The calendar now reads November, the trees stand bare, and Christmas flavoured coffee has made its grand return. This change in season also marks a new phase in our house, as walls go up instead of come down.
While I have not been as involved in this part of the renovation, I made sure to stop in on Saturday to witness the action. Kyle, his dad, his uncle, and my dad are almost finished framing the living room and prepping the walls for insulation. The reason why we are re-framing the house is because half of the house is double-bricked. Re-framing gives us the space we need to properly insulate it. Luckily, building into the rooms will be barely noticeable because of the extra space gained from pulling out the layers of lathe and plaster from each of the walls. As young adults with student loans and minimal savings, we are trying to be as economical as possible with the renovation. That has meant conscientious budgeting. For instance, we decided not to use spray foam insulation, even though it is much easier to do, because of the cost difference when compared to normal insulation. We have also found deals on building materials, traded skilled labour (on the part of Kyle), and have gratefully used the free labour of family. It would be much faster to pay people to come into our house and do the work, but we are saving by learning and working away at each project on our own. Home renovations are often presented as being this glamorous transformation process where, after a mere five minutes of disaster, a house becomes the picture of perfection, shiny fruit bowl and all. Frankly, this is just not true. Our house is a slow progression that has taught me a lesson in patience. Instead of fretting about getting things done, I am striving to celebrate the weekly changes taking place and the story that the house is unfolding.
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About MeKyle and I just became new homeowners. The house we purchased is not what one would classify as "move in ready"; in fact, it is quite the opposite. Built at the turn of the 20th century, our Victorian style house is both beautiful and terrifying in its ancient status and will be a project in renovation. This is a documentation of our triumphs and lessons learned, as we deconstruct and reconstruct this house. The end result? A space that we can proudly say we created. Archives
December 2016
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