Initial Start to the Adventure

2014 started off with me searching for a house within close proximity to work, a house that was in my eyes move in ready. The main goal at the time was to start investing in equity and begin to put money down on a mortgage at an early age as to try and avoid having a large mortgage later in life. A good secondary goal was to save some money at the same time. I had a pick-up truck that was not very great on gas, buying a house in the town I work in would save me 25km of driving each day. This may not seem like too much saved but it wasn’t just work that was in town. Most weekends were spent somewhere around town and I found myself driving back and forth quite a lot. My thoughts at the time was that I would buy a house just down the street from work so that I could just walk over to work every day. I was still living at home with my parents at the time and the thought of me buying my first house was a great idea in their minds as well.

The year started off with viewing a few houses within about 2 km from work. I brought my dad along for this, at the time I did not have a great understanding of what to look for in a house therefor having him along was perfect. We viewed to different types of houses, the first was a bungalow on one of the main streets. It was a bit run down but had a nice lot, the thoughts racing through my dad’s mind was that this could have some potential to be nicely renovated. I did agree with him on this however the amount of work needed to be done to get this bungalow to be a nice updated home to live in was a bit past what I would like to be doing. The basement only had about a 6-foot ceiling height so there was no chance of turning it into a livable space the way it was. We looked at all our options for this house as it was sitting on a nice double wide lot with a deep backyard. The main floor needed a lot of work as well and with the basement not being a viable option for a living space I was a little turned away from this place.

The second house we looked at was a semi that was a little more modern. It had a small garage at the front like any semi does these days, and had a small backyard. The house itself was in OK shape but needed some updating. The floors were worn down and perhaps not meant for the current century and the walls needed a bit more than just a paint job. I liked this house even though it was noticeable that the previous owners smoked a lot. This house was something I thought I could clean up and update it to be a nice starting home for me.

Both these houses were listed at a similar price and both had its pros and cons. There was a third house dad had noticed as an option for me as well. At first, I didn’t have much interest in it as it was on the other side of town meaning I would still be driving to work, at least during the winter. I kept telling him that I wanted something close to work but eventually I remembered why I asked him to help me with this process. He seen some potential in this house as it was listed as a foreclosure and had a great price. The house was a bungalow and sitting on a double lot which was very similar to the second house we looked at. It was in a very quiet part of town and close to the hospital.

I finally decided that it would be a great idea to at least check this place out, see it from the inside and get a closer look at what all needed to be done to make this a nice place to live. From the moment we walked through the front door we immediately noticed that this house, like the others, needed some work. The kitchen was outdated and everything looked a little worn down. The real estate agent let us look at absolutely every aspect of this house during the showing and at the end dad and I had some thoughts that we would later discuss at home.

The house was listed at a very fair price as there was some flooding in the basement during the year it sat empty and it had all the flooring in the basement ripped up. Overall this house would be a great start as it was a decent size. It was listed as a 5-bedroom house, 3 upstairs and 2 in the basement. However, the rooms seemed a bit small and the basement needed a ton of work.

After much discussion at home with mom and dad, I came to the conclusion that this would be a good purchase as long as I fix up the basement and update the kitchen. I told the real estate agent I was interested and would be discussing this with my bank. Dealing with the bank went extremely smooth as they handed me off to one of their Mortgage specialists. He actually came to my parents’ home and sat down with me to discuss all the options and decisions that needed to be made. Everything went great with the mortgage specialist and the bank as well and I was approved to purchase this house for the offer that I made. Within a week, the offer was accepted and after all the documents were confirmed by my lawyer, it was time to sign.

Off we go…

I was ecstatic. I had purchased my first house at the age of 23 and couldn’t wait to get moved in. but not after a few “minor” renovations. I wanted to get the basement cleaned up as it was quite a mess so this was best done before moving anything onto the main floor. After the basement gutting, I would do a thorough cleaning of the main floor and off I go.

