic setting (or support the local taxidermist?). Gaylord's promo of the week caught our eye - Brazilian jatoba.
Harder than hickory, deep russet tones, "art on the floor" in our eyes. We wouldn't need rugs or furniture - just pull up a pillow and admire the flooring! We nearly swooned. On sale for only $2,000 more than the Home Depot birch. Birch?! Whatever were we thinking, when we could have this Brazilian exotic, harvested with sustainable methods, of course, and regularly reforested... We asked for a quote on 1200 sq. ft. and drove off into the countryside, starry-eyed over gorgeous wood.
Next stop was Lowe's in Belleville, for energy-saving toilets. I never knew there was so much to know about a toilet... We chose a high efficiency model and Andrew started schlepping three out to the car (one at a time to take advantage of the $20/purchase coupon) while I took photos of tile for the
kitchen backsplash.
Oops - the toilets we chose wouldn't qualify for the energy rebate after all. Andrew returned them all, replaced them one at a time with a different high efficiency model, while I took more photos of tile. How complicated can toilets (and coupons) be?!
Once home, with three toilets and no flooring, H. gazed longingly at the jatoba sample and we tried to find money in the budget. The toilets didn't save us that much! The Home Depot sale ended before we got the jatoba estimate, so we ended up with the birch, in a cherry stain. Oh well - it will be covered with area rugs, and we're beyond sitting on pillows to admire the flooring. Whatever were we thinking? Maybe we could just hang some on the wall...
The first piece of mail at our new address arrived today - the report from Dave, the energy auditor, telling us which renovations will qualify for how much rebate from government energy stimulus packages.
"The envelope, please..." Since we're redoing so many things that improve energy efficiency, we qualified for enough rebate to cover that new bathroom, the unexpected hardwood floors, the glass garden doors and windows. Phew! This must be what it feels like to win a lottery! YIPPEEEE!!!
On Saturday night, we sat down to have a planning meeting with Hugh, to schedule phases of the work.
He pointed out how we are gutting the basement, redoing everything, and then leaving this old bathroom in the corner. "The work and mess and expense of redoing it later will be way more! It only makes sense to do it now, while the whole basement is torn up. The new etched concrete floor would look great in there, like the rest of the basement."
"Hugh," Andrew replies, I nod - "We have to keep within the budget, and we are planning to do the bathrooms later, one at a time, as we get the money. We just can't do it all right now, even if it's cheaper in the long run."
Argument ensues. We talk about our different priorities, realities, money. H. insists, having just done a similar bathroom job in his own house, that we can do this for much less now than later.
The next morning, Andrew is browsing the internet. I drop by for a look. Toilets. Shower stalls. Sinks. "These are really cheap on sale, and we're get energy rebates for new toilets anyway..."
Mike O'Neil tore out the old basement bathroom today . Round Two for Hugh. We went shopping for shower stalls. Lesson: know good advice when you hear it. And be
Time to remove the carpet in the Cave (Andrew's office room) and in the living room, revealing the parquet floors to buff and coat with a new finish. Large cracks, loose pieces and buckling showed the glue had dried up, wood had shrunk - floors not worth the repair.
H. caught my dismay - "Mom, you can't repair this - you burn it."
"Parquet...?" I echo weakly.
"Mom, 'parquet' is what you get in the Louvre! This is kindling."
"I never actually liked this 'parquet'; I just thought we'd use it anyway... New floors aren't in the budget..." I feel myself falling into the abyss of renovation surprises. A classic case of "This Old House"... Where's Bob Vila, or Mike Holmes, when you need him?
Wait - who needs them? We have Hugh! "Mom, I could get you T&G [tongue and groove] maple and install it for free, then have Mike finish it. It wouldn't cost you much more than you'd spend cleaning this up."
" I'd need an estimate of the cost and durability, vs. the repair and its durability..."
"Sure, Mom. No problem."
Home Depot's sale flyer has an ad for T&G birch, with a cherry finish. H. is duly impressed. "That's a great deal, already finished!" Andrew and I compare the finish to our favourite antique pine chest, and the colour is lovely - warm, honey-colored hardwood. It's a deal! Mike O'Neil started shovelling up the 'parquet' - after all, this is not the Louvre! Hardwood, here we come. Round One for Hugh. Lesson: seize an opportunity to embrace change!
January 20, 2010 Another sleepy morning, fresh snow covering pine boughs, lawn and chunky slush. Andrew disappeared at 6:45 am to dump another load of basement debris. He met a parent from his school community there, who helped him unload the stuff. Someone else does these early morning missions?! I'm relieved he's not there alone in the dark and the snow. Home for a quick shower and off to work with his autistic little ones all day, then groceries, errands and collapse at home. I solved problems for disabled students all day, made dinner, cleaned up, put away the groceries, started the laundry. The 4 month honeymoon of house-sitting here and happily planning the reno was so calm... How long can we keep up this new pace? I've booked a break in Puerto Rico for my birthday in February. Andrew will have to wait for March break. Sleep, here we come.
