some demo pics



living room




2nd floor



So this is what the house looks like these days.  The kids think it looks haunted, but I only see open space and so much possibility.  I will hopefully be able to share my floor plans sometime soon. 

Because we are on a protected ravine, we have to get a separate permit from the city for any changes to grade or removal of trees.  We love the trees and wouldn't want to harm any of them, but we would like to change the grade on the top portion of the backyard to allow for a basement walkout.  This week-end we are preparing the grade plan for our permit application.  Gigi is bringing over his theodolite and will do most of it for us.  I'm sure if we paid someone to do this, it would be done in no time with GPS, but we are trying to save money every step of the way here and so we'll do it old school style!

Demo done! Mostly

We are done the non-structural demo of the house. There are now no walls, ceilings or floors left. Makes you look at things differently. 

With all the walls open, we really are starting from scratch. I've been thinking of Eco friendly options for the house and I'm currently looking into geothermal heating and cooling. I know 2 families in our neighbourhood that have installed geothermal systems and have to discuss it further with them. It currently seems like a good option for us since we have a large front yard for digging and have to replace the furnace anyway. The rebates, I'm told, are pretty substantial which makes the whole idea more attractive.

Pre-permit demo almost complete

The non-structural demo is almost complete now. This is the beginning of the stage I love. You can really see what the place is going to look like. There is also no turning back now! We found a couple of treasures in the wall last week. Photo negatives, a little carved boat, a booklet, an old toffee container, a signed menu from Child's Restaurant, lots of newspaper from 1920-1921, and (to my 9 year old's sheer delight!) a little hidden staircase. It's all so much fun to imagine the life this house had before us.