Dane and Ross Get Down to Tear Up!

Floors in the kitchen are gone! Dane and Ross blazed through it all last night!
Big thanks to the boys for showing up and working so hard.
Dane's metabolism kicked into high gear...when you got to go...you got to go....

Keep the hardwood or replace with tile?

I say...Keep the hardwood, refinish it with a new an unique colour to create a separation with the living room and kitchen.
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...lots of work to rip up the wood, pull out nails, yank out the sub-floor
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...we need to lay down new sub-floor that can withstand the weight of the tiles!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...floors are not leveled! We''ll need to level the floors!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...our costs will go up as will the timeline!!!!
Trish says...tiles! We need tiles in the kitchen.
I say...

Phase Two: Two Rooms become One....

So yesterday we decided to begin Phase Two and run it at the same time as phase one.


Why? Well I think its because we are a little nutty. Biting off more than we can chew? I've realized over the years that biting off more just makes our "mouths bigger" with the desire to take on greater challenges...or we really are nutty.

First floor is pretty much gutted. Floors need to come up, plumbing and wiring to be sorted. Up to the second floor we go.

Here's the plan....

Current: Master and 2nd bedroom are adjacent. Small, and I mean small bathroom in the middle.

The Plan: Join both rooms together, enlarging the bathroom into the 2nd bedroom so it can accommodate humans and not Pigmy's (apologies to all my Pygmy friends). Remaining area of the 2nd bedroom turns into a walk-in closet.

Check out the pics.

Friends and a Father-in-Law

Dwight is in flight!

Duane is insane!
Mike is alright!

Rico the freak-o! (so nothing really rhymes with Rico)

and Ron....Big Papa!

Dwight shows up...hauls ass...tears it down...rips it up...dumps it out...get down and dirty.

Duane shows up...in the middle of the day...puts time in...back home in time to pick up the kids...good job daddy.

Mike shows up...two days in a row and apologizes for not making in three!

Rico...just itching to get at it again

Ron....pick up truck with trailer....loads...unloads....and still finds time to tell me that I'm his favorite son-in-law. (ok, so he didn't really say it but I can see it in his eyes...or should I say apple in his eye).

I would say we managed to save about 5-6 days of work because of these lads. My friends...brothers. Thanks you.

Phase 2 (running parallel with Phase 1) has begun....

These hands....

These hands....

These hands are cryin...

These hands never seen as much work until I married you....

These hands....

Phase One: Kitchen meets the Living Room

Phase One:

We started phase one yesterday, Robin our contractor and neighour (see first post about our good neighours in Leslieville) started the tear down of the servant's staircase separating the grand living space from the dated and "brown" kitchen.


Had a couple of good friends come by and lend a MASSIVE hand in the tear down. We basically saved 3 days in our timeline by having these lads tear up the kitchen, load up the truck with debris and rip up the separating wall with staircase. Payment came in the form of jerk pork and beer.


Big thanks to Duane, Rico, and Mike for representing...true friends indeed!

Check out the before and after shots....

315 Carlton...our new home

I've decided to start this blog to document the renovations of our new home at 315 Carlton.

Trish and I absolutely love our home at 205 Booth. Leslieville has been so good to us as has our neighbors. But with Sebastien and number two on the way, 205 Booth just can't contain us anymore...so we bought a great Victorian home in Cabbagetown. A home we expect to stay in for many years.

But with a great Victorian home comes a great deal of renovations. The previous owners did a meticulous job in maintaining the home...but updating it? Not so much. The best way to describe our new home...."frozen in time".

So let the renovations begin.....