Tuesday, January 19 We met Dave, the energy auditor, today, with all sorts of ideas for maximizing our energy efficiency by using the new government grants for upgrading. We are definitely upgrading! The basement demolition showed a bit of rot and moisture in a couple places behind the basement insulation, and old windows need replacing.New doors and windows were in the plan; nice that they're included in the rebate programs. Dual-flush toilets were added to the shopping list, to reduce water use, and thicker foam insulation in the basement will reduce the gas required for the new furnace. A heat pump will draw heat from the air (physics of which are beyond me at this stage...!), further reducing reliance on natural gas. Furnace, heat pump and a/c units have been ordered, to be installed as soon as the basement is cleared. Along with new Energy-Star appliances, the house will be warm, efficient, and use less water. And the elimination of baseboard electric heat will cut the hydro bill. I call that upgrading!
I had a new thought while looking at the basement without walls, with only the studs standing there. We could reconfigure the basement entirely. Do we want the walls where they were? There is nothing structural about them - we could put them wherever we want. Do I know what I would do differently? Maybe not. Never occurred to me to wonder. I don't know what I would do with 1800 sq. ft. of empty basement, a palette on which to design bedrooms, recreational space, laundry, workshop, office... Oh no - this looks like an overwhelming opportunity - I don't even know how to take advantage of it! I'm supposed to be writing a dissertation, not a floor plan... Stay with that. Or keep the rooms where they were? Make a change? What change? Run home to my computer? Maybe a dissertation is less work... I think I'll return to writing there.
Dinner out with Andrew and a diagram of the basement. We sorted the basement floor plan, into its original configuration, with two added walls, one to separate the laundry from the woodworking shop, and one to make a bit of storage/furnace room from one end of Neil's bedroom. It will still be 20 ft. long - no loss! Phew. Back to plan A, the original floorplan. But at least we know we considered the alternatives while we could. Next stop, furnace and ductwork. I'm sure I won't be needed for that, and I won't find anything to worry about reconfiguring, so the dissertation will get some attention until at least the end of next week. Oh - about paint colours...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Dump run Monday, January 18, 2010 7:00 am. I rolled over and pulled up the covers as Andrew whispered in my ear, "I'm off to the dump!" with a trailer load of debris from the basement demolition to unload before picking me up for work. Glazed in ice, the slippery driveway and then the dump platform made it impossible to execute the dump run completely before work, so the remainder of the load trailed Andrew all day, bits of basement panelling sticking out behind. Tomorrow will be a better day. Eric Vreeken got the basement cleaned out some more, and the energy audit tomorrow should tell us exactly what we need to improve the "R value" when we re-insulate the walls. It can only get better, right?
I have this nagging worry about the parquet floors we're counting on refinishing. Hugh pointed out how the glue has dried up under the parquet pieces, and they lift out like so many little dominoes... How many dominoes will fall when we un-carpet the entire house??? How big is that contingency line in the budget? I like the cork we picked for the kitchen; I wonder how much of it I could stand?
I hope Neil doesn't get discouraged about the prospects for a livable basement space. He chose to have his bedroom there, the largest one in the house, and it's among the first to go... And no doubt the first to look better, eventually!
Last May, we decided to move from Channelview Rd. and find a new home away from an aggressive neighbour and closer to Andrew's work, where we could handle the yardwork as Hugh and Neil moved into lives of their own. It's the beginning of a whole new chapter in our lives, the Bicknell Crescent chapter. Adjacent to Andrew's job, the house sits on a large suburban lot and offers plenty of space for indoor and outdoor entertaining, family time and R&R. We're looking forward to more convenience, a respite from neighbourhood conflict, and room enough for a family stage that ebbs and flows with visitors, friends, and kids returning to the nest from time to time to recharge their batteries.
We put a deposit on this house last June, anticipating renovations to begin when we took possession this winter. We got the keys to our "new" house on Tuesday, and today Andrew and Hugh headed up a crew of friends and hired teenagers to demolish the basement! Cam gleefully ripped out painted panelling while Mike O'Neill disassembled electrical boxes, preparing for new steel studs, blown-in insulation, drywall and ducting for the new furnace and a/c. Most of the acoustic panels from the hanging ceiling will be reclaimed and sold or donated for re-use. I carefully removed all the ceiling tiles from what will become Neil's bedroom. Eric Vreeken took apart the T-strips from the ceiling and two teenagers Eric Milan and Elliot Perkins took apart old cupboards and hauled debris up the exterior basement stairs. Andrew sorted materials into reusable or dumpster piles. Pizza helped keep us on track, and I left them to finish ripping out insulation and studs. What's the opposite of a barn-raising? Basement-razing? We've started!
Barbara Roberts is an expert in disability accommodation, with over 30 years' experience as an occupational therapist and disability advisor. Barbara integrates medical and social models of disability to achieve accessible participation for people with disabilities in education and employment settings. Barbara is also a trained and experienced mediator. Her doctoral research is in the area of human rights law as applied to professional education.
Mike O'Neill amid framing remnants and electrical progress...
