There is something nice about a house that is fully lit up at night, the windows glowing against the dark of the outside. However, we realized this weekend that a house that is heated is much more deeply comforting and domestic. With the dropping temperatures and snow in the air, Kyle and I knew that it was necessary for us to turn on our heat in order to avoid burst pipes. So, on Friday after work, we vacuumed out all of the air vents and turned on the furnace. At first, there was a hesitant humming coming from the vents, but soon, warm air was being pumped into the rooms. We sat on a work bench in the living room and waited to see how the thermostat would react. While the house does not need to be turned up as high as if we were living in the space, the mere 12 degrees made a huge difference in terms of how we felt about the home. I rotated to each of the vents on the main level, excited about being a step closer to making our house liveable. What a luxury it is to have warm rooms. With light and walls and heat, Kyle and I are moving up in the world! ...Dry-wall is just around the corner. Another homey touch? Adding a bit of Christmas to the front of the house. We are also going to add some twinkle lights to the verandah. The house may be a construction site, but it is still taking part in the holiday season :).
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This post is dedicated to Kyle. Wait—before you cringe and go to another less corny site, I promise to keep this short and sweet. People deserve to be commended for their work, and Kyle has put in an incredible amount of time, sweat (more than one tee shirt was hung to dry in the trees last summer), and dedication to this house project. I honestly could not do this without him. Kyle works tirelessly on the house after a full day of work during the week, and dedicates most of his weekends to it. He never complains, even when the work is dirty and there is a damp chill in the uninsulated house. Kyle has the labour skills and know-how needed in a renovation project. But what makes him a truly amazing reno partner, is his kindness and intuitive awareness of others. He always knows exactly when I need help, a gentle reminder of safety, or a quick pep talk. When clearing out the lathe and plaster, Kyle made sure that I didn’t step on nails and when taking out the insulation, he insisted on doing the ceilings so that the fluffy nightmare didn’t pour down on me. And, any time I start to show signs of hanger (anger provoked by hunger), he calmly suggests that we take a lunch break. Most importantly, he has made this renovation process fun. Even during the most frustrating and discouraging of days at the house, Kyle is still able to make me laugh. Laughter, I have realized, has the power to turn many situations for the better. * Kyle: I appreciate you and everything you have done for our house. I cannot wait to eat french-toast breakfasts in the kitchen and watch football with you in the living room (and by watch, I mean talk through games as you try to watch). An exciting transformation took place at the house this week: the once creaky and warped floor is now perfectly level (and stable)! Walking through the house, I cannot help but have that Christmas-morning feeling of glee at the most basic signs of transformation. Along with the level floor, I also delight in the newly framed windows and exposed kitchen walls. It is funny how something that one would normally take for granted as a guaranteed thing in a living space is something that Kyle and I are thrilled by. I mentioned in my last post that we are trying to be as money smart as possible. A cost-effective floor option that we are looking into is keeping the original wood. Kyle has scavenged maple boards from different parts of the house and thinks that we will be able to find enough to mend any holes or damage in the flooring of the living room and possibly some rooms upstairs. I love the idea of maintaining what we can of the original house and hope that this plan works. Even if some of the wood is a little rough looking, we always have the option of rugs, but I personally like a rustic floor and think it would add to the charm and character of the house. Now, for all of the readers who, like me, salivate over the historical discoveries: While working in the kitchen, Kyle came across another clue about the house's past owners: a postcard from 1932. The postcard is addressed to the third owner of the house, an "Anne Buie." What touched me about the note is that it is addressed to "Sis." Automatically, my sisters come to mind and how, if we didn't live in a time of texting and emails, we would probably be communicating in a similar fashion. Based on the loving use of the name "sis," I imagine that these two women were close and I wonder if they made a point to visit one another often. When I told my dad about it, he said that he bet that she would have come to Stayner on the train. We don't know the name of the sender, because the bottom of the postcard is torn off, but we do know that it came from Toronto, because the postcard has a picture of the Royal York Hotel on the front, and we know the date by the stamp from the post office. These bits of information start to come together to create at least a faint sketch of the lives lived in the house at that time. 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. We may not have walls or heat or breathable air, but with a little creativity, Kyle and I were able to pull off Halloween at 212! We set up on the front porch, complete with blankets, pumpkins, and twinkle lights so that kids weren't afraid to come up the walkway. The night brought about 20 "treaters" to the door, and even a couple of "tricksters." This weekend, Kyle, his dad and uncle, and my dad began to frame downstairs. While this is the first of many reconstruction steps, the new wood flanking the walls in the living room has really helped to ease my fear of the house toppling over in its demoed state. Kyle also removed most of the wiring from the walls and ceiling, which was a tedious task and one that I commend him for. The old knob and tubing is strung through the floors and beams AND has these annoying porcelain stoppers that help to hold it in place, but are a nuisance to get out. Last week, we decided to treat ourselves with a trip to Home Depot to get paint samples. Poring over Benjamin Moore booklets, I realized first, how many shades of white there are, and second, that I am guilty of showing preference to colours with pretty names (let's be honest, who wouldn't want "Snowfall White" and "Cozy Cocoa" in their homes?). We are now beginning to formulate a colour scheme for the house, and I will share some of our options in the posts to come. Our goal is to keep the integrity of the house's style, while still incorporating our own personal taste. The colours we were most drawn to? Cool shades of blue, greens, and browns. It is hard to believe that by this time next year, our house will have colour (and REAL walls)! |
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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