To get the basement all cleaned out I had borrowed dads trailer to load up with all the old drywall and garbage that I would be taking out of the basement. For this to happen we needed to break down the pile of ice and snow that was planted in front of the attached garage. I had help from friends of mine for this. We dug out the laneway and even had some help from my friend’s father with a snow blower that lived on the same street as me. This saved us so much time and I was extremely thankful for all their help. Pizza and cold beverages were obviously needed for everyone after that first day.

 

 

 

The drywall in the basement put up a bit of a fight now and then when we were removing it from the basement. I had another friend help me out here as well as my parents. Within a day or 2 we had the basement cleaned of drywall. This is where decision would start to drift away from small renovation to large scale renovation. The walls were not in ideal locations in the basement and the exterior walls had insufficient insulation. This meant that the entire basement was getting “gutted”. I let dad take care of disconnection all the electrical for this as to work as safe as possible. No need for any fires or electrocutions. Everything went quick and soon the basement was one big empty room.

Then we moved on to the main floor, it was not in bad shape but I couldn’t just put a coat of paint on everything. The walls were worn and all the seams of the plaster board were very noticeable. “OK, lets take down the old plaster board and hang some nice new drywall.” This was a great idea but again things get out of hand quick. The plaster board was a lot tougher to take down than the drywall in the basement as all the corners had steel mesh imbedded in the quarter-inch of plaster that was applied to the boards. No sooner after we took the plaster board down I decided that the wall that enclosed the hallway was no good and needed to go to open up the living room a bit. This meant that the flooring was going to be in need of a patch where the wall had stood.

After a lot of thought and discussion with dad, we came to the large decision that we would take down all the walls on the main floor except the bathroom. The bathroom looked fairly new and must have been renovated shortly before the house went on the market. It was a nice-looking bathroom but it also had its flaws. After removing all the walls upstairs and cutting a hole in the wall to the garage, I was left with a blank workpiece with just a bathroom to work around and a staircase somewhat in the middle of the house directly in front of the patio doors. It was time to do some planning by drawing up the house in AutoCAD. I was sufficient in design as I had taken this in college.

The process of creating a new layout was a big headache for me. Every plan I made I had a conflict with either the stairs or the bathroom. I finally tried making some plans as if neither of these were in the house and found a plan that would be ideal. I then puzzled some more to make sure that the staircase could still fit within the house while at the same time moving it away from the current spot in front of the patio doors. Alas, I had found a plan that would work for me. The plan would cut out one of the bedrooms upstairs and get rid of the hallway that was in the middle of the house. With this extra space, I could make a larger kitchen, more than double in size, a larger living room and 2 bedrooms that were also bigger than the previous ones. The bathroom was still a little tricky to get in but with some tight planning and maneuvering I was able to get a decent size bathroom in.

The next few weeks were spent getting everything taken down. The bathtub, toilet, and vanity were all saved as they were practically brand new. We stripped everything down to just the floor and then undertook the large challenge of removing the ceiling. This wasn’t a lot of heavy work but just messy. As soon as a sheet came down, it was followed by a layer of bat insulation and then a foot of blow-in insulation. When all the ceiling boards were down we strapped on some dust suites and dust masks and started loading it all in bags.

The bathroom tiled floor was left and the vinyl in the kitchen as well. We found that the best way to remove this would be to completely take out the subfloor and just lay new subfloor later on.  This worked out great as it allowed us to change out some of the floor joists that had been cut into far too many times.

As per the plan, the stairs would need to be taken down and eventually taken right out of the house to be replaced by a new set. At this point the house was at its most torn down state. There were no walls upstairs and the floor was half gone on one side of the house. Looking up was open right through the trusses and onto the roof sheathing. The basement was one big empty room as well and temporary lighting was hung up in certain locations. This was a big pivot point, from demolition to construction.

Pivot from Demolition to Construction

At the end of April/ beginning of May, we finally started construction. New floor joists were put in place and a new subfloor was installed over the giant hole in the house. The first wall to go up would be a wall of reference as it would determine the exact location and size of the future stairs. This had to be accurate as the stairs would not be built until the entire house was complete as to allow for moving large items such as drywall sheets and lumber into the basement.

