Waiting ....

There was a big turn in events last month with my derelict neighbour selling his house to a builder.  This is good news but it has also stalled the project while I wait for the new owner to take possession and assist with the shared foundation upgrades.  I have also taken the opportunity to offer him to buy my place.  As much as this reno was a dream if has taken up a big chuck of my life and with now being engaged I am looking for an out.  Yes, I asked Val to marry my Thanksgiving weekend!  So now we have a wedding to plan however we set the date for December 2015 which I think is wise.

As for this place it would be nice for a finished house to be our first place together however that is a romantic notion that will be very difficult to realize.  I have decided to meet with an agent for some reassurance that we are doing the right thing here.  Many friends and family are advising me otherwise....I liken this to the the marathon I trained for a ran.  Many did not understand why I would undertake such a thing however it was an experience that I will never forget.

Will this process be similar to that one....perhaps I need to approach it with the same discipline and commitment.....

We are legal... we have our permits

I received the news at the end of this week that my permits have been processed. It took a long time and it is getting cold with an uninsulated half of the house. I am hoping things move quickly from here or at least towards insulation.

Below are a couple of renderings that were useful to visualize the new spaces. I have not be satisfied with the loft as the the bathroom cuts too much into the space. However, my sister and Val vehemenantly asert that an ensuite is necessary. So there in lies the design problem. This morning I worked through an option that changes the tub to a shower and takes the sink out of the bathroom enclosure so that the volume is minimized....I will post this when it is worked out and signed off by the client. It must have been the week off suite layouts at work that has brushed up on my interior sensibilities.

a new course

Shortly after my last post I was laid-off work.  This came as quite a blow personally as well as to the project as the bank would no longer lend the money I was counting on if I did not have an income.

I was determined to make some changes with my house and with time on my hands I started to demolish the decrepit front bedroom ceiling.  I was opening up a world of 100 year old dust and ask.  It felt good to remove that dirt.  My friend's brother Sam is a licensed carpenter and I made a quick plan to simply frame a ceiling using floor joists if a floor was ever to be built.  Not far into this process I began to realize my folly as it was not as simple as I thought and much of the finishes would need to be repaired as a result and due to their age and shape they were not worth it.  Also, I would be left with the same strange configuration of rooms.  "Fail to plan or plan to fail"  This was ironic as I had just spent a year planning ...perhaps I was getting tired of it.

I then took the time to think through a small alteration including a second loft and bathroom.  I had many sleepless nights living in a half deconstructed house and I realized just how emotionally attached we are to the places we inhabit.  Thank goodness for my girlfriend Val who was such a support.

Below are a series of drawings and rendering which show the front house opened up into a Living/Dining Room and a small bedroom and bathroom in the loft space.  On Friday my application for a building permit was finally accepted as they were asking me for additional information and they were very slow processing. I do hope that the processing is indeed the 5 days fast-track though I am not holding my breath.  I have begun to line up contractors and I am afraid of losing them and not getting them back before the cold.

mechanical work

After a bit of hunting we have found a mechanical consultant who fits our budget. It will be tough to keep to this budget so we are being rigorous about it. It feels good to keep to this budget as it seems to give some assurance about being on budget at the end which is always the major concern.
This process is feeling very much like my marathon training experience...there is the length or the process, there is the disciple required and meeting budget each step of the way feels like meeting the splits that a marathoner sets out for themselves to run each kilometer with a certain pace. Similarly in thus process to pass each step on budget.

turning the corner

So far it has been a struggle to find the time to advance the drawings. Picking up the project now and again on evenings and weekend has been both a blessing and a burden. On one hand I am after looking at the project fresh and on the other I forget where I left off.
With spring here to say I see the urgency to finish the permit drawings and I have adjusted my work mode for this. This is the design management part of a project that is so important...taking those small but necessary little steps of faith based on what you know at that time, making decisions and trusting where it will lead. After all this is practice right ?!

inspiration in Philadelphia

Sometimes it takes distance from a project to see things from a different perspective. While on vacation I was impressed by the permanence and and beauty of all the front steps of the historic houses. Surely these steps have been there for ages and nobody has grown tired of them nor do they look tired in themselves. I had yet to think of the entry to this house in such a way.

There have been some big changes from when I last wrote.  We have said good-bye to our beloved dormers  and vestibule and said hello to more light and views.  It took a long time but the design is much better now.  I learned a first hand lesson of what it means to be held back by tradition and history and we now seem to be applying the modern ideas of functionality along with its aesthetic.  As we are bound by the area that was approved with the original design I have had to pull in parts of the second floor to allow for a functional third level room.  I quite like how this has led to some interesting recessed windows which only helps the flatness of our boxes. We are a little nervous that these changes are too drastic for the approvals that we already have but we are taking our chances and I am working hard to get permit drawings together.  Gotta go!

