It's a Pre-Existing Window.... Really!

When José took the plaster down in the sunroom, we were all surprised to see that the room originally had two enormous windows. After some discussion (do we really want to look out over our neighbour's driveway while we're having breakfast? Yes, we do!), we have opted to return the house to its original state. The only hitch is that we'll have to smash out the bricks on the exterior wall. Once you haul down the ivy vines, you can see where someone bricked over the window. It'll really be a sunroom when the new window is installed! If anyone from the Heritage Board is reading this - the pictures clearly show that this is not a new window we're installing, but we're merely restoring the house to its original, former glory! No new construction here.

Requiem for the Sunroom Hardwood Floor

Sometimes the latest news on the house is good (yay, hidden window potential!), and sometimes it's very, very sad news.


These photos show the state of the sunroom hardwood floors when we bought the house in March. Our contractor, the omniscient Mark, seemed unsure whether it could be salvaged, and we were foolish to have ever dismissed his concern. It's not only going to cost more (always a sad occasion), but we hate to oust something original if we can help it.

Upon closer inspection, Scott has echoed Mark's concerns: it's warped, water damaged, and sadly, it cannot be. Goodbye, original floor - we hardly knew ye.

The View from Here

Ah, the fresh smell of lumber makes the house feel like a new build. And, without walls, it looks enormous!

The workers have been busy and working hard - they have taken out the Three's Company arched doorways, reinforced weak joists, and the woodstove and bricked chimney in the living room are long gone. The electrical is in in the living room - you can see close to the windows, where the wall sconces will go in.

Beam me up.... Scott

In order to take down the mystery column of bricks separating the kitchen from the sunroom, our foreman, Scott, co-ordinated a temporary support before putting in a 15-feet long steel beam.







The beam will keep the house from falling down, which is a plus. The second and third photos are taken from the kitchen, facing into the sunroom. The fourth photo is taken from the sunroom, looking into the kitchen. Finally, we have a render of what the kitchen will look like, after adjusting for the steel beam, which apparently won't be hidden in the rafters, as we first thought it would be.

It's Almost like an Ensuite Bathroom

With the upstairs bathroom under construction, the cast iron tub has been temporarily moved to the master bedroom.



Finnian checks out the cavernous, empty bathroom, complete with a little opening to the master bedroom closet. We presume that's temporary. It's difficult to imagine that someday, perhaps he'll experience successful potty training here. It's all coming together; the subfloor is now down, and the electrical is in.

The Back Porch: Built-in Air Conditioning!

Finnian: in the sunroom closet (future porch), March 2009.




At the very back of the house, a small porch of sorts is attached to the back, left-hand side of the sunroom. Years ago, it was a closet, when what we call the sunroom was a bedroom. It looks as though someone took some leftover shelving wood, and built the porch onto the back of the house. Our plan is to put a proper door there that will lead to the back yard. Currently, the structure allows for lots of air circulation, and fabulous views of the ivy vines outside, through the holes in the roof.

The Upstairs Bathroom - a Work in Progress

The only things that are staying are the original medicine cabinet, and the cast-iron tub. The rest is going to be refreshed and replaced!

José, we love you. Please tear apart our house!

We adore José, who is doing a smashing job tearing down the walls. We're (of course!) finding strange and wonderful things, like this odd frame sort of thing behind the wall of the sunroom. What was this, an old window? Are those barn boards behind it?

Out with the Old

The plaster walls and ceilings now live in this enormous bin in the driveway. There's no turning back now...

Is Child Labour Still Illegal? ....Really?

Finnian picks up a hammer to do his part on the demo, before inspecting the kitchen (which admittedly doesn't look very different at all).

The Living Room will never be the same...

Before..... and now! Finnian takes a look out the front window, in what used to be a living room with white plaster walls.


You can see the front mudroom area is still intact. The 4th and 5th photos look out to the hallway, where the powder room used to be, and will be again. Apparently, there were wall sconces (with the old knob and tube wiring) in the living room walls, that had long been plastered over.

The next photo is taken from the living room - the fridge is in the dining room, with the sunroom in the back, and the kitchen to the far left. The last photo shows the empty space where the woodstove used to be; you can see the window overlooking the front yard to the right.

Renovations have Begun!!!

And so it begins! The renos have started, and the entire main floor is ripped down to the studs.

The kitchen tile floor is still intact, but not for long. The front hall feels very spacious without the powder room - in fact the entire main floor feels very large and airy. Must be the missing walls.

Ideas for the Upstairs Bathroom Floor - Hex Tile

After some preliminary research about patterns for the hex tile for the upstairs bathroom floor, we've quickly settled on a "daisy" pattern, inspired by these photos. We're taking ideas from what the house might have looked like when it was built in the 1920s.

Lighting and Ceiling Fans

Some of our favourites - sadly the lighting fixtures are way, way out of our budget, but the ceiling fan might be a contender.