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.