We have deleted the upper canopy due to code reasons and sloped the upper roof to simplify the form. I like how this simple form acts as a backdrop to the intricate historic homes in front. Originally I thought black stained wood cladding for the addition but for maintenance reasons I think standing seam metal cladding is the more practical solution. There is a pop up for the stair to the third level which is masked behind the terrace guard. This saves the upper room from becoming too narrow. I like where this is heading ...if only I had the time to complete the work.

The mechanical system...

I made contact with a mechanical consultant today and she helped me to have a clearer view of the project from a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning perspective. I have been able to sketch up, with the help of my cat Rex, a layout. I have also been able to develop some ideas about the interiors and the potential to express parts of the mechanical system and the structural system. With each sound piece of advice I feel the project is getting more traction. 

Current design minus Peter's Spiral staircase.

looking around

The good thing about blogging a process is that you have a record of where you left off. I left off in a holding pattern and I feel that I am in another holding pattern as I blog. I find myself looking to the left and right for things that I have missed. In doing so, I have found some things in areas that I don't necessarily gravitate towards. Too cryptic? Here is an example - I have a running budget spreadsheet... but I do not update it or look at it nearly as much as I sit down to sketch. Updating the budget led me to have a conversation with my bank to see if it would be possible and beneficial to take a builder's line of credit. The possibility of a more robust budget lead me to an analysis of the viability of the options that I have been entertaining. Options of a third storey scheme, a two storey scheme with finished basement and a two storey schemes with unfinished and finished basements. Comparing these schemes on paper complete with rental apartment revenue, expandability, etc etc helped me to see them more clearly as well as in a new light. One of the notable examples of this was the potential for a two storey scheme to have solar panels since the full height allow by zoning would not have been used. This is something I had not thought of in a while. I am now researching the technology.

As push comes to shove and I am getting serious about the detailing I have discovered a way to align the plumbing and ductwork for future work and do so by not interfering with the existing ground floor. This is important as I have decided to renovate the first floor in a different phase.

In a holding pattern

I met with Peter thus afternoon. Chris who is my neighbour on the other side was unable to make it. It would be good to have Chris at the table and part of the mix but that doesn't seem possible at this point. 

It was good having a one on one with Peter s I shared with him some research I had done in the building code about foundations and he share with me construction issues. We are now waiting on our structural engineer to advise us....

Breaking Ground....

....rather unceremoniously Peter and I dug some exploratory holes on Saturday in my basement. The geotechnical engineer will come tomorrow to test the bearing capacity of the undisturbed soil. The soil looks dark with a clay like texture. This used to be swamp land so I am crossing my fingers for good bearing.

Over the last several months I have shown friends my drawings. I am always interested in their opinion. With the scheme that was submitted to the Committee of Adjustment I have receive two types of reactions. One reaction is from my architect friends and the other from my non-architect friends. Naturally my architect friends notice slight inconsistencies in the drawings and or freely offer there opinion of what I should do. Most of the time when I ask them what they think about the look I get a quiet non-offensive mumbling that i have interpreted unfavourably. On the other hand my non-architect friends. My non-architect friends like it for it's space, view and even the quirky character. I value both these opinions which makes new reconsider the design regularly.

So I haven't kept up with my posts but I have a reason for that...and no, this is not a new years resolution.  Much has happened since my last post including the demolition of a couple of gaudy drop ceilings and an incredibly dirty and decrepit plaster and lathe ceiling...it seems the house had a minor fire a some point which made me look like a coal miner removing the ceiling.  The most interesting occurrence is that my next door neighour Peter saw that I was serious about making changes and asked if I wanted to do a joint addition!  Our houses are joined over the entire length of the house so any addition without him would be very difficult and unfeasible.  Whats more is that Peter is a contractor!

So over the last several months we have been meeting and I have been drawing.  We soon found out that the put on a full second storey we would need to apply for more area to the Committee of Adjustment. Wisely Peter was aware that there are many three storey houses on the street that are precedents of what the street is transforming into. We then decided to change our scope to include a third storey space.  There was an element of risk to doing this as it could be opposed by the other neighbours and of course it would cost more.

As the months went by leading up to the Committee of Adjustment we were able to build a stronger and stronger case for our proposals.  As recommended by the City we endeavored to talk to neighbours that would be most affected.  We did not experience much opposition which is why I was a little surprised that a couple neighbours were at the Hearing.  I was also surprised that my absent next door neighbour to the south (Chris) surfaced and was interested in going to the hearing to support us as he had planned his own house addition 2 or 3 years previously and building at the same time would be mutually beneficial.  Chris turned out to be a big help as his CofA approval was a direct precedent for ours.

The hearing was stressful and I was a little  nervous and a little sweaty!  But nothing like a little pressure to focus on what to say which they only give you 5 minutes.  Fast forward... the Committee ruled in our favour citing that the City is changing, we had not proposed anything closer to our neighbours and we had endevoured to preserve the heritage character of the houses on the street.

Fortunately I was able to have coffee with those neighbours that opposed the development and understand their concerns as well as illustrate our proposal so that it was better understood.