The main floor walls went up fairly quick and within a couple of long days all the walls were up. During the demolition stage dad and myself decided it was necessary to update the insulation as well. We both thought that spray foam insulation was the best for this situation as it would be an airtight solution and one of the best insulation value per inch. I had a contractor lined up for this that I heard about through a co-worker and by the end of June the spray foam was in. the contractor for this job was very helpful in providing any extra tips in helping my house become even more airtight and well insulated. This led to the decision to put a 1-inch layer of spray foam down on the drywall from the attic side once the drywall was hung. This would create a sort of bubble that would be the living space and allow me to control the air quality more accurately.

Electrical was completely updated as well with new circuit being fed to all the new rooms and outlets. Most of the wiring was done by me and was easily installed and inspected before we could begin the drywall stage. I made sure to include the right number of outlets and made sure everything was to code.

Drywall was a bit of a lengthy task but was made a lot easier with the purchase of a drywall lift. This would allow us to work faster and more efficiently, without being too exhausted at the end of the day. We didn’t run into too many issues with the drywall as most of the walls were new and the wood was straight. There were a few spots where we had to shim the existing exterior wall stud as to not create a giant curve in the new walls. The bathroom was hung with Green-Board which is meant to be resistant to mold and water.

From the basement side of the floor, I had to completely start from scratch with the plumbing. This meant new water lines right off the meter and new abs drains almost right to the sewer connection. a friend of mine’s father helped me out with this and I purchased all my supplies through him. One thing I didn’t want with the new plumbing was to have an exhaust stack directly through the roof of the house. In my opinion this is just asking to have water come into your attic though the hole. I decided that all connections, except for the incoming electrical feed from the road, would go through the gable ends of the house to remove any chance of leaks in the attic.

Up to this point all the work had been done by myself and my parents. But the next task was not something I wanted to undertake as it would be a finishing touch that would be very noticeable if it was messy. Seeing as I had never done any taping of drywall, I left it to the professionals. Yet again, a fellow co-worker is who I went to for this as he did this sort of work on the side. While he was taping my drywall, he asked me what sort of shower I would be installing. I had planned on tiling one from scratch but he had other ideas that were far more superior. A custom fitted synthetic marble base was suggested with matching walls to go with it. This was a pricy installation but I still think it was a great idea. The shower is amazing and is extremely easy to keep clean.

By this point all the taping of the drywall was done as well as the sanding. With some sweeping and vacuuming, all the dust was cleaned up and I was ready to do some priming. I had never painted before so it was a little new to me. The primer was a good way to practice but I quickly learned that I would not want to be the one to put on the final paint coats.

This takes us to around Christmas so far, at this point I was not far away from completion but still had a few projects left before moving in. the kitchen was another area that saw a lot of improvement in 2014. The custom kitchen was ordered through a local cabinet maker and by the time Christmas came around the first boxes were already installed. For the kitchen, I went for a very open look with an island in the middle. The sink would be in the island as well so to always be looking out over the dining room and living room.

In Summary

By the end of 2014, I had accomplished more than I ever thought I would in one year. Especially considering what the original plans were of a “minor” renovation. This year taught me a lot of things and I was exposed to so many different aspects of construction. I was working a full-time job with shift work which didn’t allow me to have as much time as I would have liked but in the end it all worked out.  Also, I was living at home still and spent a lot of time just driving back and forth between work, my parents’ house, and my new house.  Looking back, I am glad I undertook such a large project but I also couldn’t wait to get it done so I could take a bit of a break.

This was a busy year so this post is quite long but I think I got most of the points covered in as much detail as needed. Some of these will most likely come up in future posts in more detail as I discuss some of the current projects and how the above-mentioned projects have educated me to improve efficiency in any future project.

Thank you for reading and feel free to leave any comments or questions below. I look forward to reading and answering these.

Please note, that I will be adding a Gallery with lot’s of Pictures in order throughout the entire renovations. Stay Tuned…

 

• Intorduction and Explanation